Title	Instructors	Location	Time	Description	Cross listings	Fulfills	Registration notes	Syllabus	Syllabus URL
PSYC 0001-001	Introduction to Experimental Psychology	Adrianna C Jenkins		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	This course provides an introduction to the basic topics of psychology including our three major areas of distribution: the biological basis of behavior, the cognitive basis of behavior, and individual and group bases of behavior. Topics include, but are not limited to, neuropsychology, learning, cognition, development, disorder, personality, and social psychology.		Living World Sector
PSYC 0001-601	Introduction to Experimental Psychology	Philip Gehrman		W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM	This course provides an introduction to the basic topics of psychology including our three major areas of distribution: the biological basis of behavior, the cognitive basis of behavior, and individual and group bases of behavior. Topics include, but are not limited to, neuropsychology, learning, cognition, development, disorder, personality, and social psychology.		Living World Sector
PSYC 0405-401	Grit Lab: Fostering Passion and Perseverance in Ourselves and Others (SNF Paideia Program Course)	Angela L Duckworth Paolo Terni		W 3:30 PM-6:29 PM	At the heart of this course are cutting-edge scientific discoveries about passion and perseverance for long-term goals. As in any other undergraduate course, you will learn things you didn't know before. But unlike most courses, Grit Lab requires you to apply what you've learned in your daily life, to reflect, and then to teach what you've learned to younger students. The ultimate aim of Grit Lab is to empower you to achieve your personal, long-term goals--so that you can help other people achieve the goals that are meaningful to them. LEARN -> EXPERIMENT -> REFLECT -> TEACH. The first half of this course is about passion. During this eight-week period, you'll identify a project that piques your interest and resonates with your values. This can be a new project or, just as likely, a sport, hobby, musical instrument, or academic field you're already pursuing. The second half of this course is about perseverance. During this eight-week period, your aim is to develop resilience, a challenge-seeking orientation, and the habits of practice that improve skill in any domain. By the end of Grit Lab, you will understand and apply, both for your benefit and the benefit of younger students, key findings in the emerging science on grit.	OIDD2000401
PSYC 1210-401	Introduction to Brain and Behavior	Judith Mclean		MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	Introduction to the structure and function of the vertebrate nervous system. We begin with the cellular basis of neuronal activities, then discuss the physiological bases of motor control, sensory systems, motivated behaviors, and higher mental processes. This course is intended for students interested in the neurobiology of behavior, ranging from animal behaviors to clinical disorders.	BIOL1110401, NRSC1110401	Living World Sector
PSYC 1210-601	Introduction to Brain and Behavior	Judith Mclean		MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM	Introduction to the structure and function of the vertebrate nervous system. We begin with the cellular basis of neuronal activities, then discuss the physiological bases of motor control, sensory systems, motivated behaviors, and higher mental processes. This course is intended for students interested in the neurobiology of behavior, ranging from animal behaviors to clinical disorders.	BIOL1110601, NRSC1110601	Living World Sector
PSYC 1230-401	Cognitive Neuroscience	Allyson P Mackey		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	The study of the neural systems that underlie human perception, memory and language; and of the pathological syndromes that result from damage to these systems.	NRSC2249401	Natural Sciences & Mathematics Sector
PSYC 1310-401	Language and Thought	John C. Trueswell		TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	This course describes current theorizing on how the human mind achieves high-level cognitive processes such as using language, thinking, and reasoning. The course discusses issues such as whether the language ability is unique to humans, whether there is a critical period to the acquisition of a language, the nature of conceptual knowledge, how people perform deductive reasoning and induction, and how linguistic and conceptual knowledge interact.	LING0750401
PSYC 1333-401	Introduction to Cognitive Science	Russell Richie		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	How do minds work? This course surveys a wide range of answers to this question from disciplines ranging from philosophy to neuroscience. The course devotes special attention to the use of simple computational and mathematical models. Topics include perception, learning, memory, decision making, emotion and consciousness. The course shows how the different views from the parent disciplines interact and identifies some common themes among the theories that have been proposed. The course pays particular attention to the distinctive role of computation in such theories and provides an introduction to some of the main directions of current research in the field. It is a requirement for the BA in Cognitive Science, the BAS in Computer and Cognitive Science, and the minor in Cognitive Science, and it is recommended for students taking the dual degree in Computer and Cognitive Science.	CIS1400401, COGS1001401, LING1005401, PHIL1840401	Natural Sciences & Mathematics Sector Formal Reasoning & Analysis
