Psychology

Program Offerings

Offering type
A.B.

The psychology major, within the Division of Natural Sciences, provides foundational and advanced undergraduate courses on a range of topics relating to the scientific study of mind and behavior. These include but are not limited to sensation, perception, movement, language, reasoning, decision-making, social interaction and computational models of the brain. Because psychological science involves working with large and complex data sets, students gain skills and knowledge in statistical methods. Additionally, since mental processes and behavior arise from the brain, students also acquire knowledge in neuroscience.

Psychology majors have the opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge research via their independent work (more information below). Our faculty members possess a diverse array of research interests, including perception and language development in infants and children, implicit biases and stereotypes in social cognition, and neural bases of the self, consciousness and numerous social and cognitive processes. Their research interests include many other topics, such as those relating to learning, emotion, collaborative dynamics and adversity.

Via their coursework and research experience, psychology majors are equipped with a rigorous understanding of human behavior and mental processes, which prepares them for a range of possible careers and educational pathways. Some students pursue graduate studies in psychological science, cognitive science or neuroscience, while others pursue careers in data science, policymaking, teaching or business. The psychology major is also compatible with fulfilling requirements for medical school and law school.

Goals for Student Learning

Through their coursework, psychology majors will acquire knowledge in a variety of topics relating to how people feel, think and act. Importantly, they will also learn how to develop and test hypotheses about these processes and, because psychological science involves working with large and complex data sets, learn data management and statistical methods. This knowledge and skill base prepares majors to approach real-world issues from multiple levels of analysis, from understanding the neural mechanisms that give rise to behavior to developing and evaluating social policies and programs based on psychological theories.

Most importantly, psychology majors have the opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge research via their independent work, investigating a diverse range of research topics. Some recent examples of students’ independent work include examinations of how:

  • Depression diagnoses impact teachers’ actions and perceptions.
  • Emotion and own-race bias impact eyewitness testimony.
  • COVID-19 impacted children’s social networks and learning.
  • Caregiver stress impacts infants’ functional neural connectivity.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for entering the Department of Psychology are the successful graded completion (without pass/D/fail) of PSY 251 (Quantitative Methods) or a preapproved statistics course in another department, along with two other courses from the following list:

  • PSY 101 (Introduction to Psychology)
  • PSY 252 (Social Psychology)
  • PSY 254 (Developmental Psychology)
  • PSY 255 (Cognitive Psychology) 
  • NEU 200/PSY 200 (Functional Neuroanatomy) or NEU 201/PSY 258 (Fundamentals of Neuroscience)

All requests for an alternative set of prerequisites must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

Admission to the Program

To declare a major in psychology, students must complete the prerequisites noted above and plan to attend our Sophomore Open House during the spring semester of their sophomore year. Around this time, they will also meet with the undergraduate program manager.

Program of Study

To earn a degree in Psychology, students must complete at least eight departmental courses (in addition to the three prerequisite courses).

One departmental course must be PSY 300 (Research Methods). 

  • This course must be completed junior year. It is usually offered once per academic year, typically during the fall semester.

At least four additional departmental courses must be 300 level or higher. 

  • There are typically at least 15 different 300-level and higher-level courses offered throughout the academic year that may fulfill these requirements. 
    • Most of these courses are offered by the psychology department, but there are also multiple courses cross-listed by other departments each year. 
  • Offerings vary year to year in terms of the total number and the specific courses offered, so we encourage students to peruse our current course offerings to see the most recent list.

Please note: PSY 300 (Research Methods in Psychology) does not count toward this degree requirement. This means students must complete at least four 300-level or higher-level PSY courses in addition to PSY 300.

Of the remaining required eight departmental courses, all must be 200 level or higher.

  • Please note: if a student did not complete them as prerequisites, the following courses must be taken as one or more of the eight departmental courses.
    • PSY 252 (Social Psychology),
    • PSY 255 (Cognitive Psychology), and 
    • NEU 200/PSY 200 (Functional Neuroanatomy) or NEU 201/PSY 258 (Fundamentals of Neuroscience).

