Program Chairman: Starkey Duncan, Br 204, 702-8862

Student Affairs Coordinator: Marjorie Wash, Br 109, 702-8861,

marj@ccp.uchicago.edu

Web: psychology.uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The requirements of the B.A. in psychology, together with the department's broad range of course offerings, allow students to tailor programs to their own talents and goals. The program may serve as preparation for graduate work in psychology or in related fields such as sociology, anthropology, linguistics, or the communication and information sciences. Psychology courses are also suitable for biological sciences majors interested in the relations between physiology, mind, and behavior, and for mathematics majors interested in the applications of quantitative methods. Those who foresee a profession in law, public health, urban planning, personnel management, social work, education, or journalism also find the program valuable. Psychology may interest students who are still focusing their goals and are considering the social sciences or a public service profession. Because research experience and contact with faculty are important requisites for professional development, students who plan a career in psychology are advised to contact a compatible faculty member by the end of their third year, with a view toward consultation and joint research.

Program Requirements

Fundamentals of Psychology (PSYC 20000). It is recommended that this required psychology course be the first course that students take for the major. It will be offered during the Autumn Quarter of each academic year.

Statistics/Methodology Sequence. A coordinated two-quarter sequence covering statistical methods (PSYC 20100) and methodological issues (PSYC 20200) in psychology is taught Winter and Spring Quarters. Students may take STAT 22000 or a more advanced statistics course instead of PSYC 20100. Students typically take this sequence in their third year.

Breadth Requirement. Students are required to take three of the following five courses, each of which will be offered every year:

PSYC 20300. Biological Psychology

PSYC 20400. Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 20500. Developmental Psychology

PSYC 20600. Social Psychology

PSYC 20700. Sensation and Perception

Additional Courses. At least five additional courses (for a total of eleven in the major) must be chosen from among the courses offered by the Department of Psychology. For students pursuing honors in psychology, one of the elective courses should be an Honors Seminar (PSYC 29800), which is offered each winter. A maximum of three research courses can count toward the eleven courses required of a psychology major. Research courses can be taken P/F but all other courses must be taken for a quality grade. NOTE: Before registering for an elective, students should confirm they have met any prerequisites for the course.

Research Experience. Required research experience can be obtained by working on a research project under the guidance of a faculty member or by taking a course with a research component other than the Methodology course. (A list of such courses is available in Br 109.)

Calculus. Students are required to take two quarters of calculus as part of the College general education requirements.

Summary of Requirements

General MATH 13100-13200 or higher

Education

Major 1 PSYC 20000 (introductory survey)

2 PSYC 20100 (or STAT 22000 or above), and PSYC 20200

3 three courses chosen from the following five courses: PSYC 20300, 20400, 20500, 20600, or 20700

5 electives* +

† Credit may be granted by examination.

* A minimum of one of the five required additional psychology courses must have a research component. See "Research Experience" section.

+ Courses without a psychology number must be approved by the Curriculum Committee.

Honors. To qualify for honors in psychology, students must meet the following requirements: (1) Students must have a GPA of at least 3.0 overall, and a GPA of at least 3.5 in the major. (2) Students should arrange with a faculty sponsor to write an honors paper. Papers must represent a more substantial project than the average term paper. After the paper has been approved by the faculty sponsor, the paper must then be read and approved by a second faculty member. (3) Students are required to take an Honors Seminar (PSYC 29800) in Winter Quarter of their third or fourth year as one of the three possible research courses. It is expected that students will be actively working on the thesis project during the quarter they are taking the honors research seminar. (4) Students are required to present their findings in Spring Quarter of their fourth year at an honors day celebration.

Specialized Courses of Study. Faculty members (or the undergraduate program chair) are available to help individual students design a specialized course of study within psychology. For example, particular course sequences within and outside of psychology may be designed for students who wish to pursue specializations in particular areas. These areas include, but are not limited to, cognitive neuroscience, language and communication, computational psychology, behavioral neuroscience and endocrinology, sensation and perception, and cultural psychology.

Double Majors. Students pursuing honors in more than one major should note that: (1) the student's thesis adviser for psychology cannot be the same person as his or her thesis adviser for the second major; and (2) the student must meet all the requirements listed in the preceding "Honors" section, including taking the Honors Seminar (PSYC 29800) and presenting at an honors day celebration.

