Fall 2009 Course OfferingsNote about meeting times and locations:The meeting times and locations of the courses listed here can be found on the Schedule of Classes Be sure to consult the SOC for the most updated information regarding schedules and rooms. Also some upper level course numbers may change as adjustments to the new SIS are made.
Instructor: Dodson Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Use the online waitlist. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: Overview of psychology from both the social science and natural science perspectives. The lectures will be focused on issues in human development, personality theory, abnormal psychology, behavior disorders, social psychology, intelligence, language, learning, memory, and cognitive and sensory processes. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Two 1-hour tests and a final exam Papers or projects: None
Instructor: Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Use the online waitlist. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents: Overview of psychology from both the social science and natural science perspectives. The lectures will be focused on issues in human development, personality theory, abnormal psychology, behavior disorders, social psychology, language, learning, memory, and cognitive and sensory processes. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Three 1-hour tests and a final exam Papers or projects: None
Instructor: Cedric Williams Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Please use the online wait list. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: The course will examine historical and current theories that explain how different types of learning provide the foundation for most, if not all forms of an organism's behavior. We will cover these theories by carefully examining the most important research experiments that contributed to our current understanding of the principles and concepts that shape our behavior. The lecture content will focus heavily on experimental findings derived from research of learning processes in human and non-human species. The concept of Learning will be explored from the perspective of theories of Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and more recent theories of the organization of behavior derived from human studies. Format: Lecture, Discussion No. and type of exams: Four multiple-choice, short answer, brief essay Papers or projects: Six to eight homework assignments consisting of 3-5 short essay questions. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Jaswal Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not contact the professor. Description of course contents: Cognition is the activity of knowing: the acquisition, organization, and use of knowledge. Emphasizing fundamental issues, this course introduces such basic content areas in cognitive psychology as perception, memory, language, cognitive development, and philosophy of science. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: 4, Multiple-choice, short answer, brief essay Papers or projects: Six to eight homework assignments consisting of 3-5 short essay questions.
Instructor: Hill Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents: One approach to understanding human behavior is to consider ourselves from a biological perspective. This course attempts to do so by examining how the brain guides behavior. The first portion is an overview of the structure and function of the central nervous system. With this knowledge, we then examine how the brain controls a variety of higher behaviors, including learning and memory, sex, emotions and sleeping. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: 4 multiple choice exams and one multiple choice final Papers or projects: None
Instructor: Proffitt Credits: 3 (optional 1 credit lab) Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Please use the online wait list. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents: Study of selected topics in perception, particularly visual perception; the role of stimulus variables, learning and motivation of perception. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Three midterms and a cumulative final. All exams are of a short and very short answer format - for example, fill in the blank, label the figure, or answer in a sentence or two. Papers or projects: None ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Llewellyn Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: Please use the online wait list. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents:Personality psychology tries to describe the psychological funtioning of whole individuals. This course surveys the many methods and theoretical approached used for the study of personality and includes discussion of the psychoanalytic, social and cognitive systems of thought. Relevant reserch from the perspectives are presented. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: TBA Papers or projects: None
Instructor: Tim Wilson Credits: 3 (1 credit discussion section is optional) Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents: A survey of the major topics in social psychology, including social perception, social cognition, attitudes and persuasion, conformity, helping relationships, and stereotyping and prejudice. Research, theory and applications of social psychology are considered. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Three multiple-choice exams Papers or projects: Two short papers ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Credits: 3 (1 credit optional discussion section) Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: None If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email the Professor. Description of course contents: This course provides an introduction to psychological development from birth through adolescence. The nature of changes during infancy, childhood, and adolescence, as well as the methods of study and theorizing about development are discussed. Format: Lecture, discussion No. and type of exams: One take home essay final exam; continuous assessment with iclickers in class. Papers or projects: One hands-on project (4-5 page paper)