For a list of courses offered this semester, please see the Department of Psychology’s course page.

Independent Work

Empirical research is at the core of our work as psychological scientists. The primary goal of independent work in psychology is to make sure students learn how to understand, conduct and communicate empirical research. Thus, during junior and senior years, students will learn:

  1. How to identify and frame an open scientific question.
  2. How to select, organize and critically analyze relevant primary scientific literature.
  3. How to select the appropriate methodological design and statistical analyses to test a question.
  4. To develop clear and well-organized written and verbal presentation of the material, including:
    1. Definition of a topic.
    2. Statement of the plan of the paper.
  5. To develop and demonstrate independent thought, which can be shown by:
    1. Creativity in selecting or organizing the material to be discussed.
    2. Clear communication of original ideas or questions. Original ideas can include, but need not be limited to, suggestions for empirical work or further study.

Independent Work Advising

Students are required to select a primary adviser from within the Department of Psychology for independent work during their junior and senior years. Students are encouraged to be proactive in finding a faculty adviser, and should plan to allocate sufficient time to researching faculty departmental bios and lab pages, seeking help from the department if needed. Students are encouraged to meet with their adviser and discuss their expectations about research, collaboration and independent work, as different faculty have different advising styles. Some students continue to work with the same adviser during the junior and senior years, but this is not required.

Please note that an adviser from another department may be considered only after the student has found a primary adviser within the Department of Psychology and obtained permission from that primary adviser, the director of undergraduate studies in psychology, and the potential outside adviser. Then the student must email the undergraduate program manager to indicate the name and department of the outside adviser.

Overview of the Junior Paper

The goals of the JP are to:

  1. Acquaint students with focused study in the field of psychology.
  2. Develop proficiency in reading and analyzing the professional literature.
  3. Develop an independent project as preparation for a thesis.  

It is expected that students will achieve these goals while in close consultation with their faculty adviser. 

As a psychology major, students write two JPs to satisfy the junior independent work requirement: the fall semester JP focuses on learning how to review a topic in the scientific literature, while the spring semester JP focuses on learning how to develop a proposal for a novel study that relates to existing literature. For each JP, students will also give a presentation midway through the semester that demonstrates their progress and develops scientific communication skills while explaining their research ideas to others. 

Fall Semester Junior Paper

The primary goal of the fall JP in psychology is for students to practice how to formulate a question and to query the literature. Therefore, the final fall paper should involve critical analysis and original synthesis of the relevant scholarly literature, with a topic chosen collaboratively by the student and adviser.

Beyond the main goals of the fall JP, the format is flexible and depends on discussion between the student and adviser. 

  • In one common approach, students will find a topic that overlaps with both their interests and their adviser’s expertise. The student will research the topic, find the relevant scientific literature and write a review paper on that literature. However, the literature review must be more than a recounting of what others have done: specifically, the review should formulate an open question of interest and use the literature to support and explore that question.
  • In a second common approach, some faculty organize a “JP lab,” with many students working together in a discussion group that meets regularly throughout the semester. At the end of the process, students must submit a paper formulating an open question of interest and synthesizing the literature that supports and explores that question.
  • In a third common approach, students will become a part of a research team, working with their faculty adviser as well as the graduate students and other researchers in the lab group. At the end of the fall semester, students will be required to submit a paper describing their work to date. The paper should explain the questions being investigated empirically and place them in the context of the larger literature background. Students may also include any results they have by that time. The exact format of the paper will depend on discussions between the student and adviser.

Spring Semester Junior Paper

The primary purpose of the spring paper is to prepare students for writing a thesis by having them formulate an original idea and embody it in a paper. The spring JP is typically 20-40 pages and is graded by the student’s adviser.

Like the fall JP, the format is flexible and depends on discussions between the student and adviser. 

