Psychology Undergraduate Course Catalog

Prerequisites: V89.0001 or the equivalent is a prerequisite for all courses in psychology, except for V89.0009. Additional prerequisites are noted below following the course titles.

INTRODUCTORY AND STATISTICS COURSES

Introduction to Psychology
V89.0001  Amodio, Coons, Phelps. Given every semester. 4 points.
Fundamental principles of psychology, with emphasis on basic research and applications in psychology's major theoretical areas of study: thought, memory, learning, perception, personality, social processes, development, and the physiological bases of psychology. Direct observation of methods of investigation by laboratory demonstrations and by student participation in current research projects.

Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences
V89.0010 (formerly V89.0009)  Bauer. Given every semester. 4 points.
This course aims to provide students with tools for evaluating data from psychological studies. Students will gain familiarity with data description, significance tests, confidence intervals, linear regression, analysis of variance, and other related topics. Students will learn to analyze psychological data with both handheld calculators and computer software, and learn to interpret the results from randomized experiments, as well as correlational studies.

CORE COURSES: CORE A—PSYCHOLOGY AS A NATURAL SCIENCE

Two courses must be taken to satisfy the major requirement, one for the minor. V89.0001 is the prerequisite for all Core A courses.

Perception
V89.0022  Heeger, Landy, Pelli. Given every semester. 4 points.
How do we construct a conception of physical reality based on sensory experience? Survey of basic facts, theories, and methods of studying sensation and perception. The major emphasis is on vision and audition, although other modalities may be covered. Representative topics include receptor function and physiology; color; motion; depth; psychophysics of detection, discrimination, and appearance; perceptual constancies; adaptation, pattern recognition, and the interaction of knowledge and perception.

Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
V89.0025  Curis, Davachi. Given every semester. 4 points.
Provides students with a broad understanding of the foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience including dominant theories of the neural underpinnings of a variety of cognitive processes and the research that has led to those theories. In doing so, students also learn about the goals of cognitive neuroscience research and the methods that are being employed to reach these goals.

Cognition
V89.0029  McElree, Murphy, Rehder. Given every semester. 4 points.
Introduction to theories and research in some major areas of cognitive psychology, including human memory, attention, language production and comprehension, thinking, and reasoning.

Developmental Psychology
V89.0034  Adolph, Marcus, Vouloumanos. Given every semester. 4 points.
Introduction and overview of theoretical issues and selected research in developmental psychology. Focuses on infancy through adolescence. Lectures interweave theory, methods, and findings about how we develop as perceiving, thinking, and feeling beings.

CORE COURSES: CORE B—PSYCHOLOGY AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE

Two courses must be taken to satisfy the major requirement, one for the minor. V89.0001 is the prerequisite for all Core B courses.

Personality
V89.0030  Andersen. Given every semester. 4 points.
Introduction to research in personality, including such topics as the self-concept; unconscious processes; how we relate to others; and stress, anxiety, and depression.

Social Psychology
V89.0032  Carnevale, Gollwitzer, Trope. Given every semester. 4 points.
Introduction to theories and research about the social behavior of individuals, such as perception of others and the self, attraction, affiliation, altruism and helping, aggression, moral thought and action, attitudes, influence, conformity, social exchange and bargaining, group decision making, leadership and power, and environmental psychology.

Developmental Psychology
V89.0034  Adolph, Marcus, Vouloumanos. Given every semester. 4 points.
Introduction and overview of theoretical issues and selected research in developmental psychology. Focuses on infancy through adolescence. Lectures interweave theory, methods, and findings about how we develop as perceiving, thinking, and feeling beings.

CORE COURSES: CORE C—LABORATORY COURSES

All Core C courses have prerequisites in addition to V89.0001. See individual courses.

Laboratory in Infant Cognition I and II
Prerequisites: V89.0010, V89.0034, and permission of instructor. To be taken as a two-semester sequence. Vouloumanos. Given every semester. 4 points.
A two-semester immersive research training program. Students learn general methods for studying infant development and specific methods for studying infant cognition and communication. Students participate in laboratory research projects, code and analyze data, and report results in presentation and paper formats.

