USC Schedule of Classes

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

Evaluates scientific research on human happiness. Integrates research from psychology, economics, and neuroscience in the evaluation of personal and public policy choices.

Critical analysis and reasoning skills required to solve scientific problems in human behavior, including presentation of data, logic of research design, statistics, and research ethics. Not for major credit for Psychology majors.

Introduction to the use of statistics in psychology: basic ideas in measurement; frequency distributions; descriptive statistics; concepts and procedures in statistical inference. Prerequisite: MATH 114, MATH 208, MATH 218, or MATH 265. Recommended preparation: PSYC 100.

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.

Experimental and theoretical aspects of human memory, perception, thinking, and language. Lectures, demonstrations, and individual experiments. Prerequisite: 100g or departmental approval.

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 research methods in psychology; nature and concepts of scientific method. Lab exercises, data analysis and preparation of APA style empirical report.

Non-experimental research methods in psychology. Observational, survey and data analysis 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.

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.

Introduction to psychological, biological, and behavioral processes affecting physical health, including stress, coping with disease, health behaviors, and socioeconomic and cultural influences on health. Prerequisite: PSYC 100.

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.

Introduction to the scientific study of emotional behavior. Emphasizes research into relations between physiological and psychological variables underlying emotional experience. Demonstrations and laboratory.

Universal characteristics of child language; stages of acquisition of phonology, syntax, semantics; processes and dimensions of development; psychological mechanisms; communicative styles.

Exploration of the origins of cognition via the basics of experimental design, 3D computer modeling, data analysis, and scientific presentation. Recommended preparation: PSYC 314 or background in experimental research.

Multivariate analysis emphasizing model estimation and testing; topics vary, e.g., multiple regression, logistic regression, factor analysis, multilevel linear modeling, structural equation modeling, multiway frequency analysis.

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.

An analysis of selected topics and issues in child social development. Recommended preparation: PSYC 274, PSYC 314, PSYC 336.

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.

Inheritance and evolution of behavioral characteristics in man and other species.

Introduction to the major components of cognition (perception, memory, intelligence) in terms of the neural coding characteristic of the relevant brain areas.

Effects of socialization, personal influence, propaganda and social structure on private attitudes and public opinion.

Examination of theories, research, interventions regarding psychology of environmental sustainability including cognition, emotion, behavior, attitudes, persuasion, values, social identity, consumerism, and science of happiness.

The influence of culture, ethnicity, race and gender on human behavior. Mental health issues relevant to ethnic minorities in the U.S. Recommended preparation: sophomore standing or higher; PSYC 100.

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

Theories and research on family relationships across the life span, including research methods, cultural and developmental perspectives, communication, conflict, attachment, individual psychopathology, and family violence.

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.

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.

Basic statistical principles and techniques as well as modern improvements on classic inferential methods.

Various research techniques that are useful in a variety of different real world settings, such as business, governmental agencies and charities. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

Problems and theories of the person in the social context. Person perception, interpersonal relations, attitude dynamics, social systems.

Study of psychopathology: in-depth survey of theory and research concerning psychological disorders; introduction to diagnosis. (One of 4 clinical psychology core courses: 514, 515, 619, 620.)

Study of clinical assessment: test construction, measurement and predicition of behavior, major cognitive and personality assessment instruments. (One of 4 clinical psychology core courses: 514, 515, 619, 620.)

Theory and research on effective teams and characteristics of strong leaders. Negotiation, morale-building, managing expectancies, utilization of cultural diversity as a strength. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

Factor analysis; latent variable; scaling; test construction; classical true score reliability model; generalizability theory; validity; decision theoretic approaches to selection; item analysis; item response theory.

Theories of social and emotional development, including sociocultural perspectives. Analysis of research on temperament, social relationships, individuation and moral development from birth to adolescence. Open to graduate students in psychology.

Regional organization and systems of the mammalian nervous system and their functions.

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. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

Examination of the attitudes and decisions of consumers, and how to effectively reach consumers by using persuasion and proper positioning in the marketplace. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

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

Examination of the psychological factors that impact employee motivation, job satisfaction, teamwork, leadership, and organizational development. Open only to Master of Applied Psychology students. Not available for major credit for GSBA majors

Theories of acquisition; sentence and discourse processing; language and thought.

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.

Internship in a non-university setting, such as business, governmental agency, or NGO. Graded CR/NC. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

Requires a research paper of substantial length and high quality that integrates the Internship experience with concepts and principles of human behavior. Credit/No Credit. Open only to M.S., Applied Psychology students.

Techniques for working with undergraduates, lesson planning, leading discussions and lecturing, tools for development as a teaching professional. Open to first-semester Psychology TAs only. Graded CR/NC.

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.

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

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