  • In one common approach, the spring JP can be a theoretical piece that proposes a thesis idea and uses creative exploration of the literature to evaluate the idea. This type of JP would look like a mini-thesis or a first pass at a theoretical thesis.
  • In a second common approach, the spring JP can be a research proposal. The goal of writing a research proposal is to learn how to read the literature, identify an open scientific question and design an experiment that might address that question. In some cases, the research proposal lays the groundwork for the senior thesis, but this is not required. A research proposal typically includes a comprehensive review of the relevant research literature, a statement of the specific scientific question, a detailed description of the intended methods data collection, a description of the appropriate corresponding statistical analyses and a discussion of the possible outcomes and their interpretations. It may be useful to include figures diagramming the possible quantitative outcomes.
  • In a third common approach, a spring JP might be a write-up of experimental work completed during the junior year, with separate sections for introduction, methods, results and discussion (again, like a mini-thesis). Some students may be midway through an experiment by the end of the spring semester and lack complete results. In that case, the student may write a research proposal, including an introduction that places the experiment in the context of the larger literature, a description of the method and a discussion of possible outcomes.

Midpoint Presentations

Students will give a 10-15 minute presentation midway through the fall and spring semesters to show their progress on their respective JP. Student presentations will occur in a group setting that includes four to six other juniors and a faculty member who grades the presentations.

In general, midpoint presentations should:

  1. Summarize the student's topic.
  2. Describe why it is an interesting topic to write about and how it relates to psychology. 
  3. Demonstrate progress made on reading and synthesizing the literature. 

If the JP includes an experiment in which data are collected, the presentation can include methods and, if available, preliminary data. Students are expected to discuss their presentation with their JP adviser well in advance of the midpoint presentation.

More information on the Department of Psychology's independent work requirements can be found on the department's website.

Overview of the Senior Thesis

Each psychology senior works in close consultation with a faculty adviser to develop, carry out and write a senior thesis. The resulting thesis serves as the basis for the first part of the senior departmental exam (see below).

Students can conduct one of three types of investigations for their thesis:

  1. An experimental thesis should include a comprehensive review of the literature relevant to the open question, methodological steps taken to address that question, findings from at least one original research study (an experiment, survey or field study) with appropriate statistical analyses, and a general discussion of the findings. 
  2. A theoretical thesis should include a comprehensive review of the research literature on a psychology topic of importance that demonstrates an extensive evaluation of the findings and original interpretations and includes theoretical proposals or a proposed program of research to advance scientific knowledge on this topic. 
  3. A computational thesis should include a comprehensive review of the literature relevant to the open question, a description of the computational models that the student has completed to address that question, and a general discussion of what can be concluded from these models with respect to the open question.

Although the length varies depending on type of thesis, the final thesis is typically 40-80 pages. The senior thesis grade is determined jointly by two faculty members: the student's adviser and the second reader.

More information on the Department of Psychology's senior thesis requirements can be found on the department's website.

Senior Departmental Examination

The Senior Departmental Exam is a 60-minute oral examination conducted by two members of the faculty, typically the student’s adviser and a second reader. The exam is a defense of the senior thesis and a discussion of its implications. 

During this one-hour exam, students will spend 10-15 minutes presenting a summary of their thesis and approximately 45 minutes answering questions about their thesis, its background, and how it relates to other topics in psychology. The two faculty members present will determine an examination grade based on the quality of the presentation and the student's ability to answer questions.

More information on the Department of Psychology's senior examination requirements can be found on the department's website.

Study Abroad

The Department of Psychology strongly encourages students to study abroad. Students can study abroad in either semester of junior year or during the fall of senior year.

Students considering study abroad are urged to discuss their plans with the director of undergraduate studies in psychology early in the planning stages to lay out coursework, obtain approvals and set up independent work assignments. Two preapproved courses per semester abroad can count toward the departmental course requirements. It is also possible for juniors to collaborate with a faculty member abroad to perform research toward completing independent work, but this is not always feasible and must be discussed well in advance with the student’s faculty adviser in psychology.

