This course provides a general overview of topics including language, intelligence, development, motivation and emotion, personality, social psychology, stress, mental disorders and treatments of mental disorders. The most influential findings from each of these areas will be highlighted.

The course will provide introductory knowledge and hands-on training in computer-based implementations of experimental design, data processing and result interpretation in psychology. The course covers implementations of experimental testing paradigms, computational explorations of empirical data structure and result visualization with the aid of specific programming tools (e.g., Matlab).

This course focuses on the fundamentals of the theory and the application of statistical procedures used in research in the field of psychology. Topics will range from descriptive statistics to simple tests of significance, such as Chi-Square, t-tests, and one-way Analysis-of-Variance. A working knowledge of algebra is assumed.

Surveys a wide range of phenomena relating to social behaviour.
Social Psychology is the study of how feelings, thoughts, and behaviour are influenced by the presence of others. The course is designed to explore social behaviour and to present theory and research that foster its understanding.

Developmental processes during infancy and childhood.
This course presents students with a broad and integrative overview of child development. Major theories and research findings will be discussed in order to understand how the child changes physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively with age. Topics are organized chronologically beginning with prenatal development and continuing through selected issues in adolescence and life-span development.

This course is intended to introduce students to the scientific study of the whole person in biological, social, and cultural contexts. The ideas of classical personality theorists will be discussed in reference to findings from contemporary personality research.

Clinical psychology examines why people behave, think, and feel in unexpected, sometimes bizarre, and typically self-defeating ways. This course will focus on the ways in which clinicians have been trying to learn the causes of various clinical disorders and what they know about preventing and alleviating it.

An introduction to behaviour modification, focusing on attempts to regulate human behaviour. Basic principles and procedures of behaviour change are examined, including their application across different domains and populations. Topics include operant and respondent conditioning; reinforcement; extinction; punishment; behavioural data; ethics; and using behaviourally-based approaches (e.g., CBT) to treat psychopathology.

Theory and research on perception and cognition, including visual, auditory and tactile perception, representation, and communication. Topics include cognition and perception in the handicapped and normal perceiver; perceptual illusion, noise, perspective, shadow patterns and motion, possible and impossible scenes, human and computer scene-analysis, ambiguity in perception, outline representation. The research is on adults and children, and different species. Demonstrations and exercises form part of the course work.

The course explores how the brain gives rise to the mind. It examines the role of neuroimaging tools and brain-injured patients in helping to uncover cognitive networks. Select topics include attention, memory, language, motor control, decision-making, emotion, and executive functions.

A discussion of theories and experiments examining human cognition. This includes the history of the study of human information processing and current thinking about mental computation. Topics covered include perception, attention, thinking, memory, visual imagery, language and problem solving.

A survey of the biological mechanisms underlying fundamental psychological processes intended for students who are not in a Neuroscience program. Topics include the biological basis of motivated behaviour (e.g., emotional, ingestive, sexual, and reproductive behaviours; sleep and arousal), sensory processes and attention, learning and memory, and language.

This course focuses on scientific literacy skills central to effectively consuming and critiquing research in psychological science. Students will learn about commonly used research designs, how to assess whether a design has been applied correctly, and whether the conclusions drawn from the data are warranted. Students will also develop skills to effectively find and consume primary research in psychology.

This course builds upon foundational concepts from Introduction to Psychology and examines the field of psychological science from a critical perspective. Students will explore the contextual underpinnings of the field and learn about current debates and challenges facing various subfields of psychology. Specific topics will vary by term according to the interests and expertise of the course instructor and guest lecturers. Examination of these topics will include considerations such as bias in the sciences, demographic representation in participant pools, methodological diversity, replicability, and ecological validity.

This course provides an introduction to, and experience in, ongoing theoretical and empirical research in any field of psychology. Supervision of the work is arranged by mutual agreement between student and instructor. Students will typically engage in an existing research project within a supervisor’s laboratory. Regular consultation with the supervisor is necessary, which will enhance communication skills and enable students to develop proficiency in speaking about scientific knowledge with other experts in the domain. Students will also develop documentation and writing skills through a final report and research journal. This course requires students to complete a permission form obtained from the Department of Psychology. This form must outline agreed-upon work that will be performed, must be signed by the intended supervisor, and returned to the Department of Psychology.

How we communicate in psychology and why. The differences between scientific and non-scientific approaches to behaviour and their implications for communication are discussed. The focus is on improving the student's ability to obtain and organize information and to communicate it clearly and critically, using the conventions of the discipline.

