Teaching

How does the mind create the reality we perceive? How do experiences shape the brain, and how do processes in the brain influence thought, emotion and behavior? This course investigates these and similar questions by studying the science of the human mind and behavior.

The course covers topics such as memory, perception, development, psychopathology, personality, and social behavior. A focus is on the biological, cognitive, and social/cultural roots that give rise to human experience. Additionally, the course will consider how behavior differs among people, and across situations.

This course provides an introduction to the concepts and methods of statistics and is aimed at helping the student to gain a fundamental understanding of the tools needed to understand and conduct research in psychology. Topics to be covered include frequency distributions and probability, descriptive statistics, simple correlation and regression, sampling distributions, t-tests and basic and factorial analysis of variance. Non-parametric tests such as Chi-square will also be introduced. The course will focus on the interpretation and communication of statistics.

The field of social neuroscience aims to elucidate links between the mind, brain, and social behaviors. In this class we will focus on recent theorizing and methodologies from neuroscience that have identified the psychological processes at play as we go about our dynamic and complex social lives. Specifically, we will examine the brain bases of social judgments, the experience and regulation of emotions, embodied cognition, empathy, attachment, theory of mind, sexual attraction, romantic love, and neuroeconomics, among other topics.

Along the way we will learn about a variety of methodological approaches used by social neuroscientists, including social psychology paradigms, lesion studies, patient research, and functional neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI).

As human beings, we have to choose from myriad behaviors to engage in and/or refrain from—whether it is eating, drinking, exercising, socializing, playing, working, sleeping, or binge watching, just to name a few. How do we know exactly which behaviors are most congruent with our goals, and which are at odds with those goals? When certain patterns of behavior undermine health and wellbeing, are there any evidence-based cognitive or motivational strategies that can meaningfully change human behavior? How much truth is there in the saying “old habits die hard?”

In this seminar, we will take a deep dive into the science of goal pursuit and behavior change, discussing both the promise and challenges of this area of study. Foundational readings from the psychological and brain sciences will cover important theoretical models of self-regulation and goal pursuit as well as the empirical evidence of these respective models to date. Students are expected to give in-class presentations of course material (individually and in groups), critically evaluate and propose alternatives to popular apps and devices advertised to promote behavior change, and write a final research-oriented paper (e.g., a study proposal or a review paper).