Psychology
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Department Information
Psychology
Jane Berry, Chair
Professors Allison, Berry, Lambert
Associate Professors Bukach, Knouse, Kochel
Assistant Professors Lowder, Lundberg, Nonterah
Visting Professor Alperin
The Department of Psychology offers a rigorous, graduated curriculum that combines high aspirations for achievement in an environment rich in opportunities for intellectual stimulation and growth. Our primary mission is to provide an inclusive and welcoming academic setting for students to become knowledgeable, skilled, reflective, and highly accomplished, preparing them to excel in graduate and professional schools and careers. We prepare students to lead productive lives characterized by an inquiring attitude, engagement in the life of mind, and immersion in the larger community. Our faculty are dedicated to excellence in teaching and scholarship, and seek to cultivate in students a love of learning and involvement in their academic community by providing multifaceted mentoring opportunities. We strive to encourage and empower students as they work towards reaching their potential.
The psychology faculty believe that education is as much an activity as it is a body of knowledge. As professors, we embrace pedagogical approaches that emphasize diversity and inclusivity; transparency in the use of scientific methods; curiosity about the world and its phenomena; intellectual challenge and complexity; familiarity with primary source materials; interactive and collaborative learning; critical and analytical thinking; mastery in oral and written expression and communication; and the historical, philosophical, and current cornerstones of psychological science. We value psychology's connections to the arts, humanities, and natural sciences; we embrace diverse perspectives and individual differences; we promote student involvement in local and international culture, community, and society; and we teach the ethics of conducting and applying psychological science. These curricular emphases reflect our educational goals and aspirations. They represent directions for fostering, challenging, and strengthening our students' intellectual and interpersonal experiences, and they pervade all levels of our curriculum, from the introductory to the most advanced. Collaborative research pursuits between faculty and students are the centerpiece of the psychology major. -
Major
The Psychology Major
Note: The grade point average of the department-specific and related-area coursework comprising the major must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade below C- (1.7).
For the Bachelor of Arts degree
10 units, including:
Introduction to Psychological Science
Methods and Analyses
Integrated Topics
Methods and Analyses Core Project
One course from Psychology 310-Psychology 329
One course from Psychology 330-Psychology 349
One course in the Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series
Three electives at the 300 or 400 level
For the Bachelor of Science degree
14 units, including:
Introduction to Psychological Science
Methods and Analyses
Integrated Topics
Methods and Analyses Core Project
One course from Psychology 310-Psychology 329
One course from Psychology 330-Psychology 349
One course in the Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series
Three electives at the 300 or 400 level
Calculus I
Calculus II
One unit, chosen from:
Introduction to Computing
Multivariate Calculus
Linear Algebra
Differential Equations
One unit, chosen from:
Chemistry: Structure, Thermodynamics, and Kinetics
Algebra-Based General Physics 1 with Lab - Algebra-Based General Physics 2 with Lab
Calculus-Based General Physics 1 with Lab - Calculus-Based General Physics 2 with Lab
Note: No more than one unit of
may be applied to the 10 units required in psychology. No more than one unit of internship and two units of 300-level research coursework ( and/or ) may be applied to the major. -
Minor
The Psychology Minor
Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the minor must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade below C- (1.7).
Seven units, including:
Introduction to Psychological Science
Methods and Analyses
Integrated Topics
One course from Psychology 310-Psychology 329
One course from Psychology 330-Psychology 349
Two electives at the 300 or 400 level
Note: No more than one unit of 300-level research coursework (
and/or ) may be applied to the minor. -
Senior Capstone
The Senior Capstone
The psychology major will culminate with the senior capstone, an intensive and integrative experience that completes students’ undergraduate education in psychology.
Students pursuing either the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science degree must choose one of three Senior Capstone options:
Option 1
One advanced seminar. One course in the Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series to be taken during the fall or spring semester of the student's senior year.
