Psychology: Spring 2011 Course Offerings

 

Spring 2012 Course Offerings

Note about meeting times and locations:

Be sure to consult the Class Search for the most updated information regarding schedules and rooms. Do not use the course catalog.


1010-1 Introduction to Psychology 4120 Psychology of Reading
2100 Introduction to Learning 4559-1 Behavior Genetics
2150 Introduction to Cognition 4559-2 The New Science of the Unconscious
2200 Introduction to Psychobiology 4559-3 Social-Cognitive Development: Learning from Others
2400 Introduction to Personality Psychology 4602 Woman's Issues in Clinical Psychology
2600 Introduction to Social Psychology 5035 Leading and Managing Diverse Groups
2700 Introduction to Child Psychology 5200 Current Topics in Psychobiology
3005 Research Methods & Data Analysis I 5315 Pleasure
3006-1 Research Methods & Data Analysis II 5410 Juvenile Justice, Violence and Adolescent Devel.
3006-2 Research Methods & Data Analysis II 5559-1 Affective Neuroscience
3220 Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 5559-2 Indivdual Differences in Cognition and Personality
3410 Abnormal Psychology 5559-3 Measurement: Item Response Theory
3490 Development in Infancy 5559-4 Machine Learning and Data Mining
4005 Advanced Research Methods 5559-5 Social Cognition and Social Change
4110 Psycholiguistics 5559-6 Brain Systems Involved in Learning and Memory
4111 Language Development and Disorders  


PSYC 1010 Introduction to Psychology

top

Instructor: Bonvillian

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: If you never picked up the owners's manual for your mind, this course is the next best thing. The course gives an overview of the major areas of contemporary psychology: psychobiology, cognition, child development, social psychology and clinical psychology. Cross-cutting themes include the ways that evolution and culture work together to create the human mind, and how to use psychology to improve your own life.

Format: Lecture

No. and type of exams: Two 1-hour tests and a final exam

Papers or projects: None

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 2100: Introduction to Learning and Behavior
top

 

PSYC 2100: Introduction to Learning and Behavior

Instructor: Cedric Williams

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: none

If this course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic 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



PSYC 2150: Introduction to Cognition

top

Instructor: Willingham

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: Cognition is the Activity of knowing: and use of knowledge. Emphasizing fundamental issues, this course introduced such basic content areas in cognitive psychology and perception, attention, memory and language

Format: Lecture

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects:



PSYC 2200: Introduction to Psychobiology

top

Instructor: Hill

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. 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:

Papers or projects: None



PSYC 2400: Introduction to Personality Psychology

top

Instructor: Turkheimer

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic 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:

Papers or projects: None

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 2600 Introduction to Social Psychology

Instructor: Oishi

Credits: 3 (1 credit discussion section is optional)

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. 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, confromity, helping relationships, and stereotyping and prejudice. Research, theory and applications of social psychology are considered.

Format: Lecture/discussion

No. and type of exams: Three multiple-choice exams

Papers or projects: Two short papers are assigned in discussion sections



PSYC 2700: Introduction to Child Psychology

top

Instructor:

Credits:3 ( optional 1 credit discussion section)

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: None

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. 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: 3, combination of objective and short answer

Papers or projects: One hands-on project (4-5 page paper)

 



PSYC 3005: Research Methods & Data Analysis I

top

Instructor: Morris

Credits: 4 (Required lab section)

Prerequisites:Students must have completed of one of the following math courses with a grade of C- or higher: MATH 1210 (Applied Calculus I), MATH 1212 (Applied Calculus I with Algebra), MATH 1220 (Applied Calculus II), MATH 1310 (Calculus I), MATH 1320 (Calculus II), APMA 1090 (Single Variable Calculus I), or APMA 1110 (Single Variable Calculus II). Students with transfer credit or AP credit in one of these courses (e.g., AP Calculus AB, or AP Calculus BC) are exempt from the requirement. Students need not have completed the math requirement to declare a psychology major but must have completed the math requirement before taking PSYC 3005.