PSYC 1340-401	Perception	David H Brainard		MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	How the individual acquires and is guided by knowledge about objects and events in their environment.	VLST2110401
PSYC 1440-001	Social Psychology	Geoffrey Goodwin		TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	An overview of theories and research across the range of social behavior from intra-individual to the group level including the effects of culture, social environment, and groups on social interaction.		Society Sector
PSYC 2220-401	Evolution of Behavior: Animal Behavior	Yun Ding Marc F Schmidt		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	The evolution of behavior in animals will be explored using basic genetic and evolutionary principles. Lectures will highlight behavioral principles using a wide range of animal species, both vertebrate and invertebrate. Examples of behavior include the complex economic decisions related to foraging, migratory birds using geomagnetic fields to find breeding grounds, and the decision individuals make to live in groups. Group living has led to the evolution of social behavior and much of the course will focus on group formation, cooperation among kin, mating systems, territoriality and communication.	BIOL2140401, NRSC2140401
PSYC 2240-401	Visual Neuroscience	Alan A Stocker		MWF 10:15 AM-11:14 AM	An introduction to the scientific study of vision, with an emphasis on the biological substrate and its relation to behavior. Topics will typically include physiological optics, transduction of light, visual thresholds, color vision, anatomy and physiology of the visual pathways, and the cognitive neuroscience of vision.	NRSC2217401, VLST2170401	Living World Sector
PSYC 2280-001	Neuroscience and Society	Sharon L Thompson-Schill		TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	Cognitive, social,and affective neuroscience have made tremendous progress in in the last two decades. As this progress continues, neuroscience is becoming increasingly relevant to all of the real-world endeavors that require understanding, predicting and changing human behavior. In this course we will examine the ways in which neuroscience is being applied in law, criminal justice, national defense, education, economics, business,and other sectors of society. For each application area we will briefly review those aspects of neuroscience that are most relevant, and then study the application in more detail.
PSYC 2314-401	Data Science for Studying Language and the Mind	Kathryn Schuler		TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	Data Science for studying Language and the Mind is an entry-level course designed to teach basic principles of data science to students with little or no background in statistics or computer science. Students will learn to identify patterns in data using visualizations and descriptive statistics; make predictions from data using machine learning and optimization; and quantify the certainty of their predictions using statistical models. This course aims to help students build a foundation of critical thinking and computational skills that will allow them to work with data in all fields related to the study of the mind (e.g. linguistics, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science).	LING0700401	Natural Sciences & Mathematics Sector
PSYC 2320-001	Introduction to Empirically Supported Psychological Treatments	Daniel Moriarity		MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	This course will serve two primary academic goals. First, to provide students with a contemporary introduction to empirically supported treatments for mental health conditions, with a particular focus on psychotherapeutic approaches. Second, it will teach students how to think about and evaluate research that tests the efficacy of interventions and explore how they work.
PSYC 2737-001	Judgment and Decisions	Diego Fernandez-Duque		M 5:15 PM-8:14 PM	Thinking, judgment, and personal and societal decision making, with emphasis on fallacies and biases.		Quantitative Data Analysis
PSYC 2737-601	Judgment and Decisions			CANCELED	Thinking, judgment, and personal and societal decision making, with emphasis on fallacies and biases.		Quantitative Data Analysis
PSYC 2750-401	Behavioral Economics and Psychology	Pei-Hsun Hsieh		TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM	Our understanding of markets, governments, and societies rests on our understanding of choice behavior, and the psychological forces that govern it. This course will introduce you to the study of choice, and will examine in detail what we know about how people make choices, and how we can influence these choices. It will utilize insights from psychology and economics, and will apply these insights to domains including risky decision making, intertemporal decision making, and social decision making.	PPE3003401
PSYC 3231-301	Seminar: Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness	Russell A Epstein		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	Consciousness is our subjective experience of the world, including both perceptions and felt internal states. In this seminar, we will explore the the burgeoning scientific literature on the neural basis of consciousness. We will focus in particular on three topics: What are the neural systems underlying visual awareness? What are the mechanisms that control the progression of conscious contents to create our stream of thought? What is the relationship between consciousness and behavior?