Option 2
Senior research and one advanced seminar. One course in the Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series to be taken during the fall or spring semester of the student's senior year, and collaboration with a faculty member on a year-long senior research project in
and courses.Option 3
Senior honors research and two advanced seminars. One course in the Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series to be taken during the fall semester of the student's senior year, a second course from this series to be taken during spring of the senior year, and collaboration with a faculty member on a year-long senior honors research project in
and courses. To qualify for the honors program, students must graduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5. - Related
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Study Abroad
Study Abroad
Psychology majors are encouraged to study abroad. Students should plan to take their 300-level laboratory courses at UR and use their time abroad to take electives for the major, as well as other courses outside of the major that they need for graduation. The key to successful integration of a study abroad experience with a psychology major is early and careful planning with the student's advisor and department chair. -
Honors
Honors Program
Students invited into the honors program may earn honors in psychology by completing the following requirements:
- Two courses from Psychology 444-Psychology 449 series
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- Honors thesis, with faculty mentor
- Cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 by the time of graduation
Courses
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PSYC 100 Introduction to Psychological Science
Units: 1
Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSSA)
DescriptionOverview of the study of human behavior, with emphasis on scientific reasoning and the technological skills involved in the process of conducting psychological research and understanding human behavior. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
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PSYC 200 Methods and Analyses
Units: 1
DescriptionIntroduction to research methods and statistical procedures in psychological science. Emphasis on mastering fundamental scientific, reasoning, and technological skills associated with literature review, research design, experimental manipulation, data collection, data analysis, data graphics, data interpretation, data presentation, and scientific writing. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 100 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 299 Integrated Topics
Units: 1
DescriptionCourses that provide an integrative perspective of psychological theories, issues, and research across two or more disciplinary (or subdisciplinary) contexts. A maximum of 1 unit of PSYC 299 may be applied to the major.
PrerequisitesPsychology 100 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 300 Methods and Analyses Core Project
Units: 1
DescriptionPuts the principles learned in 'PSYC 200: Methods and Analyses' into practice in the pursuit of new scientific knowledge. Collaborative, project-based learning approach, students formulate new research questions based on critical evaluation of existing knowledge, design and conduct powerful, feasible, and ethical studies to answer new questions, analyze and interpret data thoughtfully, communicate effectively about research processes and outcomes. Note: No more than 2 units of 300-level research coursework (PSYC 300 and/or PSYC 361) may be applied to the major.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 311 Child Development
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of research and theory on developmental changes and processes from prenatal through preadolescent periods. Emphasis on theoretical and empirical work on social, emotional, and cognitive development and on various developmental contexts. Includes an intensive laboratory experience focusing on conceptual, methodological, and analytical skills employed in the study of child development. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 313 Social Psychology
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical overview of current theory and research in social psychology, with emphasis on conceptual and empirical work on social inference, stereotyping, self processes, social influence, affective processes, attraction, interpersonal processes, altruism, aggression, and group dynamics. Includes an intensive laboratory component focusing on conceptual, methodological, and analytical skills associated with social psychological inquiry. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 315 Adult Development
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of changes and stability in behavior from late adolescence through advanced old age, including perception, intelligence, memory, personality, emotion, social networks, death/dying, creativity, and wisdom. Emphasis on theory, research, and applications in class with intensive laboratory component. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 319 Psychopathology
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of research and theory in psychopathology and behavior disorders including the phenomenology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of major forms of psychological disorders. Emphasis on an integrative approach incorporating clinical, developmental, biological, and sociocultural perspectives. Intensive co-requisite laboratory experience focused on conceptual, methodological, and analytical skills used in clinical psychology and investigation of psychopathology and behavior disorders. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 321 Principles of Behavior
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of research and theory in fundamental principles of behavior including operant and respondent learning and rule-governed behavior in humans and non-human animals. Intensive co-requisite laboratory experience focused on applied behavior analysis skills and single-subject research design used in behavioral and clinical psychology. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 323 Health Psychology
Units: 1
DescriptionThe interaction between biological, psychological and social aspects of health. Emphasis on theory, research, and applications in lecture with intensive laboratory component on research design, data analysis and application of health psychology. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 325 Science of Emotion
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical overview of current theory and research in affective (emotion) science. Some questions that the course will address include: What is an emotion? Where do emotions come from? What purposes do emotions serve? Emphasis on an integrative approach incorporating biological, clinical, cognitive, developmental, and sociocultural perspectives. Includes an intensive laboratory component focusing on methodological and analytical skills associated with affective scientific inquiry. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 329 Special Topics
