Psychology

An introduction to the principles of psychology as emerging from the areas of physiological, sensation and perception, development, learning, cognition, and memory, social, personality, and abnormal. Required for the psychology major.

An introduction to descriptive and inferential statistical methods in analysis and interpretation of psychological data. Required for the psychology major.

A thorough survey of methods and techniques employed in psychological research is covered. Topics include observational research, surveys, case studies, experimental designs, and ethical issues in research. Emphasis is on critical evaluation of research. Students develop the skills to design an experiment, statistically analyze and interpret the results, and to present the findings in a written and oral report. Required for the psychology major. One and one-half units.

The structure and function of the nervous system is studied to provide an appreciation of the biological basis of behavior. The first half of the course emphasizes neuroanatomy, basic cell physiology, effects of drugs on behavior, and the autonomic nervous system. Later topics include physiological influences on sleep-wake and circadian rhythms, reproductive behavior, eating and drinking, learning and memory, emotions, and mental illness.

A survey of the ways that organisms gather information about their environment and make sense of that information in a way that is useful for guiding behavior. The course will focus on vision and audition as model sensory systems, though we will also explore other sensory systems.

An intensive evaluation of how behavior is acquired and maintained. Focuses on Pavlovian and operant conditioning in animals and human subjects. Special topics include the application of these principles to psychotherapy, drug addiction, self-control, and biological influences and constraints on learning.

A survey of theory and research pertaining to both cognitive and social development from birth to adolescence. Special topics include prenatal development, early experience, perception, learning, memory, language, emotions, achievement, moral development, gender role development, parenting, schools, and peer relationships.

Covers several major conceptions of personality such as the psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, trait, and behavioral approaches. The theories of such psychologists as Freud, Maslow, Kelly, Allport, and Skinner are presented to attain a broad understanding of human personality.

An overview of the methods and research findings of social psychology. Emphasis is on the experimental analysis of topics such as person perception, interpersonal attraction, prosocial behavior, aggression, social exchange, and group behavior.

A survey of research and theories related to physical, social and cognitive development during adolescence with a particular emphasis on identity and school, family, and peer contexts. Topics include puberty and brain development, social transitions and culture, peer pressure, motivation and achievement, identity formation, extracurricular involvement, autonomy and moral development, sexuality, problem behaviors, eating disorders, and emerging adulthood. One unit.

Examines mental illness throughout the life span, with discussions of the developmental, biological, behavioral, psychosocial, cultural, and other theories that attempt to explain emotional and behavioral problems. One goal for the course is to develop an understanding of how information about mental illness and mental health is obtained, and the problems associated with the evaluation and interpretation of this information.

This course considers the ways in which the scientific research in developmental psychology has relevance for practice in educational settings. The course focuses primarily on research on cognitive development and how it helps us to understand childrens literacy, mathematical reasoning, and scientific thinking. Other topics include motivation, social cognition, and specific problems in learning such as ADHD. Students participate in a community based learning project in local schools as part of this course.

This course is a topical introduction to the field of cognitive neuroscience, in which we look specifically at the neural substrates of cognitive function: from how we remember and see, to how we control our own actions and thoughts and have conscious awareness. We will cover the experimental toolkit of cognitive neuroscience (ranging from reaction time tests to functional MRI), and the results of recent research into perception, attention, learning and memory, and their neurological underpinnings. Throughout the course, special attention is given to dysfunctions of cognitive functioning resulting from brain damage or psychopathologies.

Examines current perspectives on how a physical system can have intelligence and know its world. Historical, cognitive science (computer metaphor) and connectionist perspectives will be surveyed. Of interest is how we can model cognitive 'machinery' and how this machinery produces such phenomena as attention, pattern recognition, and information storage. One unit.

An overview of the psychology and neuropsychological bases of language. Language is defined through the evaluation of human and animal communication. Topics such as Chomsky's linguistic principles, speech perception, speech production, language acquisition, reading and bilingualism are included. These basic concepts of language are then applied to an understanding of different forms that language can take: spoken, written, and sign, and language disorders (e.g. aphasia, dyslexia).