Laboratory in Organizational Psychology
V89.0038  Prerequisites: V89.0010 and either V89.0030, V89.0032, V89.0051, or V89.0062 . Carnevale, Heilman, Tyler. Given every fall. 4 points.
Students are acquainted with research methodology in organizational psychology. They then perform an original study, such as a laboratory experiment or research survey, in one of these areas.

Laboratory in Personality and Social Psychology
V89.0039  Prerequisites: V89.0009 and either V89.0030, V89.0032, or V89.0062. Bolger, Chaiken. Given every semester. 4 points.
Methodology and procedures of personality and social psychological research and exercises in data analysis and research design. Statistical concepts such as reliability and validity, methods of constructing personality measures, merits and limitations of correlational and experimental research designs, and empirical evaluation of theories. Student teams conduct research projects.

Laboratory in Developmental Psychology
V89.0040.001  Prerequisites: V89.0009, V89.0034. Bolger, Hughes. Given every year. 4 points.
Review of observational and experimental techniques used in studying children. Each student chooses a topic and conducts a short-term study on that topic in a field or laboratory setting. Two presentations require a literature review and a proposed experimental design, and a report of the results of the study, which is due at semester's end.

Laboratory in Infancy Research
V89.0042  Prerequisites: V89.0009, V89.0034, and/or to be taken with a second semester of Tutorial in Infant Research, V89.0992, and permission of instructor. Adolph. Given every semester. 4 points.
Part of a year-long research training program. Students learn general methods for studying infant development and specific methods for examining infants' perceptual-motor development. Students design and conduct laboratory research projects, code and analyze data, and prepare results for presentation and publication (grant proposals, conference submissions, and journal submissions).

Laboratory in Clinical Research
V89.0043  Prerequisites: V89.0010 and either V89.0030 or V89.0051 . Welkowitz, Westerman. Given every semester. 4 points.
The course concerns the process of the scientific investigation into issues related to psychopathology, personality dynamic, individual differences, interpersonal interaction, and various treatment modalities. Lectures cover all aspects of research methodology. Students complete a set of research exercises and submit writing assignments, including an APA-style research article.

Laboratory in Perception
V89.0044  Prerequisites: V89.0010 and either V89.0022, V89.0025, V89.0027, or V89.0029 . Carrasco, Landy, Pelli. Given every semester. 4 points.
Presents a state-of-the-art introduction to the design and implementation of experiments in perception. By participating in class-designed experiments and by carrying out a research project design by individual or pairs of students, students learn how to formulate an experimental question, design and conduct an experiment, statistically analyze experimental data using a variety of statistical tests, write up the experiments as research papers, and present a short research talk.

Laboratory in Human Cognition
V89.0046  Formerly V89.0028. Prerequisites: V89.0010 and either V89.0022, V89.0025, V89.0027, or V89.0029 . McElree. Given every year. 4 points.
Presents a state-of-the-art introduction to the design and implementation of experiments in cognitive psychology as performed on computers. Experiments are performed in the areas of perception, learning, memory, and decision making. Students carry out independent research projects and learn to write research reports conforming to APA guidelines.

Lab in Statistical Methods
V89.0047  Prerequisite: V89.0009. Given every semester. 4 points.
An advanced undergraduate course in analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression that aims to reinforce first semester statistics and extend knowledge and application of statistics to problem solving using exploratory data analysis using both Excel and SPSS. The course seeks to bridge the gap between basic statistics courses offered at the undergraduate level and graduate statistics.

Lab in Psychopathology
V89.0048 Prerequisites: V89.0010 and either V89.0030 or V89.0051. Kellogg.
This laboratory will serve as an introduction to research approaches and strategies as applied to the issue of psychopathology and its treatment. This will be done through the re-creation of interesting and compelling studies that have been culled from the psychiatric and psychological literatures. Using real and stimulated data, class members will re-run these studies using SPSS. In addition, the weekly lectures will not only cover important issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders, but also the basic principles, methodology, and ethics of psychological research.

Behavioral and Integrative Neural Science
V89.0052  Identical to V23.0202 and V80.0202. Prerequisites: V23.0011, V23.0012, and either V89.0025 or V80.0100 . If this class is taken with its laboratory component for 5 points, the course can count as both a laboratory and advanced elective. Glimcher. Given every spring. 4 or 5 points.
See description under Neural Science (80).