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of concepts in one of the following areas of psychology, including but not limited to life span development, clinical and abnormal, social cognition, health, learning and memory, cross-cultural, personality, human diversity, and other specialized topics in the developmental, clinical, and social psychological sciences. Emphasis on theory, research, and applications in lecture with intensive laboratory component. May be repeated for credit when topic differs. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 331 Behavioral Neuroscience
Units: 1
DescriptionFocus on the neural regulation of behavior, from animal to human. Intensive lab component with techniques and approaches used in design, execution, and analysis of research in behavioral neuroscience. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 333 Cognitive Science
Units: 1
DescriptionExamines the nature, function, and mechanism of mental structures that process and represent information, in humans as well as other intelligent agents. Cognitive science integrates methods drawn from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, and anthropology. Intensive lab component applies techniques from various fields, emphasizing human experimentation and the observation, analysis, and design of simulated creatures. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 337 Human Cognition
Units: 1
DescriptionExamines the experimental study of cognition, including perception, attention, memory, decision making, and problem solving. An intensive lab component emphasizes experimental design, data analysis, and applications in each subtopic of Cognitive Psychology. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPSYCH 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 341 Cognitive Neuroscience
Units: 1
DescriptionCritically examines what brain injury and cognitive deficits can tell us about the relationship between brain and behavior. Covers the functional anatomy of the major cognitive systems, including action, object recognition, attention, memory, language, emotion, and executive function. Includes an intensive laboratory experience focusing on research skills employed in the field of cognitive neuroscience. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 343 Psycholinguistics
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of the cognitive processes that underlie language production, comprehension, and acquisition. Covers the mental representations involved in a range of linguistic abilities including speech perception, word recognition, sentence parsing, ambiguity resolution, figurative language interpretation, and bilingualism. Includes an intensive laboratory component focusing on methodological approaches and data analytic techniques in language science. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPSYC 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 349 Special Topics
Units: 1
DescriptionCritical examination of concepts in one of the following areas of psychology, including but not limited to psycholinguistics, stress, sensation and perception, animal behavior, and other specialized topics in the cognitive and brain sciences. Emphasis on theory, research, and applications in lecture with intensive laboratory component. Two and a half lecture and one and a quarter laboratory hours per week.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 353 Clinical Neuroscience
Units: 1
DescriptionA critical examination of the neurobiological mechanisms of mental illness. Current biobehavioral perspectives of potential causes and treatments of psychiatric illnesses such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia are considered. An emphasis is also placed on the importance of emotional resilience and its protective role in the emergence of psychiatric illnesses.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 359 Special Topics
Units: 1
DescriptionSpecial course offerings to explore specific direction within subdisciplinary area of psychology. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
PrerequisitesStated when course is offered.
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PSYC 361 Independent Research
Units: .5-1
DescriptionIndividual research conducted in collaboration with faculty. Note: No more than 2 units of 300-level research coursework (PSYC 300 and/or PSYC 361) may be applied to the major.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better and permission of supervising instructor prior to registration.
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PSYC 388 Individual Internship
Units: .5-1
DescriptionSupervised independent work in field setting designed to give student applied experience after completion of appropriate coursework in psychology. Requires consultation with and approval by department chair. No more than 1.5 unit of internship in any one department and 3.5 units of internship overall may be counted toward required degree units. Available as pass/fail only.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200
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PSYC 406 Summer Undergraduate Research
Units: 0
DescriptionDocumentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 8 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at least 40 hours per week) during this period, and the student must be the recipient of a fellowship through the university. Graded S/U.
PrerequisitesApproval for summer Arts and Sciences fellowship by faculty mentor
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PSYC 444 Clinical Case Studies
Units: 1
DescriptionIntensive seminar that examines select clinical case studies and their contributions to our understanding of brain-behavior relationships. Special emphasis will be placed on the power and limits of the double dissociation methodology: contrasting patients with opposing patterns of deficits.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 449 Advanced Seminar
Units: 1
DescriptionIntensive seminar intended for seniors and advanced juniors, based on faculty expertise and research specializations, and offered regularly in fall and spring semesters for capstone requirement.
PrerequisitesPsychology 200 with a grade of C- or better.
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PSYC 461 Senior Research
Units: 1
DescriptionIntensive year-long research project for seniors, requiring conception, completion, and presentation of a research thesis under faculty mentorship.
PrerequisitesPSYC 200
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PSYC 462 Senior Research
Units: 1
DescriptionIntensive year-long research project for seniors, requiring conception, completion, and presentation of a research thesis under faculty mentorship.
PrerequisitesPSYC 461
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PSYC 491 Senior Honors
Units: 1-1
DescriptionIntensive year-long research project for seniors who meet requirements for University and department honors programs, requiring conception, completion, and presentation of senior honors thesis under faculty mentorship.
PrerequisitesDepartmental invitation. PSYC 200.
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PSYC 492 Senior Honors
Units: 1-1
DescriptionIntensive year-long research project for seniors who meet requirements for University and department honors programs, requiring conception, completion, and presentation of senior honors thesis under faculty mentorship.
PrerequisitesDepartmental invitation. PSYC 491.