This course will provide an overview of the psychological research on human choice and decision making. It will investigate sources of bias and error in decision making and consider whether the actual choices that people make in their own lives align with theories that prescribe how decisions should ideally be made. Topics will include risk and uncertainty, emotion and intuitive judgment, self-control, moral decisions, and social influences on decision making. When possible, the course will consider how existing research findings can be applied to reduce biases and improve the quality of decision making.

While much is known about the development and changes that take place from infancy through adolescence, we are only at the beginning of really understanding typical and atypical development throughout adulthood into later life. This class will examine methods of developmental research in adult populations, and a number of key issues in the field of adult development and aging including normative cognitive, biological, and emotional changes, as well as the ways these changes impact social interactions in the context of successful aging and resilience. This class will also look at some of the challenges associated with aging, including forms of dementia such as Alzheimers Disease, partner loss, and bereavement.

What is culture? How does culture shape individuals lived experiences while being shaped by them? How does psychology as a social science relate to the study of culture historically? What are different methodologies psychologists commonly use to study people in relation to culture? How does studying culture enable a critique of the discipline? In this course, you will learn about the examples of how to study person in context while starting to develop a meta-perspective of psychology as a discipline. We will begin the course with a discussion of various subfields in psychology (cultural, cross-cultural, indigenous, decolonial) that give us the tools to understand the person in context. Each of these subfields are accompanied by different theoretical and methodological assumptions which are key for us to understand before we begin to study empirical examples of person in context. Along with creating a foundation, we will look at examples of how people in various contexts interact with rituals, objects, systems and institutions that are symbolic markers of culture.

This course provides an introduction to major theories, methodologies, and concepts in health psychology. Students will consider what health means; appraise strengths and weaknesses of biomedical and Ayurvedic health care approaches; identify how health behaviors and stress contribute to the onset of chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease); appreciate how sociopolitical and historical contexts shape the etiology and treatment of HIV/AIDS and cancer in the U.S.; and improve the ability to locate, read, and synthesize original research.

What is political? How do we acquire political knowledge? How is political understanding shaped across generations? What is the relationship between power, gender, race, and politics? Why do people participate in social movements? What is a peaceful protest? How do people make decisions when they vote? In this course we will examine the interplay between people, power, and politics. We will examine participation in some of the large-scale historic and contemporary social movements in the U.S., including the Civil Rights, Womens Liberation, pro-choice and pro-life, LGBTQ Rights, Black Lives Matter, white nationalist, Pro-Palestine movements. We will use these movements as examples to examine how individuals shape social structures, political systems, culture and history, while being shaped by them. This course will give you some familiarity with important classical and modern psychological and sociological theories relevant to politics and the functioning of political systems, as well as a sense of how social science research can be used to evaluate theories and generate new knowledge. At the same time, the course emphasizes the need to take into account differences in the social contexts (cultures, nations, social classes, historical eras) when theorizing or doing research.

The purpose of this class is to introduce you to many topics, representing major fields of study within psychology and law. In this course, you will learn about the diversity of interests among legal psychologists as well as innovative and important ideas, theories, and research findings. This class concentrates on the scientific study of psychology and law. The main goal is to provide students with an understanding of relevant theory, empirical findings, and research methodology. Guest speakers will enhance the course by giving students an idea of applied jobs in the field.

Animals often surprise the idle observer through startling feats of communication or ingenuity  the true complexity of which only systematic investigations can reveal. This course offers an introduction into the various domains of animal behaviors and their investigation from a cognitive science perspective. Spanning a wide array of topics from the fundamentals of perception, categorization, and memorization to the more complex behaviors of inferential logic, navigation, social awareness, and language, we will explore how different animal species process our common  and uncommon - spaces.

Motivation is a psychological term used to describe the broad needs, desires, and reasons for actions of living beings. In this course, we will explore the multiple ways in which human motivationspecifically, the goals, values, needs, and desires that drive and energize us on a day-to-day basiscan affect our impressions, perceptions, decisions, explanations, and behaviors. Because this field focuses on investigating everyday human thought and behavior, special attention will be paid to promoting students understanding of how motivation science can be used to understand everyday, real-world experiences. Overarching themes include how to succeed at your personal goals, how to become an expert, and how to motivate others, with the domains of education, sports, health, and relationships being highlighted.

