Psychology CoursesFor Distribution Requirement purposes, all PSY courses are classified as SCIENCE courses (see page 27). NOTE: |
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SCI199H1/Y1 Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course; see page 47. PSY100H1 A brief introductory survey of psychology as both a biological and social science. Topics will include learning, perception, motivation, cognition, developmental, and social psychology.
Note on Prerequisites: PSY201H1 Fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics, including population and sampling distributions, simple association, probability, estimation, and hypothesis testing. PSY202H1 Fundamentals of statistical analysis of experimental and observational data including linear models, the analysis of variance, a priori contrasts, post-hoc tests, power analysis and effect size calculations. Students are introduced to Minitab, a statistical computer program, with which they complete much of their course work. PSY210H1 The developmental approach to the study of behaviour with reference to sensorimotor skills, cognition, socialization, personality, and emotional behaviour. PSY220H1 Contemporary areas of research in social psychology: social perception, attitudes, inter-personal relations, and group processes. PSY230H1 Theory and research in personality structure and dynamics: the interaction of cultural and biological factors in the development and expression of individual differences. PSY240H1 A critical survey of concepts, theories, and the state of research in the area of emotionally disturbed persons and therapeutic methods. PSY260H1 Concepts, theories, and applications of classical and contemporary learning theories, including classical and operant conditioning. Current theories of the physiological and anatomical basis of learning and memory, including synaptic plasticity, the role of the hippocampus, amygdala, frontal cortex and other brain regions. Theories will be related to a practical understanding and applications such as drug addiction, phobias and other disorders. PSY270H1 An introduction to research and theory on the neural and cognitive architecture of attention, memory, language, thinking and reasoning. PSY280H1 An introduction to the physiological and psychological bases of vision and audition in humans and lower animals. Visual perception of shape and objects, colour, space, and motion. Auditory perception of simple and complex sounds, and location. Demonstrations supplement the lectures. PSY290H1 Provides students with a solid background into the biological basis of behaviour. Animal and human research topics including: functional neuroanatomy, neural signalling, sensory and motor control, motivational systems, and hormones, and emotions.. PSY299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 47 for details. Note: This course cannot be used as a PSY program requirement.
Note PSY300H1 Philosophical predecessors and early development of modern psychology; schools of thought and shifting areas of theory and research. History and philosophy of science, in general. Current systems and theories. PSY303H1/304H1 An intensive laboratory or applied research project under the supervision of a staff member. Will be approved by the Department only when the student and staff member can show that the project is academically demanding and uniquely suitable for the individual student in terms of the rest of the student’s program. Note: Projects spread out over the full academic year are still only worth a half credit. PSY305H1 This course emphasizes advanced use of the SAS statistical computer program package for the treatment of psychological data collected in laboratory and field studies. Students analyze sets of data and interpret results. Various methods of ensuring the trustworthiness and accuracy of analysis are discussed. PSY309H1 Research specialists learn about the research opportunities within our department, and develop their skills in the areas of critical thinking, writing and oral presentation. Students also conduct a pre-thesis research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Restricted to Research Specialists. PSY311H1 Theory and research in social attachment, aggression, morality, imitation and identification, altruism, and parental discipline, with discussion of methodological issues. PSY312H1 Examines the developmental of knowledge in fundamental domains such as spatial perception, navigation, object perception, number, language, and theory of mind. Emphasis is placed on current experimental findings, and on how they address centuries-old debates surrounding the origin and nature of human knowledge. PSY313H1 Age changes in sensory and perceptual processes, motor skill, learning, memory, and personality. Theory, methodological problems, social, cultural, and environmental influences which shape behaviour and attitudes to and by the elderly. PSY314H1 Examination of cognitive-developmental, psychoanalytic, sociobiological, behaviouristic and cultural-anthropological approaches to moral development. Issues covered include definitions of morality, the relationship between moral judgement and action, gender differences and commonalities, and the role of culture in moral development. JLP315H1 Infants’ abilities at birth, prelinguistic development, the first words, phonological, syntactic and semantic development. Social variables influencing development of language, bilingualism, models of development, language play. (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology) PSY316H1 The course examines human perceptual development during the first 2-3 years of life. Vision and audition are emphasized. Some topics are: pattern and colour vision, depth perception, infant speech perception. PSY317H1 Examines theory and research in the social cognitive aspect of aging. Topics range from impression formation and causal attributions to perceptions of control and emotions. PSY319H1 Provides an overview of developmental psychology methods. The class conducts an original research project, including design, data collection and analysis, and a written report. PSY320H1 Intensive study of social attitudes and opinions development, description, measurement, modification, and organization. PSY321H1 Human beings develop within local systems of meaning that define what is good and bad, true and false, sacred and profane, beautiful and ugly, significant and insignificant. These inherited systems of meaning - or cultures - define where we stand as persons in relation to others and provide the grounding for what we come to feel, think, and desire as individuals. This course examines the cultural determination of mindful behaviour. PSY322H1 An in-depth examination of theories and research in intergroup relations; includes topics like stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. PSY323H1 The effect of sex-role expectations on how men and women behave and perceive the world: theories of sex-role development, physiological and cultural determinants of sex differences, power relationships between men and women. PSY324H1 This course focuses on the social psychology of interpersonal relationships between and among individuals, especially romantic or close relationships and friendships. It surveys what social psychologists have learned about the development, maintenance, disruption or dissolution of personal relationships, as well as current social psychological theories of interpersonal relationships. PSY325H1 The distinguishing feature of our species is the reflexivity of our consciousness - the ability to conceive of and interpret ourselves and our experiences. All our higher symbolic capabilities rest upon this foundation. The aim of this multidisciplinary course is to trace out a variety of interpretive frames through which we may look at and better understand self-awareness. PSY326H1 An examination of theory and research on how we make sense of ourselves and our social world. Topics covered include goals, mood, memory, hypothesis testing, counterfactual thinking, stereotypes, and culture. PSY327H1 This multidisciplinary course examines how we come to know ourselves and our world, and to feel, judge, and act, through the simulative “mediation” of mass communication. The intent is to provide students with greater understanding of the highly commodified symbolic environment that surrounds them and to which they continually respond and react as audience. PSY328H1 This course deals with psychological issues in the law, with particular reference to criminal law. It focuses mainly on research that has been done on pretrial publicity, eyewitness testimony, rules of evidence, and other factors that might affect jury decisions. PSY329H1 Illustrates major methodologies within social psychology, such as attitude measurement, observation of small groups, and experiments. PSY330H1 Concepts and methods for the measurement of abilities, interests and personality: reliability, validity, interpretation of test scores, norms, observational methods, structured tests, interview, projective techniques. Ethical problems in assessment. Not a course in test administration. PSY331H1 An in-depth review of the role of emotion in human psychology, with an emphasis on the links between emotion and cognition. Topics include theories of emotion, emotional regulation, expression and experience, the role of emotion in decision-making, and the relationship between emotion, motivation and behaviour. PSY332H1 An analysis of the individual, group, and institutional structures and processes that influence behaviour within organizations. Topics include motivation, leadership, communication, school of management theories, group processes and team work, supervision, and organizational culture. PSY333H1 Examines research evidence concerning the impact of psychological factors on physical health and illness. PSY334H1 Culture appears to have a narrative structure. Animal learning and neuropsychological theory helps us understand how narratives might regulate emotion. Threat of broadscale emotional dysregulation motivates individuals to protect their cultures. PSY335H1 An examination of the interrelationship of humans and their natural and built environments, focusing on psychological and sociocultural factors. Topics include: the self in relation to nature; the perception of environmental change; the effects of natural and built environments on stress and psychological health; understanding consumerism and environmentalism; and the relationship between individuals’ experience (i.e., cognitions, emotions, and values) and action relating to environmental issues. PSY336H1 A review of the field of positive psychology, which is the study of fulfillment and personal growth. The focus is on empirical research regarding the development of healthy, productive, and resilient individuals. Topics include: subjective well-being, optimism, flow experiences, self-control and emotional intelligence, social support and empathy. PSY339H1 Introduction to methods involved in individual differences or personality research. Group and individual projects focus on assessment of individual difference characteristics and on experimentation including such characteristics. PSY341H1 This course focuses on cognitive and neuropsychological aspects of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in children from clinical and theoretical perspectives. PSY342H1 Work in psychological disorders has increasingly used the theories and methodologies of cognitive psychology to guide research. This course will examine accounts of clinical disorders informed by cognitive experimental psychology, with emphasis on recent work in affective disorders. PSY343H1 Examines various theories of how personality functioning may become impaired and corresponding psychotherapeutic interventions. Emphasis on empirical assessment of personality dysfunction and therapy effectiveness. PSY362H1 The study of memory, representation, concept learning, and other cognitive processes in non-human animals. PSY369H1 Provides hands on experience with some widely used preparations and procedures for studying learning and memory in animals. Reading and writing research in this area are emphasized. Experiments with rats and pigeons are conducted, initially under close supervision. PSY370H1 Problem-solving as a model of directed thinking; conceptual behaviour and mental representation; induction, deduction and learning; probabilistic reasoning; creative thinking and complex problem solving. PSY371H1 This course covers selected topics pertaining to higher cognitive processes including expertise, consciousness, creativity, and human and artificial intelligence. PSY372H1 Current theories and data on human memory: processes involved in encoding, storage, and retrieval. PSY373H1 Social cognitive neuroscience is an emerging interdisciplinary field that seeks to integrate theories of social psychology and cognitive neuroscience to understand behavior at