Psychology

This course examines the definition, history, and scope of abnormal behavior with an emphasis on the psychological factors that control its origins, maintenance, and modification.

This version of the Developmental Neuropsychology course includes an Independent Study Project (ISP) done under the direction of the instructor. The ISP is 10-12 pages and counts for 1/3 of the overall grade for the course. In this course, students are introduced to the innovative field of developmental neuropsychology. The anatomy of the brain and relevant brain functions are introduced at the beginning of the module. Through case studies, students explore the fundamental research and the most recent advances in the field. Students attempt to find solutions to the questions presented by researching various articles and group discussion. Cognitive development is typically measured by changes or improvements in cognitive processes. In this course, processes such as language, reasoning, and memory, etc. are explored in terms of their developmental trajectory and how this trajectory relates to changes in the maturing brain. Students examine how these developmental changes can be measured by various neurological methods (e.g. fMRI and EEG). The field trip included in the course focuses on the importance of neuroscientific research methods and forms a unique and practical insight into the subject matter. Midway through the course the students construct a research proposal regarding developmental neuropsychology in subgroups and present this proposal. Prerequisites for this course include at least one intermediate level psychology course. It is recommended that the students have an interest in the development of the human brain and cognitive development. An interest in scientific research and methods is also recommended.

This course provides students an understanding of the biological bases of behavior and discusses some of our cognitive functions such as memory, learning, decision making, emotion, and the cognitive aspect under social behavior. 

The course explores experiments on language and psychological theories about language processing. At the theoretical level a special emphasis is devoted to differences in the architecture and mechanisms of cognitive models of language processing. At the empirical level a specific attention is devoted to the different experimental methods that are apt to study specific linguistic processes. The course discusses topics including general linguistics, speech production and comprehension, word processing, sentence processing, discourse processing, advantages and difficulties of bilingualism, and models of literary language reception. The course requires students to have knowledge of experimental methods in psychology and of cognitive psychology concepts as a prerequisite. Knowledge of linguistics is welcome but not necessary.

This course provides an overview of the major issues in developmental psychology, with a focus on infancy and childhood. It reviews the development of individual differences; evaluates stage and process theories of cognitive, social, and linguistic development; and considers the extent to which research findings have pan-cultural and local application. The course also stresses the importance of empirical research. This course requires a prerequisite of Introduction to Psychology.

The field of individual differences is primarily concerned with exploring variation between people in terms of how they think, act, and behave; and to understand how and why such variations come about. This course consolidates and builds upon the freshman course in Personality and Individual Differences, but it focuses more heavily on the measurement and conceptualization of human mental abilities, and involves critical evaluation and appraisal of the empirical data to support the central tenets of the different theoretical models. The course explores the structure and measurement of ability processes including factor analytic and hierarchical models of ability, Gardner's multiple intelligences, and Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence. The course also covers the social and biological origins of ability processes and the stability of these constructs as we age, cognitive epidemiology, and the neuroscience of ability processes, cognitive epidemiology, and the applications of ability testing in every-day life.