In the face of complex, entrenched challenges such as climate change, structural racism, and geopolitical conflict, all of us are calledin one way or another, in roles big and smallto pursue the common good. How are current leaders mobilizing the resources of their organizations to meet the demands of these and other challenges? What might we learn from them as we envision forging our own unique paths of service? Drawing on psychological research and interdisciplinary perspectives, this course will explore leadership theories and practices that tend to facilitate (vs. inhibit) pursuit of the common good. As we do so, we will consider how these practices are embodied from diverse positionalities and imagine how leaders might pursue the common good in the future.

This course introduces students to various forms of oppression and resistance to oppression in the contemporary United States. Centering anti-Blackness and the history and experiences of Black peoples in the U.S., the course draws on a diverse range of texts from psychology, education, sociology, history, and popular culture to explore the roots and effects of different types of oppression in various domains of powermore specifically, racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism within the interpersonal, ideological, and institutional domains of power. A primary context for this course U.S public education and schools in urbanized communities.

This course explores the psychology behind susceptibility, receptivity, and resistance to misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. The course will examine the cognitive capacities, biases, heuristics, and motivations that make people both passively vulnerable and openly receptive to these forms of misinformation, as well as how common misinformation strategies and campaigns actively take advantage of these human motives and limitations. The course will then demonstrate how an understanding of these causes can help us develop effective, research-based interventions to help people become more resistant against believing and spreading misinformation. Course assignments will provide students with opportunities to apply their understandings of these causes and solutions to misinformation issues of interest to them.

This course examines the psychology of sex and gender through a biopsychosocial lens, grounded in anti-colonial and anti-racist frameworks. Students explore how biological processes, socialization, culture, and systems of power--including colonialism and racism--shape gendered behavior, identity, and experience. Topics include gender roles and norms, stereotypes, sexism, discrimination, sexual orientation and sexuality, gender diversity, interpersonal relationships, and health and well-being. Emphasis is placed in intersectionality, cross-cultural perspectives, and critical evaluation of psychological research, with attention to health disparities, inequality, and contemporary social issues.

This course uses an interdisciplinary lens to explore how evolution has shaped animal behavior. In one half of the course, we will explore proximate mechanisms of behavior: How similar neural structures support a diversity of behaviors across species, and how behavior changes across development within the lifespan of an animal. In the other half of the course, we will explore ultimate causes of behavior: How different forms of behavior can help an animal survive and reproduce, and how similarities and differences in behavior between species can inform our understanding of their evolutionary history.

This course explores an in-depth introduction to the psychological experience of Asian Americans through a culturally-informed and community-centered lens. We will review foundational concepts including the historical, sociopolitical, and cultural influences that shape psychological lived experiences and mental health. This course integrates interdisciplinary perspectives from psychology and ethnic studies with an emphasis on lived experiences, intersectionality, and systemic influences. Topics include racial identity, acculturation/enculturation, family and intergenerational dynamics, gender and sexuality, multiracial and adoptee experiences, academic and career development, responses to racism and discrimination, and culturally-rooted approaches to well-being that highlight the importance of traditional practices and community-based survivance strategies. Students will engage with scholarly literature, clinical case studies, discussion-based activities, reflective exercises, and a final project  all designed to deepen cultural awareness and critical thinking.

An examination in historical perspective of what are considered to be the major systems (e.g., psychoanalysis, behaviorism, existential psychology) of psychology. The course begins by using a number of philosophical questions regarding the status of psychology as a scientific discipline, moves on to a comprehensive treatment of the systems themselves, and finally, returns to initial questions to determine the extent to which they have been answered.

