Current Courses

This course provides an introduction to the science of the mind.  Everyone knows what it's like to think and perceive, but this subjective experience provides little insight into how minds emerge from physical intities like brains.  To address this issue, cognitive science integrates work from at least five disciplines: Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Linguistics, and Philosophy.  This course introduces students to the insights these disciplines offer into the workings of the mind by exploring visual perception, attention, memory, learning, problem solving, language, and consciousness. 

This section is highly recommended for students who are interested in learning about the topics covered in the main course through writing and discussion. 

Environmental Psychology is an interdisciplinary field concerned with how the physical environment and human behavior interrelate. Most of the course focuses on how residential environments and urban and natural settings affect human health and well-being. Students also examine how human attitudes and behaviors affect environmental quality. Issues of environmental justice and culture are included throughout. Hands-on projects plus exams. Lecture and discussion sections. DEA 1501  - Writing in the major (WIM) option also is available (by instructor permission) for 4 credits.

Human-Environment Relations is an interdisciplinary field concerned with how the physical environment and human behavior interrelate. Most of the course focuses on how residential environments and urban and natural settings affect human health and well-being. Students also examine how human attitudes and behaviors affect environmental quality. Issues of environmental justice and culture are included throughout. Hands-on projects plus exams. Lecture and discussion sections. WIM section attend a regular lecture but also meets weekly with a graduate writing tutor. The two principal objectives of WIM section:

One of four introductory courses in cognition and perception. A comprehensive introduction to current thinking and research in developmental psychology that approaches topics from both psychobiological and cognitive perspectives. We will use a comparative approach to assess principles of development change. The course focuses on the development of perception, action, cognition, language, and social understanding in infancy and early childhood.

This section is highly recommended for students who are interested in learning about the topics covered in the main course through writing and discussion. 

Provides an introduction to the psychology of language. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the scientific study of psycholinguistic phenomena. Covers a broad range of topics from psycholinguistics, including the origin of language, the different components of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics), processes involved in reading, computational modeling of language processes, the acquisition of language (both under normal and special circumstances), and the brain bases of language.

Effective judgments and decisions are critical to success in every avenue of life. This course will explore research on the principles of sound judgment and decision making, and on the ways in which people's judgments and decisions are prone to bias and error. The course aims to improve students' critical thinking skills and to enable them to make better judgments and decisions in an increasingly complicated world. The course is taught by a team of psychologists and economists who draw on recent research in psychology and behavioral economics that can benefit the lives of students.

This course states and motivates the observation that cognition is fundamentally a computational process and explores the implications of this idea. Students are introduced to a variety of conceptual tools for thinking about cognitive information processing, including statistical learning from experience and the use of patterns distilled from past experience in guiding future actions. They learn to apply these tools to gain understanding of perception, memory, motor control, language, action planning, problem solving, decision making, reasoning, intelligence, and creativity.

Multidisciplinary discussion of the causes, effects, and treatments of human obesity. Topics include the biopsychology of eating behavior, the genetics of obesity, the role of activity and energy metabolism, the psychosocial determinants of obesity, anorexia nervosa, therapy and its effectiveness, and social discrimination.

Lab course designed to introduce students to experimental methods in auditory perception and cognition. Students complete a short computer-based course on experimental design and statistical analysis. Each student conducts an independent research project. This includes a review of the relevant literature, the collection and analysis of data, and a presentation of the findings. The projects are most frequently on a topic related to music but may also be related to speech or environmental sounds.

A theoretical and empirical approach to the biological, psychological, and social (including cultural and historical) aspects of adult psychopathology. Readings range from Freud to topics in psychopharmacology. The major mental illnesses are covered, including schizophrenia as well as mood, anxiety, and personality disorders. Childhood disorders are not covered.

Continues the field practicum experience from PSYCH 3270.

This course will familiarize you with the basic experimental social psychology research that investigates how our thoughts and beliefs (stereotypes), evaluative attitudes (prejudice), and behavioral responses (discrimination) toward individuals shift as a function of their group membership.  The ultimate aim is to enhance your ability to evaluate and analyze the scientific merit of this research and to apply this research to real world social issues.

Covers the major topics in the psychology of music treated from a scientific perspective. Presents recent developments in the cognitive science of music, including perception and memory for pitch and rhythm, performing music, the relationship between music and language, musical abilities in infants, emotional responses, and the cognitive neuroscience of music.

