Psychology

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/catalog-copy/approved-updates/.

Courses

For course descriptions not found in the UC San Diego General Catalog, 2016–17, please contact the department for more information.

Lower Division

Experimental Requirements

Psychology at UC San Diego is a laboratory science. We seek to cultivate scientific development of knowledge about human and animal behavior and thought. Accordingly, experience with experimental procedures plays an important role in the undergraduate and graduate training of students.

PSYC 1. Psychology (4)

This course provides an overview of the basic concepts in psychology. Topics may include human information processing, learning and memory, motivation, development, language acquisition, social psychology, and personality.

PSYC 2. General Psychology: Biological Foundations (4)

This course provides an introductory survey of the relationship between human behavior and brain function. Specific areas of emphasis include vision and other sensory processes, memory, motivation, attention, and cognition.

PSYC 3. General Psychology: Cognitive Foundations (4)

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of cognitive psychology. Topics include perception, attention, memory, language, and thought. The relation of cognitive psychology to cognitive science and to neuropsychology is also covered.

PSYC 4. General Psychology: Behavioral Foundations (4)

This course provides an introduction to behavioral psychology. Topics include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, animal learning, and motivation and behavior modification.

PSYC 6. General Psychology: Social Foundations (4)

This course provides an introduction to social psychology. Topics may include emotion, aesthetics, behavioral medicine, person perception, attitudes and attitude change, and behavior in social organizations.

PSYC 7. General Psychology: Developmental Foundations (4)

This course provides an introduction to theories and research results in developmental psychology, covering infancy through adulthood.

PSYC 60. Introduction to Statistics (4)

This course provides an introduction to both descriptive and inferential statistics, core tools in the process of scientific discovery and the interpretation of research.

PSYC 70. Research Methods in Psychology (4)

This course provides an overview of how to choose appropriate research methods for experimental and non-experimental studies. Topics may include classic experimental design and counterbalancing, statistical power, and causal inference in experimental and non-experimental settings. Prerequisites: Psychology 60 or equivalent.

PSYC 87. Freshman Seminar (1)

The Freshman Seminar Program is designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman Seminars are offered in all campus departments and undergraduate colleges, and topics vary from quarter to quarter. Enrollment is limited to fifteen to twenty students, with preference given to entering freshmen. Prerequisites: none.

PSYC 90. Undergraduate Seminar (1)

This seminar introduces the various subdisciplines in psychology and their research methods, and also explores career and graduate school opportunities. This includes informal presentations by faculty, graduate students, and other professionals.

PSYC 93. Topics in Psychology (4)

Selected topics in the field of psychology. May be taken for credit three times as topics vary.

PSYC 99. Independent Study (2 or 4)

Independent study or research under direction of a member of the faculty. May be taken up to three times for a maximum of twelve units. Prerequisites: lower-division standing, completion of at least thirty units of undergraduate study at UC San Diego with a minimum UC San Diego GPA of 3.0; completed and approved Special Studies form.

Upper Division

PSYC 100. Clinical Psychology (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the causes, characteristics, and treatment of psychological disorders. Particular emphasis is given to the interaction between biological, psychological, and sociocultural processes contributing to abnormal behavior. Students may not receive credit for both Psychology 163 and Psychology 100. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 101. Developmental Psychology (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the field of developmental psychology, including topics in cognitive, language, and social development. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 102. Sensory Neuroscience (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the neural mechanisms that support vision, audition, touch, olfaction, and taste. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 104. Social Psychology (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the field of social psychology, covering a review of the field’s founding principles, classic findings, and a survey of recent findings. Topics will include social perception, attributions and attitudes, stereotypies, social influence, group dynamics, and aggressive and prosocial tendencies. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 105. Cognitive Psychology (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of cognitive psychology, the scientific study of mental processes: how people acquire, store, transform, use, and communicate information. Topics may include perception, attention, language, memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision-making, and creativity. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 106. Behavioral Neuroscience (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of human and animal behavior from a neuroscience perspective. Topics include the functions and mechanisms of perception, motivation (sex, sleep, hunger, emotions), learning and memory, and motor control and movement. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 108. Cognitive Neuroscience (4)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of neuroanatomy and major methods and results from neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies of behavior. Topics include attention, motor control, executive function, memory, learning, emotion, and language. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 110. Juniors Honors Research Seminars (4)

This course provides research seminars by a range of departmental faculty, exposing students to contemporary research problems in many areas of psychology. Class discussions will follow faculty presentations. Must be taken for a letter grade for the Psychology Honors Program. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Admission by application. Department approval.

PSYC 111A. Research Methods I (6)

This course provides training in applying advanced statistical methods to experimental design. Emphasis will be placed on the developing skills in statistical problem-solving, using computer applications, and writing scientific reports. Must be taken for a letter grade for the Psychology Honors Program. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Open to honors students or by consent of instructor. Instructor and department approval.