Faculty

B. Bertenthal, R. D. Bock, A. Bookstein, N. M. Bradburn, D. Bradley, R. A. Butler,
J. Cacioppo, B. Cohler, S. Duncan, S. Goldin-Meadow, W. Goldstein, S. Grossman,
E. Hamp, L. Hedges, J. Huttenlocher, P. W. Jackson, L. Kay, B. Keysar, S. C. Levine,
J. Levy, F. F. Lighthall, J. Lucy, V. Maljkovic, D. Margoliash, M. McClintock, D. McNeill,
H. Moltz, H. Nusbaum, C. Pickett, J. M. Pokorny, B. Prendergast, T. Regier,
M. J. Rosenberg, S. K. Shevell, R. A. Shweder, M. Silverstein, V. C. Smith, N. L. Stein,
T. Trabasso, P. Visser, A. Woodward, B. D. Wright

Courses: Psychology (psyc)

20000. Fundamentals of Psychology. This course is an introduction to the basic concepts and research in the study of behavior. Principal topics are sensation, perception, cognition, learning, motivation, and personality theories. J. Cacioppo, Autumn, 2004; B. Cohler, Autumn, 2005.

20100. Psychological Statistics. Psychological research typically involves the use of quantitative (statistical) methods. The purpose of this course is to introduce the methods of quantitative inquiry that are most commonly used in psychology and related social sciences. PSYC 20100 and 20200 form a two-quarter sequence that is conceived as an integrated introduction to psychological research methods. PSYC 20100 introduces explanatory data analysis, models in the quantitative psychology, concept of probability, elementary statistical methods for estimation and hypothesis testing, and sampling theory. PSYC 20200 builds on the foundation of PSYC 20100 and considers the logic of psychological inquiry and the analysis and criticism of psychological research. L. Hedges. Autumn.

20200. Psychological Research Methods. PQ: PSYC 20100 or STAT 22000, or consent of instructor. This course is an introduction to the concepts and methods used in behavioral research. The major topics are the nature of behavioral research, testing of research ideas, quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection, artifacts in behavioral research, analyzing and interpreting research data, and ethical considerations in research. B. Bertenthal. Spring.

20300/30300. Biological Psychology. (=HUDV 21900/30400) What are the relations between mind and brain? How do brains regulate mental, behavioral, and hormonal processes; and how do these influence brain organization and activity? This course introduces the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain; their changes in response to the experiential and sociocultural environment; and their relation to perception, attention, behavioral action, motivation, and emotion. L. Kay. Winter.

20400/30400. Cognitive Psychology. Viewing the brain globally as an information processing or computational system has revolutionized the study and understanding of intelligence. This course introduces the theory, methods, and empirical results that underlie this approach to psychology. Topics include categorization, attention, memory, knowledge, language, and thought. V. Maljkovic. Spring.

20500/30500. Developmental Psychology. (=HUDV 25900/30700) This course is an introduction to developmental psychology that stresses the development and integration of cognitive, social, and perceptual skills. Discussion section required. A. Woodward, S. Hans, Autumn, 2004; Staff, Autumn, 2005.

20700/30700. Sensation and Perception. This course centers on visual and auditory phenomena. Aside from the basic sensory discriminations (i.e., acuity, brightness, loudness, color, pitch), more complex perceptual events (e.g., movement, space) are discussed. The biological underpinnings of these several phenomena are considered, as well as the role of learning in perception. D. Bradley. Autumn.

21100. Human Development/Research Designs in Social Science. (=HUDV 20100) For course description, see Human Development. R. Shweder. Winter.

21203. Memory Consolidation. We are often surprised by the strength and resiliency of our memories. In this course, we explore the concept of memory consolidation to determine how memories are turned from a labile state into a more stable form. We draw from empirical studies that include cognitive, biological, physiological, and neuropsychological perspectives. From the response/behavior of a single neuron to cortical systems and neural substrates, we try to better understand how memories are consolidated in the brain. K. Fenn. Autumn, 2004.

21303. Understanding Meaning. Despite the apparent ease with which we use language every day, understanding the meaning of linguistic expressions is inherently complex, even in the most simple forms of language use. This course examines the processes underlying the understanding of meaning with a special focus on reference: the relationship between words and the things in the world they are about. The course explores psychological approaches to the study of reference processing, as well as philosophical perspectives on reference. Topics include understanding definite reference, interpreting speaker's intentions, speech acts, and the interaction with context in reference processing. H. Shintel. Winter, 2005.

21403. Gesture in Cognition and Communication. This advanced seminar is an introduction to the theory and methods used in the study of spontaneous gesture. Even though language is a highly effective tool for communication, gestures emerge spontaneously to accompany spoken language. Why? In this course, we explore evidence for the function of spontaneous gesture with respect to cognition and communication. S. Wagner. Spring, 2005.