Although the hippocampus has been the subject of intense scrutiny for nearly 50 years, there remains considerable disagreement about functional contributions the hippocampus makes to learning and memory process. This seminar will examine the diverse functions attributed to the hippocampus with an eye toward integrating the differing viewpoints in the literature. After a brief historical overview, students will discuss cutting-edge literature on the hippocampal role in spatial navigation, learning, and memory, and context processing.

A course examining the core disciplines of cognitive science using varied themes from semester to semester.

Imagination is a core feature of human cognition, and the study of human imagination possibly one of the broadest and least unified topics in psychological science. This course, drawing on readings from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, developmental psychology, and philosophy, is for anyone interested in understanding the psychology of imagination as it functions in everyday thought and action. Topics covered: counterfactual and future thinking, mind-wandering, creativity, children's imaginary friends, pretense, and fantasy, imagination in clinical populations, and imaginations in social life (relationships, organizations, social identity).

Practice in planning, conducting, and reporting independent laboratory, field, and/or library research.

Advanced experience in planning, conducting, and reporting independent laboratory, field, and/or library research. One, and preferably two, semesters of PSYCH 4700 is required. The research should be more independent and/or involve more demanding technical skills than that carried out in PSYCH 4700.

This course builds on the first graduate statistics class for social sciences offered in falls. It will cover the general linear model as a data analytic tool. The focus will be on applied regression models. No costs other than textbooks are incurred.

This course is designed to introduce first-year graduates to the Psychology Department faculty through a weekly series of presentations of current research.

This course states and motivates the observation that cognition is fundamentally a computational process and explores the implications of this idea. Students are introduced to a variety of conceptual tools for thinking about cognitive information processing, including statistical learning from experience and the use of patterns distilled from past experience in guiding future actions. They learn to apply these tools to gain understanding of perception, memory, motor control, language, action planning, problem solving, decision making, reasoning, intelligence, and creativity.

Graduate seminar coupled with the Psychology Colloquium series. For 6-8 of the speakers, we read readings designated by the speaker in advance of their arrival, and meet with the speaker in the Thursday seminar. Intended for graduate students in the Field of Psychology who may register for this course without permission, all others please ask for permission from the instructor. Registration in both semesters is required.

Although the hippocampus has been the subject of intense scrutiny for nearly 50 years, there remains considerable disagreement about functional contributions the hippocampus makes to learning and memory process. This seminar will examine the diverse functions attributed to the hippocampus with an eye toward integrating the differing viewpoints in the literature. After a brief historical overview, students will discuss cutting-edge literature on the hippocampal role in spatial navigation, learning, and memory, and context processing.

Course explores current issues in Psychology.  Topics vary by section.

Imagination and Cognition: Imagination serves important functions in everyday thought and action. We will read some classic and some recent studies highlighting the cognitive and neural basis of imagination, how it relates to memory, planning, and decision making. Imagination in Childhood: Research on imagination in childhood is characterized by a paradox: children are generally viewed as imaginative and creative. They're also more likely than adults to engage with imaginary friends, pretend play, and elaborate "worlds" of fantasy. Yet children, unlike adults, are poor at episodic memory, future thinking, planning, and creative problem solving. Is this evidence for one use of imagination receding in favor of another? Applications to life: Here we can choose topics based on class interest. Some ideas (and readings) below on imagination in social life, in clinical research, in creativity, in self-understanding, and in the behavior and functioning of organizations.  

This course builds on the first graduate statistics class for social sciences offered in falls. It will cover the general linear model as a data analytic tool. The focus will be on applied regression models. No costs other than textbooks are incurred.

A graduate research seminar in biopsychology.

One of four introductory courses in cognition and perception. A comprehensive introduction to current thinking and research in developmental psychology that approaches problems from both psychobiological and cognitive perspectives. We will use a comparative approach to assess principles of development change. The course focuses on the development of perception, action, cognition, language, and social understanding in infancy and early childhood.

A graduate research seminar in human experimental psychology.

Lab course designed to introduce students to experimental methods in auditory perception and cognition. Students complete a short computer-based course on experimental design and statistical analysis. Each student conducts an independent research project. This includes a review of the relevant literature, the collection and analysis of data, and a presentation of the findings. The projects are most frequently on a topic related to music.

A graduate research seminar in social psychology and personality.

Second semester of a year-long discussion-seminar course intended to give graduate students an in-depth understanding of current research and theory in social psychology. Emphasizes social cognition, but other topics, such as group dynamics, social influence, the social psychology of language, and emotional experience are covered.

A graduate seminar on doctoral thesis research in biopsychology.

A graduate seminar on doctoral thesis research in human experimental psychology.

A graduate seminar on doctoral thesis research in social psychology and personality.