PSYC 111B. Research Methods II (6)

This course builds upon the material of Psychology 111A. Students will participate in data collection, data organization, statistical analysis and graphical analysis, with emphasis placed on developing scientific report writing, presentations, and critical thinking about experimental methods. Must be taken for a letter grade for the Psychology Honors Program. Prerequisites: Psychology 111A; upper-division standing. Instructor and department approval.

PSYC 114. Laboratory in Psychophysiological Perspectives on the Social Mind (4)

Lab course on the use of psychophysiological methods to investigate “the social mind,” or the cognitive and emotional processes involved in understanding and reacting to other people. Overview of major research topics and methods applying selected techniques in actual experiments. Students will engage in developing individual research questions to actively participate in designing and conducting the experiments. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 115A. Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology I (4)

This course provides training in the design, execution, and analysis of cognitive psychology experiments. Students may not receive credit for both Psychology 115 and Psychology 115A. Prerequisites: upper-division standing and Psychology 60 or equivalent.

PSYC 115B. Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology II (4)

This course is designed to extend the training of Psychology 115A in the design, execution, and analysis of cognitive psychology experiments. Students may not receive credit for both Psychology 115 and Psychology 115A. Prerequisites: upper-division standing and Psychology 115A. Instructor and department approval.

PSYC 116. Laboratory in Clinical Psychology Research (4)

This course provides examination of theory, research design, and methods for clinical research. Students complete an internship at a clinical research lab, culminating in a paper. May be taken for credit three times. Students may not receive credit for both Psychology 116 and Psychology 107. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Instructor approval.

PSYC 117. Psychology Project Laboratory (4)

This course provides experience conducting educational research and outreach for children in greater San Diego county. May be taken for credit three times. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Instructor and department approval.

PSYC 119. Psycholinguistics/Cognition Laboratory (4)

Methods and practicum in experimental study of language, reading, and related cognitive processes (reasoning, problem solving) in young adult populations. Prerequisites: Psychology 118A-B or consent of instructor. Department stamp required.

PSYC 120. Learning and Motivation (4)

This course provides a survey of research and theory in learning and motivation. Topics include instincts, reinforcement, stimulus control, choice, and human application. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Must be taken concurrently with Psychology 121 or Psychology 140.

PSYC 121. Laboratory in Operant Psychology (4)

This course provides laboratory experience in operant psychology. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. May be taken concurrently with Psychology 120.

PSYC 122. Mechanisms of Animal Behavior (4)

This course focuses on approaches to the study of behavior and its underlying fundamental units of analysis in human and nonhuman animals. Students may not receive credit for both Psychology 122 and Psychology 103. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 123. Cognitive Control and Frontal Lobe Function (4)

This course provides an understanding of how the frontal lobes allow us to engage in complex mental processes. Topics may include anatomy and theory of prefrontal function, frontal lobe clinical syndromes, pharmacology and genetics, emotion control, and cognitive training. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Instructor and department approval.

PSYC 124. Clinical Assessment and Treatment (4)

This course provides an introduction to the history, purpose, and recent changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders along with appropriate evidence-based interventions. Other topics include psychiatric emergencies, crisis management, and ethics. Recommended preparation: Completion of Psychology 100. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 125. Clinical Neuropsychology (4)

This course provides a fundamental understanding of brain-behavior relationships as applied to the practice of clinical neuropsychology. Major topics include functional neuroanatomy, principles of neuropsychological assessment and diagnosis, and the neuropsychological presentation of common neurologic and psychiatric conditions. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 128. Psychology of Reading (4)

This course provides basic information about the nature of reading. Topics include word recognition, eye movements, inner speech, sentence processing, memory for text, learning to read, methods for teaching reading, reading disabilities and dyslexia, and speed-reading. Recommended preparation: completion of Psychology 105 or Psychology 145. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 129. Logic of Perception (4)

This course provides an overview of how we perceive the world. Topics include classic studies in perception, discussion of the view that perception is "logical," and new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying perception. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 130. Delay of Gratification (4)

This course provides a review of research on delay of gratification. Topics include what makes it so tough, in what situations it is possible, who can do it, and the implications of this ability. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 132. Hormones and Behavior (4)

This course examines how hormones influence a variety of behaviors and how behavior reciprocally influences hormones. Specific topics covered include aggression, sex and sexuality, feeding, learning, memory, mood and neural mechanisms both in humans and non-human animals. Recommended preparation: completion of Psychology 106. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 133. Circadian Rhythms—Biological Clocks (4)

This interdisciplinary course provides an overview of the fundamental properties of daily biological clocks of diverse species, from humans to microbes. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of internal time keeping in wide-ranging contexts including human performance, health, and industry. Cross-listed with BIMM 116. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Psychology 106 or BILD 1 or Psychology 2 or consent of instructor.

