Psychology

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu/.

About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Psychology as a scientific discipline aims to describe, understand, and predict the behavior of living organisms. In doing so, Psychology embraces the many factors that influence behavior - from sensory experience to complex cognition, from the role of genetics to that of social and cultural environments, from the processes that explain behavior in early childhood to those that operate in older ages, and from normal development to pathological conditions. The Psychology Department at UC Berkeley reflects the diversity of our discipline's mission covering five key areas of research: Behavioral Neuroscience; Change, Plasticity & Development; Clinical Science; Cognition, Brain, & Behavior; and Social-Personality Psychology. Despite the existence of these specialization areas, the program learning goals focus on fostering methodological, statistical, and critical thinking skills that are not tied to any one particular content area in psychology but are relevant for all of them.

The major serves three purposes:

  1. For the liberal arts student, the study of psychology provides an avenue for increased self-understanding and insight into the behavior of others. The objective study of behavior is one of the major themes of intellectual history in the last hundred-plus years.
  2. For students preparing for training in such professions as medicine, law, education, and business, psychology provides important basic knowledge and principles.
  3. For students who plan on pursuing graduate work in psychology, the undergraduate major seeks to establish a sound foundation of research principles and knowledge of a variety of content areas.

Declaring the Major

Psychology is a capped (impacted) major at UC Berkeley. This means that due to high demand, the program unfortunately cannot accommodate every student who wishes to major in Psychology. As part of the terms of being a capped major, all students who apply to the major and meet the following criteria are guaranteed admission:

  1. Have a 3.2 grade point average (GPA) in all seven prerequisite courses (Note: GPA is not rounded up)
  2. Students who entered UC Berkeley as a freshman must declare the major by their 5th semester or prior to the accumulation of 80 semester units including work in progress (AP or college credit obtained in high school do not count towards the 80 units). Those who entered Berkeley as a junior level transfer must declare the major no later than their first semester at UC Berkeley
  3. Submit the application to the major by the posted deadline.

If any of the above criteria are not met, students may still be admitted to the major. However, there is no guarantee. Please understand that applications will not be processed until all prerequisite courses are complete and final grades have been posted. This may mean that students will not technically be admitted to the major until the beginning of the following semester.

Honors Program

Admission to the honors program is limited to Senior Psychology majors who have a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) in the Psychology major and a cumulative GPA of 3.3 by the time of graduation. Students complete PSYCH H195A and PSYCH H195B (Honors Thesis) under the supervision of a Psychology faculty member. Honors students must recruit a sponsor and are encouraged to begin this process well before their senior year. Honors students are encouraged to take PSYCH H194A and PSYCH H194B (Honors Seminar). Evaluation of the thesis is the responsibility of the faculty adviser and the second faculty reader as assigned by the chair of the Department.

Minor Program

There is no minor program in Psychology.

Visit Department Website

Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

  1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
  2. No more than one upper-division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters and Science.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper- and lower-division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Lower-division Prerequisites

Psychology 1
PSYCH 1General Psychology3
Evolution
Select one of the following:
Genetics and Society
MCELLBI 41X
Course Not Available
Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Human Biological Variation
Biological Science 2
Select two of the following:
MCELLBI 31
Course Not Available
Introduction to Human Physiology
The Immune System and Disease
MCELLBI 61
Course Not Available
Introduction to Functional Neuroanatomy
MCELLBI 64
Course Not Available
General Biology Lecture
General Biology Lecture and Laboratory
BIOLOGY 11
Course Not Available 3
The Ecology and Evolution of Animal Behavior
Drugs and the Brain
Social Science 4
Select two of the following, from two different departments:
Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
Introduction to Social/Cultural Anthropology (American Cultures)
SOCIOL 3
Course Not Available
Principles of Sociology: American Cultures
Language and Linguistics
The Nature of Mind
Knowledge and Its Limits
PHILOS 5
Course Not Available
Introduction to Logic
Modern Philosophy
Introduction to American Politics
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Introduction to Political Theory
Quantitative
Select one of the following:4
Introduction to Statistics
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Introductory Probability and Statistics for Business
Methods of Mathematics: Calculus, Statistics, and Combinatorics (highly recommended)
Methods of Mathematics: Calculus, Statistics, and Combinatorics (highly recommended)
Calculus
Calculus
Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
Discrete Mathematics
1

 AP Psychology with a score of 4 or 5 will satisfy this prerequisite.

2

 AP Biology with a score of 4 or 5 will satisfy one Biological Science prerequisite.

3

 BIOLOGY 11 may not count toward this prerequisite if taken after BIOLOGY 1A or BIOLOGY 1B.

4

 AP US Government or AP Comparative Government with a score of 4 or 5 will satisfy one Social Sciene prerequisite. The other course must not then be from the Political Science department.

