PSYS 1010. Topics In: First-Year Seminar. 3 Credits.

Intensive first-year seminar focused on specific themes and/or disciplinary perspectives. Emphasis on developing critical reading and writing skills, substantive revision, information literacy, and analytical thinking. First-year seminars are frequently organized to meet one of the disciplinary Catamount Core requirements. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Catamount Core: S1, WIL1.

PSYS 1012. Topics in: FYS: Div Human Exp. 3 Credits.

Intensive first-year seminar focused on specific themes and/or disciplinary perspectives. Emphasis on developing critical reading and writing skills, substantive revision, information literacy, and analytical thinking. First-year seminars are frequently organized to meet one of the disciplinary Catamount Core requirements. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Catamount Core: D2, S1, WIL1.

PSYS 1020. Topics In: LASP Writing. 3 Credits.

Intensive course in a broad disciplinary area (humanities, social sciences, arts, or natural sciences). Part of an integrated first-year experience in which students take 2-4 classes exploring aesthetic, humanistic, social, linguistic, environmental, or scientific issues. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Co-requisite: Enrollment in the appropriate Liberal Arts Scholars Program. Catamount Core: S1, WIL1.

PSYS 1025. Topics In: LASP Seminar. 3 Credits.

Intensive course in a broad disciplinary area (humanities, social sciences, arts, or natural sciences). Part of an integrated first-year experience in which students take 2-4 classes exploring aesthetic, humanistic, social, linguistic, environmental, or scientific issues. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Co-requisite: Enrollment in the appropriate Liberal Arts Scholars Program. Catamount Core: S1.

PSYS 1070. Exploring Psych Sci Research. 1 Credit.

Introduction to the field of research in psychological science by introducing students to different perspectives and different subfields through researchers at UVM. The goals of this course are to: engage students and captivate their interests; assist students in navigating the psychology community at UVM; keep students informed about research, talks, and opportunities to conduct research; foster relationships within the psychology community; become acquainted with scientific communication by listening, writing, and oral presentation.

PSYS 1400. Intro to Psychological Science. 3 Credits.

Introduction to the entire field, emphasizing the behavior of the normal adult human being. Catamount Core: S1.

PSYS 1990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.

PSYS 2000. Psych Research Methods w/lab. 0 or 4 Credits.

Principles of research methodology, including design and reporting. Prepares students to understand and evaluate psychological research in a variety of areas of psychology. Includes laboratory component. Credit not awarded for both PSYS 2000 and PSYS 2002. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400.

PSYS 2002. Psych Research Methods. 3 Credits.

Principles of research methodology, including design and reporting. Prepares students to understand and evaluate psychological research in a variety of areas of psychology. Credit not awarded for both PSYS 2002 and PSYS 2000. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400.

PSYS 2010. Statistics for Psych Sci w/lab. 0 or 4 Credits.

Tools to conduct basic statistical tests in psychology and to aid in developing statistical reasoning skills. Efforts will be made to explore statistics in context, using examples from a variety of domains in the field, including developmental, social, cognitive, and clinical psychology. Laboratory experiences. Credit not awarded for both PSYS 2010 and PSYS 2012. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: QD.

PSYS 2012. Statistics for Psych Sci. 3 Credits.

Tools to conduct basic statistical tests in psychology and to aid in developing statistical reasoning skills. Efforts will be made to explore statistics in context, using examples from a variety of domains in the field, including developmental, social, cognitive, and clinical psychology. Credit not awarded for both PSYS 2012 and PSYS 2010. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: QD.

PSYS 2100. Learning, Cognition & Behavior. 3 Credits.

Behavioral and cognitive principles underlying learning, memory, and action inside and outside the laboratory. Includes conditioning, motivation, biological constraints, and mechanism of remembering and forgetting. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: N1.

PSYS 2110. Psycholinguistics. 3 Credits.

Psycholinguistics studies the cognitive processes involved in acquiring, understanding, and producing language. Speech perception, word recognition, and sentence processing are some of the topics covered. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400 or LING 1500. Cross-listed with: LING 2310.

