User:Charles Peyser

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Charles Peyser has completed more than four decades as Professor of Psychology, and two decades as Secretary of the Faculties, at Sewanee: The University of the South … a liberal arts college of 1,400 undergraduates on a 13,000-acre rural campus on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. He holds an A.B. from Hamilton College (Clinton NY) and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale.

Courses currently offered.

• Introduction to Psychology [class; weekly laboratory with another instructor] [survey of three topics (human & animal learning, dreams, aggression / conformity) from four perspectives (biological, psychodynamic, behavioristic, social / cognitive)]
• Industrial Psychology [a survey of applying psychology to business: Industrial (ergonomics; recruiting, evaluating, hiring, training employees); Organizational (employee motivation and satisfaction, leadership, social structure, communications); and Advertising techniques]
• Comparative Sexual Behavior [a liberal arts approach organized as comparison across time (occidental attitudes from Sumer c3,000 B.C.E. through Biblical Israel & Judah to c1750), comparison across species, comparison across contemporary cultures]
• Pseudopsychology [evaluating the quality of sources of information using topics not oft considered in mainstream psychology, e.g., divination (oracles, channeling, numerology, dowsing, graphology, astrology), parapsychology, social phenomena (wicca, vôdu, feng shui), Nessie and Bigfoot, UFOs]
• Seminar in Behavior Modification [primary research literature of learning-based techniques for modifying behavior, affect, and cognitions]

Courses once offered.

• Tests & Measurements [intelligence, mechanical & artistic aptitude, personality]
• Research Methods
• Sensory Processes [vision and audition]
• Data Analysis

Professional publications.

• (2001/1984). Two entries (Pseudopsychology; Psychotherapy Techniques). In W. E. Craighead & C. B. Nemeroff (Eds). The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley. Revision of R. J. Corsini (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Psychology. New York: John Wiley.
• (1999). Consulting Editor (details of entries N through S; less specific editing on about two-thirds of the entries) of R. J. Corsini. The Dictionary of Psychology. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel.
• (1984). 62 biographies of deceased psychologists (Ach, Narziss to Zeîgarnik, Bliuma). In R. J. Corsini (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Psychology. New York: John Wiley.

Other publications.

• (1992). Lambda Chi Alpha: A Historical Perspective. Indianapolis: The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. [165-page draft markedly improved by collaborative editing with co-author Ernest Vargo II, who also did the page layout including picture selection; 42-page excerpts from the fraternity magazine; 62-page chapter and member data including awards; 31-page index]
• (1987). Central compiler / editor of a trio of Lambda Chi Alpha ritualism manuals: Ritual – What and Why (open); A Manual for the High Phi (confidential); Open Ceremonies.

Interests.

• collecting matchbook covers
• cooking
• music [Broadway Musicals (primarily 1915–1970), the Big Band era, pre-Bach organ music]
• soccer [NCAA soccer official (NISOA-certified) in 1970s; currently score Sewanee women’s varsity home matches]