Statistics are the tools we use to summarize and describe the world around us and to explore the causal processes at work. Understanding statistics and how they are used and misused is vital to assimilating information as an informed citizen, as well as pursuing a career in the behavioral sciences and other fields. This course covers introductory and intermediate-level statistics, and covers topics including principles of measurement, central tendency and variability, probability and distributions, correlation, hypothesis testing, t-tests, analysis of variance and covariance, linear and logistic regression, and chi-square tests. Students may only take one of the following for degree or certificate credit: PSYC E-1900 (offered previously), STAT E-150, or STAT E-160.
Evolutionary psychology is the application of principles from evolutionary biology to the study of human behavior. In this course, we explore the underlying theories in evolutionary psychology and how they have been applied to topics covering the range of human experience, including cooperation, mating, friendship, aggression, warfare, collective action, kinship, parenting, social learning, dietary choice, spatial cognition, reasoning, emotions, morality, personality and individual differences, predator avoidance, hazard management, culture, and more.
Why did so many species evolve to have two sexes? Why is sex dichotomous in our gametes, but continuous in our bodies and behavior? Did we evolve to have a sense of our own gender identity and if so, why? This course takes a deep dive into these questions and more. Classes are organized around group discussion of readings. After mastering the foundational material, students write their final paper, applying the course material and their outside interests and expertise to a topic of interest in this wide field.
Psychometrics is just a fancy word for the assessment and measurement of psychological characteristics (skills, abilities, personality traits, knowledge, opinions, preferences, and attitudes). Political pollsters, survey writers, market researchers, teachers and trainers, and many others do this all the time without knowing they are doing psychometrics or that there is a whole field of theory and evidence-based insights into ways of doing it better. During this course students devise, workshop, and revise a proposed capstone project. A successful proposal for a capstone project is an academic paper that highlights the need for your project and establishes a plan for your project's implementation. A capstone project includes two components: the project prototype and the academic report. The prototype is a specific product designed to address a real-world problem. Prototypes can take a variety of forms (for example, a preregistered validation study for a new psychometric, publishable article, application implementing a psychometric for a particular purpose, informational website, book, etc.). Capstone projects build on specific interests of each student and are developed in consultation with the instructor.
Translating scientific knowledge is a vital public service, and there is a large body of psychological and social science research that can have positive effects in people's lives, such as the psychology of learning and habit change, positive psychology and improving well-being, psycho-education, and avoiding cognitive biases and logical fallacies. However, there are many barriers to effective education of the often technical and complex outputs of scientific research. In this course, we explore principles of learning and education, common barriers to understanding, effective teaching methods, and modes of communication in the modern world. During this course students devise, workshop, and revise a proposed capstone project. A successful proposal for a capstone project is an academic paper that highlights the need for your project and establishes a plan for your project's implementation. A capstone project includes two components: the project prototype and the academic report. The prototype is a specific product designed to address a real-world problem. Prototypes can take a variety of forms (for example, an in-person workshop, online training, publishable article, application, informational website, book, or printable materials). Capstone projects build on specific interests of each student and are developed in consultation with the instructor.