Instructor: Freeman Credits: 4 (Required lab section) Prerequisites: PSYC 101 or any 200-level PSYC course Enrollment Restrictions: Registration is required for the BOTH the lecture and a lab section to be officially enrolled in the class. Otherwise you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture, lab, or change lab sections will be given during the first lecture. If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: Introduction to research methods in psychology, integrating statistical analysis. Emphasis on descriptive statistics and non-experimental research methods. Use of computers for data analysis, experimentation, and report writing. This course is required for majors and is the first part of a two-part series (305-306). Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: 3 or 4 exams and final; short answer, problems Papers or projects: Lab includes papers/projects
Instructor: TBA Credits: 4 (Required lab section) Prerequisites: PSYC 101 or any 200-level PSYC course Enrollment Restrictions: Registration is required for the BOTH the lecture and a lab section to be officially enrolled in the class. Otherwise you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture, lab, or change lab sections will be given during the first lecture. If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: Introduction to research methods in psychology, integrating statistical analysis. Emphasis on descriptive statistics and non-experimental research methods. Use of computers for data analysis, experimentation, and report writing. This course is required for majors and is the first part of a two-part series (305-306). Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: 3 or 4 exams and final; short answer, problems Papers or projects: Lab includes papers/projects
Instructor: Schmidt Credits: 4 (Required lab section) Prerequisites: PSYC 305 (with C- or better, C if class of 2010) Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc Majors/Minors, Cog- Sci Majors Registration is required for the BOTH the lecture and a lab section to be officially enrolled in the class. Otherwise you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture, lab, or change lab sections will be given during the first lecture. If course is full through SIS: An online waitlist may be started if needed. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: Second part of a two-part series required for psychology majors. Emphasis on inferential statistics (t-tests and ANOVA) and issues in experimentation. **Course May Meet Second Writing Requirement** Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: 4 exams and final: short-answer, multiple-choice, problems Papers or projects: Lab includes projects/papers
Instructor: Coan Credits: 3 Prerequisites: 6 credits in psychology, including preferably PSYC101 Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors/minors have priority registration If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This is an introductory course in psychopathology, or the scientific study of mental disorders. It will focus on the description of specific forms of abnormal behavior and the ways in which they are studied. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Papers or projects:
Instructor: Reppucci Credits: 4 (Required lab section — Graded option only) Prerequisites: None Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors/minors have priority registration; but others are encouraged to enroll. If course is full through SIS: An Online waitlist may be started if needed. Most students who want to enroll in this course are able to so. Description of course contents: Goal: To acquaint the student with various issues in the law that have an impact on children and with psychological research and practice regarding children and families that is germane to legal policy. The course is based in developmental, clinical and community psychology theory and research. Topics include: (1) child, family, state and the rights and prerequisites of each; (2) children's decision making and capacities to provide informed consent; (3) the juvenile justice system and delinquency; (4) state intervention in families, especially child abuse and child custody; (5) child witnesses; (6) adolescent reproductive rights; (7) ethics and the limits of psychological expertise in juvenile and family law. Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Two essay exams Papers or projects: At least one substantial paper Other: The laboratory focuses on (1) legal concepts and use of legal materials; (2) observations in juvenile court and ride-along experience with police, (3) participation in a mock trial; (4) field experience in research, and (5) other relevant exercises in research. Student participation will be actively encouraged. Attendance is required. Short papers will be required. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: DeLoache Credits: 3 Prerequisites: PSYC 250 recommended Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors/minors have priority registration If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waitlist. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This is a broad survey course of psychological research on infant development Format: Lecture with frequent class discussions No. and type of exams: 3 exams - mixed objective and written Papers or projects:TBA ____________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Allen Credits: 3 Prerequisites: PSYC 250 or 6 hours in Psychology Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors until after 3rd and 4th-year majors have registered. If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting. Do not email professor. Description of course contents: Course focus: 1) Background and theories of adolescence, 2) contributions to adolescence from: puberty, intellectual growth, and identify formation, 3) contexts of adolescence: the family situation, peer groups, school, and culture, 4) special topics of adolescence; religious, moral, and sexual development, sex roles, career planning (and achievement), disorders (drugs, delinquency, depression, suicide, etc.) Format: Lecture No. and type of exams: Combination of multiple choice and short essay Papers or projects: 1 paper or project (optional) ___________________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Willingham Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Psyc 215; Grade of B- or higher in Psyc 215 highly recommended. Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology majors/ minors Cog Sci majors/minors If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: Psychologists have studied the processes of learning and thinking for over 100 years, and theoreticians have attempted to apply that knowledge to K-12 education for almost that long. This course will use information from cognitive psychology to examine: major steams of thought in pedagogy; data patterns in student achievement and in teacher effectiveness; subject-specific teaching strategies, and proposed reforms for American education. Format: Lecture and discussion Format: Seminar No. and type of exams: Papers or projects: ____________________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Wiltgen Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Psyc 220 or 420 Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc 4th year If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This seminar will examine the neural basis of learning and memory. We will study brain systems that mediate different types of learning and memory as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms that allow these systems to acquire and store information. The course will begin with a historical overview of learning and memory research in psychology and transition into modern studies in behavioral neuroscience. Topics will include memory consolidation, neural plasticity, cellular competition for memory storage, the role of neurogenesis in learning and memory and mechanisms of retention and forgetting. We will also discuss disorders that produce memory impairments in humans and current attempts to model these in animals and develop treatments. Students will learn how to read and interpret scientific articles, present their ideas in a group setting and critically analyze current theories in memory research. Format: Seminar No. and type of exams: midterm exam Papers or projects: 2-3 oral presentations and a final paper ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Walker Credits: 3 Prerequisites: PSYC 305 and PSYC 306 or equivalent in social science field Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology major/minors, and a limited number of spaces will be made available to students from other social science departments who are interested in conducting community-based research. Students must be prepared to work together on research projects that will assist local agencies in providing social services and attend two monthly workgroup meetings of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Commission on Children and Families (which take place during week day afternoons). If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This course will provide advanced undergraduate students with the opportunity to participate in a community-based research project with a local social service agency. We will investigate why low-income residents and agency personnel in communities are suspicious about researchers, how history and social science methods have contributed to the dynamics, and what this means for doing research in community settings. Throughout the course we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various research approaches, asking: Who benefits from particular approaches? In what ways? How can we balance the sometimes competing goals of research objectivity with improving communities? Research projects may include developing or analyzing surveys to administer to social service agency personnel or their clients about service needs, interviews withcommunity members or collecting, and reviews of effective practices and their applicability to the local community. Format: Seminar No. and type of exams: None Papers or projects: Four, including a write up of the final research project.
Instructor:Wood Credits: 3 Prerequisites: PSYC 215 and PSYC 305 Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology, Linguistics and Cognitive Science Students If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: We will investigate the acquistion of syntax in language development from empirical and theoretical perspectives. Questions about what it means to know language and how language is acquired will be explored in depth, along with discussions involving acqusition/development of language, which will include sign language and development of homesigned "language". Format: Lecture, discussion, and presentations No. and type of exams: One Papers or projects: One
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Instructor: Miga Credits: 3 Prerequisites:Psyc 341 Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology, If the course in full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This course is designed to be a discussion of the role of close relationships in the emergence, maintenance, and reduction of psychological distress in adolescence and young adulthood. Social isolation is now considered to be as potentially damaging to your health as cigarette smoking (House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). This knowledge is clearly disconcerting, and warrants continued attention to the specific ingredients of relationships that have such a profound impact on health-related behaviors. The primary goal of this course is to provide an introduction to the theoretically and empirically driven mechanisms by which close relationships (family, peer, romantic) may have an impact on mood disorders, and more general psychological adjustment. We will begin the course by exploring the role of relationships in healthy psychological adjustment. We will then explore the many functions of relationships in the context of major areas of dysfunction such as depression, anxiety, and aggressive behaviors. In addition, this course will emphasize the importance of engaging in critical, independent thinking and thoughtful discussion regarding contemporary research in this area. Lastly, this course is pan-theoretical, (i.e. is designed to acquaint students with a variety of theoretical approaches), but we will largely draw upon attachment theory, developmental psychopathology, and social neuroscience to explore the integral role of interpersonal processes in psychopathology. Format: Seminar No. and type of exams: Papers or Projects: Mid-term, Final Paper and a presentation ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Sally Linkenauger Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Psyc 220 or 230 or 215 Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology, If the course in full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: It is a common misconception that humans have more highly evolved sensory systems than other animals; however, this is not the case. Perceptual systems evolved to maximize the