PSYCHOLOGY

CRN

 13492

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY 112

Title

Introduction to Developmental Psychology: Infancy and Childhood

Professor

 Nancy Darling

Schedule

 Tu Th 11:30 am - 12:50 pm PRE 128
A human life begins with a single cell and unfolds in almost inconceivable complexity. Developmental psychology is the scientific study of change and continuity over the lifecourse. This course is an introductory survey course in developmental psychology that focuses on the period between conception and puberty. While each life unfolds in its own unique pattern, we will explore the ways biological, psychological, cultural, and sociological influences systematically combine to shape its course.

CRN

 13477

Distribution

 C/E

Course No.

 PSY 115

Title

Introduction to Social Psychology

Professor

 David Lopez

Schedule

 Wed Fr 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 301
A consideration of how we experience ourselves and come to know others, how other people influence our attitudes and behavior, and how our identities are institutionally mediated. How do we form and maintain conceptions of ourselves? How do we form and maintain impressions of others? What are the fallibilities of human reason in everyday life? What are the challenges we face in our pursuit of happiness? What role does physical beauty play in attraction? What factors promote conformity, compliance, and obedience? What is injustice, and how do people resist it in their daily lives? Under what conditions are some people likely to aid a person in distress? How are we affected by features of the physical environment around us?

CRN

 13479

Distribution

 E/Q

Course No.

 PSY 204

Title

Research Methods in Psychology

Professor

 Nancy Darling

Schedule

 Tu Th 8:30 am -9:50 am PRE 128

Cross-listed: CRES

This course is a continuation of Psychology 203. Its objective is to extend to the area of methodology the skills and abilities students acquired in the fall semester and to give students hands-on experience in doing social psychological research. The primary focus is the measurement of psychological constructs, nonexperimental research designs, and the statistical analysis of correlational data. Students develop an understanding of research methods and design through reading, lectures, and conducting research. Quasi-experimental methods are emphasized. Students participate in modest projects in the areas of reliability, replication, sampling, and scaling and also design and conduct their own survey study. We discuss ethical issues relevant to each stage of the research process and work to develop students' ability to assess research reports critically.

Prerequisite: eligibility for a "Q" course.

CRN

 13480

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY 230

Title

Introduction to Neuroscience

Professor

 Frank Scalzo

Schedule

 Tu Th 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 203
The ability to express thoughts and emotions, and to interact with the environment, is dependent in large part on the function of the nervous system. This course will examine basic concepts and methods in the study of brain, mind and behavior. Topics include the structure and function of the central nervous system, brain development, learning and memory, emotion, sensory and motor systems, the assessment of human brain damage, and clinical disorders such as schizophrenia, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.

Prerequisite: Introduction to General Psychology, Introduction to Developmental Psychology or Introduction to Biology

CRN

 13481

Distribution

 C

Course No.

 PSY 235

Title

School Guidance and Counseling Psychology

Professor

 Christie Achebe

Schedule

 Mon Wed 4:30 pm - 5:50 pm OLIN 203

Cross-listed: AADS, MES

The contemporary demographic profile of the major communities and school systems in America is one of rapid change and growing diversity especially in language, ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, religion, family, spirituality, disability, gender, sexual orientation etc. This trend is expected to continue unabated into the next millenium. While there is no doubt that some mental health needs are commonly shared, how they are met often resonates in unique ways within and among this diversity. Such a scenario must sit uneasily with any mental health professional no matter how well meaning, who is only versed in the traditional mono-cultural approach to helping. Against this backdrop, the course (1)explores the history, aims and assumptions of traditional counseling, (2)examines some innovative approaches to diversity -sensitive practices with African Americans, Latina/o ,Asian Americans, Native American Indians and Whites; (3)broadens students' counseling repertoire with the attitudes/beliefs, knowledge and skills needed to both effectively and sensitively meet the needs of all variations of clients in diverse human service

settings.

CRN

 13478

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY 241

Title

Abnormal Psychology

Professor

 Richard Gordon

Schedule

 Mon Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 301
The course reviews the principal forms of psychopathology, with an emphasis on clinical definition, formal diagnosis, etiology, and treatment. The system of psychiatric diagnosis offered by the DSM-IV will be utilized in defining clinical syndromes including anxiety disorders, conversion disorders, psychophysiological disorders, antisocial and impulse disorders, schizophrenia, affective disorders, alcoholism, and eating disorders. Case descriptions will also be included in the reading. Theoretical perspectives include psychodynamic, social-learning, biological and contemporary research on the etiology of syndromes.

Prerequisite: one previous Psychology Course.

CRN

 13489

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY 262

Title

Language & Cognition

Professor

 Sharon Hannigan

Schedule

 Mon Wed 11:30 am - 12:50 pm PRE 128
The focus of this course is on how people acquire language, and, once acquired, how language is represented and processed in the brain. Topics that will be studied include the basic units of linguistic knowledge and rules (i.e., phonemes, morphemes, syntax, phrase-structure rules, etc.), letter and word recognition (i.e., parallel processing of linguistic units and associative networks), concept formation (i.e., categories, exemplars, and prototypes), text comprehension (i.e., inferences vital to reading fluency), and reasoning via language (i.e., the relations that hold between two or more ideas: comparative, analogical, causal, etc.). We will also explore phenomena that fall within the relatively new discipline of neurolinguistics including the neural bases of various linguistic processes, the neural organization of language in mono- and bilinguals, and aphasia, or the loss of certain aspects of language as a result of brain damage.

