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2020-2021 Course Descriptions

Courses Primarily for Undergraduate Students

COG SCI 210 – Language & the Brain

The study of language and its biological basis from linguistic, psychological, and neuroscientific perspectives.

COG SCI 211 – Learning, Representation, & Reasoning

Interdisciplinary study of the nature of the mind with emphasis on learning, representation, and reasoning.

PSYCH 101 – First-Year Seminar: Psychology

Topics vary based on instructor and term

 

PSYCH 110 – Introduction to Psychology

A survey course reviewing primary psychological research and theories of human behavior. Laboratory experience exposes students to psychology as a research science.

PSYCH 201 – Statistical Methods in Psychology

Measurement; descriptive statistics; probability and sampling; T-test, ANOVA, correlation, and regression. Prerequisite: 110; some college mathematics recommended.

PSYCH 205 – Research Methods

Methods of psychological research; experimental design; reliability and validity; review and application of statistics; execution and reporting of psychological research. Prerequisite: 201.

PSYCH 213 – Social Psychology

(formerly PSYCH 204) Psychological processes underlying social behavior; topics include social cognition, attraction, aggression, prejudice, and behavior in groups. Prerequisite: Psych110- Introduction to Psychology.

PSYCH 215 – Psychology of Personality

Nature of personality and its development. Modern theoretical interpretations. Biological and social bases of individual differences. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 221 – Introduction to Neuroscience

(formerly PSYCH 212) Designed for students with no prior coursework in neuroscience or biology. Neurophysiology and neuroanatomy; neuroscience of perception, emotion, morality, memory, mental illness, and consciousness.

PSYCH 228 – Cognitive Psychology

Introduction to research into mental processes such as memory, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Prerequisite: Psych 110-Introduction to Psychology.

PSYCH 244 – Developmental Psychology

(formerly PSYCH 218) Development of cognitive, social, and other psychological functions. Prerequisite: Psych110-Introduction to Psychology.

PSYCH 245 – Presenting Ideas & Data

Understanding principles of cognitive psychology, data visualization, and graphic design to present ideas and data in an engaging, clear, and memorable manner. PSYCH 245-0 and COG_SCI 245-0 are taught together; may not receive credit for both courses.

PSYCH 249 – Buddhist Psychology

Buddhist and scientific psychological views of mind and behavior; meditation techniques. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 303 – Psychopathology

Understanding the nature of psychological, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Emphasis on current evidence regarding causes and characteristics of these disorders. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 306 – Introduction to Clinical Psychology

Definition and history of clinical psychology, personality theory in clinical psychology, diagnosis and classification of disorders, assessment, psychotherapy, and ethical issues. Prerequisite: 303.

PSYCH 308 – Cognitive Behavior Therapy

(formerly PSYCH 376) Scientific foundations of cognitive behavior therapy for a wide range of disorders. Focus on the rationale for different treatments and evidence of efficacy and process. Comparisons with other scientifically validated treatments. Prerequisite: Psych 303-Psychopathology.

PSYCH 310 – Special Topics in Social/Personality/Clinical

Topic to be announced. Prerequisites vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

PSYCH 310 – Special Topics in Social/Personality/Clinical: Identity and Motivation

(formerly PSYCH 315) Topic to be announced. Prerequisites vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

PSYCH 311 – Psychology of Attitudes

Survey of social psychological research on attitudes; focus on the formation of attitudes, the relationship between attitudes and behavior, and attitude change. Prerequisite: 213.

PSYCH 313 – Relationship Science

Social-psychological analysis of close relationships, with an emphasis on romantic relationships. Interpersonal processes associated with relationship formation, development, and dissolution. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 317 – The Holocaust - Psychological Themes & Perspectives

This course will be an exploration of how particular psychological theories and concepts can inform our understanding of the events of the Holocaust at both a group and individual level. Material from the fields of Social and Clinical Psychology will be a particular focus of the course.

 Six major topics will be explored vis-à-vis literature, historical accounts, film, and psychological theory: (1) Perpetrators and Bystanders; (2) Upstanders/Resisters; (3) Survivors; (4) Children of survivors; (5) Deniers; (6) Modern American Jewish identity, culture, and humor in the wake of the Holocaust.

