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. 

Full details for PSYCH 1102 - Introduction to Cognitive Science

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

Full details for PSYCH 1104 - WIM: Introduction to Cognitive Science

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.

Full details for PSYCH 2090 - Developmental Psychology

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

Full details for PSYCH 2091 - WIM: Developmental Psychology

This course is an introduction to the moral mind from philosophical and psychological perspectives. Many traditional philosophical problems about morality are being illuminated by current work in cognitive science. In this course, we will look at several of these problems. In each case, we will begin with a presentation of the philosophical problems, and we will proceed to examine recent empirical work on the topic. A wide range of topics will be covered, including moral judgment, agency, the self, and punishment.

Full details for PSYCH 2415 - Introduction to Moral Psychology

Introduction to research and theory in social psychology. Topics include social influence, persuasion, and attitude change; social interaction and group phenomena; altruism and aggression; stereotyping and prejudice; everyday reasoning and judgment.

Full details for PSYCH 2800 - Introduction to Social Psychology

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.

Full details for PSYCH 2940 - Better Decisions for Life, Love and Money

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.

Full details for PSYCH 3150 - Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight

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.

Full details for PSYCH 3160 - Auditory Perception: The Music Lab

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.

Full details for PSYCH 3250 - Adult Psychopathology

Continues the field practicum experience from PSYCH 3270.

Full details for PSYCH 3280 - Field Practicum II

Surveys the approaches that have been or are currently being used in order to understand the biological bases for learning and memory. Topics include invertebrate, "simple system" approaches, avian song learning, hippocampal and cerebellar function, research using MRI in humans. Many of the readings are from primary literature.

Full details for PSYCH 3320 - Biopsychology of Learning and Memory

Full details for PSYCH 3450 - On Being Social

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.  We will explore how empirical research developed from primarily examining explicit (blatant) prejudice in the 20th century to recent examinations of implicit forms of stereotyping and prejudice.  We will explore how stereotyping and prejudice can arise from basic perceptual and categorical processes, discuss strategies for minimizing expressed bias in interpersonal situations, and examine the experience of high status - and the consequences of losing it.  The ultimate aim is to enhance your ability to evaluate and analyze the scientific merit of this research and apply it to real world social issues.

Full details for PSYCH 3820 - Prejudice and Stereotyping

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.

Full details for PSYCH 4230 - Navigation, Memory, and Context: What Does the Hippocampus Do?

Full details for PSYCH 4390 - Topics in Neural Circuits

New technologies are changing our world at a rapid pace.  In many cases, the society does not fully understand the impact of technology and is not prepared for the speed of the change that is occurring. This seminar will explore a few of these new technologies and investigate their effects on the users and on the society at large. The topics that will be explored include face recognition, virtual reality, violence in media, general AI, and the technological singularity. We will look at the ways in which these technologies affect our lives, with a focus on education, entertainment, employment, politics, and the future of humanity.

Full details for PSYCH 4420 - Psych & Ethics of Tech 21st Century

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

Full details for PSYCH 4700 - Undergraduate Research in Psychology

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.

Full details for PSYCH 4710 - Advanced Undergraduate Research in Psychology

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

Full details for PSYCH 6000 - General Research Seminar

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.

Full details for PSYCH 6210 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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.

Full details for PSYCH 6230 - Navigation, Memory, and Context: What Does the Hippocampus Do?

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

Full details for PSYCH 6271 - Topics in Biopsychology

New technologies are changing our world at a rapid pace. In many cases, the society does not fully understand the impact of technology and is not prepared for the speed of the change that is occurring. This seminar will explore a few of these new technologies and investigate their effects on the users and on the society at large. The topics that will be explored include face recognition, virtual reality, violence in media, general AI, and the technological singularity. We will look at the ways in which these technologies affect our lives, with a focus on education, entertainment, employment, politics, and the future of humanity.

Full details for PSYCH 6421 - Psych & Ethics of Tech 21st Century

A graduate research seminar in biopsychology.

Full details for PSYCH 7000 - Research 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.

Full details for PSYCH 7090 - Developmental Psychology

A graduate research seminar in human experimental psychology.

Full details for PSYCH 7100 - Research 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.

Full details for PSYCH 7160 - Auditory Perception: The Music Lab

A graduate research seminar in social psychology and personality.

Full details for PSYCH 7200 - Research 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.

Full details for PSYCH 7760 - Proseminar in Social Psychology II

A graduate seminar on doctoral thesis research in biopsychology.