Juniors who study abroad in their fall semester will be exempt from the junior orientation and midpoint presentation requirement, but will be required to write the fall JP under the supervision of a departmental faculty member. They should also plan to complete PSY 300 (Research Methods) during their sophomore or senior year, as transfer courses are not accepted for this requirement. Juniors who study abroad in the spring semester will be exempt from the midpoint presentation requirement, but will be required to write the spring JP under the supervision of a departmental faculty member. 

Additional Information

Minor & Certificate Programs

The most common minor and certificate programs among psychology majors are Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. Interested students should discuss the minor or certificate program with the program administrators, directors, and/or the director of undergraduate studies. Certain advanced courses taken in the program can count as cognates in the Department of Psychology.

Psychology majors also often choose to earn the following minors or certificate programs:

For information on all certificate/minor programs, see Undergraduate Certificate Areas of Study.

Facilities

The laboratories of individual faculty members are open to undergraduates for their independent work. Information about the Department of Psychology can be found online, including a current description of the research being conducted in the laboratories. 

Broader resources available include: the Lewis Library's collection of psychology books and journals, computer labs and high-performance computing clusters, Princeton Neuroscience Institute shared equipment such as fMRI, EEG, TMS, eye trackers, microscopes, and the Princeton Survey Research Center.

Faculty

  • Chair

    • Casey Lew-Williams
  • Associate Chair

    • Adele E. Goldberg
  • Director of Undergraduate Studies

    • Kristina R. Olson
  • Director of Graduate Studies

    • Yael Niv
  • Professor

    • Jonathan D. Cohen
    • Alin I. Coman
    • Joel Cooper
    • Nathaniel D. Daw
    • Asif A. Ghazanfar
    • Adele E. Goldberg
    • Michael S. Graziano
    • Tom Griffiths
    • Uri Hasson
    • Sabine Kastner
    • Casey Lew-Williams
    • Tania Lombrozo
    • Yael Niv
    • Kenneth A. Norman
    • Kristina R. Olson
    • Elizabeth L. Paluck
    • Deborah A. Prentice
    • Emily Pronin
    • Eldar Shafir
    • J. Nicole Shelton
    • Stacey A. Sinclair
    • Susan L. Sugarman
    • Diana I. Tamir
    • Jordan A. Taylor
    • Elke U. Weber
  • Associate Professor

    • Timothy J. Buschman
    • Molly J. Crockett
    • Anuj K. Shah
  • Assistant Professor

    • Rebecca M. Carey
    • Erik C. Nook
    • Natalia Vélez
  • Associated Faculty

    • Jesse Gomez, Princeton Neuroscience Inst
    • Elizabeth Gould, Princeton Neuroscience Inst
    • Sarah-Jane Leslie, Philosophy
    • Elizabeth H. Margulis, Music
    • Jonathan W. Pillow, Princeton Neuroscience Inst
    • Ilana B. Witten, Princeton Neuroscience Inst
  • Senior Lecturer

    • Justin A. Junge
  • Lecturer

    • Suyog Chandramouli
    • Megan Spokas
  • Visiting Professor

    • Heather Jennings
  • Visiting Associate Professor

    • Nicole M. Avena
    • Shirley S. Wang
  • Visiting Lecturer

    • Mark Glat

For a full list of faculty members and fellows please visit the department or program website.