The course will provide advanced knowledge and hands-on training in computer-based implementations of experimental design, data processing and result interpretation in psychology. The course covers implementations of experimental testing paradigms, computational explorations of empirical data structure, and result visualization with the aid of specific programming tools (e.g., Matlab).

The primary focus of this course is on the understanding of Analysis-of-Variance and its application to various research designs. Examples will include a priori and post hoc tests. Finally, there will be an introduction to multiple regression, including discussions of design issues and interpretation problems.

An introduction to multiple regression and its applications in psychological research. The course covers the data analysis process from data collection to interpretation: how to deal with missing data, the testing of assumptions, addressing problem of multicolinearity, significance testing, and deciding on the most appropriate model. Several illustrative data sets will be explored in detail. The course contains a brief introduction to factor analysis. The goal is to provide the students with the skills and understanding to conduct and interpret data analysis in non-experimental areas of psychology.

This course examines the psychology of judgment and decision making, incorporating perspectives from social psychology, cognitive psychology, and behavioral economics. Understanding these topics will allow students to identify errors and systematic biases in their own decisions and improve their ability to predict and influence the behavior of others.

A detailed examination of selected social psychological topics introduced in PSYB10H3. This course examines the nature of attitudes, stereotypes and prejudice, including their development, persistence, and automaticity. It also explores the impact of stereotypes on their targets, including how stereotypes are perceived and how they affect performance, attributions, and coping.

A comprehensive survey of how cognitive processes (e.g., perception, memory, judgment) influence social behaviour. Topics include the construction of knowledge about self and others, attitude formation and change, influences of automatic and controlled processing, biases in judgment and choice, interactions between thought and emotion, and neural specializations for social cognition.

A survey of the role of culture in social thought and behaviour. The focus is on research and theory that illustrate ways in which culture influences behaviour and cognition about the self and others, emotion and motivation. Differences in individualism and collectivism, independence and interdependence as well as other important orientations that differ between cultures will be discussed. Social identity and its impact on acculturation in the context of immigration will also be explored.

Community psychology is an area of psychology that examines the social, cultural, and structural influences that promote positive change, health, and empowerment among communities and community members. This course will offer an overview of the foundational components of community psychology including its theories, research methods, and applications to topics such as community mental health, prevention programs, interventions, the community practitioner as social change agent, and applications of community psychology to other settings and situations.

The course will examine different aspects of imagination in a historical context, including creativity, curiosity, future-mindedness, openness to experience, perseverance, perspective, purpose, and wisdom along with its neural foundations.

What happens when two (or more) minds meet—how do they interact and interconnect? Specifically, how do people “get on the same page,” and what are barriers that might stand in the way? Guided by these questions, this course will provide a broad overview of the psychological phenomena and processes that enable interpersonal connection. We will examine the various ways that people’s inner states—thoughts, feelings, intentions, and identities—connect with one another. We will study perspectives from both perceivers (i.e., how to understand others) and targets (i.e., how to be understood), at levels of dyads (i.e., how two minds become interconnected) and groups (i.e., how minds coordinate and work collectively). Throughout the course, we will consider challenges to effective interpersonal interactions, and solutions and strategies that promote and strengthen interconnection. A range of perspectives, including those from social, cognitive, personality, developmental, and cultural psychology, as well as adjacent disciplines such as communication, will be considered.

What is an emotion? How are emotions experienced and how are they shaped? What purpose do emotions serve to human beings? What happens when our emotional responses go awry? Philosophers have debated these questions for centuries. Fortunately, psychological science has equipped us with the tools to explore such questions on an empirical level. Building with these tools, this course will provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of emotion. Topics will include how emotions are expressed in our minds and bodies, how emotions influence (and are influenced by) our thoughts, relationships, and cultures, and how emotions can both help us thrive and make us sick. A range of perspectives, including social, cultural, developmental, clinical, personality, and cognitive psychology, will be considered.

A detailed examination of how organisms exercise control, bringing thoughts, emotions and behaviours into line with preferred standards. Topics include executive function, the neural bases for self control, individual differences in control, goal setting and goal pursuit, motivation, the interplay of emotion and control, controversies surrounding fatigue and control, and decision-making.

An examination of topics in adult development after age 18, including an examination of romantic relationships, parenting, work-related functioning, and cognitive, perceptual, and motor changes related to aging.

Infants must learn to navigate their complex social worlds as their bodies and brains undergo incredible changes. This course explores physical and neural maturation, and the development of perception, cognition, language, and social-emotional understanding in infants prenatally until preschool.