PSYC 134. Eating Disorders (4)

This course provides an overview of the biology and psychology of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Abnormal, as well as normal, eating will be discussed from various perspectives including endocrinological, neurobiological, psychological, sociological, and evolutionary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 136. Cognitive Development (4)

This course provides an overview of how children's thinking develops. Topics may include perception, concept formation, memory, problem solving, and social cognition. Prerequisites: upper-division standing ; Psychology 101 or Psychology 105.

PSYC 137. Social Cognition (4)

This course provides an overview of social cognition, which blends cognitive and social psychology to understand how people make sense of the social world. Topics may include social perception, inference, memory, motivation, affect, understanding the self, stereotypes, and cultural cognition. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 138. Sound and Music Perception (4)

This course provides an overview of auditory perception. Topics may include the physiology of the auditory system, perception of pitch, loudness, and timbre, sound localization, perception of melodic and temporal patterns and musical illusions and paradoxes. Recommended preparation: ability to read musical notation. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 139. The Social Psychology of Sport (4)

This course provides an introduction to the applications of social psychological principles and findings to sports. Topics include motivation, level of aspiration, competition, cooperation, social comparison, and optimal arousal. Additional topics may include the perspective of spectators, discussing motivation and perceptions of success, streaks, and such. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 140. Human Behavior Laboratory (4)

This course provides training in applying the principles of human behavior, including choice behavior, self-control, and reasoning. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Must be taken concurrently with Psychology 120.

PSYC 141. Evolution and Human Nature (4)

This course provides insight into the question of whether important aspects of human behavior can be explained as resulting from natural selection. Topics include sex differences, selfishness and altruism, homicide and violence, and context effects of human reasoning. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 142. Psychology of Consciousness (4)

This course provides a survey of research on consciousness from an experimental psychology perspective. Special emphasis will be placed on cognitive, neuro-imaging, and clinical/psychiatric investigative techniques, and on the scientific assessment of the mind-body problem. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 143. Control and Analysis of Human Behavior (4)

This course provides an overview of the behavioral approach, including basic principles, self-control, clinical applications, and the design of cultures. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 144. Memory and Amnesia (4)

This course will provide a survey of current research and theory concerning human memory and amnesia from both cognitive and neuropsychological perspectives. Topics may include short-term (working) memory, encoding and retrieval, episodic and semantic memory, interference and forgetting, false memory, eyewitness memory, emotion and memory, famous case studies of amnesia, and the effects of aging and dementia on memory. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 145. Psychology of Language (4)

This course provides an overview of language comprehension and production. Topics include animal communication, language development, and language disorders. Recommended preparation: completion of a course in language, cognition, or philosophy of the mind. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 146. Language and Conceptual Development (4)

This course provides an introduction to research on language acquisition and its relationship to conceptual development. Topics include on theoretical foundations (e.g., learning mechanisms, theories of concepts) and empirical case studies, including word learning, syntax and semantics, and language and thought. Recommended preparation: completion of a course in language/linguistics, cognition, or cognitive development. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 147. Gender (4)

This course provides an overview of the role of gender in psychology, with an emphasis on critical thinking about gender. Topics may include gender differences in behavior and communication, influences on gender roles, gender identity, and gender effects on health and well-being. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 148. Psychology of Judgement and Decision (4)

This course provides an overview of judgment and decision making, which is broadly concerned with preferences, subjective probability, and how they are combined to arrive at decisions. History and current topics will be covered. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 150. Cognitive Neuroscience of Vision (4)

This course provides an overview of the neural basis of visual experience, or how our brain creates what we see in the world around us. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; Psychology 102 or Psychology 108.

PSYC 151. Tests and Measurement (4)

This course provides an introduction to psychology testing. Topics include psychometrics and statistical methods of test construction; application of psychological tests in industry, clinical practice, and applied settings; and controversies in the application of psychological tests. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; Psychology 60.

PSYC 152. Conceptions of Intelligence (4)

This course provides an overview of the concept of intelligence from multiple perspectives. Topics include how intelligence is measured and the role of this measurement on practical matters, the role of intelligence in comparative psychology, and attempts to analyze intelligence in terms of more fundamental cognitive processes. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; Psychology 60.