Courses

PSY 101 - Introduction to Psychology Fall SEL

The study of human nature from the viewpoint of psychological science. Topics range from the biological bases of human perception, thought and action to the social-psychological determinants of individual and group behavior. This course can be used to satisfy the science and technology with laboratory general education requirement. Two lectures, one laboratory. J. Cooper

PSY 207 - Psychopathology Spring SA

Survey of different types of psychological disorders and different models of explanation. Students will come to understand the conflicting viewpoints and treatment approaches that characterize the clinical field, and will understand what is presently known and unknown about psychopathology. Two lectures, one preceptorial. M. Spokas

PSY 208 - The Brain: A User's Guide Not offered this year EC

A survey of brain and mind, emphasizing issues related to human behavior. Topics include: psychoactive drugs, aging and Alzheimer's disease, reengineering the brain, learning and memory, sleep-waking and biological rhythms, and major mental diseases. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 210 - Foundations of Psychological Thought (also HUM 210) Spring EC or HA

An exploration of original texts in the history of ideas about the workings of the human mind starting in Antiquity and leading to the development of the empirical discipline of psychology in the 19th century and some of its modern trends. Subsequent developments, including the child study movement, are explored though 20th century writings, culminating with Sartre's philosophical psychology and sources in Eastern thought to put the Western trajectory in perspective. Two lectures, one preceptorial. S. Sugarman

PSY 212 - The Psychology of Moral Behavior (also CHV 212) Not offered this year EM

A survey of the psychological, situational, and cultural determinants of moral thought and action. Topics will include the development of moral reasoning abilities, moral education, the relation between morality and rationality, altruism, and moral transgressions. Precepts will examine methods used in the psychological study of moral behavior. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 214 - Human Identity in the Age of Neuroscience and Information Technology Not offered this year EC

A central challenge for modern society is to construct individual and group identity in the face of technologies that come ever closer to understanding the mechanisms of thought and feeling. We live in a time when cognitive neuroscience is poised to trace the executive functions of the mind to the workings of the brain, and computer science is coming closer to replicating those functions. This course offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the scientific and social issues that underlie the potential cultural impact of advances in self-understanding. Faculty from a wide range of departments provide lectures. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 237 - The Psychology and Philosophy of Rationality (also PHI 237) Not offered this year EC

The human capacity for rationality is fundamental; however there is ample evidence for irrationality in human affairs--including notions such as hysteria, addiction, lack of self-control, wishful thinking, and self-deception. This course considers both errors and achievements, providing an introduction to a wide array of topics, such as logic, probability, decision theory, relativism, and psychopathology. It provides a background for further study of subjects such as logic, philosophy of mind, cognitive psychology, cognitive science, the psychology of judgment and choice, and the psychology of thinking. One two-hour lecture, one preceptorial. E. Shafir, P. Johnson-Laird, G. Harman

PSY 251 - Quantitative Methods Spring QCR

Science searches for patterns in data. Quantitative methods are tools for finding and evaluating these patterns. This course introduces foundational concepts in quantitative methods, including data visualization and common statistical tests used in psychological research. Two lectures, one preceptorial. J. Junge

PSY 252 - Social Psychology Spring SA

This course examines the scientific study of the way ordinary people think about, feel, and behave in social situations and how they influence, and are influenced by, others around them. We will first examine how people think and feel about others and about themselves; then we explore how they induce others to conform, to comply, to obey, and occasionally to see the world differently. Later, we examine how groups influence individuals and how individuals influence groups, how members of different groups relate to one another, and the seeds of attraction, altruism, and aggression. Two lectures, one preceptorial. R. Carey

PSY 254 - Developmental Psychology (also CGS 254) Fall EC

Babies, who look like helpless blobs, are capable of impressive feats of learning. 3-year-olds, who can't cross the street alone, know an astounding amount of information about their environments. We will focus on landmark studies that elucidate how children's biology, cognition, language, and social experiences interact to set the stage for what we do and who we are. Is the baby's world a 'blooming, buzzing confusion', or do babies enter the world prepared to make sense of their environments? How can we understand the collaboration between nature and nurture during development? Two lectures, one preceptorial. C. Lew-Williams

PSY 255 - Cognitive Psychology (also CGS 255) Spring SEN

The course will survey discoveries and progress made over the past 50 years of research, from classic experimental findings and fundamental theoretical principles to the cutting edge of research that lies increasingly at the interface of psychology with neuroscience (neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes), computer science (artificial intelligence and machine learning), and mathematics (formal models of complex processes). Topics will include perception, attention, memory, decision making, reasoning, problem solving, language, and cognitive control. Two lectures, one preceptorial. J. Taylor