Upper-division Requirements

PSYCH 101Research and Data Analysis in Psychology4
Tier II Requirements:
Select a minimum of five courses from the following, one in each area:
Biological
Introduction to Biological Psychology
Biology of Learning and Neural Plasticity
The Developing Brain
Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive & Developmental
Basic Issues in Cognition
Developmental Psychology
Social/Personality
Psychology of Personality
Human Emotion
Social Psychology
Cultural Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Clinical
Clinical Psychology
Developmental Psychopathology
Tier III Requirements:
Select three additional upper-division Psychology courses, numbered between PSYCH 104-PSYCH 182, of at least 3 units each 1
1

 Only one of these courses may be a seminar (courses ending in "8").

College Requirements

Undergraduate students in the College of Letters and Science must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please see the College of Letters and Sciences  page in this bulletin. 

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing Requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a U.S. resident graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

American Cultures

American Cultures is the one requirement that all undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition. Students must complete a first-level reading and composition course by the end of their second semester and a second-level course by the end of their fourth semester.

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship.  Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

  • 120 total units, including at least 60 L&S units

  • Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

  • Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters and Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through University Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to see an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley summer session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence Requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the College.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) or the UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence Requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding EAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

The Psychology Department at Berkeley reflects the diversity of the discipline's mission covering 5 key areas of research: Behavioral Neuroscience; Change, Plasticity & Development; Clinical Science; Cognition, Brain, & Behavior; and Social-Personality Psychology. Despite the existence of these specialization areas, the program learning goals focus on fostering methodological, statistical, and critical thinking skills that are not tied to any one particular content area in psychology but are relevant for all of them.

Most of the program level goals are introduced in Psych 1 (General Psychology), which is the only lower-division psychology course that is a prerequisite for the major. These goals are extended and reinforced in a majority of the upper-division "core" courses. These include Psychology 101, Research Methods, required of all majors and the "decade" courses that survey the major fields of psychology: 110: Biological Psychology; 120: Cognitive Psychology, 130: Clinical Psychology, 140: Developmental Psychology, 150: Personality Psychology, 160: Social Psychology. The program is designed to ensure that all students gain broad exposure to the field of psychology. In addition, students are encouraged to develop a deeper understanding of at least one major content area in psychology.

Learning Goals for the Major

  1. Define basic concepts that characterize psychology as a field of scientific inquiry and appreciate the various sub-fields that form the discipline as well as things that differentiate it from other related disciplines. Develop an understanding of the central questions and issues in contemporary psychology
  2. Be familiar with the range of methods used to investigate psychological questions
  3. Develop skills to critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media
  4. Develop competence in reading and evaluating original scientific papers
  5. Become familiar with the basic concepts of statistics and develop skills in evaluating information from a statistical perspective
  6. Develop and articulate, both orally and in written form, a testable hypothesis or an argument drawing from an existing body of literature
  7. Develop competence in interpreting graphical data to understand what is being compared/manipulated (independent variables) and what is being measured (dependent variables)
  8. Be familiar with the history of psychology as a field and different theoretical and empirical frameworks that have defined and shaped the field
  9. Apply a psychological principle to an everyday problem or take an everyday problem and identify the relevant psychological mechanisms/issues
  10. Develop a deeper understanding of one of the major content areas of psychology (i.e., Social/personality, Developmental, Clinical, Cognitive, Biological)
  11. Develop an understanding and an appreciation of how social (e.g., environmental/cultural) and biological (genes, hormones) factors jointly shape human behavior
  12. Develop an awareness of the importance of science to humanity while recognizing its limits (i.e., some scientific knowledge is culture specific and may not applicable to the human condition universally)

Courses

Psychology

PSYCH 1 General Psychology 3 Units

Introduction to the principal areas, problems, and concepts of psychology. This course is required for the major; students not considering a psychology major are directed to 2.

PSYCH N1 General Psychology 3 Units

Introduction to the principal areas, problems, and concepts of psychology. This course is required for the major; students not considering a psychology major are directed to 2.

PSYCH W1 General Psychology 3 Units

Introduction to the principal areas, problems, and concepts of psychology.

PSYCH 2 Principles of Psychology 3 Units

An overview of psychology for students who will not major in the field. This course satisfies the prerequisite for upper division decade courses.

PSYCH 3 Introduction to How the Brain Works 1 Unit

This course will give a rigorous yet accessible overview of our current understanding of how the brain works and how it is altered by experience. Specifically, the class provides: an introduction to the structure and function of the sensory and motor systems; discussions of disorders and phenomena such as blindsight, synaesthesia, color blindness, and phantom limbs; and a lecture with presentation of classical experiments on the capacity of the young and adult brain for plasticity and learning.

PSYCH 6 Stress and Coping 2 Units

This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth analysis of the various areas within the field of psychology that address topics related to stress and coping. In particular, we will cover the biological, social, personality, cognitive, and clinical factors that play a role in the development of stress and subsequent coping techniques that can be used to deal with stress. The class will have a strong focus on the empirical findings relating to the subject.

