Psychology

This course addresses evolutionary and comparative approaches to psychology. The course provides an understanding of major evolutionary forces and how they have shaped animal and human behavior and psychology. The course introduces key principles, concepts, and methodologies and relates them to specific topic areas such as the evolution of social behavior and the evolutionary origins of language and cognition.

The course introduces students to pharmacology, which can be defined as the study of the actions of drugs. The course has a strong focus on the nervous system. The basic principles of pharmacology are covered, including drug interactions with specific receptors in target tissues and pharmacokinetics. Students learn how drugs work and become familiar with pharmacological concepts and terminology. Students also consider the drug development process and the many ways in which new therapeutics are designed and developed. The effects of different classes of drugs upon the peripheral and central nervous systems and on different neurotransmitter pathways are covered. How drugs can be used to understand the function of these systems and to alleviate their malfunctioning in various diseases and afflictions is explained.

This course explores the psychology behind entrepreneurship and innovation. The topics include the personality of entrepreneurs and exploring whether entrepreneurs are born or made; how entrepreneurs and innovation leaders make decisions about risk and manage uncertainty; what drives entrepreneurs and what "returns" they can expect (in terms of income and well-being); what success means to entrepreneurs, how individuals may lead successfully on entrepreneurial, entrepreneurs and innovation initiatives. Students also reflect on how each person can act in an entrepreneurial and innovative manner. The course examines the psychological underpinnings of the entrepreneurial process and innovative behaviors within established business. It is mindful of the diversity of entrepreneurial and innovation endeavors ranging from high-tech and digital entrepreneurs to social entrepreneurs that launch social innovations.

This course examines the processes involved in cognition, learning and thought. Includes the study of attention, perceptual processes, memory, knowledge representation, language, decision making and problem solving.

This core course covers most of the common mental health problems identified for children and adults, e.g. eating disorders, behavioral problems, attention deficits, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, anxiety, stress, depression, personality disorders, sexual adjustment, substance abuse, suicide, and dementia. The lectures and discussion groups introduce clinical intervention, but emphasis is placed on the theoretical formulation of problems. Whenever possible, films and case studies are used to supplement the textbook and readings, and a visit to the local Institute of Mental Health is typically arranged.

This course on motivation and emotion covers the following topics: homeostatic control; Clark Hull's Drive Theory; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; self-determination theory; self-efficacy; emotion, feeling, and mood; James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter-Singer theories; somatic marker; basic and complex emotions; psychopathological changes in motivation and emotion; and laboratories and demonstrations of motivation and emotion processes.

This course covers techniques of recording and stimulation in neuroscience and clinical psychophysiology, including structural and functional neuroimaging, invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology, and neuromodulation and neurofeedback. Additional topics include neuroendocrinology of acute and chronic stress and the implications for learning and memory; psychophysiology of pain; and brain connectivity and resting-state activity patterns.