21502. Second Language Acquisition. This course is a general introduction to theories of second language acquisition that outlines nativist, environmental, interactionist, and cognitive perspectives. We also discuss factors that influence the process of learning the second language (e.g., age, first language, attitude, motivation). A. Franklin. Winter.

21800/31800. Adolescence and Youth. (=HUDV 20201/30001) For course description, see Human Development. B. Cohler. Autumn, 2004.

21900/32000. Color Vision. This course examines mechanisms and theories of color vision. Topics include the basic psychological mechanisms underlying color vision and neural coding of color information, as well as results from human psychological experiments that relate to quantitative descriptions and theories of color perception. S. Shevell. Winter, 2005.

21950/31900. Language, Culture, and Thought. (=ANTH 27605/37605, HUDV 21901/31900) For course description, see Human Development. J. Lucy. Autumn, 2004.

22500. Cognitive Development. This course examines the intellectual development of the child. Topics include the growth of the child's understanding of the physical and social world, and the development of memory and thought processes. J. Huttenlocher. Spring, 2005.

22602/32602. Sciences of Mind in the Twentieth Century. (=HIST 22602/32602) From the invention of psychoanalysis and the creation of experimental psychology as a scientific discipline to recent developments in evolutionary psychology, psychopharmacology, and cognitive neuroscience, the sciences of mind have given us a variety of ways to understand ourselves, other people, and human nature. We have come to use the sciences of mind to understand, explain, measure, and manage intelligence, merit, illness, and deviance. This course examines how the mind sciences have developed their conceptual frameworks and methodological tools, how they consolidated as disciplines, and how they have drawn inspiration from and contributed to cultures in which they formed. J. Cohen-Cole. Spring, 2005.

23000/33000. Cultural Psychology. (=HUDV 21000/31000) For course description, see Human Development. R. Shweder. Autumn.

23200/33200. Introduction to Language Development. (=HUDV 23900, LING 21600/31600) This course addresses the major issues involved in first-language acquisition. We deal with the child's production and perception of speech sounds (phonology), the acquisition of the lexicon (semantics), the comprehension and production of structured word combinations (syntax), and the ability to use language to communicate (pragmatics). S. Goldin-Meadow, C. Johnson. Winter, 2005.

23249. Animal Behavior. (=BIOS 23249, HUDV 23249) For course description, see Biological Sciences. J. Mateo. Winter, 2005.

23500. Introduction to Interaction Research. There have been three main interests in recent research on interaction: (1) the expression of emotion, (2) the process of interaction itself (how it is that participants are able to accomplish interactions), and (3) the use of behaviors observed in interaction as indices of the participants' enduring characteristics or transient states. Selected examples of these major types of research are considered in terms of their conceptual framework and their approach to studying the phenomenon in question. The discussion focuses on the nature of interaction and on approaches to studying it. S. Duncan. Autumn.

23900. Political Psychology. This course explores the psychological processes that underlie political thought and behavior. We review the contributions of social and cognitive psychology to the understanding of political judgments, decisions, and behavior. We consider a broad array of topics, including political socialization, the development and maintenance of belief systems and attitudes, the role of self-interest in political preferences, the role of values and the impact of value-conflict, political cognition and candidate appraisal, social identity and inter-group conflict, race and politics, the role of affect and emotion in political judgments and behavior, and the psychology of political atrocities. P. Visser. Autumn, 2004.

24000/31200. Systems Neuroscience. (=BIOS 24205) For course description, see Biological Sciences. J. Ramirez, J. Goldberg, R. McCrea, M. Osadjan. Winter. L.

24150/34100. Psychoneuroimmunology: Links between the Nervous and Immune Systems. (=BIOS 02370, BPRO 24200) For course description, see Big Problems. M. McClintock, J. Quintans. Spring, 2005.

24300/39300. Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences. (=HUDV 24300, SOSC 20600) For course description, see Human Development. B. Cohler. Offered 2005-006; not offered 2004-05.

24400. Observation of Child Behavior in Natural Settings. (=HUDV 24400) For course description, see Human Development. S. Stodolsky. Spring.

24600/34600. Sexual Identity, Life Course, and Life Story. (=GNDR 20800, HIPS 26900, HUDV 24600/34600, ISHU 35900, SOSC 25900) For course description, see Human Development. B. Cohler. Spring.

25000/35000. Physiology of Vision. PQ: Prior course in physics and calculus. One of the following: PSYC 28000, or BIOS 21100 or 21200, or consent of instructor. This is an advanced course on primate visual physiology. Cortical systems for object recognition, visual motion perception, depth perception, and heading (self-motion) perception are covered in detail. We also discuss basic components of visual computation, including frequency analysis, computational mapping, gain normalization, and population coding. D. Bradley. Spring, 2005.