PSYCH 320 – Intermediate Neuroscience

Intermediate principles of neuroscience; neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, and electrophysiological substrates of psychological processes. Prerequisites: 110; 1 biological sciences course.

PSYCH 324 – Perception

Human perception, particularly vision but also hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Biological foundations, development, and disorders of perception. The senses in everyday life. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 325 – Selected Topics in Neuroscience and Psychophysiology

Applied psychophysiology; brain activity coding of cognitive events, biofeedback, opiate pain control. Prerequisite: 322-1 or equivalent; 205 recommended.

PSYCH 328 – Brain Damage & the Mind

Survey of human cognition as studied via investigations of brain damage and brain-imaging techniques. Prerequisite: 110, 221, or COG SCI 210.

PSYCH 330 – Special Topics in Cognition & Neuroscience

No description available.

PSYCH 333 – Psychology of Thinking

Research methods and recent experimental findings for types of human thinking. Students conduct original research. Prerequisite: 228.

PSYCH 336 – Consciousness

Examines how psychologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, and physicists have tackled fundamental questions about consciousness using empirical and theoretical methods. Prerequisites: a course in cognition and/or neuroscience, or instructor permission based on a strong background in neurobiology and/or physics; 205 strongly recommended.

PSYCH 340 – Psychology and Law

Examines the application of psychology to law, including topics such as the insanity defense, criminal profiling, eyewitness testimony, and interrogation. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 341 – Positive Psychology

Key developments in the field of positive psychology. Rudaimonic and hedonic well-being, mindfulness and flow, importance of social connections, emotional resilience, positive institutions. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 342 – Evolutionary Psychology

Theory, methodology, and empirical data related to how evolution has influenced human psychology and behavior. Emphasis on mating. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 343 – Psychology of Beauty

Theory, methodology, and empirical data related to the psychological impact of human beauty. Emphasis on both cultural and evolutionary perspectives. Prerequisite: 110.

PSYCH 348 – Psychology of Gender

(formerly PSYCH 339) Examination of sex differences and similarities. Evaluation of explanations for differences. Review of how gender affects achievement, relationships, and mental health. Prerequisite: Psych110-Introduction to Psychology.

PSYCH 350 – Special Topics in Psychology: Using R for Analyses

R is open source statistical system that has become the lingua franca of statistical data analysis. R is both a statistical system for processing data using traditional and modern statistics and a programming language for developing new methods. This course will introduce you to R with an emphasis in using R for psychological research.

PSYCH 350: Special Topics in Psychology: Sportistics -Understanding Statistics Through Sports

No description available.

PSYCH 354 – Deception: Processes & Detection

(formerly 323)  PSYCH 354 Deception: Processes and Detection Multiple perspectives on truth and deception. Exposure to clinical and psychophysiological work on lying, malingering, and styles of deceit. Theories and methods in lie detection.

Prerequisite: PSYCH 110-Introduction to Psychology

PSYCH 364 – Social and Personality Development

Research methods, theories, and facts relating to the development and modification of attitudes and behavior. Prerequisites: 205; 213, 215, or 244.

 

PSYCH 367 – Child Psychopathology

(formerly PSYCH 377) Major forms of psychopathology present during childhood, including disorders exclusive to childhood and those that may appear during any developmental period. Developmental models of the etiology and course of major psychopathologies. Prerequisites: 205; 244 or 303.

PSYCH 369 – Psychological Tests and Measures

Explores the science of psychological assessment, including its history, test construction and evaluation, and common measures of personality, psychopathology, and ability. Students create and evaluate their own psychological measures. Prerequisites: 205; 213, 215, or 303.

PSYCH 370 – Cognitive Development

(formerly PSYCH 360) Study of brain processes underlying cognition. Analysis of brain structure and function. Introduction to imaging techniques including fMRI, PET, and ERP. Prerequisites: 205; a course in cognition and/or neuroscience (e.g., 221, 228, 322-1, 328; COG SCI 210) or consent of instructor.