Full details for PSYCH 9000 - Doctoral Thesis Research in Biopsychology

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

Full details for PSYCH 9100 - Doctoral Thesis Research in Human Experimental Psychology

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

Full details for PSYCH 9200 - Doctoral Thesis Research in Social Psychology and Personality

Broad overview of theories, research, and issues in the study of human development during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Focuses on the major biological, cognitive, and social changes during adolescence; the psychosocial issues of adolescence, including identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, achievement, and problems; and the contexts in which adolescent development occurs, particularly families, peer groups, schools, work, and popular culture. Discusses empirical research, theories, case studies of the lives of real adolescents, and, to a lesser degree, public policies.

Full details for HD 1170 - Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Educational psychology is the application of psychological principles and concepts to cases of teaching and learning. We study behavioral, cognitive, embodied, and social-cultural perspectives on learning and thinking, and we use them in planning and reflecting on weekly fieldwork outside the classroom. In the process, we become more mindful and skilled learners ourselves and better facilitators of others' learning.

Full details for HD 3110 - Educational Psychology

Continues the field practicum experience from PSYCH 3270.

Full details for HD 3280 - Field Practicum II

Covers the science of self-regulation and its development over the human life span. After providing an overview of historical perspectives, the class will focus on contemporary research including homeostasis in bodily systems, self-control and regulation, goal setting, economic perspectives, as well as the role of emotions and personality. 

Full details for HD 3290 - Self-regulation Across the Life Span

This course examines the ways in which sex and gender impact the expression of severe psychopathology. We will study biological, psychological, and cultural factors associated with sex and gender as they influence the epidemiology, phenomenology, etiology, diagnosis, and course of illness in major forms of psychopathology: specifically, schizophrenia, major affective illness, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders. We will also examine the complicated roles of race, class, sexuality, and gender identity as they relate to these conditions. These topics will be examined through the frameworks of psychological science and feminism in an attempt to understand the effects that gender and science have on one another and the ways in which they influence the understanding of mental illness.

Full details for HD 3320 - Gender and Psychopathology

Full details for HD 3330 - Children and the Law

The course examines the role of play in promoting the learning and socio-emotional development of children. Through class discussions, hands-on activities, observations, videos, and discussion of recent empirical findings, the course uniquely combines critical thinking and creativity to facilitate exploring and understanding how play functions to promote development from infancy to adulthood.

Full details for HD 3460 - Serious Fun! The Role of Play Throughout Development

Covers the science of interpersonal relationships. Examines the basic nature of human affectional bonds, including their functions and dynamics. Covers such topics as interpersonal attraction and mate selection, intimacy and commitment, love and sex, jealousy and loneliness, the neurobiology of affiliation and attachment, and the role of relationships in physical and psychological health.

Full details for HD 3620 - Human Bonding

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.

Full details for HD 3700 - Adult Psychopathology

For study that includes assisting faculty with instruction.

Full details for HD 4030 - Teaching Assistantship

Laboratory-based research that exposes students to the research process in the area of children's testimonial competence.  Students attend a weekly lab meeting for 1.5 hours per week, read pertinent papers, write reaction responses, and work 7 hours per week in the laboratory completing tasks that contribute to ongoing research studies.

Full details for HD 4230 - Research in Children's Testimony: Exploring Social and Cognitive Mechanisms

Reviews theory and research on stress, emotions, and health. This course offers opportunities for students to develop new ways to integrate theory and research on stress and health with the advances in the science of affect and emotion. In this course, undergraduate students attend a weekly lab meeting for 1.5 hours per week, read pertinent papers, write reaction responses, and work 10.5 hours per week in the laboratory completing tasks that contribute to ongoing research studies.

Full details for HD 4240 - Stress, Emotion, and Health

Full details for HD 4430 - How to Navigate the Social World

The course will survey the nature of human intelligence. Examples of topics include theories of intelligence, measurement of intelligence, development of intelligence, cultural issues regarding intelligence, heritability of intelligence, group differences in intelligence, extremes of intelligence, and improving intelligence. The course will include an independent project plus a midterm and final exam.

Full details for HD 4440 - The Nature of Human Intelligence

This course will survey theory, research, and practice with regard to human creativity and its development.  An especial emphasis will be on how to use research findings in the service of developing your own creativity.  Examples of topics will include theories of creativity, research on creativity, improving creativity, mental health and creativity, and the dark side of creativity.

Full details for HD 4540 - Creativity and Its Development

Full details for HD 4765 - How to Think Like a Scientist

This course will explore psychopathology by pairing literary descriptions of common disorders with psychological research. By examining mental illness through the lens of popular writing, we will explore the shifting cultural understanding and interpretations for disorders. We will also explore how writers' accounts of mental illness adhere (purposely or not) to DSM diagnostic criteria and empirically validated research. Authors include William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, William Styron, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Eugene O'Neill, and John Updike.

