This Senior Seminar will focus on Contemporary Health Psychology. Health Psychology
is a branch of psychology that focuses on physical health, illness, and disease—and
seeks to explore psychosocial factors associated with health. In this seminar, we
will focus on contemporary health psychology—that is, current trends, issues, and
controversies in the field. We will read popular press and academic articles—and scrutinize
them using a scientific lens. Topics may include, but are not limited to, alcohol
use and cancer risk, infection-associated chronic illness (such as Long COVID, ME/CFS),
health disparities, reproductive healthcare, masculinity and health, vaping, the gut-brain
axis, vaccine hesitancy, and body image. Students will have the opportunity to share
their own health psychology interests—and potentially integrate them into the course.
The seminar is discussion-based and hybrid in format and will involve weekly in-class
discussions and online activities. PSY400 Senior Seminar is a speaking emphasis course
so various speaking activities and assignments will be integrated into the course
(e.g., leading a discussion). Students will engage in reflections on the application
of the readings/discussions in their personal and professional lives.
This course serves as an introduction to the theory, politics, ethics, and practice
of qualitative research in psychology and the social sciences. Qualitative styles
of research are largely overshadowed in psychology by the field’s overwhelming preference
for quantitative research design. Yet many academics embrace qualitative methods and
have developed some useful systems of analysis that compliment more quantitative methodologies.
As interest in qualitative research has slowly grown, psychologists have borrowed
and adapted some of these qualitative techniques. We will begin by examining some
of the philosophical and political issues surrounding qualitative methods. Next we
will examine qualitative research design. We will explore several qualitative research
techniques, with attention to both conceptual and practical considerations. Students
will read qualitative research related to their interests.
This course covers the Social Psychology of the contemporary Climate Crisis. As an
in-depth study of advanced topics in psychology, students will prepare and present
written and oral presentations describing and analyzing current research on Climate
Change in psychology. Humans have made and continue to make their indelible mark
on the planet: rapid exponential growth of the human population, environmental pollution,
deforestation, natural wild habitat loss, mass extinctions of non-human animals, abuse
of captive animals for food, fashion, and pets, destruction caused by human overconsumption,
war, and depletion of natural resources. We will explore the psychological implications
of these human actions and the application of psychology to sustainability and conservation.
"Protecting health, saving lives - millions at a time." This is the mission statement
of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. It is also an apt description of our
subject matter for this senior seminar - patterns and course of psychological disorders
(also known as psychiatric epidemiology). Specifically, we will examin the methodologies
used to understand the causes, prevalence, course, and consequences of various mental
disorders. In so doing, we will consider the risk and protective factors at the individual,
environmental, and global levels and over time. This knowledge can then serve to
develop effective intervention strategies including prevention programs.
How do we distringuish between the ongoing rates of PTSD in Army soldiers versus the
rate of the onset of new cases? What is the typical course of schizophrenia amongst
those with early onset? Is diabetes risk factor for the development of major depressive
disorder? Can Prevention programs be designed and implemented that will reduce the
current rates of suicide among adolescents with suicidal ideation? These are the
sorts of questions we will learn how to tackle as we explore the ever-changing landscape
of psychiatric epidemiology.
Through this course, you will gain an understanding of the examination of mental disorders
from a more global perspective. This understanding will be assessed through multiple
assessment techniques including written and oral presentations.
The human cognitive system processes information that comes in from the outside world
(perceiving) and it also generates information (thinking). In addition, both perceiving
and thinking are constructive, that is, influenced by prior knowledge, beliefs, and
expectations. In this seminar, we will consider the quandary presented by such a system:
How do we discriminate between sources of mental experiences so that we do not find
ourselves in a mental quagmire, unable to distinguish fact from fantasy? For example:
How do you know whether you actually went on a hot air balloon ride yesterday or merely
dreamt about it? How do you determine whether someone is currently speaking to you
or you are only thinking (or hallucinating)? Did you pay your tuition bill, or just
think about doing so? Did you actually see Lineup Person #3 shoot the clerk or do
you only seem to "remember" that she did because the police showed you her mugshot
later? How do authors, or directors, use the normal functions of our cognitive system
to encourage us (their audience) to suspend reality and become immersed in the story?
Where do false memories come from? How do clinicians, lawyers, judges, juries, or
any of us for that matter, determine the truth of others’ memory reports? And, if
we scale this up, what institutional mechanisms are in place to help us to monitor
the "reality" of what is presented to us by the media, politicians, scientists, etc.?
We will read and discuss primary scientific articles that inform such questions, considering
what both behavioral and neuroscience data can tell us. In short, we will consider
scientific evidence of how the cognitive system gives rise to our sense of reality
in various contexts. We will consider this evidence primarily from the theoretical
perspective of the Source Monitoring Framework of Marcia Johnson and colleagues. Consistent
with the style of a seminar, the format primarily involves discussion of articles
from scientific journals, though we will also watch videos and read papers from other
types of sources. Consistent with the requirements of all PSY400 seminars, students
will prepare both written and oral presentations. Although this seminar focuses primarily
on cognitive theories and methods, you should be able to do well in the course without
having had PSY475 (Cognitive Psychology) or a neuroscience/brain course.
Fake news, the term is used to refer to everything from satirical sources like the
Onion to objectively factual news reports in legitimate sources that people don't
care for and want to delegitimize. In this course we will discuss how individuals
assess the legitimacy (validity) and veracity (truth or accuracy) of news reports,
why they make mistakes, and what can be done to improve our ability to accurately
assess the news. We will extend our consideration to other areas, such as "fake science."