Note: Students with strong math or statistics background should consider taking PSYC 4005 as a stubstitute for PSYC 3005.

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: Please use the automatic wait list. 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 (3005-3006).

Format: Lecture

No. and type of exams: 3 or 4 exams and final; short answer, problems

Papers or projects: Lab includes papers/projects



PSYC 3006-1: Research Methods & Data Analysis II

top

Instructor: Freeman

Credits: 4 (Required lab section)

Prerequisites: PSYC 3005 with a grade of C or better

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: Please use the automatic wait list. 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: 3 or 4 exams and final; short answer, problems

Papers or projects: Lab includes papers/projects



PSYC 3006-2 Research Methods & Data Analysis II

top

Instructor: Schmidt

Credits: 4 (Required lab section)

Prerequisites: PSYC 3005 with a grade of C or better

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: Please use the automatic wait list. 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

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 3220: Neurbiology of Learning and Memory

PSYC 3220: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Instructor: Wiltgen

Prerequisites: PSYC 2200

Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc majors/minors, Cog sci, neuroscience

If course is full through ISIS: Please use the automatic wait list. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents. This course 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.

Format: Lecture

No. and type of exams: midterm and final

Papers or projects: one 3 page paper



PSYC 3410: Abnormal Psychology

top

Instructor: Coan

Prerequisites: 6 Credit in Psychology

Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors/minors have priority registration

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait 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:



PSYC 3490 Development in Infancy

top

Instructor: Keen

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc major/minors, cog sci

If course is full through SIS: Please use the automatic wait list. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: Development during infancy is rapid and fascinating. Changes come in how babies see, hear, move, and think. Social influences in family, community, and culture shape the infant's development. We will go over all of these in detail with lectures, class discussions, films, and reading assignments.

Format: Lecture with frequent class discussions.

No. and type of exams: multiple choice and essay

Papers or projects: None

____________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4005: Advanced Research Methods and Data Analysis
top

Instructor: Von Oertzen

Credits: 4

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: This Course does not count as fulfilling the Seminar Requirement

This Course does not count as fulfilling the Seminar Requirement

NOTE: This class is a substitute for PSYC 3005

If course is full through SIS: Registration by permission only.

Description of course contents: This course is the first of a two-courses series which students intending to continue to graduate school after their Bachelor may take to replace Research Methods and Data Analysis. In this series, we start by laying out foundational mathematical concepts that are common to all or most quantitative methods in Psychology. In the second course of this series, this foundations will be used to introduce specific data analysis techniques as special cases, and introduce some research methods. The topics for this course encompass probability theory, information theory, linear algebra, test theory, and an introduction to modeling.

Format: Lecture with frequent class discussions

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects:

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4110: Psycholinguistics

Instructor: Loncke

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th Year Psychology majors/minors , Cog-sci and Communication Disorders

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: This course will discuss how linguistic models help us to understand the psychology of language. We will focus on the emergence of language in children, acquisition and development of language, language disorders and neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism.

Format: The classes will consist of (1) lecture, (2) video demonstrations, (3) debate and discussion

No. and type of exams: There will be three exams (two in-terms and one final)

Papers or projects: Each student will be expected to do TWO of the following: (1) read and write a discussion paper on a psycholinguistics-related article in a recent journal, (2) give a twenty-minute class presentation and lead a class debate on a psycholinguistics-related hot issue, (3) participate in a psycholinguistics experiment.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4111 Language Development and Disorders

Instructor: Bonvillian

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th Psychology majors/minors and Linguistics , Cog-Sci

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents. This course will focus on language and cognitive development in persons with disabilities. Among the populations examined will be children with autistic disorder, children with Williams syndrome, deaf children, developmentally dysphasic children, adults with aphasia, and children with severe mental retardation. In addition to spoken language development, the course will examine the acquisition of sign communication skills.