PSYC 153. Psychology of Emotion (4)

This course provides an overview of past and current theories of emotion. Topics include facial expressions associated with emotion, psychophysiology, evolutionary perspectives, and specific emotions such as anger, fear, and jealousy. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 154. Behavior Modification (4)

The course provides an extension of learning principles to human behavior. Topics include broad implications of a behavioral perspective, applied behavior analysis, and applications of behavioral principles to clinical disorders and to normal behavior in varied settings. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 155. Social Psychology and Medicine (4)

This course provides an exploration of health, illness, treatment, and delivery of treatment as they relate to psychological concepts and research and considers how the social psychological perspective might be extended into medical fields. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 156. Cognitive Development in Infancy (4)

This course provides an overview of infant development. Students will critically evaluate scientific theories regarding infant cognitive, linguistic, and social behavior. Recommended preparation: Psychology 60. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; Psychology 101 or HDP 1.

PSYC 157. Happiness (4)

This course provides an overview of the psychology of happiness. Topics may include such questions as: What is happiness? How do we measure it, and how do we tell who has it? What is the biology of happiness and what is its evolutionary significance? What makes people happy—youth, fortune, marriage, chocolate? Is the pursuit of happiness pointless? Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 158. Interpersonal Relationships (4)

This course provides an examination of theories and empirical work pertaining to interpersonal relationships. Topics include attraction, jealousy, attachments, and love. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 159. Physiological Basis of Perception (4)

This course provides a survey of sensory and perceptual phenomena with an emphasis on their underlying physiological mechanisms. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; Psychology 102.

PSYC 161. Engineering Psychology (4)

This course provides a survey of psychological findings relevant to designing "user-friendly" computers and devices and improving aviation and traffic safety. Topics include human perception as it pertains to displays and image compression, human memory limitations relevant to usability, and nature of human errors. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 162. Psychology and the Law (4)

This course provides an overview of the intersection between psychology and the legal system, covering a broad range of forensically relevant issues. Topics may include false memories, false confessions, eyewitness reliability, lie detection, DNA exonerations of the wrongfully convicted, jury decision making, and neuroscience and the law Recommended preparation: Psychology 60. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 164. Criminology (4)

This course provides an overview of the scientific study of law making and societal reaction to law breaking activity. Topics include major theories accounting for criminal behavior, the relationship between drugs and crime, the effects of penalties on recidivism, and the psychological effects of incarceration. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 166. History of Psychology (4)

This course provides a survey of the major trends and figures in the development of psychology as a field. Topics may include the mind-body problem, nativism vs. empiricism, and the genesis of behaviorism. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 168. Psychological Disorders of Childhood (4)

This course provides an overview of psychological disorders in children. Topics may include anxiety disorders, depressive and bipolar disorders, communication and learning disorders, conduct problems, autism, and other conditions. Emphasis is placed on symptomatology, assessment, etiological factors, epidemiology, and treatment. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 169. Brain Damage and Mental Functions (4)

This course provides an introduction to the neural mechanisms underlying perception, memory, language, and other mental capacities. Topics include how brain damage affects these capacities and how patients with brain lesions can contribute to our understanding of the normal brain. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 170. Cognitive Neuropsychology (4)

This course provides a journey to the interface between neurophysiology and psychology. Topics include neuroimaging and neuroplasticity. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 171. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (4)

This course provides an overview of the neurobiology of learning and memory, from cognitive to molecular neuroscience, including human, animal, cellular, and molecular studies of memory. Topics include amnesia, intellectual disability, exceptional intelligence, aging, and Alzheimer's disease. Prerequisites: Psychology 2 or 106 or 181, upper-division standing.

PSYC 172. The Psychology of Human Sexuality (4)

This course provides an overview of human sexuality research including diversity of sexual behavior and identities, sex and gender development, intimate relationships, and sexual dysfunction. Recommended preparation: completion of Psychology 1, 2, or 106. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 173. Psychology of Food and Behavior (4)

This course provides an overview of the biological, psychological, and social influences on the psychology of food and behavior. Topics may include taste preferences and aversions and how they are learned, how culture influences food selection, and food-related behaviors across the lifespan. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 176. Creativity (4)

This course provides an overview of how to foster creativity in individuals, groups, and organizations. Themes that cut across all three levels are highlighted. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 178. Industrial Organizational Psychology (4)

This course provides an examination of human behavior in industrial, business, and organizational settings. Topics include psychological principles applied to selection, placement, management, and training; the effectiveness of individuals and groups within organizations, including leadership and control; conflict and cooperation; motivation; and organizational structure and design. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 179. Drugs, Addiction, and Mental Disorders (4)

This course provides an overview of the use, abuse, liability, and psychotherapeutic effects of drugs on humans. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 180. Adolescence (4)

This course provides an overview of the period of human adolescence, including the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes that take place during this developmental transition. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 181. Drugs and Behavior (4)

Develops basic principles in psychopharmacology while exploring the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs and mechanisms of action of drugs. Prerequisites: psychology major or minor, or biology major or minor.

