This advanced seminar provides students with an overview of the social psychological study of stereotyping and prejudice. Topics will include the automatic and controlled components of stereotypes, interracial anxiety, workplace discrimination, and the neurocognitive correlates of racially biased behavior. We will learn about intergroup topics through weekly discussions of articles on theoretical and empirical research.

In this course we will examine the ways in which drugs act on the brain to alter behavior. We will review basic principles of brain function and mechanisms of drug action in the brain. We will discuss a variety of legal and illegal recreational drugs as well as the use of psychotherapeutic drugs to treat mental illness. Examples from the primary scientific literature will demonstrate the various methods used to investigate mechanisms of drug action, the biological and behavioral consequences of drug use, and the nature of efforts to prevent or treat drug abuse.

This course will examine classic and contemporary research on selfhood and identity, two central topics of interest within social psychology. Topics will include development of self-concept; sources and accuracy of self-knowledge; self-esteem; self-regulation; self-presentation; the formation of collective identities; and contending with threats to self and identity.

Requisite:  PSYC  100.  Not open to first-year students.  Limited to 25 students.  Fall semester.  Five College Mellon Fellow Salvatore.

An introduction to the theories and methods of psychology as applied to health-related issues. We will consider theories of reasoned action/planned behavior, social cognition, and the health belief model. Topics will include personality and illness, addictive behaviors, psychoneuroimmunology, psychosocial factors predicting health service utilization and adherence to medical regimens, and framing of health-behavior messages and interventions.

Requisite: PSYC 100 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 25 students. Fall semester. Professor Sanderson.

An introduction to the psychology of aging. Course material will focus on the behavioral changes which occur during the normal aging process. Age differences in learning, memory, perceptual and intellectual abilities will be investigated. In addition, emphasis will be placed on the neural correlates and cognitive consequences of disorders of aging such as Alzheimer’s disease. Course work will include systematic and structured observation within a local facility for the elderly.

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the study of memory. We will begin by examining empirical research on memory for different kinds of content: factual information vs. personal events vs. cognitive skills. This research will be used to evaluate several contemporary models of memory. From there, we will examine how memory theories have been applied to understanding “real world” issues such as eyewitness testimony, and the false/recovered memory debate. We will also discuss developmental changes in memory-from infancy to old age.

A study of human development across the life span with emphasis upon the general characteristics of various stages of development from birth to adolescence and upon determinants of the developmental process.

Requisite: PSYC 100 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 40 students.  Fall and spring semesters. Visiting Professor Clemans.