functioning of the animal with minimal energetic cost. As a result, perceptual systems differ with respect to the animals’ needs and goals given their natural habitat. In fact, insects and birds can see more colors than humans to identify different varieties of flowers, and most nocturnal animals, including dogs and cats, have superior night vision. In this class, we will explore the animal kingdom to understand how sensory systems differ in comparison to humans’ and how these differences reflect the habitat and lifestyle of the organism. Format: Lecture, discussion, and presentations No. and type of exams: Papers or projects: ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Wilson, M Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Enrollment Restrictions: 4th-year Psychology majors/minors If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: Examines the current state of research on minority families, focusing on the black family. Emphasizes comparing “deficit” and “strength” research paradigms. Format: Seminar. No. and type of exams: TBA Papers or projects: TBA ___________________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Erisir Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Psyc 420/720 or permission of instructor Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology and Neuroscience Major/Minors or graduate standing If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: A survey of recent literature examining cellular and molecular mechanisms of plasticity that is observed during development of many brain structures. Format: Seminar. No. and type of exams: Papers or projects: Class Presentations, 2 term papers
Instructor:Clore Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Enrollment Restrictions: 4th-year psychology majors/minors, cog-sci majors and GSAS. If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: The cognition-emotion seminar covers the connection between thinking and feeling in two ways. The first part asks about the causes of emotion, and the second asks about the consequences of emotion. Part 1 concerns the nature and definition of emotion and the role of cognitive appraisals in their elicitation and intensity. Distinctions will be made among concepts such as affect, emotion, mood, and temperament. Part 2 concerns the consequences of emotion for cognition, experience, and behavior. Of interest will be such topics as the effects on judgment and decision-making, processing and performance, and memory and attention, and the role of culture. Format: Lecture and Discussion No. and type of exams: one Papers or projects: Class presentations, weekly brief thought papers and a term paper on a research project
Instructor: Oishi Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Enrollment Restrictions: GSAS and 4th year Psychology majors/minors. If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This course explores various issues in the intersection of personality, social, and cultural psychology. It is designed to expose you to different research perspectives, methodologies, and most recent developments in this area. Topics covered in this course include theories of self and culture, the measurement of personality across cultures, cross-situational consistency, cultural influences on personality and emotion. After taking this course, you should know diverse arrays of personality and social psychological research conducted by cultural and cross-cultural psychologists and should be able to develop research ideas and design experiments to test your ideas. Format: Discussion No. and type of exams: None Papers or projects: One Term Paper/ oral presentations ___________________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Oishi Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Enrollment Restrictions: GSAS and 4th year Psychology majors/minors. If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This course explores the processes in which individuals and society “make up” each other. Specifically, the course explores the way in which socio-ecological factors such as residential mobility, density, and geography affect individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and actions, and the way in which individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and actions help create particular socio-ecological conditions. Format: Discussion No. and type of exams: None Papers or projects: weekly 1-page reaction/reflection papers + 3 short papers Instructor: Lillard Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Graduate Student or Psyc 306 Enrollment Restrictions: GSAS and 4th year Psychology majors/minors. If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: This course begins by examining the long-held view that functions are localized in particular places in the brain, fixed by adulthood. After reviewing the history of these ideas we will examine the tide of research challenging that view: how imagination and virtual reality might change thinking; how memory can be enhanced; correction of language disabilities with training; how sensory deprivation might be corrected through other senses; phantom limbs; how culture can modify a perceptual system; rehabilitation of stroke victims; etc. Students interested in all areas of psychology should find much of interest in this course. Format: Discussion No. and type of exams: None Papers or projects: One term paper ___________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Haidt Credits: 3 Prerequisites: Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc 4th year GSAS If course is full through SIS: Please use the online waiting list. Do not email the professor. Description of course contents: Moral motives are all around us, but they are often hard to see because of our own moralism: we dismiss actions and people we disagree with as evil or misguided. The first part of this course will be a primer on moral psychology, including the evolutionary basis of human morality and its cultural diversity. Then we'll move on to politics, partisanship, and the culture war; then finally, to terrorism. We'll read books from across the social sciences. A central theme of the course is that politics, religion, terrorism, and racism cannot be understood without a full understanding of moral psychology. Format: Seminar No. and type of exams: none Papers or projects: two small papers, one large final paper, and several small ungraded projects. |
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