Schedule of Classes

Factors that influence human behavior, including learning, thinking, perception, motivation, and emotion; analysis of determinants of development, adjustment, and maladjustment.

The structure and function of the mammalian brain including the role of the brain in regulating behavior, both in normal and diseased states; in relation to mind; and in comparison with machine forms of intelligence. Not available for major credit.

Introduction to the use of statistics in psychology: basic ideas in measurement; frequency distributions; descriptive statistics; concepts and procedures in statistical inference. Recommended preparation: PSYC 100, MATH 116.

Language within cognitive science: speech physiology and acoustics, language acquisition, reading, language disorders, perception and mental representation of words, linguistic diversity, and computer analysis of speech.

Principles involved in classical and operant conditioning. Concentration on basic causes of behavior; consideration of the relevance of simple behavioral laws to complicated human behavior.

Experimental and other research methods in psychology; nature and concepts of scientific method. Laboratory exercises.

Neural bases of behavior. Concentration on sensory and motor processes and the interaction of neural, chemical, and hormonal systems.

Child and adolescent behavior and associated theories; exploration of the continuity between child and adult behavior. Laboratory projects.

Genetic, physical, and social influences during adult years on perception, learning and memory, intelligence, personality, social roles, and normal and deviant behavioral patterns. Laboratory demonstrations and exercises.

Exploration of ancient philosophical questions concerning the origins of human knowledge through empirical studies of infants, animals, and adults from diverse cultures.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of human behavior. Social processes involved in attitudes, conformity, compliance, interpersonal perception, liking, affiliation, aggression, altruism, and group dynamics.

Theories and research on person perception, attribution processes, interpersonal attraction and romantic love, freedom and causality, social comparison phenomena.

The commonly diagnosed behavior pathologies; biological, social, cultural, and developmental antecedents of abnormal behavior; principles of learning, perception, and motivation, as they relate to psychopathology. Not open to students with credit in PSYC 461.

Introduction to the scientist-practitioner model of clinical psychology, including research methods, psychological assessment and diagnosis, psychotherapeutic interventions, and treatment of special populations.

Advanced study of scientific inquiry in psychology with in-depth analysis of current research by faculty in the Psychology Department. Preparation for senior honors thesis research. Prerequisite: acceptance in Psychology Undergraduate Honors Program and consent of instructor.

Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.

Individual field experience and independent study supervised by an on-site professional and USC faculty sponsor. Recommended preparation: Minimum of 3 courses completed in Psychology.

Classical and modern approaches to psychological measurement; scaling; test construction; true score reliability model; generalizability theory; validity; decision theoretic selection; item analysis; item response theory.

Sensory systems, central nervous system design, instinctive behavior, motivation, learning, social behavior, and the evolution of behavioral adaptations.

Descriptive and normative models of decision making; topics include probability judgments, inference, correlation, emotion, mental accounting, decision analysis, lens model, equity, social dilemmas, time, risk.

Psychometric and experimental approaches to the study of intelligence, problem solving, reasoning and creativity, including analysis of mental test construction and validity.

The adolescent years from both an applied and a research-oriented perspective. Topics include physical, cognitive, and moral development; socialization; and sexual and sex-role development. (Duplicates credit in former PSYC 338.)

Examination of the nature of relations between human groups and the psychological mechanisms relating to intergroup conflict, war, genocide, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination.

The influence of culture, ethnicity, race and gender on human behavior. Mental health issues relevant to ethnic minorities in the U.S.

Genetic, biological, psychological, and sociological characteristics of those who evidence criminal behavior; theoretical formulations to be reviewed and appraised.

Survey of current topics, technologies and techniques. Students acquire a basic understanding of how forensic psychologists contribute their unique expertise to the American legal system.

Advanced study of empirical approaches in psychology. Progress presentations and evaluations of Senior Honors Thesis research. In-depth exploration of issues in science. Not available for graduate credit.

Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit.

Selected topics in the various specialty areas within psychology. Topic will vary from semester to semester.

Experimental designs and their analyses of variance beyond straightforward factorial, nested, or repeated measures designs. Prerequisite: 501 or equivalent.

Multiple regression as a tool in experimental and non-experimental data; analysis of variance and covariance as regression on coded variables. Computer applications. Laboratory exercises.

Intensive review of research methods in the behavioral sciences. Problem analysis, formulation of research propositions, and procedures for research inference.

Theory and research on effective teams and characteristics of strong leaders. Negotiation, morale-building, managing expectancies, utilization of cultural diversity as a strength.

Review of theories of cognitive development. Analysis of research on brain functioning, perception, memory, language, reasoning and academic skills from birth to adolescence. Open to graduate students in psychology only.

An examination of the major components of cognition (e.g., perception, memory, intelligence) in terms of the neural coding characteristic of the relevant brain areas.

Recent research on relations between basic psychological states (e.g., cognition, learning, emotion) and physiological response processes (e.g., autonomic responses, covert muscle activity).

Analysis of selected, recent advances in perception, memory, attention, and conceptualization, as revealed by neuroimaging; behavioral, drug, primate single-unit studies; cognitive deficits and evolutionary perspectives. Recommended preparation: some background in behavior science, neuroscience, or computational science.

The nature of the human mind, social interactions, conflicts, cooperative behavior, mutual influence and effectiveness. Application of psychological principles to the dynamics of commercial entities.

Neuroscientific studies attempting to understand the neural basis of judgment and decision-making, social behavior, and market economies.

The physical and physiological bases of MRI and fMRI. Design and analysis of fMRI experiments. Operation of a magnetic resonance imaging system.

Computational research in music cognition, including computational methods for music analysis, such as the abstracting and extracting of pitch and time structures. Computational research in expressive performance, the manipulation of parameters (e.g., tempo, loudness, articulation) to focus attention, facilitate parsing, and create emotional affect. Open to graduate engineering students only. Recommended preparation: programming experience (C++ or Java), basic signal processing and music theory.

Practical, hands-on experience in the application of selected quantitative methods to empirical data. Includes training in the use of relevant computer software.

Current issues in psycholinguistic theory.

Research leading to the master's degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

Internships in non-university settings, such as business, governmental agency, or NGO. Credit/No Credit.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded CR/NC.

Supervised experience in interviewing skills and in assessment, including psychological test administration, and the preparation of reports. Graded CR/NC.

An intensive consideration of selected concepts, theories, and research problems in social psychology.

Quasi-experimental designs; causal inference from correlational research, techniques for evaluating measures of attitude, personality, and social motives; observational methods; content analysis; sampling and survey techniques.

Study of clinical psychological treatment: Research and theory about major psychological approaches to intervention. (One of 4 clinical psychology core courses: PSYC 514, PSYC 515, PSYC 619, PSYC 620.)

Selected topics in clinical psychology.

Supervised clinical work in an approved mental health setting. Graded CR/NC. Prerequisite: Good standing in clinical program and departmental approval.

Didactic practicum combining theory and research on psychological intervention with clinical practice in assessment and treatment, focused on particular client groups or disorders. Graded CR/NC.

Research leading to the doctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.