PSYC 182. Illusions and the Brain (4)

This course provides an examination of visual, auditory, and tactile illusions and examines how they arise from interactions between perceptual and cognitive systems. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 184. Choice and Self-Control (4)

This course provides an overview of the experimental analysis of choice behavior, with an emphasis on the types of choice involved in self-control. A central interest will be the conditions under which decision-making is optimal. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 187. Development of Social Cognition (4)

This course provides an overview of how children learn to reason about the social world. Topics may include theory of mind, social categorization and stereotyping, moral reasoning, and cultural learning. Recommended preparation: Psychology 101. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 188. Impulse Control Disorders (4)

This course provides an overview of problems of impulse control, which are important features of major psychiatric disorders and also of atypical patterns of behavior including pathological gambling, compulsive sex, eating, exercise, and shopping. Topics include development, major common features, treatment, and neurobiological basis of impulse control disorders. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 189. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution (4)

This course provides a survey of natural behaviors, including birdsong, prey capture, localization, electro-reception and echo-location, and the neural system that controls them, emphasizing broad fundamental relationships between brain and behavior across species. Prerequisites: Psychology 103 and 106; upper-division standing.

PSYC 190. Parenting (4)

This course provides an interdisciplinary overview of theories and scientific research on parenting. Topics may include family structure, parenting styles, attachment, discipline strategies, culture, and media. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 191. Psychology of Sleep (4)

This course provides an overview of the psychology of sleep, including sleep stages and their functions, neurological aspects of sleep, sleep across species and development, dreams and their interpretation, sleep disorders, and the role of sleep in learning and memory. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 192. Senior Seminar in Psychology  (1)

The Senior Seminar Program is designed to allow senior undergraduates to meet with faculty members in a small setting to explore an intellectual topic in psychology (at the upper-division level). Topics will vary from quarter to quarter. Senior Seminars may be taken for credit up to four times, with a change in topic, and permission of the department. Enrollment is limited to twenty students, with preference given to seniors. Prerequisites: department stamp and/or consent of instructor.

PSYC 193. Topics in Psychology (4)

Selected topics in the field of psychology. May be taken for credit three times as topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing and department approval.

PSYC 194A-B-C. Honors Thesis (4-4-4)

Students will take part in a weekly research seminar. In addition, they will plan and carry out a three-quarter research project under the guidance of a faculty member. The project will form the basis of the senior honors thesis. Prerequisites: acceptance to the Honors Program in the junior year (110A-B) (GPA 3.3), in addition one laboratory course (114–127) or two 199s that culminate in a research paper (by petition only) and Psychology 110, 111A-B, and consent of instructor.

PSYC 195. Instruction in Psychology (4)

Introduction to teaching a psychology course. As an undergraduate instructional apprentice, students will attend the lectures of the course, hold weekly meetings with students of the course, hold weekly meetings with course instructor. Responsibilities may include class presentations, designing and leading weekly discussion sections, assisting with homework and exam grading, and monitoring and responding to online discussion posts. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit two times. Only four units can be applied toward the psychology minor or major as upper-division psychology elective credit. Prerequisites: eligibility includes all of the following: upper-division standing, a minimum of A- in the course in which the student plans to assist, a 3.0 cumulative UC GPA, instructor and department approval.

PSYC 196A-B-C. Research Seminar (4-4-4)

Weekly research seminar, three quarter research project under faculty guidance which culminates in a thesis. Prerequisites: one laboratory course, 3.3 GPA, and/or consent of instructor.

PSYC 198. Directed Group Study in Psychology (2 or 4)

Group study under the direction of a faculty member in the Department of Psychology. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.

PSYC 199. Independent Study (2 or 4)

Independent study or research under direction of a member of the faculty. Prerequisites: GPA 2.5 and ninety units completed. P/NP grades only. Not counted for credit toward the major. See section on 199 information.

Graduate

PSYC 201A. Quantitative Methods in Psychology I (6)

The first part of a series of intensive courses in statistical methods and the mathematical treatment of data, with special reference to research in psychology. Prerequisites: restricted to graduate students in psychology.

PSYC 201B. Quantitative Methods in Psychology II (6)

The second part of a series of intensive courses in statistical methods and the mathematical treatment of data, with special reference to research in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 201A; restricted to graduate students in psychology.

PSYC 201C. Quantitative Methods in Psychology III (6)

The third part of a series of intensive courses in statistical methods and the mathematical treatment of data, with special reference to research in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 201B; restricted to graduate students in psychology.

PSYC 202. Writing and Presenting Academic Research Papers (4)

Instruction on organizing, writing, and presenting empirical research papers. Students will learn fundamentals of writing style, data presentation, and time management. This course is intended for psychology graduate students in service of preparation of their first-year papers and talks. Prerequisites: psychology graduate students (major code: PC76 or PC78 or PC79), or consent of instructor.