25100. Decision Making and Communication. We constantly have to make decisions in life, determine our preferences, and choose among alternatives. Such decisions range in importance from ordering a meal at a restaurant to choosing what college to attend. How do we make such decisions? What are the rules that guide us? How optimal are the choices we make? This course focuses on individual and group decision making, and on how people communicate in the process of negotiating a joint outcome. B. Keysar. Autumn, 2004.

25400. Rewriting the Past: Narrative, Ritual, and Monument. (=AASR 30001, BPRO 26000, FNDL 23102, HUDV 27100, RLST 28100) For course description, see Human Development. B. Cohler, P. Homans. Winter, 2005.

25800. The Psychiatric Patient and the Life World. (=HUDV 25800, SOSC 27900) PQ: Consent of instructor. For course description, see Human Development. B. Cohler. Spring. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

26200/42200. Research Seminar in Research in Behavioral Endocrinology. (=EVOL 42200, HUDV 42200) PQ: Consent of instructor. Ongoing research in the lab of Professor McClintock is discussed. M. McClintock. Winter.

26400/36400. Theories of Emotion and the Psychology of Well-Being. (=HUDV 36400) This course reviews different approaches to the study of emotion and well being, different ways of measuring well being, the relationship between positive and negative well being, and the degree to which well being can be changed. We discuss studies that focus on the mechanisms that control psychological well being, as well as the thinking, appraisals, and beliefs that lead to positive versus negative well being. We also investigate those conditions that produce irrevocable changes in psychological well being and those conditions that promote robustness. N. Stein. Spring, 2005.

27000. Judgment and Decision Making. This course provides an overview of topics related to the psychology of decision making and judgment. Specific topics are drawn from three broad areas: the ends that people pursue (e.g., happiness, meaning), the means with which people pursue them (e.g., processes of self-regulation, strategies of management and coping, planning, problem-solving, evaluation, choice), and limitations of deliberative decision making (e.g., lack of self-knowledge, unconscious or emotional processes that are difficult to control, external constraints). W. Goldstein. Winter, 2005.

27300. Language, Voice, and Gender. (=ANTH 27300, GNDR 27500) For course description, see Anthropology. M. Silverstein. Winter, 2005.

27900. Self and Identity. (=HUDV 27900) This course introduces research and theory related to psychological aspects of self and identity. Specific topics are drawn from the following broad areas: development of self (e.g., origins of selfhood), self-knowledge (e.g., organization of self-knowledge, motivational influences on self-knowledge), self and subjective experience (e.g., esteem, self, emotion), self-regulation (e.g., processes of self-control, willpower), self and interpersonal processes (e.g., self-presentation, role models), and culture and self. W. Goldstein. Autumn, 2004.

28500/48500. Research Seminar in Social Neuroscience. PQ: Consent of instructor. Ongoing research in the lab of Professor Cacioppo is discussed. J. Cacioppo. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

28800/38800. Information Theory and Coding. (=CMSC 24000) PQ: Consent of instructor. For course description, see Computer Science. A. Bookstein. Winter.

29200. Undergraduate Reading in Psychology. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Available for either quality grades or for P/F grades. This course may be taken for one or two quarters, depending on the size of the project. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29700. Undergraduate Research in Psychology. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Available for either quality grades or for P/F grades. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29800. Honors Seminar. PQ: Open to students with third- or fourth-year standing who have begun their thesis project. Students who wish to pursue honors are required to take this honors seminar in Autumn or Winter Quarter of their fourth year. This seminar counts as one of the three reading and research credits. We read and discuss general papers on writing and research, and individual students present their own projects to the group. A literature review, data from ongoing or completed empirical projects, or portions of the thesis paper itself can be presented. Students are expected to give thoughtful feedback to others on their presentations and written work. L. Kay, Staff, Autumn; C. Pickett, Staff, Winter.

29900. Honors Paper Preparation in Psychology. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Available for either quality grades or for P/F grades. This course is not a requirement for doing an honors paper. This course may be taken for one or two quarters, depending on the size of the project. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

31100. Cellular Neurobiology. (=BIOS 24204) For course description, see Biological Sciences. D. Hanck, P. Lloyd. Autumn. L.

31500. Neuroethology. (=BIOS 24211, CPNS 30100) For course description, see Biological Sciences. D. Margoliash. Winter. L.

31600. Biopsychology of Sex Differences. (=EVOL 36900, HUDV30901) For course description, see Human Development. J. Mateo. Autumn, 2005.

