Why are people superstitious?  Why do people blush when they are embarrassed?  What is intelligence (and are IQ tests a good way to measure it)?  Why don't psychopaths feel guilty when they harm others?  How reliable are childhood memories?  Why do we laugh?  Do violent video games make people act violently?  Why do some people seem instantly trustworthy and others seem "creepy"?  How do we choose whom to sleep with, date, or marry?  How does stress affect our body?  While questions like these have been asked for centuries, psychology has begun to provide answers to these--and other questions about the human mind--by applying the tools of scientific investigation. In this course you will receive a broad introduction to the science of psychology: from the history of the field and its major advances, to the latest research on topics such as perception, memory, intelligence, morality, sexuality, mental illness, religion, language, and creativity.  You will also learn about the tools and methods psychologists use to investigate the mind, such as observing how the mind of a child changes and develops over time, looking at people across cultures, measuring brain activity, and experimentally manipulating everything from the shape of a figure presented on a computer screen, to the smell of a room, or the attractiveness of the experimenter.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-AS, SSC-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 1101 - Introduction to Psychology

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 entities 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. 

Catalog Distribution: (KCM-AS, ETM-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 1102 - Introduction to Cognitive Science

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.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-AS, SSC-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 1500 - Introduction to Environmental Psychology

Over the centuries, artists in a wide variety of media have employed many approaches to the creative process, ranging from the philosophical to the mechanical to the virtual. This course unravels some of the mysteries going on inside software used for art and music. It looks at ways of breaking things apart and sampling and ways of putting things together and resynthesizing, and explores ideas for creation. This course does not teach software packages for creating art and music. The course complements ART 2701 and MUSIC 1421.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS, SMR-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 1650 - Computing in the Arts

Research, theory, and application in sport psychology. An interdisciplinary approach which applies social and personality psychology, motivation, clinical psychology, exercise physiology, and biochemistry to the study of competitive domains. Topics will include: achievement motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, group and team dynamics, leadership, aggression, stress, and youth sports. Where possible, fieldwork experiences will be conducted in exercise physiology and exercise testing, as well as biofeedback.

Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 1990 - Sports Psychology

Introduction to psychology from a biological perspective, which focuses on brain mechanisms of behavior. Topics include the structure and function of the nervous system, physiological approaches to understanding behavior, hormones and behavior, biological bases of sensation and perception, learning and memory, cognition, emotion, and communication.

Catalog Distribution: (PBSS-AS, BIO-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 2230 - Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience

What is "personality"? How is it scientifically studied and measured? To what extent, do biological, social, and cultural factors shape personality? Is personality an expression of our genetic make up and biology, the culmination of social influences, the interplay of both, or the result of random events? In this course, we will review the major theoretical paradigms of personality psychology, discuss contemporary research, theory, and methodology, and learn about key historical debates in the study of "personality".

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-AS, ETM-AS, SSC-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 2750 - Introduction to Personality

How do we form and change our first impressions of other people? What kinds of events put us into happy versus sad moods? What explains why we persist in holding stereotypes of groups? Can we explain why we think an act is immoral? This course addresses these types of questions (and many more!) using social and cognitive psychological theory and methods. Using a variety of sources – from empirical journal articles, textbooks, TED talks, and blog-posts – we examine cutting-edge psychological research on the causes and consequences of our own and other people's judgments, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. We use different teaching methods to accomplish these learning goals, including lectures, group activities, and small group discussions.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-AS, SSC-AS)

Full details for PSYCH 3800 - Social Cognition

The intricate relations between language and thought have stirred a heated debate from ancient philosophy to the era of modern science. Does language precede thought or vice versa? Do different languages create a different understanding of one's physical and social environment?  In this course we will examine some leading theories and empirical studies on the interconnections between these two complex abilities of the mind; and explore their developmental trajectories and interactions from infancy to adulthood.

Full details for PSYCH 4382 - Language and Thought

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

Full details for PSYCH 4700 - Undergraduate Research in Psychology

Introduces students to the basic concepts, theories, and research in human development as they explain prenatal development and development in infancy and childhood, including physical, cognitive, and social/emotional development. The focus is on individual development from an interdisciplinary perspective with an emphasis on psychological development, but also drawing from the fields of sociology, history, biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and education.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-HE)

Full details for HD 1150 - Human Development: Infancy and Childhood

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.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-HE)

Full details for HD 1170 - Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

What is "personality"? How is it scientifically studied and measured? To what extent, do biological, social, and cultural factors shape personality? Is personality an expression of our genetic make up and biology, the culmination of social influences, the interplay of both, or the result of random events? In this course, we will review the major theoretical paradigms of personality psychology, discuss contemporary research, theory, and methodology, and learn about key historical debates in the study of "personality".

Full details for HD 2600 - Introduction to Personality

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.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-HE)

Full details for HD 3620 - Human Bonding

Focuses on networks of brain regions that are organized around the integration of processes related to emotion and motivation. The course first explores brain pathways for processing visual, auditory, body and face movements, and tactile stimuli that comprise the raw material used to judge the emotional significance of external events. Next, brain regions involved in the (1) emotional evaluation of that sensory input, and (2) emotional expression once a significant event is identified are described. Then, brain processes underlying the special nature of human emotional experience (subjective feelings) are explored. All of these basic emotional processes are extended by placing them within widespread brain networks that modulate emotional behavior. There is an emphasis on social contexts and the development of social emotions, including social bonding and social rejection. The manner in which emotional stress influences learning and memory, with implications for PTSD, concludes the course.

Catalog Distribution: (KCM-HE, PBS-HE, SBA-HE)

Full details for HD 3660 - Affective and Social Neuroscience

The intricate relations between language and thought have stirred a heated debate from ancient philosophy to the era of modern science. Does language precede thought or vice versa? Do different languages create a different understanding of one's physical and social environment?  In this course we will examine some leading theories and empirical studies on the interconnections between these two complex abilities of the mind; and explore their developmental trajectories and interactions from infancy to adulthood.

Catalog Distribution: (D-HE, KCM-HE, LAD-HE)

Full details for HD 4380 - Language and Thought