What can be learned of biomedical ethics from a study of the Holocaust? How did a healing profession justify its murderous actions? Were physicians and scientists pawns of a totalitarian regime, or were they active contributors to the racial Nazi ideology? Is the study of genetics susceptible to the same political forces that corrupted the field of eugenics? How did the Holocaust come to shape our current code of ethics in human experimentation? This seminar will seek answers to these and many related questions from a voluminous literature that is populated by contributions from historians, biomedical ethicists, philosophers, theologians, journalists, and artists. Far from a value-free discipline, ideological forces will be shown to be at the core of scientific inquiry. This lesson is of particular importance to aspiring scientists and health practitioners.

A brief consideration of the historical and philosophical basis of biological psychiatry is followed by a thorough overview of the major neurotransmitter systems and behavioral genetics necessary for an understanding of the biological aspects of major psychological disorders, including anxiety disorders, psychosomatic disorders, affective disorders (unipolar and bipolar depression), schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. For each of these disorders, the current state of knowledge concerning modes of treatment is reviewed, with an emphasis on the relative efficacy of pharmacotherapeutic agents, including minor tranquilizers, antidepressants, and antipsychotics.

Drug addiction is the central theme of this course. Understanding drug action begins with a consideration of how drugs affect the brain. A basic working knowledge of brain chemistry is established with emphasis on information concerning the various major neurotransmitter systems that are affected by drugs of abuse. Considered next are the different addictive drugs, including alcohol, cannabis, heroin, cocaine and amphetamines, and the hallucinogens, and specific issues pertaining to the drug addict. The impact of drugs and addiction on society is the subject of the last part of the course. Issues with regard to prevention and treatment are considered. The ultimate goal of this course is to provide sound biological and psychological information from which a rational drug policy can be formed. Fulfills the Advanced Course Requirement or the Elective Course Requirement.

Open to third- and fourth-year students interested in a comprehensive study of brain and spinal cord anatomy and function. Structure is studied to provide a foundation for understanding clinical applications of nervous system injury and disease. Begins with study of gross anatomy of the sheep brain. Topics include motor and sensory systems, limbic system, cranial nerves, cerebral cortex, and blood supply to the brain.

This course examines empirical and theoretical approaches to understanding human thinking across languages and cultures.

Prediction, or the ability to expect a particular input or outcome based on past experience, plays a central role in perception and cognition. It may also be a fundamental principle of the neural computations supporting these behaviors. In this course, we will explore the role of prediction in neural systems and behavior through readings and discussion of recent research utilizing a wide range of behavioral, electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and computational methods.

An advanced seminar in the field of adolescent development that focuses on the epidemiology and etiology of health-related behaviors during adolescence. This course emphasizes a public health perspective and covers topics such as reproductive health, substance use, nutrition and exercise, sleep, violence, mental health, injuries, and disease. Further, students will explore health disparities, health education, and domestic and global perspectives on adolescent health.

This course is a hybrid between a typical seminarwhere the focus is often on discussions, papers, and presentationsand a project-based coursewhere students engage in hands-on research projects. We will begin by considering the cognitive origins, representations, and processes that shape our thinking and reasoning about the world. A major theme of the course, and the work that we do in the lab, is that our default assumptions/intuitions about the world are (1) often inconsistent with scientific beliefs, and (2) shaped by the linguistic, cultural, and other formal and informal learning contexts around us. By engaging in the literature and hands-on research projects, we will examine the cognitive factors that influence how we learn about the world, with a focus on conceptual change in both formal and informal settings.

This course explores various developmental processes and cultural practices such as rites of passages, marriage, parenting, and issues of social and gender inequality from a wide variety of cultures across the globe. How do different cultures view various developmental milestones? How do individuals within cultures view, construct, and resist normative practices? What behaviors and understandings are similar across cultures and which are different? Ultimately, what exactly is culture and how can it operate as a supportive or oppressive force on human development, autonomous functioning, and equality among individuals?

What are the common mechanisms by which psychotherapy works? To answer this question, this seminar will examine the theoretical foundations of contemporary psychotherapies, such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and acceptance-based treatments. Through readings, videos, and lectures by experts in the field, we will consider how change occurs within and across the types of therapy and the best practices for studying symptom change over time. Additionally, by integrating research methodology into the course structure, we will examine how randomized controlled trials test the efficacy of psychological therapies.