Prerequisite: one introductory level psychology course (PSY 103, 115).

CRN

 13490

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY 328

Title

Cognitive Neuroscience

Professor

 Sharon Hannigan

Schedule

 Wed 1:30 pm -3:50 pm PRE 128
Cognitive Neuroscience is a relatively new hybrid discipline, the product of an exciting merger of the cognitive sciences (i.e., cognitive psychology, cognition, psychophysics, psycholinguistics, etc.) and the neurosciences (i.e., neurology, neurobiology, neuropsychology, etc.). In cognitive neuroscience, the general aim is to elucidate the material basis (i.e., neural substrates) of so-called higher order cognitive processes (i.e., memory, language, decision making, reasoning, etc.), first delineated via the information processing approach implemented by cognitive psychologists. Whereas traditional cognitive and neuroscientific disciplines analyze behavioral outcomes and reason backwards in an attempt to uncover the "hidden" cognitive events that gave rise to them, cognitive neuroscience examines these mental events "on-line"; that is, practically as they unfold in real-time, a feat made possible by recent advances in neuroimaging technology (i.e., MRI, PET, etc.). In this course, we will explore the patterns of brain activity that emerge as we perceive, attend to, feel, remember, dream about, and comment on stimuli/information. This course is an upper college seminar and will satisfy the research conference requirement. Prerequisites: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology or Introduction to Neuroscience, or the consent of the instructor. Grounding in experimental methods and statistics is strongly recommended.

CRN

 13491

Distribution

 C

Course No.

 PSY 333

Title

Exploring Boundaries of Self

Professor

 Christie Achebe

Schedule

 Tu 1:30-3:50 PRE 128

Cross-listed: MES

Related interest: AADS

The study of the self has preoccupied psychologists for decades; interest has not waned as they continue to grapple with its meaning, its basic building blocks, roots and value. Equally the study has retained its tremendous appeal and perplexity for young people who must take time off to find themselves! Has the self always been such a concern? Much progress has been made to tease out answers to the following questions: Is there an entity out there that is the self? Is there one or a multiplicity of selves? Or is the self a social construction? If so, should one expect group variations by gender, religious affiliation, lifestyle, race/ethnicity? And given that our current understanding about the self stems mostly from our contemporary psychological tradition of experimentation, should one expect cross national/societal variations too? Should the way a given society constructs its notion of the self-influence how its members behave, think, feel? What emphasis is placed on the self's capacity for autonomy, agency, control, responsibility? Again are there cultural variations? What can be considered the tolerable limits of acceptable self-construction (boundary)? But above all, how can our current insights shape the way we respond to others? This course will critically address these questions and interrogate current notions through a psychohistorical, cross cultural and interdisciplinary excursion on the subject of the self.

CRN

 13482

Distribution

 C/E

Course No.

 PSY 354

Title

Eating Disorders: Clinical and Cultural Considerations

Professor

 Richard Gordon

Schedule

 Tu 10:30 am - 12:50 pm PRE 101

Cross-listed: Gender Studies

An apparent increase in the incidence of eating disorders has drawn considerable attention from clinical professionals as well as cultural theorists. In this course, clinical and cultural issues relevant to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa will be articulated. Beginning with a discussion of the individual and family dynamics of eating disorders, issues such as body image, female identity, weight control, obesity, and the impact of the media will be explored in depth.

CRN

 13493

Distribution

 C/E

Course No.

 PSY 381

Title

Classic, Contemporary and Continuing Study in Social Psychology

Professor

 Stuart Levine

Schedule

 Mon 3:00 pm -6:00 pm LC 118
This conference is designed primarily for moderated psychology majors (see below) who therefore have considerable background in reading original contributions to the social science literature. Assignments will be paired classic and contemporary studies compiled from the array of topics investigated with the domain of social psychology. These topics range from social influence to prosocial behavior to attitude change and many others. Studies will be read and reviewed in order to assess both the persistence of issues explored by those who seek to understand social behavior and the role and use of changing methodologies. Students will do multiple class presentations throughout the semester. Each week we will examine paired studies, which include first, a classic study in a particular area and then a second more contemporary investigation in the same topic area. Before long in the semester, as students become more and more familiar with the nature and use of psychology archives, a third more recent investigation will be sought to expand the topical and historical study. Another methodology used in this conference will be directed toward finding tri-partite studies in subject areas not among those originally listed in the course syllabus. Enrollment in this conference will be strictly limited to 8 students and admission to the course will be by permission of the instructor and dependent on both experience with and interest in reading primary works in the social sciences and a willingness to seriously attend to that task. As noted, a premium in seminar work will be placed on student presentation. Social studies students from disciplines other than psychology who have the appropriate background and maintain an interest in social science research may also enroll with the permission of the instructor. Finally, it is noted that this conference is very much about and designed to be instrumental in process of developing senior project topics and proposals.

CRN

 13591

Distribution

 E

Course No.

 PSY NEU

Title

Independent Research in Neuroscience

Professor

 Frank Scalzo

Schedule

 TBA

2 credits In this course, students will participate in laboratory research in developmental psychopharmacology, neurochemistry, neuroanatomy and/or neurobehavioral teratology. Within these general fields, specific roles of neurotransmitter systems in normal behavioral development and the neurobehavioral effects of chemical insults during early development will be investigated. The majority of time in this course will consist of independent laboratory work. In addition, there will be weekly laboratory meetings, readings, and student presentations. Open to all students with consent of instructor.