Duke University 2008-2009 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

208S. Seminar in Emotion (D, P). Theories of emotion, covering biological, developmental,
social, ethological, and cultural perspectives. Topics include facial and vocal expression
of emotion, individual differences in emotion development, the role of emotion in social
relationships, emotion and psychopathology, and emotion and physical health. Prerequisite:
Psychology 99 or 108 and consent of instructor. Instructor: Staff. 3 units.
214S. Motivational Approaches to Social Psychology (P). Advanced topics in the
reemerging focus in social psychology on motivation and its role in determining the nature
and consequences of self and social-regulation. Focus on research and theorizing on
differing motivations underlying social behavior (e.g., the motivations characterizing
stereotyping and prejudice as well as achievement behavior and interpersonal relationships).
Students expected to read research articles and chapters from the leading social psychology
outlets and to actively discuss the merits and limitations of this theory and research. Consent
of instructor required. Instructor: Shah. 3 units.
215S. Developmental Behavior Genetics (D). Review estimates of the contribution of
genetic and environmental variance to developmental concepts across the life span. Basic
understanding of the statistical approach to behavioral genetics. Consent of instructor
required. Instructor: Whitfield. 3 units.
216S. Gender, Pain, and Coping (P). Examination of recent research on gender differences
manifested in severity of pain, in healthcare seeking behaviors for painful conditions, and
in responses to pain management interventions such as medications or self-help efforts.
Exploration of gender-related factors, psychological, social, spiritual, cultural, and
biological, which influence responses to persistent pain. Writing intensive seminar requiring
student critiques of recent journal articles focused on sex and gender differences in the pain
experience, as well as a review paper analyzing recent research in this area. Instructor:
Keefe. 3 units.
218S. Personality, Stress, and Disease (P). The interaction between person and social
environment as a contributor to development of physical disease. Both epidemiological and
laboratory-based research considered. Prerequisite: Psychology 109A for undergraduates
and consent of instructor. Instructor: R. B. Williams. 3 units.
223S. Learning and Cognition: A Neural Network Approach (B, C). Several connectionist
theories of human and animal learning and cognition. Neural network theories of classical
conditioning; the concepts of models of the environment, prediction of future events, reliable
and salient predictors, redundancy reduction, competition for limited capacity short-term
memory, mismatch between predicted and observed events, stimulus configuration,
inference generation, modulation of attention by novelty, and timing. Neural networks of
operant conditioning; the concepts of goal-seeking mechanisms, response-selection
mechanisms, and cognitive mapping. How neural network models permit simultaneous
development of psychological theories and models of the brain. Instructor: Schmajuk. 3
units.
226S. Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory (C). Research on the neural correlates of
memory in humans. Neuropsychological studies with brain-damaged patients and
functional neuroimaging studies with healthy individuals. Cognitive neuroscience models
of memory, including episodic memory, working memory, semantic memory, priming, and
procedural memory. Prerequisite: Psychology 91 or Psychology 92 and consent of
instructor. Instructor: Cabeza. 3 units.
227S. Behavioral Physiology: Basic Systems (P). Organ systems review of physiology,
emphasizing the role of the central nervous system and behavior in physiological function.
Emphasis on the research designs, methods, and reasoning by which the physiology of
behavior is understood. Prerequisite: Psychology 91 or 159S for undergraduates and consent
of instructor. Instructor: Surwit. 3 units.
230S. Stereotypes and Stigma (P). Experimental research in stereotyping and stigma;
readings from psychology, public health, and sociological perspectives on issues related to
Courses of Instruction 253