PSYCH 372 – Language & Cognition

Exposure to original research and theoretical perspectives on language and its relation to thought and behavior. Critical analysis of theories and methods. Topics may vary. Prerequisites: 205; 228 or COG SCI 211.

PSYCH 373 – Decision Making

(formerly PSYCH 335) Human decision making from both descriptive and prescriptive perspectives. Theories and models of decision making applied to a variety of contexts. Prerequisites: 205, 228.

PSYCH 374 – Human Memory

(formerly 368) PSYCH 374 Human Memory   Scientific study of human memory, including memory systems of the brain, amnesia, remembering, forgetting, encoding, consolidation, memory suppression, and memory distortion. Emphasizes original research reports in cognitive neuroscience.

Prerequisites: PSYCH 205-0- Research Methods and either PSYCH 328 - Brain Damage and the Mind (formerly PSYCH 361) or PSYCH 378 - Images of Cognition (formerly PSYCH 363)  Interdisciplinary Distro - See Rules Natural Sciences Distro Area Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

PSYCH 378 – Images of Cognition

Study of brain processes underlying cognition. Analysis of brain structure and function. Introduction to imaging techniques including fMRI, PET, and ERP. Prerequisites: 205; a course in cognition and/or neuroscience (e.g., 221, 228, 322-1, 328; COG SCI 210) or consent of instructor.

PSYCH 387 – Consumer Psychology & Marketing Research

Application of psychological theories, findings, and methodologies to marketing research questions and problems. Students conduct a marketing research project for an actual client. Prerequisite: 205.

PSYCH 390 – Advanced Seminar in Personality, Clinical, or Social Psychology: Scientific Controversies in Social Psychology

Discussion and critical analysis of research methods and findings in an area of personality, clinical, and/or social psychology. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic. Prerequisite: 205; additional prerequisites may apply.

PSYCH 390-Advanced Seminar in Personality, Clinical, or Social Psychology: Psychology of Race and Racism

No description available.

PSYCH 391 – Advanced Seminar in Cognition or Neuroscience

Discussion and critical analysis of research methods and findings in an area of cognitive psychology and/or neuroscience. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic. Prerequisite: 205; additional prerequisites may apply.

PSYCH 391 – Advanced Seminar in Cognition or Neuroscience: Psychology and Weird Beliefs

No description available.

PSYCH 392 – Advanced Seminar: The Emotional Brain

Discussion and critical analysis of research methods and findings in psychology. Interdisciplinary focus, often spanning natural and social science aspects of psychology. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic. Prerequisite: 205; additional prerequisites may apply.

PSYCH 397 – Advanced Supervised Research-1

Design, implementation, and reporting of a psychology research project. Weinberg College limits on 398 and 399 enrollments also apply to 397.Prerequisites: PSYCH 205-0 and consent of instructor; PSYCH 397-2 must be taken with the same professor as PSYCH 397-1.

PSYCH 397-2 – Advanced Supervised Research-2

Design, implementation, and reporting of a psychology research project. Weinberg College limits on 398 and 399 enrollments also apply to 397.Prerequisites: PSYCH 205-0 and consent of instructor; PSYCH 397-2 must be taken with the same professor as PSYCH 397-1.

PSYCH 398-1,2,3 – Senior Thesis Seminar

Open only to students pursuing departmental honors. They must apply for admission in spring quarter of junior year.

PSYCH 399 – Independent Study

Consent of instructor required.

 
Courses Primarily for Graduate Students

PSYCH 401-1 – Psychology Proseminar: Biological and Cognitive Bases of Behavior

Understanding how brain-imaging techniques apply to the understanding of cognition.

PSYCH 401-2 – Psychology Proseminar: Social and Personality Bases of Behavior

Survey of theory and research in the social and personality bases of behavior.

PSYCH 403 – Clinical Prosem

Survey of theory and research in the social and personality bases of behavior.

PSYCH 405 – Psychometric Theory

Introduction to principles of measurement, reliability, validity, and scale construction

PSYCH 411-1,2,3 – Clinical Psychology Practicum

No description available.