PSYC 205. Emotion (4)

This seminar provides a selective overview of the scientific study of emotion. We will discuss various theoretical perspectives on emotion and will focus on specific topics such as emotion regulation, affect in social interactions, individual differences, and particular emotions (e.g., embarrassment, envy, and jealousy). Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 206. Mathematical Modeling (4)

This course is designed to teach the basics of mathematical modeling. Topics include when, why, and how to use signal detection theory (an essential theory for anyone interested in attention, perception, memory, or decision making), how to analyze reaction time distributions (instead of simply measuring mean RT), how to engage in the fine art of model comparison, and how to avoid creating models that are more complex than the data they seek to explain.

PSYC 209. Judgment and Decision Making (4)

This seminar examines issues in the psychology of judgment and decision making. Topics include the heuristics and biases approach, over confidence, framing effects, intertemporal choice, and rationality. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 212. Visual Science (4)

Each year a different topic in visual science is selected for in-depth review and discussion based on current readings. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 213. Professional Procedures and Survival in Psychology (4)

This course provides a forum for presentation and discussion of the basic issues associated with surviving in a professional (particularly, academic) psychology environment. It covers such issues as: 1) how to get a job, 2) how to keep a job, 3) general issues and ethics in professional survival. The course will include the presence of a number of the psychology faculty in topic specific areas (e.g., journal editors from our faculty, faculty sitting on grant review panels, etc.).

PSYC 217. Proseminar in Developmental Psychology (5)

The course examines cognitive development through the school-age period and social and personality development from infancy through early adolescence. It begins with an examination of early neurological, sensory, motor, and perceptual functions and then focuses on issues in linguistic and cognitive development. The class will first discuss general developmental theory and methods and then topics such as attachment, temperament, self-concept, aggression, family relations, play, and peers. Students cannot get credit for Psychology 217 if they have already taken Psychology 217A or 217B. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 218. Proseminar in Cognitive Psychology (5)

A survey of basic principles and concepts of cognitive psychology. This course is intended to serve as the basic introduction for first-year students. Basic areas include knowledge, memory, thought, perception, and performance. Students that have taken Psychology 218A or Psychology 218B cannot take Psychology 218 for credit. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 220. Proseminar in Social Psychology (5)

An introduction to social psychology. Psychology and the law, health psychology, attitudes, emotions, person perception and aggression are some of the topics to be covered.

PSYC 221. Proseminar in Sensation and Perception (5)

Fundamentals of vision, audition, and other senses. Emphasis will be upon psychophysical approaches to the study of these sensory modalities, as well as some essential aspects of their neurophysiological bases.

PSYC 222. Proseminar in Biological Psychology (5)

A survey of the functional neuroanatomical, neurodevelopmental, neurophysiological, and pharmacological correlates of psychological phenomena. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 223. Current Directions in Vision (1)

An in-depth analysis of empirical and theoretical issues in a specialized area of vision or visual perception. Emphasis most likely will be on a topic of ongoing vision research at UC San Diego. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit eighteen times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 224. Current Directions in Cognitive Neural Systems (CNS) (1)

A weekly seminar series focused on understanding recent advances in the relationship between neural systems and behavior using a variety of experimental approaches (single unit recording, comp neuro, evolutionary bio, psychophysics, comparative anatomy, lesion work, psychopharm, fMRI, EEG, TMS, etc.). May be taken for credit twenty-four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing. S/U grades only.

PSYC 229. Happiness (4)

This course will address the psychology of happiness. The discussions and readings, consisting largely of original research articles, will explore such questions as: What is happiness? How do we measure it, and how do we tell who has it? What is the biology of happiness and what is its evolutionary significance? What makes people happy—youth, fortune, marriage, chocolate? Is the pursuit of happiness pointless?

PSYC 231. Data Analysis in Matlab (4)

This course will cover a set of general data analysis methods that are broadly applicable in many different sub-disciplines of psychology/neuroscience. Topics include model fitting, information theory, Fourier analysis, and machine learning. Recommended preparation: Matlab, C, Java, R, or any related language. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 232. Probabilistic Models of Cognition (4)

This seminar introduces computational theories of human cognition focusing on the role of inference and knowledge representation with Bayesian generative models. We will touch on a variety of structured probabilistic models and approaches to integrating probabilistic inference with cognitive limitations. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 233. Learning and Motivation (4)

Advanced topics in learning and motivation, with special emphasis on current research. May be taken for credit eighteen times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 234. Evolution of Language (4)

This seminar will explore issues related to the evolution of human language, and critically evaluate evidence for the diversity of theories about the topic. Discussions will include the comparative communication and cognition, manual communication, factors surrounding the initial emergence of language, amongst others. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 235. Semantic Development (4)