PSY 257 - Personality Not offered this year SA

A survey of major approaches to the study of personality, including psychodynamic, social learning, and trait-theory approaches. The focus will be on the assumptions made by each approach, relevant techniques for collecting and analyzing data, and theoretical and practical implications. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 306 - Memory and Cognition (also NEU 306) Not offered this year EC

This course is an integrative treatment of memory in humans and animals. We explore working memory (our ability to actively maintain thoughts in the face of distraction), episodic memory (our ability to remember previously experienced events), and semantic memory (our ability to learn and remember the meanings of stimuli). In studying how the brain gives rise to different kinds of memory, we consider evidence from behavioral experiments, neuroscientific experiments (neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and lesion studies), and computational models. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: 255 or 259, or instructor's permission. K. Norman

PSY 307 - Educational Psychology (also TPP 307) Fall/Spring EC

Principles of psychology relevant to the theory and practice of education. Through selected readings, discussion, and classroom observations, students study theories of development, learning, cognition (including literacy), motivation, assessment, and the social psychology of the classroom. Individual and group differences in these areas are addressed. The course focuses on how learning by children and adolescents at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels is influenced by their own characteristics and experiences and the various contexts in which they learn: family, school, community and culture. One three-hour seminar. M. Glat

PSY 309 - Psychology of Language (also LIN 309) Fall EC

The cognitive processes underlying the use and understanding of language, and in learning to speak. Topics include speech production and perception, grammar and meaning, knowledge and words, and pragmatic aspects of language. Two lectures, one preceptorial. A. Goldberg

PSY 310 - Psychology of Thinking Not offered this year EC

The study of human problem solving, reasoning, and decision making. Phenomena of interest include thinking in everyday situations and contexts as well as in more specialized areas, such as logic, mathematics, and the sciences. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: 255 or instructor's permission. Staff

PSY 311 - Rationality and Human Reasoning Not offered this year EC

An examination of the fundamental theories of belief and decision, from both the normative and descriptive perspectives. Utility, logic, probability, and abduction will be considered, with additional topics drawn from computability theory and from collective choice. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 313 - Interpersonal Perception Not offered this year EC

Considers how one infers the motives, dispositions, and abilities of other persons. Next examines how these inferential processes are used to draw inferences about oneself. Students will design an original experiment (with consultation). Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: 252 or instructor's permission. Staff

PSY 314 - Research Methods in Social Psychology Not offered this year SA

An examination of the various methods by which social psychologists conduct research, including laboratory and field experiments, quasi-experiments, survey research, and naturalistic observation. Over the course of the semester, students will design and conduct social psychological research using these methods. Although valuable for all psychology majors, this course will be particularly useful for those who anticipate completing a senior thesis based on empirical research. Prerequisites: 251 or permission of instructor. One three-hour seminar. Staff

PSY 319 - Childhood Psychopathology Not offered this year SA

An examination of the major forms of childhood psychopathology. Causal roles played by individual factors, traumatic events, the family, school, and community as well as the prevention and treatment of childhood disorders will also be examined. One three-hour seminar. Prerequisites: 207 and 254. Offered in alternate years. Staff

PSY 320 - Psychotherapy Theories and Skills: Connecting the Clinic, Lab, and Everyday Life Not offered this year SA

This course will review key psychotherapeutic skills from dominant therapeutic modalities. We will learn about the theoretical and empirical backing for each skill and then practice applying them to achieve goals in our own lives. Students will gain knowledge of the science and practice of psychotherapy as well as concrete skills in applying therapeutic techniques in their own lives. Lecture and one preceptorial. E. Nook

