Global Arc

In this class we will explore gender and sex diversity in humans. We will read and listen to classic medical cases and scientific studies, anthropological reports, the first-person narrative accounts of intersex and nonbinary adults, and podcasts from expert researchers. Throughout the class we will dive into deep ethical dilemmas emerging in the current cultural moment and learn what social and life scientists think about these topics to develop our own views. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

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.

This course explores the neural foundations of social cognition in natural contexts. Highly controlled lab experiments fail to capture and model the complexity of social interaction in the real world. Recent advances in artificial neural networks provide an alternative computational framework to model cognition in natural contexts. In the course, we will review and critically evaluate deep learning models related to visual perception, speech, language, and social cognition, juxtaposing them against conventional cognitive models. One three-hour lecture.

Seminar designed to expose students to a modern, integrative view of animal learning phenomena from experimental psychology, through the lens of computational models and current neuroscientific knowledge. At the psychological level, we will concentrate on classical and instrumental conditioning. Computationally, we will view these as exemplars of prediction learning and action selection, the pillars of reinforcement learning. Neurally, we will focus on the roles of dopamine and the basal ganglia at the systems level. Students will see how the study of animal decision making can inform us about the computations that take place in the brain.

This course explores how humans and animals make decisions, focusing on how psychological and neural mechanisms implement, or fail to implement, economic theories of choice. Good choice is subject to evolutionary selection; poor choice accompanies many neurological and psychiatric disorders. But theoretical understanding of a function is needed to manipulate and measure it experimentally. We consider choice in many sorts of tasks; e.g., in animal foraging and human competitive interactions. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This seminar will explore the psychological consequences of adversity, including its effects on beliefs, attitudes, decision-making, morality, self and identity, health and well-being, close relationships, and communities. We will consider not only the deleterious effects of adversity, but also how it can foster resilience, strengthen ties, and spark creativity. The course will balance psychological theories and research with personal and historic narratives. One three-hour seminar.

This course provides advanced students in cognitive science, psychology, and computer science with the skills to develop computational models of human cognition. The course will explore three ways in which researchers have attempted to normalize cognition: symbolic approaches, neural networks, and probability and statistics. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

What are the factors that affect people's scientific and religious beliefs? Are scientific and religious beliefs the same sorts of things, or do they differ in fundamental ways? This seminar will examine what cognitive, social, and developmental psychology, as well as philosophy and perhaps anthropology and sociology, can tell us about the answers to these questions. While we will focus on science and religion as distinct and consequential domains of belief, the goal is to develop a broader understanding of the varied roles of belief, how different belief are (or are not) integrated, and how beliefs change (or resist change).

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. One three-hour seminar.

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.