This course will explore the development of concepts and linguistic meaning via classic case studies in semantics, including word learning, quantifier acquisition, and the foundations of mathematics. The course will draw on evidence from linguistic, the philosophy of language, and developmental psychology. Cross-listed with LIGN 232. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 236. Substance Abuse (4)

Theory and research on the development, progression, and resolution of substance use and abuse will be reviewed and evaluated. Normal and abnormal patterns of substance involvement will be contrasted across the life span. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 237. Human Rationality (4)

The traditional view of rationality is based upon abstract, content-independent rules for behavior. People sometimes violate these rules in a laboratory setting, but the violations are often systematic and appear to reflect adaptation to the environment outside the laboratory. Such findings raise questions about what it means to be rational. Readings will be empirically oriented and cover the areas of deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and choice. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 240. The Primate Brain (4)

This course will explore the neural basis of perception, action and cognition in primate cortex. Drawing on recent findings in neuroscience, we will discuss the role of cortex in a range of topics including decision making, object perception and recognition, memory and communication. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 241. Programming Web-Based Experiments for Psychology Research (4)

This hands-on programming course focuses on the design, implementation, and analysis of online experiments, particularly using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Topics include experimental design and counterbalancing, stimulus presentation and timing, response collection using the mouse and keyboard, and debugging experiments written in Javascript and HTML/CSS. Course work will include individual projects. Recommended preparation: Graduate students who have not programmed at all should speak with the professor beforehand. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 242. Current Directions in Developmental Psychology (1)

Advanced seminar concentrating on methods of research and current experimental literature in developmental psychology. May be taken for credit twenty-four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor. S/U grades only. 

PSYC 243. Sound and Music Perception (4)

This course will deal with anatomy and physiology of the ear, central auditory pathways, and neurological disorders of sound and music perception.

PSYC 244. Special Topics in Psycholinguistics (4)

Discussion of theories and experiments investigating language production, comprehension, or acquisition. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 246. Emotion and Cognition (4)

This seminar focuses on the interplay between emotion and cognition. We will consider how emotion influences perception, reasoning, memory, and judgment, and how cognitive processes can have emotional consequences. We will also discuss physiological and neural underpinnings of an affective influence and debate more general issues such as emotion and rationality. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 247. Learning by Thinking in Children (and Adults) (4)

We often learn through observations or from testimony from others. Occasionally, we learn simply by thinking. How do we generate insights in the absence of new information from the external world? This course examines the cognitive capacities involved in learning by thinking, including thought experiments, deduction, analogy, imagination, and learning by explaining. This discussion-based seminar will take a cognitive science approach, emphasizing cognitive development. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 249A. Advanced Topics in Applied Behavior Analysis I (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in applied behavior analysis. May be taken for credit five times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 249B. Advanced Topics in Applied Behavior Analysis II (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in applied behavior analysis. May be taken for credit five times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 249C. Advanced Topics in Applied Behavior Analysis III (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in applied behavior analysis. May be taken for credit five times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 251. Advanced Topics in Learning and Motivation (1)

Weekly meetings for graduate students actively engaged in research on conditioning. May be taken for credit multiple times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 252. Cognitive Neuroscience (4)

This is a series of weekly seminars on current trends in neuropsychology. The seminars will deal with the concept of “localization” of function in different parts of the brain and the effects of damage to these parts on cognitive functions such as perception, memory and language. Active student participation will be encouraged in preparing these seminars. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 255A. Advanced Topics in Biological Psychology I (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in biological psychology. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 255B. Advanced Topics in Biological Psychology II (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in biological psychology. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 255C. Advanced Topics in Biological Psychology III (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in biological psychology. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 257. Development and Neurobiology of Theory of Mind (4)

Surveys research on people’s everyday attribution of mental states to predict/explain actions, their naïve theory of mind, from developmental and neurocognitive perspectives. Topics include social cognition in infancy and childhood, in autism, and in nonhuman primates, and the brain underpinnings. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 258. Delay of Gratification (4)

This course will review the research on delay of gratification. We will cover what makes it in general so tough, what situations make it possible, who can do it, and what the implications of this ability are. We will draw from research in social, personality, and animal psychology as well as economics. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 260. Language and Conceptual Development (4)

This class will investigate case studies in conceptual development that interact with language acquisition, including domains such as time, space, number, and theory of mind. The approach of the class will be to explore the chosen case study from the perspective of philosophy, linguistics, psychology, anthropology, and comparative psychology, with a particular focus on how conceptual development is affected by the acquisition of language. Cross-listed with LIGN 283. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 262. Functional Construction of the Vertebrate Brain’s Social Behavior Network (4)

The vertebrate brain contains a network of strongly interconnected structures that play essential roles in the regulation of social behavior. In this seminar we will read and discuss primary literature that details the structure and behavioral functions of this network.