PSY 322 - Human-Machine Interaction (also ORF 322) Not offered this year EC

A multidisciplinary study of the fundamentals of human-machine interactions from both the human psychology/philosophy side and the machine engineering and design side. Philosophical, psychological, and engineering models of the human processor. Functional differences between people and machines, the nature of consciousness and intelligence, massively parallel computing and neural networks, and the concept of resonant synergism in human-machine interactions. Two 90-minute lectures; three laboratories during semester. A. Kornhauser, P. Johnson-Laird, J. Cooper

PSY 323 - Experimental Psychopathology Not offered this year SA

An examination of the relationship between important topics in abnormal psychology and laboratory research conducted in other areas of psychology. Topics will include the ties between laboratory-learned helplessness and mood disorders, human memory research and dissociative disorders, and coping strategies and anxiety disorders. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 101 and 207, or instructor's permission. R. Comer

PSY 326 - Social and Personality Development Not offered this year SA

Major issues in social and personality psychology examined from a developmental perspective with emphasis on developmental processes and change. Data on children, adolescents, and adults will be considered. Topics will include: social attachment, stranger and separation anxiety, self-concept, self-esteem, achievement, sex roles, and antisocial, prosocial, and moral behavior. Prerequisite: 252 or 254 or 257 or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute seminars. Staff

PSY 327 - Close Relationships Not offered this year SA

This course introduces the scientific perspective on close relationships. Students will learn how research psychologists apply the scientific method of data collection and analysis to investigate how people experience and think about relationships in general, and romantic relationships in particular. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 329 - Psychology of Gender (also GSS 329) Not offered this year EC

Gender is a topic with which everybody feels intimately familiar. This course holds up to scientific scrutiny the strong beliefs people have about how women and men are similar to and different from each other, examining major theories and empirical findings in psychological research on gender. Topics include the development of gender identity, empirical comparisons of men and women, gender stereotypes and their perpetuation, and the role of gender and gendered beliefs in achievement, interpersonal relationships, and physical and psychological well-being. Prerequisite: any course in psychology. Two 90-minute lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

PSY 336 - The Diversity of Brains (also EEB 336/NEU 336) Not offered this year EC

A survey of the unique behaviors of different animal species and how they are mediated by specialized brain circuits. Topics include, for example, monogamy in voles, face recognition in primates, sex- and role-change in fish, and predation by bats. The role of evolutionary and developmental constraints on neural circuit construction will be a key underlying theme. Prerequisites: 258 or 259. One three-hour seminar. Staff

PSY 385 - Mind, Body, Culture Spring SA

This course examines how social, behavioral and cultural factors influence human behavior and the conceptualization of mental health and psychopathology, with a focus on current, controversial topics. Students will examine the ways their understanding of mental and physical health and well-being are shaped by their own values and assumptions, as well as societal constructs and structures such as the health care system. The class is designed to promote cultural competence in diagnosis, treatment and research strategies. S. Wang

PSY 400 - Topics in Social and Personality Psychology Fall SA

An examination of various topics in social and personality psychology not emphasized in other courses. The topic and prerequisites will vary from year to year. This year's seminar will focus on the social and psychological experiences of people who possess (or are believed to possess) some attribute, or characteristic, that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context. One three-hour seminar. J. Shelton

PSY 410 - Depression: From Neuron to Clinic (also NEU 410) Not offered this year EC

This course focuses on clinical depression as a model topic for scientific discourse. Depression is a subject of growing individual and societal importance, and it is an ideal topic because it intersects such a broad range of issues. Our work will emphasize a neurobiological approach, with topics ranging from the molecular to the clinical. Prerequisites: 208 or 258, or EEB 211, or MOL 214, and instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar. Staff

ENE 475 - Human Factors 2.0-Psychology for Engineering, Energy, and Environmental Decisions (also PSY 475) Not offered this year EC