An advanced seminar in the field of clinical psychology that closely examines contemporary research in the eating disorder field. Students explore topics such as the following: problems in the assessment, diagnosis, and classification of eating disorders; risk factors for developing disordered eating; comorbidities between eating pathology and other psychiatric conditions; the roles of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and culture in the etiology and maintenance of disordered eating; prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

An advanced seminar in the field of clinical psychology that closely examines the substance (ab)use field, with a particular emphasis on alcohol. Students explore topics such as the following: definitions of harmful/hazardous drinking, familial transmission of alcohol use problems; alcohol, sex, and sports on college campuses; legal debates in the substance use field; philosophies regarding, and clinical approaches to, substance abuse recovery.

This seminar focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive control and consciousness and its disturbances following brain injury or psychiatric illness. We define cognitive control as the ability to flexibly adapt behavior to current demands, by promoting task-relevant information and behaviors over temporally-extended periods and in the face of interference or competition. Consciousness we define as a subjective awareness of the world and free will. These abilities seem central to most higher cognitive functions, and contribute to the unique character of human behavior. Our goals are to define the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive control and consciousness, to understand how these mechanisms govern behavior, and to use this knowledge to improve our understanding of the relationship between brain and behavior in psychiatric disorders and neurological damage.

Provides an examination of the role that gender plays in psychological development. Topics include depression and self-esteem, aggression, emotion control and emotion expression, and social interaction. Theoretical perspectives as well as the empirical literature on gender development will be explored to assess the nature of gender-patterned behaviors.

In addition to developing and testing scientific theories, many contemporary psychologists use theoretical findings to develop interventions in the hopes of addressing some of the major social challenges facing our world. This course is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to analyze these challenges, examine and critique existing psychological interventions, and consider the ethical implications of intervention. Overarching themes include systemic disparities in education, health, and criminal justice, interpersonal prejudice and discrimination, poverty, political division, and environmental action.

Do language and culture affect how people perceive their physical and social world? This seminar will examine a variety of topics relevant to this question. Specific topics will include cross-linguistic differences in areas ranging from color categorization to person perception; the universal and culture-specific effects of status on interpersonal communication; gender differences in communication style; cultural differences in the understanding of the self and their effect on basic psychological processes; and expert-novice differences in perception, categorization, and communication.

This is a seminar course that provides students with the opportunity to more deeply understand the phenomenological experience of stigmatization and to critically evaluate the empirical psychological literature examining the causes and consequences of stigmatization.

Covers risk and resiliency from early childhood through adulthood and focuses on defining resilience; sources of risk and protection within families, schools, and communities; and prevention programs. Special topics will include strengths-based models of resiliency, child maltreatment and health, problem-solving and creativity, resiliency across cultures, mentoring, and school- and community-based prevention and intervention. Fulfills the Advanced Course Requirement or the Elective Course Requirement.

Animal minds easily complete some tasks as a matter of course -- the same tasks that have taken us decades to get computers to do poorly, like recognize faces and navigating streets. This course considers animals' capacity for intelligent behavior in the domains of communication, sociality, recognition, categorization, navigation, timing, perception, and learning. Using original research articles studying a broad array of species and some summary text, we'll discuss these concepts from perspectives of evolution, biology, and computation.

This course will examine psychological aspects of economic behavior. Examples of questions that will be addressed include: Do people make choices in way that could be considered rational? How do people respond to scarcity and uncertainty? What conditions are important for producing happiness and well-being? To what extent do people accurately know their own preferences and make choices that are in their own best interest? Does thinking about exchanges in terms of money and markets influence whether people will be fair, ethical, and cooperative? When possible, we will discuss applications for public policy, market events such as panics and bubbles, and individual financial decision making. The course will primarily cover psychological research on human choice and decision making but also will include some research on other species and from other academic disciplines.