PSYS 2120. Second Language Acquisition. 3 Credits.

Exploration of first language influence, individual cognitive differences, and age in second language acquisition. The role of interaction, socialization, and identity are also considered. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400 or LING 1500. Cross-listed with: LING 2320.

PSYS 2200. Biopsychology. 3 Credits.

Biological bases of behavior: classical and contemporary issues, including introduction to nervous system, behavioral effects of drugs, chemical bases of behavioral disorders. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400, BIOL 1000, BIOL 1400, BCOR 1400, or BCOR 1425. Catamount Core: N1.

PSYS 2300. Social Psychology. 3 Credits.

An introduction to theory and research on the science of how one's situation influences individual thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: S1.

PSYS 2400. Developmental Psych: Childhood. 3 Credits.

Survey of research and theories on child development from conception to adolescence emphasizing experimental analyses of early social and cognitive development. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: S1.

PSYS 2500. Psychopathology. 3 Credits.

Describing and defining abnormal behavior; models of etiology; research evidence for biological and social models; methods of intervention and prevention. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400. Catamount Core: S1.

PSYS 2990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.

Intermediate courses or seminars on topics beyond the scope of existing departmental offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisite: PSYS 1400.

PSYS 2993. Independent Study. 1-18 Credits.

A course which is tailored to fit the interests of a specific student, which occurs outside the traditional classroom/laboratory setting under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.

PSYS 2995. Undergraduate Research. 1-18 Credits.

Undergraduate student work on individual or small team research projects under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

PSYS 3100. Learning. 3 Credits.

Analysis of theory and research on the basic learning process and behavior. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100.

PSYS 3105. Cognition. 3 Credits.

Research and theories on the major areas within cognition: perception, attention, pattern recognition, memory, knowledge representations, mnemonic strategies, problem-solving and neurocognition. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100.

PSYS 3110. Motivation. 3 Credits.

Theory and research on motives, including hunger, fear, sex drive, and addiction, their influence on behavior, relationship to other psychological processes, and biological correlates. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100, PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

PSYS 3115. The Nature of Decision Making. 3 Credits.

A study of cognitive and behavioral principles of human judgement and decision making. Prerequisite: PSYS 2100.

PSYS 3190. Topics in Learning & Cognition. 3-4 Credits.

Advanced study in learning and cognition. Representative topics: Attention; Learning, Memory, Cognition; Decision-making. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400; PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100.

PSYS 3202. Physiological Psychology. 3 Credits.

Students build on their foundational knowledge of neuroscience to learn the biological basis of learning and memory, emotion, motivated behaviors, and the dysregulation of those behaviors, such as that observed in neuropsychiatric disorders. Credit not awarded for both PSYS 3202 and PSYS 3200. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

PSYS 3205. Hormones and Behavior. 3 Credits.

A study of the involvement of hormones in cognition, emotion, the stress response, circadian and homeostatic mechanisms that affect mental state, psychopathology, and reproductive behavior. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

PSYS 3210. Behavioral Genetics. 3 Credits.

Students will gain conceptual understanding of the contributions of genes, environments, and the interplay of these and other factors, to various behaviors. Addresses variety of approaches to behavioral genetics research, including family and twin studies, animal studies, genome-wide association studies and the candidate gene approach. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002 and PSYS 2200; or NSCI 2105, BIOL 1000, BIOL 1400, BCOR 1400, or BCOR 1425.

PSYS 3250. Psychopharmacology. 3 Credits.

Effects of drugs (both medical and recreational) on behavior. Topics such as drug effects on learning, memory, motivation, perception, emotions, and aggression. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

PSYS 3260. Neurodiversity. 3 Credits.

The study of the range of ways people experience the world and how variations in the brain contribute to that range. Topics include some experiences classified as disorders such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia; and general experiences such as visual imagery and gender. Addresses the intersectionality of neurodivergence with aspects of identity such as race and gender; how we define what is typical; and how that definition influences understanding of neurobiological and psychological differences. Prerequisites: PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105. Catamount Core: D2.