PSYCH 412-1,2,3 – Assessment Practicum

Didactic and applied instruction in diagnosis of psychological disorders; diagnostic interviewing, organic assessment, and personality assessment. Arranged with the clinical program director. Three-quarter sequence.

PSYCH 413-1,2,3 – Anxiety: Assessment & Treatment

This practicum will cover the theory, history, emprical evidence, and clinical techniques on the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders, emphasizing cognitive-behavioral approaches

PSYCH 414-1,2,3 – Depression: Assessment & Treatment

No description available.

PSYCH 415-1,2,3 – Treatment Practicum: Family & Systems Approach

No description available.

PSYCH 416-1,2,3 – Treatment Practicum: DBT

Strategies and tactics of dialectical behavior therapy for effectively treating complex, multi-problem, difficult-to-treat populations.

PSYCH 421-1 – Psychopathology

Research and theories on the origins of various forms of psychopathology. Topics include schizophrenia, addictive disorders, psychopathy, personality disorders, eating disorders, psychosexual disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders. Also, issues regarding classification of psychiatric disorders. Two-quarter sequence.

PSYCH 428 – Overview of Health Psychology

Overview of research, theories, and methods in health psychology, emphasizing links between the social world and biology.

PSYCH 430 – Attraction and Relationships

No description available.

PSYCH 434 – Research Methods in Clinical Psychology

Conceptual and methodological issues in research in psychopathology and psychotherapy.

PSYCH 451-1 – Statistics in Experimental Design

Design and analysis of experiments. Emphasis on analysis of variance techniques.

PSYCH 453 – Linear Models: Correlation and Regression

Linear models approach to design and analysis of experiments and quasi-experiments. Basic concepts in correlation and regression: partial and semipartial correlation, matrix notation, least squares methods, and dummy variables.

PSYCH 454 – Structural Equation Modeling

No description available.

PSYCH 460 – Topics in Cognition: Communicating your research

Current research and theory in cognitive psychology. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.

PSYCH 460 – Topics in Cognition: Cognitive Development

No description available.

PSYCH 461 – Reasoning and Representation

Current theories of reasoning in cognitive science; mental steps in solving problems requiring inductive or deductive inferences. Covers relevant background in logic and artificial intelligence and empirical results on reasoning. Prerequisite: one course in either cognitive psychology, logic, or artificial intelligence.

PSYCH 466 – Analogy and Similarity

Psychology of comparison, including theories of similarity, analogy and metaphor in psychology and artificial intelligence; processes of transfer, comparison in decision making; analogy in mental models and folk theories; and development of analogy and similarity.

PSYCH 470 – Topics in BBC:Buddhist Psych

No description available.

PSYCH 470 – Topics in BBC: Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory 

No description available.

PSYCH 470 – Topics in BBC:Mind and Brain

This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary approaches of cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience. Lectures will illustrate how methodological and theoretical approaches from across traditional disciplines have been integrated to answer fundamental questions in mental and neurocognitive structure and function. Topic areas will include vision, language, memory, learning, reasoning, cognitive control, and consciousness.

PSYCH 485 – Psychology of Attitudes

Surveys social psychological theory and attitudes. Considers attitude measurement, attitude structure, attitudes as predictors of behavior, and attitude change. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

PSYCH 488 – Social and Emotional Development

No description available.

PSYCH 489 – Topics in Social Psych:Motivated Thinking

Description not available.

PSYCH 494 – Personality Theory and Research

The nature and functions of theory in psychology. Major theoretical approaches to personality: dynamic, phenomenological, trait, social-psychological, sociological, and behavioral.

PSYCH 496– Psychotherapy

First Quarter: Contemporary approaches to individual psychotherapy. Second Quarter: Contemporary approaches to group psychotherapy and the treatment of disturbed marital and family relationships. Third Quarter: Minipracticum.

PSYCH 497 – Special Topics in Clinical Psychology: Social Emotional Brain

No description available.

PSYCH 519 – Ethics: Responsible Conduct of Research

No description available.

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