PSYC 3233-401	Seminar in Cognitive Neuroscience: Brain Development	Michael Arcaro		R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM	This discussion-based seminar will focus on the neural bases of cognitive development. Each week the class will discuss a selection of papers that consider the roles of genes and environment on topics including the development of perceptual abilities, language, and cognition. The course will cover several aspects of pre- and postnatal brain and behavioral development with particular emphasis on animal models. This course is intended for students interested in neurobiology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology and development.	NRSC4233401
PSYC 3301-401	Neurobiology of Learning and Memory	Mary Ellen Kelly		TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM	This course focuses on the current state of our knowledge about the neurobiological basis of learning and memory. A combination of lectures and student seminars will explore the molecular and cellular basis of learning in invertebrates and vertebrates from a behavioral and neural perspective.	BIOL4142401, NRSC4442401
PSYC 3350-401	Quantitative Methods in Cognitive Science: Data Analysis, Modeling, and Visualization	Alan A Stocker		TF 3:30 PM-5:00 PM	This seminar introduces students to common quantitative methods used to study cognitive processes based on behavioral measurements. The course covers experimental design, data analysis and visualization, and an introduction to basic models of cognitive behavior. Students will get to know common experimental designs to test cognitive behavior, how to perform hypothesis testing, and apply and fit theoretical models such as signal detection theory, ideal observer models, and drift-diffusion models. Throughout the course, students will independently analyze cognitive behavioral datasets, culminating in a research paper that showcases their ability to use the learned methods for an unbiased and effective analysis and interpretation of cognitive processes, and to visualize and present their results. A key emphasis of the course is on scientific rigor: students will learn to avoid common mistakes in analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data that have substantially harmed the reputation of cognitive and psychological sciences within the scientific community as well as the general public (e.g. the “reproduction crisis”).
PSYC 3400-301	Positive Psychology Seminar: Positive Education (SNF Paideia Program Course)	Caroline Jane Connolly		M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM	This intensive, discussion-based seminar will equip you with useful insight and critical analysis about Positive Psychology by emphasizing scientific literacy. The workload for this seminar requires intensive reading. To excel in this seminar, students must be willing to enthusiastically read, dissect, and critique ideas within Positive Psychology. This requires students to articulate various ideas in verbal and written form.
PSYC 3440-301	Friendship and Attraction Seminar (SNF Paideia Program Course)	Caroline Jane Connolly		TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	This seminar primarily focuses on heterosexual friendship between men and women, and the methodological issues of investigating such relationships. The scope for sexuality and romance in heterosexual opposite-sex friendship will be explored, as well as the possibility that men and women perceive opposite-sex friendship differently from each other. The ramifications of sex, romance, and incongruent perspectives in these relationships will be discussed, as will intimacy, competition, homosexual friendship, and same-sex friendship.
PSYC 3450-001	Technology and the Good Life	Angela L Duckworth Lyle H Ungar		R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM	In this interdisciplinary seminar, advanced undergraduates explore the impact of technology on motivation, behavior, and well-being. Through readings, discussion, and hands-on projects, we will critically evaluate both the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence, social media, and other technological advances—with the goal of developing interventions that encourage a more satisfying integration of technology into daily life. Although there are no formal prerequisites for this class, it is particularly well-suited to juniors and seniors who are seriously considering an advanced degree in psychology, human-computer interaction, or a related field.
PSYC 3730-301	Seminar in Judgment and Decision Making	Barbara Ann Mellers		MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	This course is designed to help you become a better decision maker. By the end of the semester, you should have the skills to approach decision making from a broader perspective with new tools and a new awareness of many common errors and biases. You will learn about normative decisions (how people should make choices if they want to use principles of rationality, logic and probability), descriptive decisions (how people really do make decisions) and prescriptive decisions (how people can make better decisions given normative principles and what we know about human behavior). We’ll discuss the theoretical foundations of the field, some of the key empirical insights. We’ll discuss what it means to have good judgment and how experts and novices differ. We look at decision making in such as public policy, medicine, the law, business, and intelligence analysis. Decision making is something we do every day, many times a day. It is so natural that some people don’t even realize they are doing it. Many of the insights from this field have real-world implications.
