At Northeastern University, behavioral neuroscience focuses on "the biological basis of human behavior." The university points out that behavioral neuroscience "provides an understanding of nerve cells, chemical neurotransmission, and neural circuits as well as fundamental biological processes such as inheritance, development, and physiology." A good behavioral neuroscience course will have discussions on nature versus nurture and biology as destiny. It will also provide core knowledge about the structures of the brain and how the brain regulates behavior.
Clinical psychology is the study of psychological disorders and their treatments. A course in clinical psychology will typically cover a variety of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and sleep disorders. Students will learn how to classify disorders using the DSM-IV psychiatric diagnostic manual, theories about how the disorders arise, and how the disorders are treated. A comprehensive course will also cover the effects of social class, genetics, and gender.
According to the University of Washington's Psychology Department, cognitive psychology is "current theory and research in perception, attention, memory and learning, attitudes, thinking and decision making, and language." A general course in cognitive psychology will touch on all these areas briefly. People who are interested in this area can specialize in it by taking courses that deal with perception, memory, and language.
According to Bill Gabrenya, psychology professor at Florida Institute of Technology, social psychology is the "study of the relationship between the individual and society." This course is often taken by both psychology and sociology students, as it is the intersection between these two disciplines. In a social psychology course, you'll learn how people are influenced by the media, differences in family groups across cultures, how people develop prejudices, and many contemporary issues that deal with both the individual and his culture.