PSYCH 7 The Person in Big Data 2 Units

This course will introduce students to the basic principles and methods of personality and social psychology as applied to a rapidly growing topic of modern society--the collection and analysis of online social “big data.” Students will learn about the ways in which big data has historically been defined, collected, and utilized, as well as fundamental concepts in person perception and social behavior that are relevant to topics of big data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

PSYCH 8 Music and the Brain 2 Units

This course will explore mental processes that allow listeners to perceive music and performers to produce it. We will compare music from various traditions to examine shared cognitive principles and emotional responses; comparisons to language will highlight neural specializations for music. Developmental psychology will inform discussion of learned vs. innate components of musical behavior. Students will design experiments to test hypotheses relating to music cognition.

PSYCH 10 Research and Data Analysis in Psychology 4 Units

The class covers research design, statistical reasoning, and statistical methods appropriate for psychological research. Topics covered in research design include the scientific method, experimental versus correlational designs, controls and placebos, within and between subject designs and temporal or sequence effects. Topics covered in statistics include descriptive versus inferential statistics, linear regression and correlation and univariate statistical tests: t-test, one way and two-way ANOVA, chi-square test. The class also introduces non-parametric tests and modeling. Prospective Psychology majors need to take this course to be admitted to the major.

PSYCH 14 Psychology of Gender 3 Units

Examination of various factors in the development of feminine and masculine roles, including personality, social processes, biology, and culture.

PSYCH C19 Drugs and the Brain 3 Units

The history, chemical nature, botanical origins, and effects on the human brain and behavior of drugs such as stimulants, depressants, psychedelics, analgesics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, steroids, and other psychoactive substances of both natural and synthetic origin. The necessary biological, chemical, and psychological background material for understanding the content of this course will be contained within the course itself.

PSYCH 24 Freshman Seminars 1 Unit

The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester.

PSYCH 39E Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 39I Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 39J Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 39K Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 39L Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 39M Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.

PSYCH 48 Brain Development and Aging 1 Unit

This is an introductory survey course on brain and cognitive development. It gives an overview of brain structure and function and how it changes throughout life. Topics include: effect of pre-natal maternal and paternal behavior in brain development; critical periods; experience-dependent changes in the brain; the adolescent brain; and the aging brain. We will also discuss developmental disorders such as Down syndrome and the putative benefits of exercise and diet to brain health.

PSYCH C61 Brain, Mind, and Behavior 3 Units

Introduction to human brain mechanisms of sensation, movement, perception, thinking, learning, memory, and emotion in terms of anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the nervous system in health and disease. Intended for students in the humanities and social sciences and others not majoring in the biological sciences.

PSYCH C64 Exploring the Brain: Introduction to Neuroscience 3 Units

This course will introduce lower division undergraduates to the fundamentals of neuroscience. The first part of the course covers basic membrane properties, synapses, action potentials, chemical and electrical synaptic interactions, receptor potentials, and receptor proteins. The second part of the course covers networks in invertebrates, memory and learning behavior, modulation, vertebrate brain and spinal cord, retina, visual cortex architecture, hierarchy, development, and higher cortical centers.

PSYCH 98 Supervised Group Study 1 - 3 Units

Group study of selected topics. Enrollment restricted. See Introduction to Courses and Curriculum section of this catalog.

PSYCH 99 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 3 Units

Intended for freshmen and sophomores who wish to undertake a program of individual inquiry on a topic in psychology.

PSYCH 101 Research and Data Analysis in Psychology 4 Units

The course will concentrate on hypothesis formulation and testing, tests of significance, analysis of variance (one-way analysis), simple correlation, simple regression, and nonparametric statistics such as chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests. Majors intending to be in the honors program must complete 101 by the end of their junior year.

PSYCH 102 Methods for Research in Psychological Sciences 3 Units

Lecture and computer lab course on advanced data analysis techniques used by researchers in psychology. The course will cover programming techniques in R and data analysis methods that include modeling, multivariate statistics, and data reduction and visualization techniques. The following topics will be covered: generalized linear model (includes logistic regression), discriminant analysis (includes multivariate ANOVA), principal component analysis, and factor analysis.

PSYCH 106 Psychology of Dreams 3 Units

Dreaming is a necessary, universal nightly activity of the human mind and brain. This class will cover some of the major psychological theories, interpretations, and uses that have been made of dreams. Students will be encouraged to keep dream diaries to provide an experiential component to the class and so that they may apply the class topics and do research using the material they generate themselves.

PSYCH 107 Buddhist Psychology 3 Units

Based on tradition of direct observation of working of ordinary mind in everyday life situations. Provides contrasting perspective to present theories of cognition, perception, motivation, emotion, social interaction, and neurosis.

PSYCH N107 Buddhist Psychology 3 Units

Based on tradition of direct observation of working of ordinary mind in everyday life situations. Provides contrasting perspective to present theories of cognition, perception, motivation, emotion, social interaction, and neurosis.