ADVANCED ELECTIVE COURSES

All advanced elective courses have prerequisites in addition to V89.0001. See individual courses.

Seminar in Memory
V89.0023  Prerequisite: V89.0029. McElree. Given every 2 to 3 years. 4 points.
Examination of the conceptual problems involved in understanding the retention of information. Reviews research findings addressed to those problems, involving studies with humans and subhumans and with environmental, psychological, and biochemical variables.

Language and Mind
V89.0027  Prerequisite: V89.0029. Identical to V61.0028. Baltin, Marcus, McElree. Given every spring. 4 points.
Introduces students to the field of cognitive science through an examination of language behavior, one of the major domains of inquiry in the discipline. Begins with interactive discussions of how best to characterize and study the mind. These principles are then illustrated through an examination of research and theories related to language representation and use. The course draws from research in both formal linguistics and psycholinguistics.

Social Psychology of Decision Making
Pre-requisites V89.0029 or V89.0032
This course will review theory and research on cognitive and motivational processes underlying judgments and decision making regarding social objects and events.  The course will examine how people seek, interpret, and integrate information in making social judgments and decisions.  The seminar will discuss models of rational judgment and how cognitive limitations, social stereotypes, emotions, desires, and impulses produce judgmental error and biases.  The course will examine how these judgmental phenomena are expressed in everyday life situations.

Prejudice and Stereotyping
V89.0030.013 & 015 Henry (visiting faculty member)
This course will cover historical and contemporary scientific approaches to understanding prejudice, specifically prejudice that exists between social groups (for example, ethnic prejudice, religious prejudice, etc.) across different cultures. Readings will draw from multiple social scientific perspectives, and will cover topics including the origins of prejudice, the justification of prejudice, the different forms of prejudicial expression, the identification of prejudice in individuals and institutions, the consequences of being a victim of prejudice, and the value (or not) of different prejudice reduction strategies.

Psychology of Addiction
V89.0300.003 This course will provide: (1) an overview of the major substances of abuse; (2) a review of the various psychological approaches to understanding substance use, abuse, and addiction as informed by the cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and behavioral traditions; (3) an in-depth exploration of the major forms of addiction treatment; and (4) an application of this knowledge to the non-substance or behavioral addictions such as pathological gambling and addictive sexuality.

ST: Seminar in Thinking
V89.0300.004 Prerequisites: V89.0010 and V89.0029 This seminar focuses in depth on a single aspect of thinking: decision making. Decision making is a critical part of every person’s life, as we make decisions about major life events such as what college to go to (if any), whether to get married, or what career to follow, down to trivial decisions about which bagel to order or where to sit in a class. We will examine formal theories of how people /should/ make decisions, as well as many studies on whether people are good or even rational decision makers. The class is a seminar, and active discussion and class participation are expected.

Psychology of Action
V89.0300.004 In the last decade, there has been a surge of research on the mechanisms of human action. This seminar covers most of the basic questions regarding human action: What are the mechanisms by which action plans are acquired (learned), mentally represented, activated, selected, and expressed? The seminar addresses research on motor control, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, biology, as well as cognitive,developmental, social, and motivational psychology. The seminar thus adheres to a multidisciplinary perspective on the analysis of human action.

Social Support Processes
V89.0300.007 Pre-requisites: V89.0032.001
This special topics course will examine what is known about the effects of social support, as well as factors that influence the provision of support.  Social support is defined in the literature alternatively as networks and structural relationships, cognitions and beliefs about the availability of support, or daily transactions of supportive behavior. The assumed nature of support also varies, ranging from displays of empathy and reassurance, to provision of helpful information, to the enactment of practical help.  Some researchers consider support in the context of stressful life events or health events, while others consider it more broadly as a means to enhance general positive growth and functioning.  Depending on the way support is defined and measured, its apparent effects are either very positive, mildly helpful, ineffective or even harmful.  Studies of the effects of support are challenging because persons who receive support in the general population vary systematically from those who do not.  Recipients tend to be more socially connected but also more in need.  Students taking this course will review the literature on social support and evaluate experimental and survey-based studies that attempt to reveal the impact of support. Weekly response papers will inform class discussion of papers.  A final paper will be required.