PSYS 3290. Topics in Behavioral Neurosci. 3-4 Credits.

Advanced study in behavioral neuroscience. Representative topics: Biological Basis of Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior; Perception; Strange Brains and Behavior. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400; PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2200, NSCI 2100, or NSCI 2105.

PSYS 3300. Advanced Social Psychology. 3 Credits.

In-depth discussion of select topics centering on how situations influence individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2300.

PSYS 3333. Psych Science in Action. 0 or 4 Credits.

Gives students high-impact experience conducting their own research in social psychology. After 4 weeks of foundational material, students are placed into groups of 5. Together with their group they decide on their research question and they dedicate the semester to learning all aspects of the research process so as to answer this question. In lab, they learn APA writing skills, methods, and data analysis specific to their research questions. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400 (or equivalent); PSYS 2300 (or equivalent); PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002 (or equivalent).

PSYS 3350. Organizational Psychology. 3 Credits.

Study of the psychological impact of macro and micro features of organizations upon leadership, decision making, workforce diversity, group process, conflict, and organizational performances. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100, PSYS 2300, PSYS 2400, or PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3355. Eastern Perspectives on Health. 3 Credits.

Introduction to the Eastern perspectives of Ayurveda and yoga and the psychological science relevant to them for students grounded in the field of Psychological Science. Foundational lessons from these Eastern traditions and reading and discussion of relevant empirical papers. Topics include the Ayurvedic perspective on health, the eight limbs of yoga, Ayurvedic constitutions, the role of diet and lifestyle in human psychology, and the benefits of breathwork. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2100, PSYS 2200, PSYS 2300, PSYS 2400, or PSYS 2500. Catamount Core: D2.

PSYS 3370. Psychology and Law. 3 Credits.

Advanced survey of the intersection of the legal system and psychological science, with an emphasis on how bias, prejudice, and discrimination shape the experience of individuals and communities. Opportunities to read and reflect on original research and develop applications to contemporary legal issues that are grounded in empirical evidence. Prerequisite: PSYS 2300.

PSYS 3390. Topics in Social Psychology. 3-4 Credits.

Advanced study in social psychology. Representative topics: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination; Social Psychology of the Self; Existential Social Psychology. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400; PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2300.

PSYS 3400. Adolescence. 3 Credits.

Analysis of current theory and research in adolescent development. Covers biological, cognitive, and social changes; family, peer, and school influences; and normative and problematic development. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400.

PSYS 3405. Race in American Youth. 3 Credits.

An overview of how race and ethnicity relate to youth development, ranging from infancy to adolescence. Explores how youths' racial attitudes, beliefs, identity, and interactions develop, as well as ways that race and ethnicity influence the pathways youth take in American society. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400. Catamount Core: D1.

PSYS 3410. Emotional Devlmt & Temperament. 3 Credits.

Development of emotion and temperament from infancy through middle childhood, including links between these topics and physiology, and context (e.g. attachment, parenting, family conflict). Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400.

PSYS 3415. Social Development. 3 Credits.

Examination of theory and research concerning interpersonal development in humans from infancy through adulthood. Emphasizes relationships among language, cognition, and social development. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400.

PSYS 3420. Psychology of Gender. 3 Credits.

Examines psychological theories, methods, and research about gender. Explores social, situational, individual, and biological explanations of gender similarities and differences and their development. Prerequisites: PSYS 2300; PSYS 2400 or PSYS 2500. Catamount Core: D2.

PSYS 3425. Psychology of Families. 3 Credits.

An introduction to the theory and research in the study of families. Topics include dating, mate selection, adult attachment, marriage, parenting, divorce, single parenting, remarriage, and issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, and culture. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400 or PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3450. Fit Kids: Early Learning Focus. 0 or 4 Credits.