PSYCH N108 Clinical Applications of East Asian Meditation Practices 3 Units

This course applies views and practices of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian schools of meditation. The emphasis in the course will be on practical and clinical applications of meditation such as working with emotions and the quest for psychological well-being. The basic laboratory technique will be various types of meditation.

PSYCH 109 History of Psychology 3 Units

Development of scientific study of human and animal behavior. Consideration of history of particular subject areas--such as biological, comparative, developmental, personality, and social psychology--as well as general trends.

PSYCH 110 Introduction to Biological Psychology 3 Units

Survey of relations between behavioral and biological processes. Topics include sensory and perceptual processes, neural maturation, natural bases of motivation, and learning.

PSYCH N110 Introduction to Biological Psychology 3 Units

Survey of relations between behavioral and biological processes. Topics include sensory and perceptual processes, neural maturation, natural bases of motivation, and learning.

PSYCH C113 Biological Clocks: Physiology and Behavior 3 Units

A consideration of the biological clocks that generate daily, lunar, seasonal and annual rhythms in various animals including people. Emphasis on neuroendocrine substrates, development and adaptive significance of estrous cycles, feeding rhythms, sleep-wakefulness cycles, reproductive and hibernation cycles, body weight and migratory cycles.

PSYCH 114 Biology of Learning and Neural Plasticity 3 Units

A study of theoretical and experimental investigations of the biological substrates of learning, memory and forms of neural plasticity related to the growth and maturation of the nervous system.

PSYCH C116 Hormones and Behavior 3 Units

This course provides a comprehensive overview of behavorial endocrinology beginning with hormone production and actions on target issues and continuing with an exploration of a variety of behaviors and their hormonal regulation/consequences. The course uses a comparative approach to examine the reciprocal interactions between the neuroendocrine system and behavior, considering the effects of hormone on development and adult behavior in addition to how behavior regulates endocrine physiology. While much of the course focuses on non-human vertebrate species, the relevance to humans is explored where appropriate. Topics include sexual differentiation and sex differences in behavior, reproductive, parental, and aggressive behaviors, and hormonal and behavioral homeostatic regulation.

PSYCH 117 Human Neuropsychology 3 Units

A survey of contemporary psychological approaches to problems of human disabilities including mental disorders, behavior changes following human brain injury and disease, and mental subnormality. Emphasis on nervous system models of these problems and areas of potential application of basic research development.

PSYCH 118 Topical Seminar in Biological Psychology 3 Units

For a precise schedule of courses, check with the Student Services Office each semester.

PSYCH C120 Basic Issues in Cognition 3 Units

Theoretical foundations and current controversies in cognitive science will be discussed. Basic issues in cognition--including perception, imagery, memory, categorization, thinking, judgment, and development--will be considered from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, computer science, and physiology. Particular emphasis will be placed on the nature, implications, and limitations of the computational model of mind.

PSYCH 121 Animal Cognition 3 Units

This course focuses on how animals process, organize, and retain information. Specific topics include learning and memory, sensory processes, navigation and migration, communication, and cross-species comparisons of behavior. Material will be drawn from the ethological, behavioral/experimental, and, to a lesser extent, the neurosciences literature.

PSYCH 122 Introduction to Human Learning and Memory 3 Units

Theoretical and experimental analysis of human learning and memory; short-term and long-term memory; coding and retrieval processes; transfer and interference; mechanisms of forgetting.

PSYCH N122 Introduction to Human Learning and Memory 3 Units

Theoretical and experimental analysis of human learning and memory; short-term and long-term memory; coding and retrieval processes; transfer and interference; mechanisms of forgetting.

PSYCH 125 The Developing Brain 3 Units

What are the changes in brain structure and function that underlie improvements in cognitive abilities over childhood and adolescence? Or, coming from a different perspective, what insights can we gain regarding the neural basis of cognition by examining how the brain develops? And how are such findings relevant for medicine, education, and the law? The cutting-edge new field of developmental cognitive neuroscience is beginning to address these and other questions. This course will consititute an overview of current research and methods in this field, focusing on both typically and atypically developing children and adolescents.

PSYCH C126 Perception 3 Units

An introduction to principal theoretical constructs and experimental procedures in visual and auditory perception. Topics will include psychophysics; perception of color, space, shape, and motion; pattern recognition and perceptual attention.

PSYCH C127 Cognitive Neuroscience 3 Units

This course will examine research investigating the neurological basis of cognition. Material covered will include the study of brain-injured patients, neurophysiological research in animals, and the study of normal cognitive processes in humans with non-invasive behavioral and physiological techniques such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Topics to be covered include perception, attention, memory, language, motor control, executive control, and emotion.

PSYCH 128 Topical Seminars in Cognitive Psychology 3 Units

For a precise schedule of offerings check with the Student Services Office each semester.

PSYCH C129 Scientific Approaches to Consciousness 3 Units

This course will examine the nature of human consciousness from the interdisciplinary perspective of cognitive science. It will cover topics from the philosophy of mind, cognitive linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, and computational models.