Social Attitudes
V89.0300.010 Pre-requisites: V89.0032
The aim of this course is to provide an overview of the major empirical and theoretical developments in the area of attitudes and evaluation. Attitudes are positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event that guide our judgments and behavior. People can also be ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question. The pre-requisite for this course is Introduction to Social Psychology.

Social Psychology of Decision Making
V89.0300.011 Pre-requisites: V89.0029 or V89.0032
This course will review theory and research on cognitive and motivational processes underlying judgments and decision making regarding social objects and events. The course will examine how people seek, interpret, and integrate information in making social judgments and decisions. The seminar will discuss models of rational judgment and how cognitive limitations, social stereotypes, emotions, desires, and impulses produce judgmental error and biases. The course will examine how these judgmental phenomena are expressed in everyday life situations.

Social Neuroscience
V89.0300.012 Pre-requisites: V89.0022, V89.0025, or V89.0029 AND either V89.0032 or V89.0030
This course provides an overview of topics in the emerging field of Social Neuroscience. We will focus on how theories and methods of neuroscience may be used to address classic questions of social psychology from new and informative angles. The goal of this course is to give you a broad background in social neuroscience so that you may (a) be a critical consumer of this literature, (b) broaden the way you think about connections between the mind, brain, and behavior in the context of the social world, and (c) most importantly, apply these ideas to inform your own ideas and future research in psychology.

Abnormal Psychology
V89.0051  Formerly V89.0035. Prerequisite: any Core B course or permission of the instructor. Jenkins, Wolitzky. Given every semester. 4 points.
The kinds, dynamics, causes, and treatment of psychopathology. Topics include early concepts of abnormal behavior; affective disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and personality disorders; the nature and effectiveness of traditional and modern methods of psychotherapy; and viewpoints of major psychologists past and present.

Behavioral and Integrative Neural Science
V89.0052  Identical to V23.0202 and V80.0202. Prerequisites: V23.0011, V23.0012, and either V89.0024 or V80.0100. Glimcher. Given every spring. 4 or 5 points.
See description under Neural Science (80).

Psychology, Neuropsychology, and Medicine
V89.0055  Prerequisite: V89.0024 or a year of biology or permission of the instructor. Coons. 4 points.
Contributions of psychology and neuropsychology to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injury, dysfunction, and disease and to posttreatment rehabilitation. Compliance problems in medical treatment; behavioral factors in the etiology of stress-related disorders; cognitive and neurobehavioral diagnostic techniques to discriminate between dysfunctions of psychological and physiological origin; and biofeedback, hypnosis, and behavioral control in treating various medical problems.

The Psychology of Language
V89.0056  Formerly Psycholinguistics. Prerequisite: V89.0001 or V61.0001 (Linguistics). McElree. Given every other year. 4 points.
Examines theories and research concerning the cognitive processes and linguistic representations that enable language comprehension and production. Topics include speech perception, visual processes during reading, word recognition, syntactic processing, and semantic/discourse processing.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology
V89.0062  Prerequisite: V89.0001, V89.0010, and either V89.0030, V89.0032, V89.0034 or V89.0036. Given every spring. 4 points.
Personal, social, and environmental factors related to people's attitudes and performance in industry and other organizations. Topics include personnel selection and evaluation, training and development, attitudes and motivation, leadership, group dynamics, organizational structure and climate, and job design and working conditions.

Gender Roles and Behavior
V89.0072  Formerly Sex Roles and Behavior. Identical to V97.0072. Howell. Given every other year. 4 points.
Considers ways that gender expectations influence women's and men's behavior and the way that they perceive the world. Topics include theories of gender socialization and development, physiological and cultural determinants of sex differences, and power relationships between men and women. A major goal of the course is to relate recent findings from the scientific literature to the students' own lives as children, on campus, and in the future.

Special Topics in Psychology
V89.0300  Prerequisites: At least one Core A and one Core B course. Given every semester. 4 points.
Seminars of an advanced level. Topics vary each time offered.

CogNeuro: Principles of Frontal Lobe Functions
V89.0300.002 Prerequisites: V89.0022, V89.0025, or V89.0029. Curtis.
The frontal cortex is thought to be a key cortical area important for the integration of sensory and motor information. Many cognitive and emotional facets of our behavior that make us unique as humans are thought to depend on the frontal cortex, which accounts for almost 1/3 of the cortical surface of the entire brain. In this course we will delve into the issues that have led many clinicians and scientists throughout the years to suspect that the key to understanding what makes us uniquely human depends on understanding the frontal cortex. We will cover important neuropsychological patient studies and theories as well as human and animal empirical studies into the structure and physiology of the frontal lobes as they relate to higher cognitive functions.