Why do some individuals who experience significant trauma emerge as stronger and more resilient, while others develop chronic psychopathology? What individual, familial, or societal factors help explain such different trajectories? This seminar will examine these questions by exploring pathways by which psychopathology develops in children, adolescents and young adults. More specifically, students will learn about the well-known risk (e.g., abuse, loss, peer victimization) and resilience factors (e.g., community involvement, parental acceptance) that influence the development of mental illness, as well as contemporary approaches (and challenges) for preventing the onset of psychological conditions. Each week, students will learn about these concepts by reading peer-reviewed journal articles, watching award-winning films, and leading class discussions. The semester culminates with a final project, in which students apply a developmental psychopathology framework to a character in a major motion picture. Please note that, due to the scope of this course, many of the films portray upsetting content (e.g., child maltreatment).

The goal of this course is to explore the experiences and practices of mindfulness. Weekly topics will allow us to examine the process, content and health benefits of such contemplative activities. The topics will include the psychological and neurophysiological bases of mindfulness, how it is practiced in specific activities such as eastern meditation and western spiritual exercises as well as how it appears in everyday life. One Unit.

Students in this course will both learn about and be involved in conducting psychological research on academic motivation in K-12 settings. The course has three components: seminar, lab, and Community-Based Learning (CBL). In the seminar component, students will learn about and discuss psychological research on academic motivation and psychological interventions designed to improve academic motivation and performance. In the lab component, students will assist in the design of materials for use in academic motivation research, while learning about the unique ethical and practical considerations associated with conducting research in real-world academic settings. In the CBL component, students will visit a K-12 school in Worcester to assist with observation, focus groups, and data collection for a research project investigating academic motivation in the classroom.

This course explores how race, class, and gender shape the developmental trajectories of children and adolescents in their educational, familial, and broader community contexts. Using a series of foundational texts, students will critically analyze the ways in which anti-Blackness and systemic inequality in the U.S. impact the development and lived experience of youth from diverse backgrounds. Through a combination of empirical readings, books, and discussions students will gain a deeper understanding of how societal structures impact racial identity formation, cognition and learning, and emotional and psychosocial outcomes.

This course is a hybrid between a typical seminarwhere the focus is often on discussion, papers, and presentationsand a project-based coursewhere students engage in hands-on research projects. We will begin by exploring how human beings attempt to make sense of the world around them, with a focus on the natural world. A major theme is that our default assumptions/intuitions about the natural world are limited and often inconsistent with scientific beliefs, and that these intuitions are influenced by the linguistic and cultural communities in which we reside. We will also examine the cognitive factors that influence how we learn about the world, with a focus on conceptual change in both formal and informal settings.

In this upper-level seminar, we will explore the psychology of close relationships. While we will examine many forms of close connections, our primary focus will be on romantic relationships. Students will have the opportunity to engage with research and theory on topics such as attraction, relationship maintenance, conflict processes, and dissolution. We will also consider emerging and modern relationship forms, including humanAI relationships, friends with benefits, and situationships. Additionally, the course will emphasize diversity in relationships, highlighting how cultural, gender, and individual differences shape relational experiences.

Avian brains are strikingly different from those of humans and other mammals, yet they have evolved to solve many of the same cognitive challenges that face a typical human. How does a pigeon process visual information in its environment, remember what it has seen before, and learn to make decisions based on that information? By comparing the cognitive abilities of birds with other animals, we can learn about the evolution of cognition by examining how different brains have adapted to solve similar problems in unique ways. This course combines a traditional seminar format with hands-on laboratory experience using touchscreen tests with pigeons to investigate avian cognition, with a particular focus on the features and limitations of working memory.

This upper-level seminar explores the psychology of the modality of communication: the form through which we send and receive communicative signals. Humans rely extensively on language to communicate, but we also possess many non-linguistic ways to communicate information, including facial expressions, body language, gesture, drawing, and even emoji. This class will thus explore communication as a multimodal endeavor, thinking about similarities, differences, and connections between these modalities.