PSYCH 130 Clinical Psychology 3 Units

Theoretical and empirical approaches to the explanation of psychological dysfunction. The relation between theories of psychopathology and theories of intervention. A critical evaluation of the effects of individual, family, and community approaches to therapeutic and preventive intervention. Thematic focus of the course may change from year to year. See department notices for details.

PSYCH N130 Clinical Psychology 3 Units

Theoretical and empirical approaches to the explanation of psychological dysfunction. The relation between theories of psychopathology and theories of intervention. A critical evaluation of the effects of individual, family, and community approaches to therapeutic and preventive intervention. Thematic focus of the course may change from year to year. See department notices for details.

PSYCH 131 Developmental Psychopathology 3 Units

This course will discuss linkages between developmental processes and child psychopathology. Included will be discussion of cognitive impairments in children, including learning disabilities and mental retardation; internalizing disorders, such as anxiety, withdrawal, and depression; externalizing disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder; and child abuse and neglect. Psychobiological, familial, legal, and societal factors will be emphasized.

PSYCH 133 Psychology of Sleep 3 Units

This course has two primary goals: (1) to provide a basic introduction to the study of sleep and an overview of sleep measurement, regulation, ontogeny, phylogeny, physiology, and psychology; and (2) to provide a basic introduction to sleep disorders including their classification, cause, and treatment.

PSYCH N133 Psychology of Sleep 3 Units

This course has two primary goals: (1) to provide a basic introduction to the study of sleep and an overview of sleep measurement, regulation, ontogeny, phylogeny, physiology, and psychology; and (2) to provide a basic introduction to sleep disorders including their classification, cause, and treatment.

PSYCH 134 Health Psychology 3 Units

This course will provide students with an introduction to Health Psychology. Students will learn about measurement of psychological, behavioral, and biological constructs; incidence and prevalence of psychological and medical disorders; introductions to endocrinology, immunology, and psychophysiology and how these systems are thought to relate psychology to health; as well as introductions to how science is working to understand psychology and health in the laboratory and across the population.

PSYCH 136 Human Sexuality 3 Units

Biological, social, and clinical issues in sexuality. Topics include psychology and physiology of sexual response, new developments in contraception, homosexuality and lesbianism, variations in sexual behavior, gender identity and role, definition and treatment of sexual dysfunction. Approved for state psychology licensing requirement.

PSYCH 139 Case Studies in Clinical Psychology 3 Units

This course is for students who are curious about clinical psychology and who seek to explore real world cases and examples of mental health diagnoses. Through the use of clinical cases and first-person accounts, this course will give an overview of the diagnostic criteria mental health providers use to make diagnoses, discuss environmental and genetic casual factors, and explore available treatment options for various mental illnesses.

PSYCH 140 Developmental Psychology 3 Units

This course explores the development of children from birth to adolescence, in a wide range of areas including biological, cognitive, linguistic, social, and personality development. It also covers the effects of genes, experience, and social context on children's development.

PSYCH N140 Developmental Psychology 3 Units

This course explores the development of children from birth to adolescence, in a wide range of areas including biological, cognitive, linguistic, social, and personality development. It also covers the effects of genes, experience, and social context on children's development.

PSYCH 141 Development During Infancy 3 Units

Cognitive, perceptual, and social development during the first two years of life with emphasis upon methods of observation and experimentation.

PSYCH C143 Language Acquisition 3 Units

An overview of topics and theories in language acquisition: early development of speech perception and production, word learning, generalizing linguistic structure, and differences between first language acquisition, second language acquisition, and bilingualism. We will also compare different theoretical approaches, and address the classic "nature vs. nurture" question by examining both traditional generativist approaches and more recent usage based models.

PSYCH 146 Developmental and Biological Processes in Attachment 3 Units

This course on attachment theory provides an integrative (evolutionary/genetic/experiential) approach to studying secure vs. insecure parent-child relationships; their precursors in parental rearing patterns; and favorable vs. unfavorable sequelae. Adult life-history narratives indicative of secure vs. insecure adult attachment have been found associated with care-giving of offspring.

PSYCH 148 Topical Seminars in Developmental Psychology 3 Units

For a precise schedule of offerings, check with the Student Services Office each semester.

PSYCH 150 Psychology of Personality 3 Units

A consideration of general and systematic issues in the study of personality and an evaluation of major theories and points of view.

PSYCH N150 Psychology of Personality 3 Units

A consideration of general and systematic issues in the study of personality and an evaluation of major theories and points of view.

PSYCH 156 Human Emotion 3 Units

This course will examine two different theoretical perspectives on emotion: (1) the differential emotions approach with its strong evolutionary grounding, and (2) the social constructionist approach. Next, the course will investigate empirical research on many facets of emotion including facial expression, physiology, appraisal, and the lexicon of emotion. Finally, we will consider more specific topics including social interaction, culture, gender, personality, and psychopathology.