Full details for HD 4770 - Psychopathology in Great Works of Literature

Provides students who have taken and excelled in HD 3620 Human Bonding, an opportunity to explore the topics/theories/issues in greater depth and share their insights and discoveries with students currently enrolled in HD 3620. Specifically, students enrolled in HD 4790 will conduct searches of the latest scientific literatures and popular press writings with the goal of developing a presentation and leading discussions.

Full details for HD 4790 - Contemporary Perspectives on Human Bonding

As a supplement to their immersive learning experience working on faculty research projects, students in this course will engage with actors and ideas from across the youth development research and practice communities, learn about research methods and dissemination to various audiences, and begin to see the world from a translational research perspective.

Full details for HD 4850 - Professional Development in Translational Research

As a supplement to their immersive learning experience working on translational research projects led by CHE faculty, and building on their experience in HD4850 (Professional Development in Translational Research), this course will provide opportunities for students to put their learning into practice by proposing and implementing a translational research project in collaboration with community partners.

Full details for HD 4860 - Nearest Neighbor

In this weekly seminar, students are guided through the process of completing an honors thesis in human development. The course focuses on developing students' writing abilities, reviewing statistics and how to present research findings in a manuscript, and receiving feedback on drafts of their thesis, as well as practice presenting the results of their thesis in poster and oral presentations.

Full details for HD 4980 - Senior Honors Seminar

Full details for HD 4990 - Senior Honors Thesis

Designed as an orientation to the department and the university. Activities include attendance at research presentations, visits to departmental research laboratories, relevant informational sessions (e.g., Institutional Review Board for Human Participants, proposal writing), and guidance in preparing a public research presentation to be made at the end of spring semester.

Full details for HD 6200 - First-Year Proseminar in Human Development

Full details for HD 6430 - How to Navigate the Social World

The course will survey the nature of human intelligence. Examples of topics include theories of intelligence, measurement of intelligence, development of intelligence, cultural issues regarding intelligence, heritability of intelligence, group differences in intelligence, extremes of intelligence, and improving intelligence. The course will include an independent project plus a midterm and final exam.

Full details for HD 6440 - The Nature of Human Intelligence

Full details for HD 6540 - Creativity and Its Development

This course will explore the principles and current state of the field known as translational research.  In short, translational research is concerned with the application of research-based knowledge or evidence to the development and dissemination of programs, practices, and policies.  This course is particularly focused on social and health-related programs and policies.

Full details for HD 6580 - Translation of Research into Policy and Practice

Over the last decade, computational approaches to causal learning and belief revision flourished. Bayesian approaches to learning in particular have been productive and influential. In this seminar, we will explore some of this recent work in learning theory and consider its implications for moral learning and moral development. The course is divided into three parts: Part one includes an overview of Bayesian learning theories of cognitive development. Part two covers current theoretical debates in moral psychology. In part three we will evaluate the state of evidence on moral learning in children and adults within the framework of learning theory. Topics include: prosociality, fairness, rule following, parochialism, conformity, and cultural influences.

Full details for HD 6625 - Moral Learning: Computation, Rationality, and Development

This course will examine human bonding primarily from a psychological perspective, drawing on empirical and theoretical work from the fields of developmental, clinical, evolutionary, cognitive, personality, and social psychology, and secondarily from ethology, anthropology, sociology, and neurobiology. The central goal of the course is to define and explain basic structure, functions, dynamics, and formation of human affectional bonds, especially those of the attachment and mating variety.

Full details for HD 6690 - The Nature and Function of Affectional Bonds

This course provides an overview to the etiology, manifestation, diagnosis, course, and treatment of the most commonly presented DSM-V psychological disorders.

Full details for HD 6710 - Graduate Seminar in Psychopathology

What does it mean to think like a scientist?  This course will explore the structure of scientific thinking, from its philosophical foundations through current efforts to make science fair and replicable. The thought processes that underlie the methods used in psychology and neuroscience are rarely made explicit in courses on statistics and research methods – understanding these thought processes can make us better scientists and sharper thinkers.

Full details for HD 6765 - How to Think Like a Scientist

For study that predominantly involves library research and independent study.

Full details for HD 7000 - Directed Readings

For study that predominantly involves collection and analysis of research data.

Full details for HD 7010 - Empirical Research

For students assisting faculty with instruction. Does not apply to work for which students receive financial compensation.

Full details for HD 7030 - Teaching Assistantship

Full details for HD 8990 - Master's Thesis and Research

Full details for HD 9990 - Doctoral Thesis and Research