Psychology

The course focuses on the different factors underlying consumers’ food behaviors. Centrally in the course are theories on determinants of food consumption, strategies to change behavior, and social significance and meaning of food. Social, cultural, cognitive, developmental, psychophysiological and neuroeconomic approaches as well as theory of human action and of decision making processes are discussed.

This is an introductory course for discussing the integration among neural, mental, and social processes. The class intends to cover, but may not exhaust, following topics on the mind and brain: research history; research methods and basic issues; function of the basic operation of the unit and integration; evolution and development; message input - feeling, perception, and attention; the symbol of mind and brain processing - language and thought; plasticity - learning and memory; the likes and dislikes with the brain - emotional; motivation and will; output - activities; consciousness; character; heart and brain in groups - social cognition and behavior; the heart and brain of the sick - mental illness; heart and brain simulation - neural networks and artificial intelligence.

This course examines the nature and theoretical underpinnings of qualitative inquiry, including the basic techniques of qualitative methodology in Psychology.

The course offers an introduction to anthropology and sociology within the framework of the human sciences. Topics include: nature, culture, society, and conduct; forms of sociocultural construction of subjectivity; the ecological-economic domain; the socio-structural domain; the cognitive domain; conflicts and sociocultural problems.

This course offers a general introduction to perception. Topics include: sensation; sensory psychophysics; human perception; experimental psychology.

This course begins by covering the classical concept of the totalitarian state, as developed by Hannah Arendt and others, taking Hitler and Stalin as their models. Subsequent modifications and debates regarding the theory of totalitarianism, especially in the Soviet Empire, are discussed. The course questions what popular attitudes and psychological reactions exist towards totalitarian atrocities, such as the Holocaust, and under what psychological conditions are individuals capable of offering resistance. While these phenomena may now appear to be bygones of merely historical interest, the psychological aspects of “totalitarian situations” remain acutely important, even in present-day democratic societies. The massacre in My Lai, the obedience experiments carried out by Stanley Milgram, and other psychological studies provide shocking evidence of how easily average citizens are in danger of behaving inhumanely in social situations.

This course discusses the biological bases of principal cognitive processes, emotions, and human behavior. The course discusses topics including an introduction of psychobiology; psychopharmacology; genetics and evolution of the brain; movement; emotions, reward, and stress; and psychological disorders. The course recommends students have completed courses in general psychology and psychophysiology as prerequisites.