PSYCH 160 Social Psychology 3 Units

Survey of social psychology including interaction processes, small groups, attitudes and attitude change, and social problems.

PSYCH N160 Social Psychology 3 Units

Survey of social psychology including interaction processes, small groups, attitudes and attitude change, and social problems.

PSYCH 162 Human Happiness 3 Units

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to an understanding of happiness. The first part of the course will be devoted to the different treatments of happiness in the world's philosophical traditions, focusing up close on conceptions or the good life in classical Greek and Judeo-Christian thought, the great traditions in East Asian thought (Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism), and ideas about happiness that emerged more recently in the age of Enlightenment. With these different perspectives as a framework, the course will then turn to treatments of happiness in the behavioral sciences, evolutionary scholarship, and neuroscience. Special emphasis will be given to understanding how happiness arises in experiences of the moral emotions, including gratitude, compassion, reverence and awe, as well as aesthetic emotions like humor and beauty.

PSYCH C162 Human Happiness 3 Units

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to an understanding of happiness. The first part of the course will be devoted to the different treatments of happiness in the world's philosophical traditions, focusing up close on conceptions or the good life in classical Greek and Judeo-Christian thought, the great traditions in East Asian thought (Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism), and ideas about happiness that emerged more recently in the age of Enlightenment. With these different perspectives as a framework, the course will then turn to treatments of happiness in the behavioral sciences, evolutionary scholarship, and neuroscience. Special emphasis will be given to understanding how happiness arises in experiences of the moral emotions, including gratitude, compassion, reverence and awe, as well as aesthetic emotions like humor and beauty.

PSYCH N162 Human Happiness 3 Units

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to an understanding of happiness. We will first review the different treatments of happiness in the world’s philosophical traditions: conceptions of the good life in classical Greek and Judeo-Christian thought, the great East Asian philosophies, and ideas about happiness that emerged in the age of Enlightenment. With these different perspectives as a framework, the course will turn to treatments of happiness in the behavioral sciences, evolutionary scholarship, and neuroscience. Special Emphasis will be given to understanding how happiness arises in experiences of the moral emotions, including gratitude, compassion, reverence and awe, and aesthetic emotions like humor and beauty.

PSYCH 164 Social Cognition 3 Units

Surveys empirical and theoretical approaches to our understanding of perception, memory, thought, and language concerning ourselves, other people, interpersonal behavior, and the situations in which social interaction takes place. Emphasis is placed on the integration of problems in social, personality, and clinical psychology with the concepts and principles employed in the study of nonsocial cognition.

PSYCH 165 Psychology of Creativity 3 Units

This is a course on creativity, both at the individual and the group level. We will consider traits of highly creative individuals (vs. less creative individuals) and the ways in which they think. We will also investigate the ways in which influence processes affect individual creativity and will then focus on group creativity, including techniques by which creativity is hindered or stimulated. Finally, we will consider applications from organizations as we consider cultures in which creativity thrives. Throughout the course, discussion will be encouraged and we will also do some experiential exercises. The course will be a combination of lecture, discussion, and experiential learning.

PSYCH 166AC Cultural Psychology 3 Units

The course will review research on culture, race, and ethnicity and will consider the implications of these findings for our understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity in American society. Mounting evidence suggests that psychological processes are culture-specific, theory-driven, and context-dependent. This course will focus on the effects that theories of mind, person, self, and social institutions have on human cognition, motivation, emotion, and social interactions in American society. Students will gain a better appreciation of the ways that cultural traditions and social practices regulate and transform psychological functioning. Simply, the course is about how culture affects psyche and how psyche affects culture.

PSYCH 167AC Stigma and Prejudice 3 Units

Traditionally, research on prejudice and stereotyping has focused on the psychological mechanisms that lead people to be biased against others. Recent research has begun to shed light on the psychological legacy of prejudice and stereotyping for their targets. This course will review the major contributions of each of these literatures, providing students with a broad understanding of both classic and current issues in the field. The course will be divided into three sections: bias (i.e., the perpetrator's perspective), stigma (i.e., the target's perspective), and intergroup relations.

PSYCH 168 Topical Seminars in Social Psychology 3 Units

For a precise schedule of offerings check with Student Services Office each semester.

PSYCH 180 Industrial-Organizational Psychology 3 Units

Primarily for majors. Introduction to the field of industrial psychology, covering fundamental theory and concepts in personnel and social aspects in the field. Concerned with the processes involved in developing and maintaining organizations.

PSYCH N180 Industrial-Organizational Psychology 3 Units

Primarily for majors. Introduction to the field of industrial psychology, covering fundamental theory and concepts in personnel and social aspects in the field. Concerned with the processes involved in developing and maintaining organizations.

PSYCH 192 Special Topics in Psychology 3 Units

Course examines current problems and issues in psychology.

