Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS PS 531: Imaging and Manipulating Memories
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PS231 or NE 101 or PS/NE 337 or PS339/NE202 or BI325/NE203; or con sent of instructor. - The nature of memory engrams, the physical manifestations of experiences in the brain, will be explored at the systems neuroscience level by surveying primary literature.
• CAS PS 532: Neurobiology of Motivation, Decision Making, and Learning
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS NE101 or PS231; one upper level NE course or BI108 and BI325; or i nstructor consent; majors must complete PS211, PS/NE212, or MA115 & MA 116; minors must complete PS211, PS/NE212, or MA115. - Exploration of the molecular and neural circuit mechanisms responsible for driving movement, selecting actions, and evaluating outcomes to drive adaptive learning. Examination of how disorders of motivation and decision making arise from the disruption of different neural circuits.
• CAS PS 541: Social Development
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPS241) - An examination of the development of social cognition and competence. Topics include: innate and early-emerging social knowledge, attachment, moral development and cooperation, theory of mind, group biases, and social learning.
• CAS PS 544: Developmental Neuropsychology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPS241) or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Study of the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral development. Topics include the plasticity of the developing brain in response to deprivation or damage and mechanisms underlying specific syndromes (e.g., aphasia, dyslexia, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, autism, and Tourette's syndrome). Also offered as CAS NE 544.
• CAS PS 546: Cognitive Development
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPS241) - Cognitive development from birth through early adolescence. Relationship of cognition to other traditional areas of psychology (e.g., perception, language, learning, memory, physiology, and psychopathology).
• CAS PS 549: Developmental Psychopathology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPS241 & CASPS371) - Developmental deviations and psychological disorders of childhood. Examination of assessment techniques, treatment theories, and prevention methods. Developmental etiologies of neurotic and psychotic disturbances, effects of family patterns on the character of parent-child pathology, influence of childhood pathology on adult functioning.
• CAS PS 550: Childhood Adversity: Risk and Resilience
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPS241) - Consideration of why some children overcome adversity while others have maladaptive outcomes. Concepts of risk and resilience are applied to contexts of childhood adversity: poverty, maltreatment, homelessness, orphanages, and natural disasters. Discussion of implications for prevention, intervention, and policy.
• CAS PS 560: Cross-Cultural Psychology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASPS 101 and PS senior standing. - Comparative study of psychological variables under different cultural conditions in order to identify universal aspects of human behavior, and to identify cultural influences on behavior. Applications to psychotherapy, public health, child development, education, business, and foreign relations.
• CAS PS 561: The Psychology of Poverty, Wealth, and Economic Inequality
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: PS senior standing. - Explores the impact of poverty, wealth, and economic inequality on individuals, families, and communities and considers how individuals think about, explain, and experience poverty, wealth, and economic inequality. Experimental, survey, interview, and epidemiological research considered.
• CAS PS 704: Contemporary Trends in Psychology
  A1 section offered in the fall semester is the MA Proseminar. A number of department faculty present their current research. Other PS 704 sections offered in the fall and all sections offered in the spring: Various contemporary trends in psychology presented. Content varies: consult department for topics and descriptions.
• CAS PS 711: Statistics in Psychology 1
  General linear models including multiple regression and logistic regression; multilevel models; survival analysis; interaction effects.
• CAS PS 712: Statistics in Psychology 2
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPS711) or consent of instructor. - Statistical analysis with latent variables including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation models, latent growth models, psychometrics.
• CAS PS 716: Psychological Research Methods
  The methodological foundations of psychological research, including issues in general scientific practice, research design, measurement, methods of data collection, and practical and ethical problems arising in the conduct of psychological research.
• CAS PS 720: Neurobiology of Animal Cognition
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Explores the nature of cognition across the animal kingdom. Synthesizes concepts from cognitive science, machine learning and neuroethology to better understand human cognition through the lens of animal behavior. Selected topics include decision-making, collective behavior, reinforcement learning, and mental simulations.
• CAS PS 730: Major Perspectives in Psychology: History and Systems
  Provides exposure to the history of major perspectives in psychology, increases understanding of contemporary literature on fundamental issues in psychology, and promotes an integrated understanding of the link between psychological theories and applied psychological principles.
• CAS PS 750: Mind and Language
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPS525 OR CASPS545 OR CASPS546) or equivalent; or consent of instructor. - Seminar examines how language influences cognition. Surveys cognitive, developmental, psycholinguistic, and primate psychology literatures to explore whether cross-linguistic differences cause cross-cultural differences in cognition, and whether possession of a language faculty influences the nature of thought.
• CAS PS 761: Major Issues in Social Psychology
  Empirical and theoretical approaches to selected areas of social psychology. Includes interpersonal behavior, attitude formation and change, social comparison processes, and group behavior.
• CAS PS 770: Ethics in Psychology
  Designed for graduate students in psychology and related fields who plan to be engaged in some form of the practice of psychology. Topics include ethics of clinical and consulting practice, of teaching, and of psychological research.
• CAS PS 772: Clinical Psychological Assessment of Adults
  Graduate Prerequisites: PS Clinical PhD students only. - Theoretical and empirical bases for diagnostic and structured interviews, standardized cognitive tests, psychopathology rating scales, projective methods, and tools for evaluating community systems and epidemiology. Administration, scoring, and general principles of clinical interpretation of representative measures (WAIS, MMPI, Social Networks Inventory, Rorschach).
• CAS PS 774: Clinical Psychological Assessment of Adults Practicum
  Graduate Prerequisites: PS Clinical PhD students only. - This course is the applied practicum course for Clinical Psychological Assessment of Adults (PS 772). It is designed to provide a comprehensive, applied experience in psychological assessment report writing and the administration, scoring, cognitive/intellectual and personality functioning.