32500. Topics in Cognitive Development. This course examines the intellectual development of the child. Topics include the growth of the child's understanding of the physical and social world, and the development of memory and thought processes. J. Huttenlocher. Spring, 2005.

32800. Environmental Effects on Cognitive Growth. We focus on research approaches to studying the effects of input on the growth of cognitive skills in different domains. Students are encouraged to design studies addressing this general topic. J. Huttenlocher, S. Levine. Autumn, 2004.

33500. Special Populations: Lessons for Developmental Psychology. PQ: PSYC 20500 and consent of instructor. The study of special populations (e.g., children with early brain damage, deaf children, blind children, autistic children) is interesting in its own right. However, the focus of this course is on what we can learn about normal development from the study of special populations. Limitations on the kinds of inferences that can be made about normal development are also discussed. S. Levine. Spring, 2005.

33800. Mental Representation. J. Huttenlocher. Winter, 2005.

34214. Cognitive Neuroscience. (=BIOS 24214, CPNS 30200) For course description, see Biological Sciences. N. Hatsopoulos. Spring.

34300. Early Socialization. This course focuses on the relationship between the child's interaction with others and various aspects of socialization with an emphasis on natural interactions during the first two years. Among the topics considered are the process of interaction itself, the nature of the child's early interaction abilities, conflict, discipline, peer interaction, self-regulation, emotion, gender issues, moral development, and problematic parent-child interaction. Research methods and conceptual foundations of readings are analyzed in class discussion. S. Duncan. Spring.

34900. Biopsychology of Attachment. (=EVOL 37100, HUDV 34900) For course description, see Human Development. Winter, 2005.

35100. Perceiving Real-Life Objects and Scenes. The act of perception entails a sequence of events that begins with the physical energy of the stimulus, follows with its conversion to neural events, and ends in our understanding of the world. In this class we focus on the last step in this process: our ability to recognize real-life objects and scenes. Specifically, we examine to what extent current knowledge of the visual system allows us to understand recent experimental finds on object and scene categorization. Our bases for the course are behavioral findings, but we discuss findings from neuroscience whenever they are relevant. All material comes from primary sources. V. Maljkovic. Winter, 2005.

35651. The Study of Conflict, Culture, Attitudes, and Persuasion. (=HUDV 35651) PQ: Consent of instructor. This course covers the notion of conflict from four different perspectives: a social psychological perspective, a cognitive science perspective, a business perspective, and a political science perspective. The goal of this class is to build a model of the process of conflict that is broader and more process oriented than existing models. We then attempt to address conflict as it impacts learning during political decision making, during times of war, during times of rapid cultural change, and during personal decision making. N. Stein. Winter, 2005.

36600. The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment. PQ: PSYC 25100 or 27000, or consent of instructor. We reading/discussion course considers how intuitive judgment occurs and asks questions such as: What kind of natural strategies do people use to make judgments? What guides our intuitive prediction of events in the world? What determines our level of confidence in our decisions? What kind of biases pervade these processes? B. Keysar. Autumn, 2004.

37000-37100-37200. Mind and Biology Proseminar. (=HUDV 38000-38100-38200) Credit is granted only in Spring Quarter after successful completion of the year's work. Topics relate to mind and biology. The seminar series meets three to four times a quarter. L. Kay, J. Cacioppo, D. Maestripieri, M. McClintock. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

37300. Experimental Design I. PQ: PSYC 37900. This course covers topics in research design and analysis. They include multifactor, completely randomized procedures and techniques for analyzing data sets with unequal cell frequencies. Our emphasis is on principles, not algorithms, for experimental design and analysis. S. Shevell. Winter, 2006.

37800. Evolutionary Social Psychology. (=EVOL 37400, HUDV 37800) For course description, see Human Development. S. Cavigelli. Autumn.

37900. Experimental Design II. Must be taken in sequence with PSYC 37300. This course covers more complex ANOVA models than in the previous course, including split-plot (repeated-measures) designs and unbalanced designs. It also covers analysis of qualitative data, including logistic regression, multinomial logit models, and log linear models. An introduction to certain advanced techniques useful in the analysis of longitudinal data, such as hierarchical linear models (HLM), also is provided. S. Shevell, L. Hedges. Spring, 2006.

38600. Understanding Other Minds. B. Keysar, A. Woodward. Spring, 2005.

39700-39800-39900. Topics in Experimental Social Psychology. Credit is granted only in Spring Quarter after successful completion of the year's work. This course is offered as a speaker series that discusses readings and issues in social psychology. J. Cacioppo. Autumn, Winter, Spring.