Format: Lectures, discussion, and class presentation

No. and type of exams: one

Papers or projects: one

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4120 Psychology in Reading

Instructor: Adams

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Psyc 305

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology majors/minors.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: For psychologists who study the psychology of reading, it sometimes amazes us that most literate people do not think much about the reading process. If you ask the typical person about how reading works, a typical response is that …it just does. I look at words on a page and then the sounds come out of my mouth. You might also hear… I do not know how I do it, but for as long as I can remember I could do it. Under certain circumstances, however, a deeper level of evaluation is forthcoming and people report that it is a very complicated process. Listening to someone who has some type of reading impairment, observing young children as they are learning to read, wondering about the meaning of a passage (Did the main character insult a minor character or was it the other way around?), debating the pronunciation of a word (greasy, Roanoke, Staunton, theater, insurance), or reading a passage in a second language, readers make evaluations/decisions during the reading process. The focus of this class, Psychology of Reading, is the study of the reading process; what happens when we process the squiggles on the page to meaningful information that we can use. This includes word processing, sentence processing, speed-reading, text comprehension, etc. All of this is related to how the brain works and how we think. We will read basic/historical information from texts, review recent psychological research articles, and consider some hands-on experiences related to the reading process. The Psychology of Reading course is an interesting mix of experimental & cognitive psychology and structural linguistics, as well as psychoneurology, phonetics, anthropology, sociology, education, and so on.

Format:

No. and type of exams: about 4 weekly short answer quizzes

Papers or projects: occasional weekly reaction papers, 2 partner projects, 1 research proposal

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4559-1 Behavior Genetics

Instructor: Turkheimer

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology Majors/Minors

If course is full through ISIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: Methods and results in the study of genetic aspects of human behavior. Topics will include twin, adoption and family methods, gene by environment interaction, and modern methods using measured DNA. Human traits to be included are intelligence and cognitive ability, personality, affective disorders, major mental illness, sexuality, and substance use and abuse. We will also study how genetic methods are used to study environmental process in human families. Classes will consist of lectures and class discussion.

Format: Seminar

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects: Term Paper

Paper

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4559-2 The New Science of the Unconscious
top

Instructor: Hawkins

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: This course covers psychological topics that inform students about the automatic nature of our minds, such as memory, stereotypes, and perception, in traditional lecture and discussion formats. This empirical knowledge is applied to real-world problems such as hiring discrimination, public policy, or politics, through class demonstrations and activities.

Format : Classes will consist of lectures and class discussion.

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects: 1-page papers that serve as preparation for 4 debates and 4 informal presentations, and 2-page reflection papers are due after the first three debates (topics: bias, affirmative action, hate crime statutes). With a partner, each student will lead the discussion for one class.

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 4559-3 Social-Cognitive Development: Learning from Others

Instructor: Kindrad

Prerequisites: None

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year psychology, Cog-sci

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: Could you imagine trying to learn everything you know from firsthand experience? Learning from other people saves us time, and gives us opportunities to learn about interesting things that would be difficult or dangerous to learn about otherwise – who Thomas Jefferson is, or to avoid touching hot stoves, for example. But blindly believing everything you’re told isn’t always beneficial either: everybody makes mistakes, after all! So, how do we learn when to believe other people, and when to be skeptical? By the time we are about seven years old, we have developed surprisingly sophisticated means to evaluate and make judgments about the quality of information we receive and the people who provide it, and are able to use these judgments to guide our learning and make predictions about our social world. In this course we will read cutting edge research, make live observations, and reflect on how children learn from other people. Here is a snapshot of the range of topics we will cover: 1) How children develop an understanding of other’s mental states 2) Individual differences that influence children’s learning (e.g., autism, siblings) 3) How children learn to make sense of and predict the behavior of other people 4) How these factors contribute to social cognitive development (e.g., morality)

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

 

PSYC 4602: Womans Issues in Clinical Psychology

top

Instructor: Llewellyn

Credits:3

Prerequisites: PSYC 305 and 306, PSYC 341

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology Major/minors

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: Current research and historical perspectives on Women's Psychology and on clinical psychology issues as they pertain uniquely to women. The first part of the course focuses on women's psychology and gender research, investigating how gender differences have been researched. The course then focuses on looking at 2 areas where the influence of clinical psychology -through diagnosis, treatment, and research - can be determined and discussed. These two areas will be eating disorders and domestic violence. The role of culture, feminism, and the media will also be discussed. Students will be asked to give class presentations and to write a research paper on some aspect of one of these two issues.

