Graduate Courses

The faculty has approval to offer the following courses in the academic years 2015–2016 and 2016–2017; however, not all courses are taught each semester or summer session. Students should consult the Course Schedule to determine which courses and topics will be offered during a particular semester or summer session. The Course Schedule may also reflect changes made to the course inventory after the publication of this catalog.

Psychology: PSY

PSY 380C. Human Neuropsychology.

Basic issues in normal and abnormal human brain function reviewed with emphasis on disorders of higher cerebral functioning. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, and Psychology 383C or consent of instructor.

PSY 380E. Vision Systems.

Introduction to the anatomy, physiology, and psychophysics of human vision from an information-processing and computational perspective. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Neuroscience 380E and Psychology 380E may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 380F. Fundamentals of Evolutionary Psychology.

Survey of important theories and research in evolutionary psychology, with emphasis on current problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 381C. Methods of fMRI: From Design to Data Analysis.

Methods behind all common fMRI data preprocessing steps and data analysis models, including how to properly implement and evaluate their performance. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Psychology 381C and Statistics and Scientific Computation 385 (Topic: Methods for fMRI) may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 381D. Advanced Topics in Neuroimaging.

Addresses the latest developments in the design, analysis, and interpretation of neuroimaging data. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 381E. Introduction to Psychophysiology.

An overview of the principles, theory, and applications of using physiological measures to study mental processes. Covers the philosophical and theoretical foundations of brain/behavior relations and introduces basic electrical principles and human neurophysiology. A core course option. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 382E. Area Seminar in Cognitive Science.

Current issues in cognitive science. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 182K, 282K, 382K. Internship in Clinical Psychology.

Supervised practical experience in clinical assessment and treatment. For each semester hour of credit earned, the equivalent of one lecture hour a week for one semester, with practicum hours to be arranged. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree in clinical psychology.

PSY 383C. Functional Neuroanatomy.

An examination of the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord, emphasizing connections and functions of neural systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Neuroscience 383C and Psychology 383C may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 383E. Area Seminar in Cognitive Neuroscience.

Current issues in cognitive neuroscience. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 383M. Fundamentals of Physiological Psychology.

Survey of important theories and research in physiological psychology, with emphasis on current problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 383T. Principles of Sensory and Behavioral Neuroscience.

A proseminar covering the core material on essential topics in sensory and behavioral neuroscience. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Neuroscience 383T and Psychology 383T may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 384C. Bootstrap Statistics.

Same as Neuroscience 384C. An introduction to modern methods of statistical analysis based on numerical computer simulation. Covers a range of common data analysis situations drawn mainly from the fields of neuroscience and experimental psychology. Techniques include point estimation, two-group and multiple group experiments, regression and curve fitting, and Bayesian analysis. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Neuroscience 384C, 385L (Topic: Bootstrap Statistics), Psychology 384C, 394U (Topic: Bootstrap Statistics). Prerequisite: Graduate standing, an undergraduate statistics course, and consent of instructor.

PSY 184E. Current Subjects in Clinical Psychology.

One lecture hour a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 384K. Advanced Statistics: Experimental Design.

Consideration of problems of analysis and design commonly encountered in psychological research. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, an undergraduate statistics course, and consent of instructor.

PSY 384M. Advanced Statistics: Inferential.

Same as Neuroscience 384M. Covers t-test, chi-square, analysis of variance, and nonparametric tests. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, an undergraduate statistics course, and consent of instructor.

PSY 184R. Data analysis with R.

Using R for a variety of data analyses following the topics covered in Psychology 384M including: reading data into R, generating graphs, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and regression. One lecture hour a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor, and registration or credit for Psychology 384M.

PSY 385E. Area Seminar in Developmental Psychology.

Current issues in developmental psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 385N. Fundamentals of Personality Psychology.

Survey of important theories and research in personality psychology, with emphasis on current problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 385P. Fundamentals of Social Psychology.

Survey of important theories and research in social psychology, with emphasis on current problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 386E. Area Seminar in Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology.

Current issues in individual differences and evolutionary psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 386N. Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics.

Survey of important theories and research in psycholinguistics, with emphasis on current problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 387C. Human Language Processing.