Human Factors 1.0 studied how humans interact with machines and technology, bringing engineering and psychology into contact in the 1950s and giving rise to theories of user-centric design. This course will cover recent theoretical advances in cognitive and social psychology, especially in human judgment and decision making, that are relevant for engineers and choice architects as they address technical and societal challenges related to sustainability. Such psychological theory (human factors 2.0) can be creatively applied to designs decision environments that help people overcome present bias, loss aversion, and status-quo bias. E. Weber

HUM 365 - Freud on the Psychological Foundations of the Mind (also PSY 365) Fall EC

Freud is approached as a systematic thinker dedicated to discovering the basic principles of human mental life. For Freud, these basic principles concern what impels human thought and behavior. What moves us to think and act? What is it to think and act? Emphasis is placed on the close study and critical analysis of texts, with particular attention to the underlying structure of the arguments. Two 90-minute classes. S. Sugarman

LIN 216 - Language, Mind, and Brain (also PSY 216) Not offered this year EC

This course examines the complex mental and neurological processes that underlie linguistic knowledge and behavior. It will be concerned with the precise description and measurement of language activity, with its governing principles, and with available indices for the associated neural computations and their location in the brain. Seminar. Staff

LIN 314 - Linguistics and Language Acquisition (also PSY 302) Not offered this year EC

What does it mean to know a language? Is it something we learn or something the brain "grows?" What aspects of language are innate? Is parents' speech important in language learning? An examination of the properties of child language through the lens of current linguistic theory. Two 90-minute classes. A. Goldberg

NEU 201 - Fundamentals of Neuroscience (also PSY 258) Fall SEN

This is a survey course in neurobiology which takes a mechanistic and reductionist perspective to cover important topics in the field, including the physiological basis of neural excitability, sensory and motor processing, learning and memory, and neuropsychiatric diseases. L. Boulanger

NEU 202 - Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (also PSY 259) Spring EC

Cognitive neuroscience is a young and exciting field with many questions yet to be answered. This course surveys current knowledge about the neural basis of perception, cognition and action and will comprehensively cover topics such as high-level vision, attention, memory, language, decision making, as well as their typical and atypical development. Precepts will discuss the assigned research articles, pertaining to topics covered in class with an emphasis on developing critical reading skills of scientific literature. Two 90-minute lectures, one precept J. Gomez

NEU 330 - Computational Modeling of Psychological Function (also PSY 330) Not offered this year SEL

A fundamental goal of cognitive neuroscience is to understand how psychological functions such as attention, memory, language, and decision making arise from computations performed by assemblies of neurons in the brain. This course will provide an introduction to the use of connectionist models (also known as neural network or parallel distributed processing models) as a tool for exploring how psychological functions are implemented in the brain, and how they go awry in patients with brain damage. Prerequisite: instructor's permission. Two 90-minute lectures, one laboratory. K. Norman

NEU 437 - Systems Neuroscience: Computing with Populations of Neurons (also MOL 437/PSY 437) Not offered this year SEL

Introduction to the biophysics of nerve cells and synapses, and the mathematics of neural networks. How can networks of neurons compute? How do we model and analyze data from neuroscientific experiments? Data from experiments running at Princeton will be used as examples (e.g., blowfly visual system, hippocampal slice, rodent prefrontal cortex). Each topic will have a lecture and a computer laboratory component. Prerequisite: MOL 410, or elementary knowledge of linear algebra, differential equations, probability, and basic programming ability, or permission of the instructor. Two 90 minute lectures, one laboratory. C. Brody

SPI 340 - The Psychology of Decision Making and Judgment (also PSY 321) Fall EC

An introduction to the logic of decision making and reasoning under uncertainty. Focus on psychological mechanisms that govern choice and judgment and on characteristic errors found in intuitive judgment and choice. Discussion of divergence from the model of rational agent often assumed in social science theory and economics. Rules governing pleasure, pain, and well-being provide background for analysis of the rationality of some individual choices and for the evaluation of general policies that affect human welfare. Prerequisite: introductory statistics for social science or instructor's permission. E. Shafir