PSYC 3780-401	Advanced Seminar in Psychology: Obedience	Edward Royzman		R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM	Though almost half a century old, Milgram’s 1961-1962 studies of “destructive obedience” continue to puzzle, fascinate, and alarm. The main reason for their continued grip on the field’s attention (other than the boldness of the idea and elegance of execution) may be simply that they leave us with a portrait of human character that is radically different from the one that we personally wish to endorse or that the wider culture teaches us to accept. In this seminar, we will take an in-depth look at these famous studies (along with the more recent replications) and explore their various psychological, political and philosophical ramifications.	PPE4802401
PSYC 3803-401	Advanced Seminar in Psychology: Modeling Choice Behavior	Sudeep Bhatia		R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM	How do people decide and how can we study decision processes using formal mathematical and computational models? This course will address this question. It will examine popular quantitative modeling techniques in psychology, economics, cognitive science, and neuroscience, and will apply these techniques to study choice behavior. Students will learn how to test the predictions of choice models, fit the models on behavioral data, and quantitatively examine the goodness-of-fit. They will also get practice formulating their own models for describing human behavior. This class will have a major programming component, however no prior programming experience is required.	PPE4803401				https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202530&c=PSYC3803401
PSYC 3931-301	Learning to Read Minds – Discovering the Brain Through Improv	Juan Ignacio Sanguinetti Scheck		TR 7:00 PM-8:29 PM	Research has shown that improvisational theater can enhance cognitive processes like creativity and flexibility. This upper-level seminar explores cognitive neuroscience topics through the experiential lens of improvisational theater. Students will learn about the brain – particularly how we understand others’ minds – and apply improv exercises to illustrate and deepen that understanding. The course balances academic rigor with hands-on practice, maintaining an accessible approach to complex concepts. Classes meet twice weekly: the first meeting introduces a neuroscience concept with discussion of research, and the second meeting engages students in applied improv theater exercises related to that concept. Part of this class happens "on stage". By the end of the seminar, students should be able to explain key principles of social and cognitive neuroscience (e.g. theory of mind, empathy, creativity, communication) and demonstrate them through improv activities. The course is experiential and will be graded through a combination of participation, written reflexion and science based conceptualization of new improv excercises.
PSYC 4340-401	Research Experience in Perception	Johannes Burge		MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	In this research course, students will begin by first replicating earlier experiments to measure human visual memory capacity. After several class discussions to discuss ideas, each student will design and conduct their own experiment to further investigate visual and/or familiarity memory.	VLST2120401
PSYC 4460-301	Everyday Psychology	Loretta Flanagan-Cato		WF 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	PSYC 4460 is an activity-based course with three major goals. First, the course is an opportunity for psychology and cognitive science undergrad majors to develop their professional and science communication skills and share their enthusiasm for these topics with high school students at a nearby public high school in West Philadelphia. In this regard, Penn students will prepare demonstrations and hands-on activities to engage local high school students, increase their knowledge in functions of the mind and brain, providing insights that may promote well being for the high school students and their community. This will be accomplished as students design and execute hands-on/minds-on activities on a range of psychology topics. There will be 10 sessions across the semester for these lessons, allowing the college and high school students to develop a consistent teacher-learner relationship. Second, students will explore the literature that discusses the need for better bridges between scientific research and the broader community. Discussions will incorporate the students' experiences, including challenges and rewards, as they bring psychology lessons to local youth. This academic portion of the course will include guest lectures from the Penn community who actively engaged in community partnerships. Third, students will be challenged to consider solutions for any problems that they encounter using a Theory of Change framework. This aspect of the course will result in a final project in which students much create logical, realistic, evidence-based links between interventions, indicators of change, and ultimate impacts to mitigate the problems.
PSYC 4462-301	Research Experience in Abnormal Psychology	Melissa G. Hunt			This is a two-semester course starting in the Fall. Class size limited to 8-10 students.		Quantitative Data Analysis
PSYC 4997-301	Senior Honors Seminar in Psychology	Elizabeth M Brannon		M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM	Open to senior honors candidates in psychology. A two-semester sequence supporting the preparation of an honors thesis in psychology. Students will present their work in progress and develop skills in written and oral communication of scientific ideas. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program in Psychology.