We will also consider the news media as an important institution for monitoring the
activities of other institutions that act in the public interest, such as the government,
the courts, and science, which in turn monitor the veracity of what is reported in
the news and the appropriateness of how reporting gets done. We will discuss how such
institutional monitoring provides checks and balances designed to maintain the integrity
of, and public trust in, institutions, as well as examples of how these checks and
balances break down. We will consider these topics primarily from a cognitive psychology
viewpoint, especially the theoretical perspective of the Source Monitoring Framework,
but we will consider other views (e.g., legal, ethical), as well.
Consistent with the style of a seminar, the format primarily involves discussion of
articles from scientific journals and other sources, though we will also watch videos
and do exercises and demonstrations. Consistent with the requirements of all PSY400
seminars, students will prepare both written and oral presentations. Although this
seminar focuses primarily on cognitive theories and methods, you should be able to
do well in the course without having had PSY475 (Cognitive Psychology).
Imagine what life would be like if you did not have the ability to see, smell, taste,
touch, or hear. How would you survive without the ability to sense the world around
you? It quickly becomes obvious that the processes of sensation and perception are
vitally important with regard to our ability to function in the world around us. In
this course we take an in-depth look at some of the sensory and perceptual processes
found within the animal kingdom. This course will emphasize a comparative approach
by highlighting, when possible, the similarities and differences in sensory and perceptual
processes in humans and non-human animals. Furthermore, in this course we will focus
on two major categories of empirical questions 1) ‘How’ questions dealing with the
mechanisms through which organisms obtain and process information about the world
around them and 2) ‘Why’ questions using an evolutionary approach to understand the
function of these two processes in the behavior and survival of organisms. This course
is organized in a seminar format, affording us the opportunity to survey current research
in the field of sensation and perception through the discussion of peer-reviewed literature.
Due to a combination of factors, such as the increasing complexity and volume of work,
organizations are increasingly relying on teams rather than work systems based around
individuals. At times, a high-quality team can produce outcomes far beyond what even
several individuals can do. But what does it mean to function as a team rather than
a group of individuals? How does a team think? In this class we explore team interdependence
and team cognition to provide a foundation for discussing the focal concept of the
class – Transactive Memory Systems (TMS). TMS is a system in which knowledge or skills
are distributed between team members but still used by the team as a whole. These
systems hold a unique place in team science and are critical for teams ranging from
sports to surgical. At the core of this class is reading about and discussing the
aforementioned concepts, both through full-class and break-out group activities. The
class also includes a TMS project in which students translate a technical research
article into an easy-to-understand single-page document, as well as work with their
group to present a conference-style symposium with a clear narrative based on their
related articles.
We will explore how various neuroimaging methods and the study of patients with brain
injury have informed our understanding of psychology from consciousness and cognition
to social and emotional behavior and clinical disorders. We will learn about these
different methodologies and the kind of data they produce, as well as discussing the
promise and limitations of interpreting this data. You will be reading and discussing
primary literature in the field, and will develop your own ideas about how cognitive
and affective neuroscience methods can be applied to your individual topic of interest.
Understanding how to read and think about research using these neuroscience methods
should give you the ability to continue to follow developments in this quickly moving
field as they apply to your chosen career, your personal development, and public policy.
Who we are and how we understand the world is shaped by the culture in which we live.
This senior seminar addresses the intersecting influences of culture, society, and
community on well-being across adulthood. The seminar focuses on an exploration of
contemporary and socio-historical factors that have influenced our understanding of
ourselves, our relationships, our sources of meaning, and our health and happiness.
We will explore theoretical developments and methodological strengths and limitations
in the field of cultural psychology. We discuss fundamental similarities and differences
in models of the self, the structure of relationships and support, sources of meaning,
emotional management, and well-being. We examine a series of topics on how culture
and psychology interrelate in our increasingly globalized world. By taking this course
students will be able to: 1. Become more informed about current theories and methods
in cultural psychology. 2. Able to critically assess psychological theories with respect
to their appropriateness and relevance across particular cultural groupings. 3. Prepared
for further advanced study in cultural psychology, adult developed, and/or social-personality
psychology. 4. Increase their sense of cultural competence by understanding how cultural
patterns influence their own daily lives in a globalizing world. 6. Gain experience
preparing a written and oral presentation on a chosen topic relating to the goals
of the class.
We all strive for happiness and well-being. As psychologists, the study of well-being
and happiness in an important area of research. This course will address personal,
social, and cultural factors influencing well-being during adulthood, from transitional
adulthood to young and middle adulthood, to later adulthood. Well-being will be considered
broadly and include happiness, satisfaction with life, subjective and objective physical
health, emotional balance, engagement with life, satisfying relationships, meaning
and purpose in life, and feelings of self-acceptance. We will explore culturally specific
as well as universal factors influencing well-being. Gender, ethnicity, race, age,
sexual orientation, social class, religion, and nationality intersect to shape the
course of people’s lives and therefore their well-being. This seminar focuses on an
exploration of research and theory addressing the intersecting influences of these
important factors in adult developmental. Students will conduct research, interview
volunteers, develop health promotion programs, read research, and write a critical
review of research paper on topics relating to the human condition. By the end of
the semester students should understand the ways that global demographic changes (i.e.
pandemic reality, fear, and anxiety, increased life expectancy, widespread obesity
and chronic illnesses such as Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, technology, climate
change, social inequality …) influence well-being.