An overview of current psycholinguistic research, primarily in the production and comprehension of spoken language by adults. A core course option. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Psychology 387C and 394U (Topic: Human Language Process) may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 387D. fMRI Brain Decoding.

Explores cutting-edge techniques for finding meaningful patterns in large, noisy brain data sets, and how to use these techniques to address a variety of questions in cognitive neuroscience. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Psychology 387D and 394U (Topic: fMRI Brain Decoding) may not both be counted. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 387E. Area Seminar in Perception, Brain, and Behavior Psychology.

Current issues in perception, brain, and behavior psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one week. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 387N. Perceptual Systems.

Overview of theory and research in visual perception and perceptual information processing. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 387S. Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Introduction of graduate students to the methods, theories, and research of cognitive neuroscience across a broad range of mental domains such as attention, memory, language, and decision making. A core course option. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Psychology 387R and 387S may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 388D. Individual Differences Psychology.

Person-to-person differences in cognitive abilities and personality, with emphases on genetic and environmental influences, developmental processes, and relations to real world outcomes. A core course option. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 388E. Area Seminar in Social and Personality Psychology.

Current issues in social and personality psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 388K. Conference on Special Topics.

Readings, conferences, and other work on individually selected topics. Conference course. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in psychology. Students must sign up in the Department of Psychology Graduate Office before enrolling in some sections; these are identified in the Course Schedule.

PSY 389K. Theory and Techniques of Assessment I.

Introduction to intelligence and personality testing procedures, test interpretation, and ethical issues pertaining to clinical interviewing and testing. Includes instruction and feedback on clinical report writing. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor received prior to registering.

PSY 389L. Theory and Techniques of Assessment II.

Clinical interviewing with adults and children. Observation and feedback for test administration and clinical skills. Three lecture hours and three hours of observation a week for one semester. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, Psychology 389K, and consent of instructor received prior to registering.

PSY 190, 290, 390. Research.

Individual research. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in psychology. Students must sign up in the Department of Psychology Graduate Office prior to registering.

PSY 391N. Learning and Memory.

Same as Neuroscience 391N. Presentation of contemporary approaches to the study of conditioning and learning at the behavioral level. Focuses on empirical data and theoretical analysis of acquisition and performance in Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. Includes discussion of habituation, sensitization, stimulus control, and other paradigms for studying cognitive processes in nonverbal organisms. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

PSY 391P. Issues and Controversies in Statistical and Scientific Inquiry.

Selected topics on the design and analysis of psychological research. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 392N. Fundamentals of Comparative Psychology.

History and current status of comparative psychology, emphasizing several biological disciplines, including behavior genetics, ethology, evolutionary biology, and sociobiology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 393. Clinical Practicum I.

Supervised practical experience in the use of clinical techniques. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with ten to twelve hours of practicum experience to be arranged. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, Psychology 389K, and consent of instructor.

PSY 393K. Clinical Practicum II.

Continuation of supervised practical experience in the use of clinical techniques. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with ten to twelve hours of practicum experience to be arranged. Prerequisite: Graduate standing, Psychology 393, and consent of instructor.

PSY 394K. Fundamentals of Social and Personality Development.

Survey of important theories, issues, and research in social and personality development. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 394N. Fundamentals of Cognitive Development.

Survey of important theories, issues, and research in the development of perception, language, and cognition. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 394P. Seminars in Behavioral Neuroscience and Biopsychology.

Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 1: Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience. Brain-behavior relationships, particularly recent research in behavioral neuroscience, including the anatomical and neurochemical mechanisms of behavioral events, and behavioral influences on the brain. Neuroscience 394P (Topic 1: Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience) and Psychology 394P (Topic 1) may not both be counted. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only.
Topic 2: Clinical Psychopharmacology. Recent findings concerning the mechanisms of action and the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs, particularly those used in psychiatry. Various drug types (such as sedative-hypnotics, hallucinogens, and drugs used to treat depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and anxiety) and pathways in the brain are discussed to examine the neurochemical basis of psychiatric disorders and substance abuse.
Topic 3: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Neuroanatomical systems that are functionally related to basic forms of learning and memory in mammals. Neuroscience 394P (Topic 3: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory) and Psychology 394P (Topic 3) may not both be counted.
Topic 4: Animal Communication.
Topic 7: Advanced Topics in Neuroanatomy. Neuroanatomical systems and functions across species; advanced forms of neuroanatomy in mammals. Neuroscience 394P (Topic 4: Advanced Topics in Neuroanatomy) and Psychology 394P (Topic 7) may not both be counted.
Topic 13: Foundations of Human Neuroimaging. A survey of the foundations for neuroimaging research with a focus on cognitive neuroscience. Describes the physical methods of image acquisition and physiological mechanisms used for functional imaging. Emphasis on magnetic resonance methods for structural and functional imaging. Surveys other imaging modalities, including positron emission tomography (PET), optical, and EEG/MEG electrical source localization. Only one of the following may be counted: Biology 381K (Topic: Foundations of Neuroimaging), Neuroscience 385L (Topic 6), 394P (Topic: Foundations of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research), Psychology 394P (Topic: Foundations of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research), 394P (Topic 13).
Topic 16: Quantifying Brain Structure. Concepts and hands-on applications for quantifying aspects of brain and cellular structure, with a focus on stereological approaches. Only one of the following may be counted: Neuroscience 385L (Topic 12: Quantifying Brain Structure), 394P (Topic: Quantitative Methods for Brain Structure), Psychology 394P (Topic 16), 394P (Topic: Quantitative Methods for Brain Structure).
Topic 17: Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. Current research in neuroendocrinology, including action of neuroendocrine systems on behavior, assays of substances in the blood to identify gene products, and examination of stress from neuroendocrine, behavioral, health, and immunity perspectives. Only one of the following may be counted: Neuroscience 385L (Topic 5: Behavioral Neuroendocrinology), 394P (Topic: Behavioral Neuroendocrinology), Psychology 394P (Topic 17), 394P (Topic: Behavioral Neuroendocrinology).

PSY 194Q, 394Q. Seminars in Clinical Psychology.

One or three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 1: Current Topics in Clinical Psychology. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only.
Topic 2: Empirically Supported Interventions with Adults.
Topic 4: Advanced Practicum in Clinical Psychology.
Topic 5: Advanced Practicum in Clinical Neuropsychology. Restricted to clinical psychology majors. Additional prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.
Topic 6: Empirically Supported Interventions with Children.
Topic 17: Seminar in Positive Psychology. A survey of the emerging field of positive psychology and well-being. Topics include character strengths and virtues, positive emotion, personality influences, motivation and goals, the happiness set point, and the issue of whether happiness can or should be changed.
Topic 18: Research Methods in Clinical Psychology. Advanced training in research methodology as it pertains to the field of clinical psychology.
Topic 19: History and Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology. History and development of clinical psychology as a profession. Includes clinical psychology before World War II, the recognition of stress, the rise of evidence-based practice, professional psychology, and multicultural diversity.
Topic 20: Diversity Issues in Research and Practice. Methodological considerations involved in designing research projects, and clinical assessment and treatment concerns that arise when working with diverse populations.

PSY 394S. Seminars in Developmental Psychology.

Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 2: Children's Racial/Gender Schemata.
Topic 3: Literacy Acquisition.
Topic 4: Psychological Processes in Family Violence.
Topic 5: Language and Conceptual Development.
Topic 6: Infant Perception and Cognition.
Topic 7: Professional Issues in Academia.

PSY 394T. Seminars in Evolutionary Psychology.

Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 394U. Seminars in Cognitive or Perception Psychology.

Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 3: Introduction to Cognitive Science. Same as Cognitive Science 380 (Topic 1: Introduction to Cognitive Science), Linguistics 392 (Topic 1: Introduction to Cognitive Science), and Philosophy 383C. Only one of the following may be counted: Cognitive Science 380 (Topic 1), Linguistics 392 (Topic 1), 393 (Topic: Introduction to Cognitive Science), 393 (Topic: Topics in Cognitive Science), Philosophy 383 (Topic: Introduction to Cognitive Science), 383C, Psychology 394U (Topic 3).
Topic 4: Cognition.
Topic 6: Memory.
Topic 7: Speech Perception.
Topic 8: Topics in Vision and Hearing. Current research in human vision and/or hearing. Neuroscience 385L (Topic 7: Topics in Vision and Hearing) or Psychology 394U (Topic 8) may not both be counted.
Topic 9: Visual Perception. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only.
Topic 12: Knowledge Representation. Psychological approaches to the ways in which information is stored and processed, focusing on how particular assumptions and mental representation make tasks either easy or difficult to perform.
Topic 13: Reasoning and Decision Making. High-level cognitive processes of reasoning and decision making. Explores human rationality, analogical reasoning, causal reasoning, heuristics, and decision making in naturalistic settings.
Topic 14: Topics in Systems Neuroscience. Focuses on one or two topics and examines them in depth through group discussions of key scientific manuscripts. Discusses both classical studies and contemporary research. Only one of the following may be counted: Neuroscience 394P (Topic 8: Topics in Systems Neuroscience), Psychology 394U (Topic 14), 394U (Topic: Advanced Topics in Systems Neuroscience).
Topic 15: Cognitive Neuroscience. Readings, results, and discussion regarding cutting-edge work in the field. Emphasis on how computational models can be used to bridge brain and behavior. Biology 381K (Topic: Cognitive Neuroscience) and Psychology 394U (Topic 15) may not both be counted.
Topic 16: Perception and Action. Current topics in visually guided behavior, including eye movements, attention, and motor control, from behavioral, computational, and neurophysiological approaches. Neuroscience 394P (Topic 9: Perception and Action) and Psychology 394U (Topic 16) may not both be counted.
Topic 17: Models of Cognition. Formal models of cognition and related analysis, such as model selection statistics and Bayesian hierarchical parameter fitting.
Topic 18: Advanced Topics in Perceptual Systems. Readings, talks, and discussions on perceptual systems.
Topic 19: Statistical Methods in Computational Neuroscience. Same as Neuroscience 394P (Topic 10: Statistical Methods in Computational Neuroscience). Introduction to statistical and computational methods for understanding information processing in the nervous system, with emphasis on neural coding and statistical modeling of neural responses. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 394V. Seminars in Social and Personality Psychology.

Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topic 6: The Self.
Topic 7: Social Stereotypes.
Topic 8: Psychosomatic Processes. Survey of theories and findings concerning the links between psychological states and health. Includes emotion, stress, coping, psychoneuroimmunology, disclosure, and the social correlates of health and illness.
Topic 9: Language and Personality. An exploration into computer-based methods used to study the links between word use and basic social and personality processes.
Topic 10: Close Relationships. Social psychological theory and research on the topic of close relationships.
Topic 11: Social Neuroscience. Introduction to psychological and neural foundational concepts in social neuroscience. Surveys current work in the field to examine how it may or may not contribute to the study of social psychology.

PSY 395S. Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology.

Emphasizes understanding the major theoretical approaches to the field, with an introduction to empirical work inspired by these theoretical perspectives. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Psychology 394S (Topic: Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology) and 395S may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 396. Advanced Behavior Pathology.

Evaluation of the experimental and theoretical literature concerning major behavioral disorders. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 396C. Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.

The epidemiology, etiology, associated features, developmental course, and prognosis of childhood and adolescent behavior disorders. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. A core course option. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 396D. Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Same as Neuroscience 396D. Recent findings concerning the mechanisms of action and the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs, particularly those used in psychiatry. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

PSY 698. Thesis.

The equivalent of three lecture hours a week for two semesters. Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: For 698A, graduate standing in psychology, twelve semester hours of upper-division or graduate coursework in psychology, and consent of the graduate adviser; for 698B, Psychology 698A.

PSY 398T. Supervised Teaching in Psychology.

Teaching under close supervision of course instructor for two semesters; weekly meetings of two to four hours during the semester; individual consultation and reports throughout the teaching period. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and appointment as a teaching assistant.

PSY 399R, 699R, 999R. Dissertation.

Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.

PSY 399W, 699W, 999W. Dissertation.

Offered on the credit/no credit basis only. Prerequisite: Psychology 399R, 699R, or 999R.