three fundamentally interrelated levels of analysis (social, cognitive, and neural). Topics such as self-regulation, cooperation, attitudes, and prejudice will be examined. JLP374H1 Human and other animal communication, structure of human language, word meaning and semantic memory, psychological studies of syntax, bilingualism, language and thought, language errors and disorders. (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology) PSY375H1 Visual attention; attentional selection for object recognition, feature integration, and action; movements of attention; eye-hand coordination, eye movements, limb movements. Models of attention and motor control. PSY378H1 The application of our knowledge of human information processing capabilities to improve human-machine systems design in a number of engineering environments including aviation, computer software, human-computer interaction, and nuclear power plants. PSY379H1 Exercises and demonstrations, followed by experiments done jointly with other members of the class, and a final individual research project, in the broad area of human learning and memory. PSY380H1 Integrates psychology, neuroscience, and computer science approaches to the study of vision science. Topics include: spatial vision; perception of objects, function, and category; motion perception; visual attention, memory, and imagery; and consciousness. Demonstrations/in-class experiments supplement lectures and readings. Important class for psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience students. PSY389H1 Examination of issues and methods in perception research. Students conduct supervised research projects, and read, critique, and write research articles. PSY390H1 An examination of how genes contribute to the production of behaviour, either as structural elements or direct participants in behavioural regulation. Covers molecular genetics, natural selection and genetic methods followed by specific examples of congenic disorders that affect behaviour and studies of “normal” behaviours in human and animal models. PSY392H1 Understanding the complexities of how the mammalian nervous system acquires and stores information and how it transforms this information into appropriate behavior is fundamentally important to our understanding of both animal and human behavior. This course explores empirical and theoretical contributions to our understanding of the neural basis of learning and memory. PSY393H1 The use of higher cortical functions to study cognitive processes in humans and other primates. Some topics to be covered: hemispheric specialization, emotion and the cerebral hemispheres, organization of language after brain damage, amnesia, aging. PSY394H1 The role of brain and body in expression and experience of emotion in humans, considered theoretically and through the experimental, physiological and clinical literatures. PSY396H1 The functional relevance of neurotransmitters, with particular emphasis on their role in mediating behaviour. PSY397H1 Daily, monthly, annual and other rhythms and methods of measuring them. Behavioural and physiological aspects of biological clocks. The importance of rhythms in experimental design, in research on brain function, in affective disorders, and the use animals make of rhythms in migration and other behaviours. PSY399H1 An introduction to surgical and experimental methods and research issues in physiological psychology, including anatomical and neurobiological methods and behavioural and genetic analysis. Concentration on innate and learned mechanisms that influence the display of specific behaviours. PSY398H0/399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 47 for details. PSY400Y1 An individual project done under the direction of a staff member. Lecture and seminar presentations of proposals in the Fall Session. PSY401H1 In presenting and arguing for this approach the topics covered are sex differences in cognition, and the psychophysiological topics of biofeedback and lie detection. Students are expected to critically evaluate the approach, and argue for their own. PSY402H1/403H1/404H1 Examination in depth of specific topics in psychology. These seminars vary from year to year in terms of the number given, the topics, and the restrictions on enrollment. Consult the departmental Calendar for details. PSY409H1 This seminar addresses the central theoretical issues that structure contemporary research in each of the major areas of psychology. The aim is to provide an informal overview of the field as a whole. PSY410H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic within developmental psychology. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY420H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic within social psychology. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY430H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic within the area of personality. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY440H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic within abnormal psychology. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY460H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic in learning. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY470H1 Examination in depth of limited topics within the area of memory. Content in any given year depends on instructor. JLP471H1 Seminar in advanced topics in psycholinguistics. Content varies from year to year. (Given by the Departments of Linguistics and Psychology) PSY471H1 Examination in depth of a limited topic in cognition. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY480H1 An in-depth examination of current issues in vision science (e.g. perceptual organization, object and face recognition, motion perception). Emphasis is on the psychological perspective, but integrates physiological and computational perspectives as well. Content in any given year depends on instructor. PSY490H1 The relationship between behaviour and the activity of neurons; examples from sensory, motor, motivational, and higher cortical systems. Electrical stimulation and recording techniques. PSY497H1 Circadian rhythms with emphasis on non-photic entrainment and phase shifting of rhythms by behaviour (e.g., social interactions, or becoming active). Properties and physiological mechanisms for non-photic effects and comparisons with those for photic effects. Seminars and readings of original papers. Emphasis on basic principles, but possible applications will also be discussed. |