PSYCH 192AC Child Development in Different Cultures 3 Units

This course explores "culture" as a context for development from both global and American sub-group perspectives, through developmental stages from early childhood to adolescence, across physical, social and cognitive domains. It will examine traditional theories and modern systems theories with respect to individual and social contexts, discuss the experience of sub-groups of American children and conclude with a comprehensive analysis of the development of an individual.

PSYCH H194A Honors Seminar 2 Units

In the fall semester the seminar will concentrate on issues of research design, ethics, and data analysis using statistical packages. The spring semester will focus on oral and written presentations of the thesis projects and feedback on thesis drafts.

PSYCH H194B Honors Seminar 2 Units

In the fall semester the seminar will concentrate on issues of research design, ethics, and data analysis using statistical packages. The spring semester will focus on oral and written presentations of the thesis projects and feedback on thesis drafts.

PSYCH H195A Special Study for Honors Candidates 1 - 3 Units

Independent study and preparation of an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty member.

PSYCH H195B Special Study for Honors Candidates 1 - 3 Units

Independent study and preparation of an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty member.

PSYCH 197 Field Study in Psychology 1 - 3 Units

Supervised experience relevant to specific aspects of psychology in off-campus settings. Individual and/or group meetings with faculty. Enrollment is restricted by regulations of the Berkeley Division listed elsewhere in this catalog.

PSYCH 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 3 Units

Group study of a selected topic or topics in psychology. Enrollment is restricted by regulations of the Berkeley Division listed elsewhere in this catalog.

PSYCH 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 3 Units

Enrollment is restricted by regulations of the Berkeley Division listed elsewhere in this catalog.

Faculty

Professors

Silvia Bunge, Professor. Neural mechanisms, development, and plasticity of higher cognitive functions in humans.
Research Profile

Joseph J. Campos, Professor. Social-emotional development in infancy, emotional communication, perception of emotion, relation of motor development to cognitive and social and emotional development.
Research Profile

Serena Chen, Professor. Close relationships, social cognition, social psychology, Self and identity, relational self, collective self, social power.
Research Profile

Mark T. D'Esposito, Professor. Cognitive neuroscience, psychology, working memory, frontal lobe function, functional MRI, neurology, brain imaging, dopamine.
Research Profile

Jack L. Gallant, Professor. Vision science, form vision, attention, fMRI, computational neuroscience, natural scene perception, brain encoding, brain decoding.
Research Profile

Alison Gopnik, Professor. Learning, philosophy, psychology, cognitive development, theory of mind, young children, children's causal knowledge, Bayes Net formalism.
Research Profile

Allison G. Harvey, Professor. Sleep, insomnia, comorbidity, bipolar disorder, cognition and emotion.
Research Profile

Stephen Hinshaw, Professor. Psychology, child clinical, developmental psychopathology, risk factors for attentional, conduct disorders, child psychopharmacology, multimodality interventions, diagnostic validity of disorders, peer relationships, stigma of mental illness.
Research Profile

Richard Ivry, Professor. Cognitive neuroscience, behavior, cognition, brain, attention, coordination, psychology, motor and perceptual processes in normal and neurologically impaired populations, temporal processing, executive control.
Research Profile

Lucia F. Jacobs, Professor. Cognitive and brain evolution, adaptive patterns in spatial memory, spatial navigation, cognitive sex differences and decision making.
Research Profile

Oliver P. John, Professor. Research methods, personality, measurement, emotion regulation, personality structure, personality development, traits, Big Five model, individual differences, emotion expression, self-concept, accuracy, bias, self-knowledge, personality assessment.
Research Profile

Sheri Johnson, Professor. Understanding the predictors of depression and mania within bipolar disorder, reward sensitivity and social dominance system within mania and psychopathology .
Research Profile

Dacher Keltner, Professor. Culture, conflict, behavior, love, psychology, emotion, social interaction, individual differences in emotion, negotiation, embarrassment, desire, juvenile delinquency, laughter, anger, social perception, negotiating morality.
Research Profile

John F. Kihlstrom, Professor. Personality, behavior, memory, psychology, cognition in personal, social contexts, unconscious mental processes, hypnosis, social cognition, experimental psychopathology, health cognition, unconscious mental life.
Research Profile

Robert T. Knight, Professor. Cognitive neuroscience, language, physiology, memory, attention, psychology, working memory, neuropsychology, human prefrontal cortex, neural mechanisms of cognitive processing, sensory gating, sustained attention, ad novelty detection.
Research Profile

Ann M. Kring, Professor. Emotional features of schizophrenia, the linkage between emotion and other cognitive and social deficits in schizophrenia, emotion, social interaction, and social anxiety, emotion, and depression. Emotion: individual differences in emotional expression, gender and emotion, the relationship between social context, personality, and emotion.
Research Profile

Robert W. Levenson, Professor. Aging, gender, culture, brain, psychology, emotion, psychophysiology, marriage, clinical science, interpersonal interactions, dementia, relationships, neurodegenerative disease.
Research Profile

Mary Main, Professor. Attachment; animal behavior; ethology; narrative; Gricean maxims as related to life-history descriptions; children's drawings and other representational products as related to attachment.