Engages students in service learning through the implementation of a preschool physical activity program in local classrooms. Students develop skills to apply evidence-based, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed approaches to support young children's social-emotional development. Links between physical activity and early learning are examined through a developmental lens, with attention to how social and structural factors shape school readiness and educational equity. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400, EDSP 1050, or EDEC 1010; Instructor permission.

PSYS 3455. Adv. Fit Kids: Early Learning. 0 or 4 Credits.

Building on the introductory Fit Kids courses, students engage in advanced service learning and develop leadership skills by applying reflective supervision practices while guiding a team of peers in implementing a preschool physical activity program in local classrooms. Students explore how systemic factors shape children's early brain development and learning, and investigate the role of physical activity in supporting school readiness. Prerequisites: PSYS 3450 or PSYS 3520; Instructor permission.

PSYS 3490. Topics in Developmental Psych. 3-4 Credits.

Advanced study in developmental psychology. Representative topics: Identity Development; Language Development; Emerging Adulthood. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400; PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400.

PSYS 3500. Intro to Clinical Psychology. 3 Credits.

Study of basic principles of interviewing, testing, assessment from life situations, and report writing. Examination of the most common approaches to psychotherapy. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3505. Behav Disorders of Childhood. 3 Credits.

An overview of theory, research, and practice in developmental psychopathology from infancy through adolescence. The major disorders of social and emotional development reviewed. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2400 or PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3510. Intro to Health Psychology. 3 Credits.

Psychology of the cause, treatment, and prevention of physical illness and disability. Topics include: stress, health behavior, medical compliance, patient-provider relationships, coping with illness. Prerequisites: PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3520. Fit Kids: Mental Health Focus. 0 or 4 Credits.

Engages students in service learning through the implementation of a preschool physical activity program in local classrooms. Students develop skills to apply evidence-based, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed strategies to promote young children's social-emotional development. Connections between physical activity and mental health are explored through a developmental lens, with attention to how social and structural factors contribute to mental health disparities in early childhood. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400, EDSP 1050, or EDEC 1010; Instructor permission.

PSYS 3525. Adv. Fit Kids: Mental Health. 0 or 4 Credits.

Building on the introductory Fit Kids courses, students engage in advanced service learning and develop leadership skills by applying reflective supervision practices while guiding a team of peers in implementing a preschool physical activity program in local classrooms. Students examine how adverse childhood experiences, toxic stress, and systemic factors shape early childhood development and well-being, and investigate the role of physical activity in promoting pediatric mental health. Prerequisites: PSYS 3450 or PSYS 3520; Instructor permission.

PSYS 3590. Topics in Clinical Psychology. 3-4 Credits.

Advanced study in clinical psychology. Representative topics: Anxiety; Stress and Trauma; Pediatric Psychology; Behavior Modification. May be repeated for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: PSYS 1400; PSYS 2000 or PSYS 2002; PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3990. Special Topics. 0-18 Credits.

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisites: PSYS 2002; and PSYS 2100 or PSYS 2200 or PSYS 2300 or PSYS 2400 or PSYS 2500.

PSYS 3991. Mentored Clinical Internship. 1-18 Credits.

On-site supervised work experience combined with a structured academic learning plan directed by a faculty member or a faculty-staff team in which a faculty member is the instructor of record, for which academic credit is awarded. Will include an in-class component.

PSYS 3993. Independent Study. 1-18 Credits.

A course which is tailored to fit the interests of a specific student, which occurs outside the traditional classroom/laboratory setting under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.

PSYS 3994. Teaching Assistantship. 1-3 Credits.

Undergraduate student service as a teaching assistant, usually in an introductory level course in the discipline, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.

PSYS 4990. Special Topics. 1-18 Credits.

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisites: PSYS 2002; and PSYS 2100 or PSYS 2200 or PSYS 2300 or PSYS 2400 or PSYS 2500.

PSYS 4996. Honors. 1-6 Credits.

College honors thesis or other department/program honors, under the supervision of a faculty member. Offered at department discretion.