In this course, we will follow a migrant-centered approach in investigating macro (e.g., institutional), meso (e.g., intergroup) and micro-level (e.g., individual) influences on human (im)mobility, displacement, and belonging. We are going to explore the scientific, conceptual, and policy-oriented foundations of a migrant-centered study of global trends in human (im)mobility. This course (1) bridges scholarship in psychology with contemporary immigration debates, (2) encourages students to think about the relationship between immigration policy and psychological research on race/ethnicity, gender, and other social categories of difference, (3) helps students engage in interdisciplinary and critical thinking in issues related to immigration. Students will build a basic migration/refugee studies lexicon (e.g. Who is a refugee? What do legal categories of refugee and asylum seeker mean? What are the push and pull factors of migration?); and pursue research projects that engages with in-depth examination of questions (e.g., What policies and institutional structures create immobility, illegality, and suffering? Why are people being deported? What do people experience in detention? What do community-based responses to anti-immigrant policies and practices look like?) Students will engage in discussion in a seminar format, learn to challenge universalized psychological models of acculturation and integration while exploring different conditions under which migration takes place, and contributing to original research at the intersection of (forced) migration studies and psychology.

This course explores contemporary theories, findings, and social issues regarding the psychology of poverty and social class from a global perspective. Pulling from cognitive, developmental, and social psychology, emphasis is placed on critically examining how poverty, wealth, and privilege influence beliefs and behaviors across the lifespan. Specifically, the course examines the determinants and pathways by which poverty influences psychological functioning. The course is guided by a feminist-intersectional standpoint that recognizes the intersection of gender, race/ethnicity, and social class. Poverty is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. Thus, a major goal of the class is that students think critically about issues surrounding poverty, wealth, and privilege at the individual and societal level (including media depictions of poverty, public policy, and collective action). Learning will take place using readings, lectures, discussion, media analysis, guest speakers, and experiential learning through projects.

This course aims to explore the underlying tenets of psychological science and interrogate the ways that these foundations influence the way we think about research human psychology. Special attention will be allocated to the philosophical underpinnings of psychology as a science and the ways in which such perspectives both help and hurt our understanding of psychological phenomena. We will engage with perspectives that critique the inherent power of psychology as a tool of a majority group and examine the research questions and methods utilized to counteract such power structures. Additional topics of interest as chosen by the students will also be covered.

Imagination is typically conceived as the source of unusual ideas that defy reality, a special trait largely confined to childhood. This project-based course, which combines a traditional seminar (i.e., readings, discussions, and presentations) with hands-on research experience, invites students to challenge this conventional wisdom. The course will begin with classical approaches to childrens imagination, which claim that childrens thinking is disorganized and prone to fantasy. We will continue with early challenges to this claim, reviewing the evidence that childrens imagination is very shallow and firmly grounded in reality from early on. Next, we will build on this prior evidence with the recent developmental evidence demonstrating how the imagination expands with knowledge as children develop. Throughout the course, students will also engage in research projects, examining how children use their imagination to learn about concepts that lie beyond observation, such as invisible scientific, religious, and fantastical phenomena.

Despite the many different ways that animal brains have evolved to sense the environment, store and recall memories, and make decisions, the fundamental building blocks of cognition across the animal kingdom are strikingly similar. To understand the features and origins of information processing in animal brains, including those of humans, the comparative approach seeks to find the similarities and differences among animals in behavior and its neural correlates. In this seminar, we will explore how the comparative approach has been used to understand cognitive function using foundational and current interdisciplinary readings from the scientific literature. Students will build on these foundational ideas by engaging with the current primary scientific literature, leading and participating in discussions, and proposing novel research ideas to study cognition through the lens of comparative research.

Adolescence is marked by profound developmental changes across many areas of life. In this project-based course, students will pursue research questions that center around patterns of adolescent substance use and how they are related to other aspects of life (e.g., school, friends, family). Utilizing publicly available national data, we will examine adolescents use of substances, including caffeine, vapes, alcohol, and marijuana. This spring, key topics of interest are a) gender differences in alcohol use and b) overlapping predictors associated with adolescents energy drink and vape use. This course combines hands-on laboratory experiences (i.e., conducting literature reviews, aligning research design with hypotheses, analyzing data, and writing up manuscripts) with the traditional seminar components of discussion and presentations.

A reading program conducted under the supervision of a faculty member, generally focusing on an area of psychology not covered in-depth in course offerings. Fulfills the Elective Course Requirement.

Students may undertake an independent research project under the direction of a particular faculty member. Fulfills the Elective Course Requirement.