Format: Lecture, discussion and presentations

No. and type of exams: 5-6 take-home essay questions divided over several weeks and a take-home final - that is both multiple choice & essay

Papers or projects: A research proposal including a literature review of a topic chosen by the student.

Other: In-class presentation on the literature review of their research proposal topic, including leading the class discussion on the current research in this area.

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5035: Leading and Managing Diverse Groups
top

Instructor: Trawalter

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology majors/minors.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: This course will focus on interpersonal, organizational, and societal factors leaders must negotiate to lead effectively in diverse environments-environments rich in group and individual differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, age, worldviews). Students will be exposed to cases and empirical research on diversity, and power, status, influence, and decision-making. Ultimately, the goal of the class is to enable students to develop well-articulated positions on diversity-related issues and form strategies to promote sustainable settings for productive exchange among diverse groups of individuals.

Format: Lecture, discussion and presentations

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects: Other:

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5200: Current Topics in Psychobiology
top

Instructor: Brunjes

Prerequisites: Psyc 2200, 4200 or Graduate Standing

Enrollment Restrictions: Psyc, Cog-Sci, Neuroscience or GSAS

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: : The class will examine recent scientific articles and theories of brain structure and function.

Format: Lecture, discussion and presentations

No. and type of exams: Midterm and final, take-home

Papers or projects: Three projects with written reports

_____________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5315: Pleasure
top

Instructor: Kubovy

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology majors/minors. CogSci 4th year, GSAS

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: This seminar explores the nature of pleasure. It is divided into three parts. The first deals with pleasures of the body, such as tonic (sustained) pleasures and relief pleasures. The second deals with the pleasurability of episodes and their relation to the pervasive human propensity to create narratives. The third deals with the context within which episodes emerge and analyses the stricture of lives.

Format: Lecture, discussion and presentations

No. and type of exams: Papers or projects:

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5410: Juvinile Justice, Violence and Adolescent Development

top

Instructor: Reppucci

Prerequisites: PSYC 3460 (with a B+ or better) or permission of the instructor; GRADUATE, OR PROFESSIONAL STUDENT STATUS. Note: undergraduates who have not taken PSYC 346 will not be accepted under any conditions.

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th-year Psychology, 3rd years after 4th years have registered ,GSAS.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: The goal of this seminar is to provide an in depth exposure to the interface between adolescent development and the juvenile justice system. Topics will include adolescent competency, culpability and accountability in legal contexts, juvenile violence, the Supreme Court and juvenile justice, prevention of delinquency and interventions with delinquents, the changing court procedures and community standards. All of these will be approached from the standpoint of what community, clinical and developmental psychology can contribute to the legal system.

Format: Lecture, discussion, special guests and student presentations

   
No. and type of exams:

 
Papers or projects: At least three short papers and one major paper that integrates law and psychology on a relevant issue; other assignments TBA.

 



PSYC 5559-1 Affective Neuroscience

top

Instructor: Coan

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: GSAS and 4th year Psychology majors/minors.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: Affective neuroscience is the study of the neural bases of emotion. The main goals of this course are: a) to provide an introduction to the major contemporary theories of emotion; b) to provide an introduction to theory and research into the neuroanatomical and neurochemical correlates and substrates of emotion and affective psychopathology; and c) to provide an introduction to the practical, methodological and inferential challenges facing affective neuroscience as a discipline. The course will involve a combination of lecture, discussion, and, where possible, demonstrations. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students are welcome.