Two ‘mock’ endeavors are emphasized in the class and form the majority of basis for evaluation, the oral communication of research results and the written proposal of a research grant.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion
V89.0300.003 Prerequisites: V89.0001 and V89.0025. Phelps.
This seminar will examine what is known about neural systems mediating emotion and cognition in humans.  Topics covered will include: Fear learning, Controlling fears, Emotion's influence on memory, attention and perception, and Emotion and social behavior.  The course will consist of reading primary articles that students are expected to present and discuss.

Motivation and Volition
V89.0300.010 Prerequisites: V89.0032 and V89.0029
The course provides an overview of the major theories and findings in research on motivation and volition. More specifically, we will address the history of research on motivation and volition, classic phenomena of being motivated versus lacking motivation and willpower, the psychology of goals (goal setting, goal implementation, effortful goal pursuits, disengagement, content and structure of goals, the mental representation of goals), disorders of self-regulation, and cognitive-neuropsychological research as well as the perspective of economics on motivation and volition. We will focus on understanding the interrelations and contradictions between the different approaches, and on designing research that promotes these different lines of thinking.

Language Acquisition and Cognitive Development
V89.0300.011 Prerequisite: V89.0001 or instructor permission
In the first three years of life, children go from helpless creatures, fresh out of the womb, to toddlers with a basic grasp of language and the people and objects in the world around them. How do they do that? This seminar will discuss current issues in language acquisition and cognitive development, exploring nature, nurture, and their interaction.

Experiments in Beauty
V89.0300.012 Beauty is famously hard to study scientifically, but students in this hands-on laboratory course will each week formulate beauty-related questions and design and implement experiments to answer them. We also read and discuss one article/chapter each week from authors including Kant, Woolf, Berlin, Donoghue, Kuhn, Quine, and Wittgenstein.

Speech: A Window into the Developing Mind
V89.0300.013 Prerequisite: At least two from V89.0022, V89.0029, V89.0032 or V89.0034.
Open to juniors and seniors only. Covers selected new findings in infant speech perception, focusing on speech as a linguistic, communicative and social signal. Topics may range from audio-visual speech perception to the role of speech in social cognition. Emphasizes theories, experimental design, and critical thinking.

Research Experiences and Methods
V89.0999  Prerequisites: V89.0001, V89.0009, and at least two other psychology courses and permission of department required. Recommended: a laboratory course in psychology. This course may be repeated for three semesters. It is normally taken for 4 points, but may be approved for less after the first semester with permission of the instructor. Aaronson. Given every semester. 1-4 points.
Undergraduate students are paired with faculty, advanced graduate students, or other researchers on a one-to-one basis to pursue common research goals in psychology. Undergraduates serve as apprentices on survey, laboratory, clinical, and field research projects and in return receive guidance in reading and developing research skills. Biweekly meetings deal with research methods and design and allow students an opportunity to speak on their research projects. Written assignments include several brief homeworks and a final journal-style research report.

HONORS COURSES

Open only to students who have been admitted to the psychology honors program. Either V89.0200 or V89.0201 (but not both) may be counted as an advanced elective in the fulfillment of the requirements of the major.

Honors Seminar I
V89.0200  Prerequisite: Admission to the psychology honors program. Given every fall. 4 points.
Students read and discuss recent studies and classical papers related to current controversies in psychology. A portion of class time is set aside for discussion of theoretical and technical aspects of each student's thesis project.

Honors Seminar II
V89.0201  Prerequisite: V89.0200. Given every spring. 4 points.
A continuation of V89.0200. Students are also expected to present preliminary results of their thesis projects and interpret their findings.

GRADUATE COURSES OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES

Certain courses in the Graduate School of Arts and Science are open to advanced undergraduates who satisfy the following prerequisites: junior or senior major in psychology, permission of the student's undergraduate psychology adviser, permission of the Department of Psychology (graduate division), and additional specific prerequisites listed for each course. For further information, please consult the Graduate Course Catalog.