Laura B. Mason, Professor. Psychotherapy research, treatment development,. dissemination science, and community mental health.

Charlan J. Nemeth, Professor. Decision making, jury decision making, influence and persuasion, creativity in small groups, managing innovation in organizations, psychology of creative scientists and entrepreneurs, corporate cultures, diversity of team members, brainstorming, psychology and law.
Research Profile

Frederic E. Theunissen, Professor. Behavior, cognition, brain, psychology, birdsong, vocal learning, audition, neurophysiology, speech perception, computational neuroscience, theoretical neuroscience.
Research Profile

Matthew P. Walker, Professor. Impact of sleep on human brain function, especially the role of sleep in: learning and memory; brain plasticity; emotional regulation; affective and clinical mood disorders and aging.
Research Profile

Jonathan D. Wallis, Professor. Executive control; goal-directed behaviors.
Research Profile

David Whitney, Professor. Visual perception and attention; visually guided action; cognitive neuroscience.

Fei Xu, PhD, Professor. Conceptual development, developmental psychology, cognitive development, language development, social cognition in infants and children, learning in infants and young children, statistical learning and statistical inference, psychology and philosophy, computational models of cognitive development.
Research Profile

Associate Professors

Ozlem Ayduk, Associate Professor. Violence, developmental psychology, psychology, depression, self-control, emotion regulation, social-cognition in interpersonal relationships.
Research Profile

Tom Griffiths, Associate Professor. Machine learning, computational models of human cognition, Bayesian statistics.
Research Profile

Lance J, Kriegsfeld, Associate Professor. Behavioral neuroendocrinology, circadian biology, reproductive behavior and physiology, seasonality/photoperiodism, behavioral genetics, behavioral neuroscience.
Research Profile

Tania Lombrozo, Associate Professor. Cognitive psychology of explanation and understanding; concepts, theories, and causality; moral reasoning; philosophy and psychology.

Iris Mauss, Associate Professor. Emotion and emotion regulation; psychological health; psychophysiology; sociocultural norms and beliefs; aging and emotion regulation.
Research Profile

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, Associate Professor. Education, stereotyping, intergroup relations, prejudice, interpersonal relations, stigma.
Research Profile

Qing Zhou, Associate Professor. Developmental psychopathology, emphasis on the roles of temperament, emotion-related processing, and family socialization in the development of child and adolescent psychopathology and competence; cultural influences on socio-emotional development.
Research Profile

Assistant Professors

Sonia J. Bishop, Assistant Professor. Neural mechanisms supporting attention, emotion and their interactions; individual differences in cognitive control and emotional responsivity; neural substrate of anxiety; genetic factors modulating recruitment of cortical control and limbic affective mechanisms.

Esther Brass, Assistant Professor.

Michael Cole, PhD, Assistant Professor.

Aaron Fisher, Assistant Professor. Person-specific methodologies; formulation of personalized interventions; psychotherapy; psychophysiology of anxiety disorders; psychopathology and cardiovascular disease.

Mahesh Srinivasan, Assistant Professor. How representations of language and concepts arise and interact in human development and across cultures.

Linda Wilbrecht, Assistant Professor. Experience dependent plasticity and the development of circuits involved in value based decision making; addiction.

Adjunct Faculty

Arthur Aron, Adjunct Faculty.

Michael Cole, Adjunct Faculty. Cognitive and emotional control in clinical populations; neural mechanisms of interactions between cognition and emotion; contemplative neuroscience.

Carolyn Cowan, Adjunct Faculty.

Erik Hesse, Adjunct Faculty. Attachment and evolution; narrative; disorganized and unclassifiable child and adult attachment status; alterations in normal consciousness as related to adverse attachment experiences; effects of frightened and frightening parental behavior.

William Prinzmetal, Adjunct Faculty. Behavior, cognition, brain, attention, psychology, visual perception.
Research Profile

Lynn Robertson, Adjunct Faculty.

Frank J. Sulloway, Adjunct Faculty. Personality development and family dynamics, especially in relation to life history and creative achievement; evolutionary psychology; biological evolution, including reproductive success, anti-predator responses, and adaptive divergence in Darwin's finches and other avian species; history of science (Darwin, Freud, and revolutionary innovations) .

Contact Information

Department of Psychology

3210 Tolman Hall

Phone: 510-642-5292

Fax: 510-642-5293

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Richard Ivry, PhD

ivry@berkeley.edu

Student Services Director

Harumi Quinones

3313 Tolman Hall

Phone: 510-642-7097

harumi@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Services Adviser

Emilie Dandan

Phone: 510-643-8114

ebdandan@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Services Adviser

Zoe Xu

Phone: 510-643-8114

zxxu@berkeley.edu

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