PSYC 5462-301	Special Topics in Clinical Psychology: Transdiagnostic Processes in Psychopathology	Ayelet M Ruscio		MF 10:15 AM-11:44 AM	For more than a century, psychopathology has been organized according to clinical syndromes. Although syndromes like schizophrenia, major depression, and ADHD have some utility, there is growing concern that they may be deeply flawed in ways that hamper real progress in research and treatment. In recent years, an alternative approach has been gaining momentum in the field. Rather than focusing on syndromes, psychologists increasingly are studying—and treating—basic processes that cut across traditional mental disorder categories. This course explores psychopathology at the level of these processes. We will examine disruptions in human emotion, cognition, movement, behavior, and social interaction that underlie symptoms of mental illness. We will consider how disruptions in these processes are being defined and measured, what methods have been (and could be) used to study them, and how findings from basic research on these mechanisms may be translated into improved clinical interventions. Our goal will be to break free of the DSM-5 model of mental disorders and to explore, critique, and debate what transdiagnostic models have to offer for our understanding of psychopathology. As a 5000-level course, this class is suitable for both graduate and advanced undergraduate students. The course will follow a seminar format in which student discussion plays a central role. All readings will be original scientific articles, and assignments will consist of written papers and an oral presentation.
PSYC 6000-301	Social and Emotional Development				Choice of half or full course units each sem. covering a range of subjects and approaches in academic psychology.
PSYC 6000-302	Perception	Johannes Burge		MW 1:45 PM-3:44 PM	Choice of half or full course units each sem. covering a range of subjects and approaches in academic psychology.
PSYC 6110-401	Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance	Alexander Vekker		TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM	An applied graduate level course in multiple regression and analysis of variance for students who have completed an undergraduate course in basic statistical methods. Emphasis is on practical methods of data analysis and their interpretation. Covers model building, general linear hypothesis, residual analysis, leverage and influence, one-way anova, two-way anova, factorial anova. Primarily for doctoral students in the managerial, behavioral, social and health sciences. Permission of instructor required to enroll.	BSTA5500401, STAT5000401
PSYC 7040-301	Research Methods and Statistical Procedures for Social and Clinical Sciences	Rebecca E Waller		W 10:15 AM-1:14 PM	This course has three primary objectives: 1) developing criteria and strategies for strong inference of causal relationships in social and clinical psychology research; 2) examining the array of research designs employed in the social/clinical sciences together with the threats to internal and external validity associated with each; 3) learning and applying statistical analytical methods appropriate for questions in the social/clinical sciences. The course will employ a seminar format and a project-oriented approach to learning. Students will be encouraged to utilize examples from their own research programs in applying the design and analysis concepts covered in the course.
PSYC 7090-301	Child Assessment	Izabela Milaniak		T 8:30 AM-11:29 AM	A developmental approach to the study of psychopathology focuses on how psychological processes from normal to abnormal developmental trajectories. In this seminar we will cover theory, methods, and key constructs in the study of developmental psychopathology. Readings will include seminal empirical papers and chapters.
PSYC 8100-301	Psychodiagnostic Testing	Melissa G. Hunt			This course provides a basic introduction to the theories and tools of psychological assessment. Students learn how to administer and interpret a number of standard cognitive, neuropsychological and personality tests including the WAIS-III, WMS-III, WIAT-II, Wisconsin Card Sort, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Millon Index of Personality Styles. Attention is given to serving as a consultant, differential diagnosis, case conceptualization, and integrating test results into formal but accessible reports.
PSYC 8110-301	Psychodiagnostic Interviewing	Melissa G. Hunt			This course, usually taken simultaneously with Psychology 810, provides a basic introduction to psychodiagnostic interviewing and differential diagnosis. Students learn to take clinical histories and to administer a number of standardized diagnostic interviews, including the mental status exam, the SCID I and II for DSM-IV, the ADIS, and various clinician rating scales such as the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Attention is also given to self-report symptom inventories such as the Beck Depression Inventory and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised as well as to computerized diagnostic tools.
PSYC 8150-301	Introductory Practicum	Melissa G. Hunt			Students typically complete 8-10 full assessment batteries on complex patients referred from a number of different sources in the community. This practicum offers intensive supervision, with live (in the room) supervision of every trainee’s first case, and live peer-supervision of their second case. Throughout their time in the practicum they receive close supervision of every case, including checking the scoring of tests and measures, and close reading and editing of every report. Students do a final feedback session with every patient which the supervisor co-leads at the beginning of the year, and observes in the room throughout the rest of the year, thus ensuring direct observation of every trainee throughout the year.