Format: Seminar

No. and type of exams: 1

Papers or projects: Approx. 1



PSYC 5559-2 Individual Differences in Cognition and Personality
top

Instructor: Salthouse

Prerequisites:

Restrictions: 4th year psyc majors/minor or Cognitive Science majors, or Neuroscience majors, or GSAS.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: This course is a survey of individual differences in personality and cognition. Among the topics to be covered are methods of assessing individual differences in personality and cognition, relations between personality and cognition, influences of nature and nurture, developmental trends, neural substrates, and prediction of real world outcomes. The organization will be a seminar with the instructor presenting an overview of the topic in the first half of each class, and student discussion in the second half. Course grades will be based on attendance and participation, submission of discussion questions/presentations, weekly quizzes, and a paper.

Format: Seminar

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects:

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5559-3 Measurement: Item Responce Theory
top

Instructor: Schmidt

Prerequisites: Psyc 7710 or Psyc 3006 (must have completed 3006)

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year psyc majors/minor or GSAS.

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: This course is designed to introduce you to the basic concepts of item response theory (IRT) and their application to substantive psychological problems. By the end of this semester you should be able to: a) understand and apply the principles of item response theory in your own research and in evaluating the research of others, b) perform and interpret item response theory model analyses for dichotomous and polytomous data, using various IRT programs, and c) communicate IRT research findings to an audience of psychologists.

Format: Seminar

No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects: Students will be evaluated on two main products, (article critiques and a final paper) plus several assignments.

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5559-4 Machine Learning and Data Mining
top

Instructor: Von Oertzen

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: GSAS 4th Psychology majors/minors

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: While most psychological studies ask "is something different between groups?", in this course we will introduce quantitative methods to answer the question "what is different between groups?", ie., we ask which part (or combination) of our data maximizes the chances to distinguish between given groups. To make a computer answer this questions, we will introduce some foundations of machine learning and play with some of these techniques.

Format: Seminar

No. and type of exams: 2 written exams, weekly exercises

Papers or projects:

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5559-5 Social Cognition and Social Change
top

Instructor: T. Wilson

Prerequisites:

Enrollment Restrictions: 4th Psychology majors/minors

If course is full through SIS: Please use the permission list for the course. Do not email professor.

Description of course contents: There are a number of ways to try to improve human welfare. In this course we will examine an approach championed by social psychologists that tries to change the stories and narratives that people tell themselves. We will examine basic research in social psychology on which this approach is based, look at methodological issues of how it is assessed, and then see how it has been applied to specific areas, including personal happiness, parenting, adolescent behavior problems, prejudice and stereotyping, and educational issues.

Format: Seminar No. and type of exams:

Papers or projects:

______________________________________________________________________________________

PSYC 5559-6 Brain Systems involved in Learning and Memory
top

Instructor: Williams

Time and Place:

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: PSYC 220, or PSYC 420 Enrollment Restrictions: 4th year Psychology majors/minors, CogSci GSAS

If this course is full through ISIS: Please online waiting list; do not email the professor.

Description of course contents: The seminar will examine historical and current experimental findings that describe the contribution of neuroanatomical structures in regulating memory formation. An extensive review of the literature will be covered to understand how separate brain regions interact to modify our capacity to learn and then encode new information into memory storage. The literature reviews will assist in identifying how activity in specific brain regions regulates decision making, memory storage during sleep, spatial learning, memory for emotionally laden events, post traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction, Alzheimer's disease, learning disabilities, etc. Students will learn how to conduct comprehensive literature searchers, organize large volumes of information, improve public speaking skills, be introduced to a broad spectrum of neuroscience techniques and gain a better understanding of the interactions that occur between brain structures and neurotransmitter systems to enable new memories to be formed. Students who enjoy learning from non-traditional sources such as journal articles, archives, annual reviews etc. and are enthusiastic about discussion based learning formats are especially encouraged to join the course.

Format: Lecture, presentations, and discussion

No. and type of exams: 1 Midterm exam

 

 

 

 

Psychology Home Page