PSYC 263. Science of Mindfulness (4)

This graduate seminar addresses the science behind mindfulness. Topics include the effects of mindfulness practice on neural processing, psychological well-being, and prosocial behavior. A particular emphasis will be placed on the implications of mindfulness practices/effects on society and education. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 264A. Advanced Topics in Language Processes I (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in language processes. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 264C. Advanced Topics in Language Processes III (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in language processes. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 265. Social Psychology and Medicine (4)

Concentrates on what psychology has to contribute to the understanding of illness, its treatment, and the social context in which these processes occur. Topics: psychological factors in the etiology and treatment of illness, doctor-patient roles, and communication. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

PSYC 266. Psychology of Reading (4)

This seminar will cover aspects of reading, emphasizing cognitive processes involved in skilled reading. However, learning to read and methods to teach reading will also be discussed. Other topics include: eye movements and reading, word recognition, inner speech, context effects, discourse processing, sentence parsing, and dyslexia.

PSYC 267A. Advanced Topics in Behavior Medicine I (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in behavior medicine. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 267B. Advanced Topics in Behavior Medicine II (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in behavior medicine. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 267C. Advanced Topics in Behavior Medicine III (1)

Research and discussion on selected topics in behavior medicine. S/U grades only. May be taken for credit four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 270A. Introduction to Laboratory Experimentation I (4)

A basic laboratory course, designed to introduce first-year graduate students to experimental methods in psychology. The student will select a research topic; do a thorough literature review of the area; design and carry out new, original studies of problems in the selected area; and prepare a final formal report of the study at the end of the spring quarter. This course is required of all first-year graduate students in the department. S/U grades only. Prerequisites: first-year psychology graduate students only.

PSYC 270B. Introduction to Laboratory Experimentation II (4)

Continuation of basic laboratory course, designed to introduce first-year graduate students to experimental methods in psychology. The student will select a research topic; do a thorough literature review of the area; design and carry out new, original studies of problems in the selected area; and prepare a final formal report of the study at the end of the spring quarter. This course is required of all first-year graduate students in the department. S/U grades only. Prerequisites: first-year psychology graduate students only.

PSYC 270C. Introduction to Laboratory Experimentation III (4)

Final quarter of basic laboratory course, designed to introduce first-year graduate students to experimental methods in psychology. The student will select a research topic; do a thorough literature review of the area; design and carry out new, original studies of problems in the selected area; and prepare a final formal report of the study at the end of the spring quarter. This course is required of all first-year graduate students in the department. Letter grades only. Prerequisites: first-year psychology graduate students only.

PSYC 271. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (4)

This seminar will span the study of learning and memory from an interdisciplinary neuroscience perspective: the goal will be to gain a broad perspective on memory. The course will also touch on dysfunctions of learning and memory such as in amnesia, mental retardation, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease. The course will end with exciting developments in the field, including the possibility of genetic and pharmacological enhancement of memory and intelligence.

PSYC 272. Selected Topics in Cognitive Psychology (3)

An in-depth analysis of selected empirical and theoretical topics in cognitive psychology. The course will focus on areas where notable progress appears to be taking place in contemporary research.

PSYC 273. Selected Topics in Quantitative Methods in Psychology (4)

An in-depth analysis and discussion of selected advanced topics in quantitative methods in psychology.

PSYC 274. Current Directions in Social Psychology (1)

A biweekly seminar series focusing on recent advances in both basic and applied research in social psychology including topics such as interpersonal relationships, emotion, health, social cognition, judgment, and decision making. May be taken for credit twenty-four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing. S/U grades only.

PSYC 275. Current Directions in Cognitive Psychology (1)

A weekly seminar series focused on understanding recent advances in any area of cognitive psychology. May be taken for credit twenty-four times. Prerequisites: graduate standing. S/U grades only.

PSYC 280. Seminar in Communication and Information Processing (1)

S/U grades only.

PSYC 282. Auditory Neuroscience (4)

An in-depth analysis of current theoretical and empirical issues in the neurobiological study of auditory perception and cognition. Example topics include auditory stream segregation, localization, natural stimulus coding, pattern recognition and communication in multiple species. Prerequisites: graduate standing.

PSYC 296. Research Practicum (1–12)

Research in psychology under supervision of individual staff members. S/U grades only. (F,W,S)

PSYC 299. Independent Research (1–12)

Independent research and thesis research. S/U grades only. (F,W,S)

PSYC 500. Apprentice Teaching (4)

Teaching practicum for students enrolled in graduate program in psychology. Students who hold appointments as teaching assistants must enroll in this course. Minimum program requirement is for one four-unit course per year for four years. S/U grades only.