Lectures

3 pts *No longer offered. Replaced by PSYC UN2430. 

*Students who have already taken UN1010 Mind, Brain, & Behavior should not take UN2430 as the content of the courses overlap significantly.

Description: An introduction to the biological approach to the experimental study of behavior. Includes consideration of the types of biological data relevant to psychology, as well as the assumptions and logic permitting the interpretation of biological data in psychological terms. 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2018

3 Pts. C. Marvin 

Description: UN1021 offers a broad introductory survey of psychological science, discussing relations between the brain, behavior, and experience, with regard to topics including: sensation and perception; learning, memory, language, and cognition; emotions and motivation; development, personality, health and well-being, and social behavior. The course emphasizes science as a process of discovering both new ideas and new empirical results -- and the ways in which psychological research can be used to address real-world challenges.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2021

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2021

3 pts. T. Eich 

*Students who take this course should not take UN2430 as the content of the courses overlap significantly.

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission. 

Description: How mental activities--particularly human cognitive processes--are implemented in the brain, with some emphasis on methods and findings of neuroscience. Topics include long term and working memory, attention and executive processes, concepts and categorization, decision making, and language. 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2012

3 pts. J. Metcalfe

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission. 

Description: In this course we shall investigate human memory and control. including the effects of acute stress on memory and control. 

Note: Attendance at the first class period is mandatory.

[View Syllabus] 

3 pts. 

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission.

Description: Introduction to the theories and mechanisms of attentional selection in perceptual processes. Topics include classical theories of selective attention, modern neurocognitive models, clinical impairments of attention, and the relationship between attention and time. 

3 pts. S. Shuwairi

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission. 

Description: Fundamental phenomena and mechanisms of visual and auditory perception are described and related to underlying neural processes, to developmental processes, and to sensorimotor function.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2012

3 pts. K. Fox-Glassman. 

Prerequisite: An introductory course in psychology. 

Description: Models of judgment and decision making in both certain and uncertain or risky situations, illustrating the interplay of top-down (theory-driven) and bottom-up (data-driven) processes in creating knowledge. Focus is on how individuals do and should make decisions, with some extensions to group decision making and social dilemmas.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2024

 3 pts. H. Terrace. 

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission. 

Description: A systematic review of different forms of cognition as viewed in the context of the theory of evolution. Specific topics include the application of the theory of evolution to behavior, associative learning, biological constraints on learning, methods for studying the cognitive abilities of animals, levels of representation, ecological influences on cognition, and evidence of consciousness in animals. 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2016

3 pts. M. Meyer 

Prerequisites: Science of Psychology (UN1001) or Mind, Brain, & Behavior (UN1010).

Course Overview: This course focuses on perception and cognition in social life. We start by addressing the core social motivations we experience in everyday life (e.g., our desire to feel like we belong to a group). Next, we examine how these motivations shape our basic sensory experiences—for example why we can’t help but anthropomorphize inanimate objects or enjoy holding hands with our partner. We then examine the mental strategies we use to meet our social needs, such as how we figure out other people’s thoughts and feelings, as well as our own. Finally, we wrap up by examining how these motivations, perceptions, and cognitions play out not just within one mind – but also between minds in everyday social interaction. This course will not only teach you the fundamental science behind the social mind. It will also let you see your own social life through a whole new lens.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2024

3 pts. N. Tottenham.

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the equivalent. 

Description: Introduction to the scientific study of human development, with an emphasis on psychobiological processes underlying perceptual, cognitive, and emotional development.

Note: Enrollment may be limited. Attendance at the first two class periods is mandatory. 

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2021 (Tottenham) 

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2024 (Tottenham) 

Summer Session: 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2019 (M. Crisafi) 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2020 (M. Crisafi) 

3 pts. H. Hoch

Description: Educational Psychology is a survey course that focuses on research-based concepts and
principles of human learning, development, motivation, and cognition, and how that information
is applied to the field of education. The implications of psychological theory for educational
research and practice will be discussed. Current views of educational issues in childhood will be
examined with an emphasis on the complex interaction between social, cognitive, behavioral and
societal factors involved in education.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2023

3 pts. S. Woolley 

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or a college-level biology course or instructor permission.

Description: Introduction to behavioral systems, evolution of behavioral traits, and analysis of behavior. Topics include reproductive and social behavior, mating systems, competition, cooperation, communication, learning, development and the interplay of genes and environment.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2017 (G. Jensen) 

3 pts. M. Aly

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001 The Science of Psychology, or an equivalent introductory course in psychology.

Description: This course provides an in-depth survey of data and models of a wide variety of human cognitive functions. Drawing on behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging research, the course explores the neural mechanisms underlying complex cognitive processes, such as perception, memory, and decision making. Importantly, the course examines the logic and assumptions that permit us to interpret brain activity in psychological terms.

Registration Restrictions: This course replaces PSYC UN1010 Mind, Brain & Behavior. As such, students who have already taken PSYC UN1010 Mind, Brain & Behavior should not register for this course. Students will not receive credit for both PSYC UN1010 Mind, Brain & Behavior and PSYC UN2430 Cognitive Neuroscience towards the Psychology or Neuroscience & Behavior majors.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2023

3 pts. J. Freeman 

Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 Science of Psychology

Description: This course will provide a broad overview of the field of social neuroscience. We will consider how social processes are implemented at the neural level, but also how neural mechanisms help give rise to social phenomena and cultural experiences. Many believe that the large expansion of the human brain evolved due to the complex demands of dealing with social others—competing or cooperating with them, deceiving or empathizing with them, understanding or misjudging them. What kind of “social brain” has this evolutionary past left us with? In this course, we will review core principles, theories, and methods guiding social neuroscience, as well as research examining the brain basis of processes such as theory of mind, emotion, stereotyping, social group identity, empathy, judging faces and bodies, morality, decision-making, the impact of culture and development, among others. Overall, this course will introduce students to the field of social neuroscience and its multi-level approach to understanding the brain in its social context.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2022

3 pts. M. Miozzo

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or instructor permission.

Description: Introduction to psychological research on human language and communication and to brain mechanisms supporting language processing. Topics include comprehension and production of speech sounds, words and sentences; reading and writing; bilingualism; communication behavior.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2013

3 pts. A. Spagna

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001

Description: Examines the principles governing neuronal activity, the role of neurotransmitter systems in memory and motivational processes, the presumed brain dysfunctions that give rise to schizophrenia and depression, and philosophical issues regarding the relationship between brain activity and subjective experience. 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2021 (Spagna)

Summer Session: 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2020 (E. Duman)

3 pts. C. Hart 

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the equivalent. 

Description: This course examines the use of psychoactive drugs. Importantly, we use this topic to
explore human behavior, examining the interactions between chemicals and neurons to the psychological,
behavioral, and physiological effects on the individual to the impact on society. We will touch on topics
relating to biology, pharmacology, neuroscience, chemistry, anthropology, history, law, sociology, and
political science. The effects of psychoactive drug use on the brain and on behavior will help us to
understand human behavior in a biological context; the effects of psychoactive drug use on society will help
us to understand the behavior of social and political groups and how they influence the individual.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2022

A. Spagna

Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 The Science of Psychology, or an equivalent introductory course in psychology.

Description: Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology is an intermediate-level lecture course, which explores how the analysis of lesion patterns extended across brain networks has offered invaluable insights on the relationship between brain and behavior and deepened our understanding of the causal relationships between brain lesions and their clinical consequences.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2020 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2020

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2021 

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2022 

3 pts. F. Champagne

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the instructor's permission.

Description: Brain development across the life span, with emphasis on fetal and postnatal periods. How the environment shapes brain development and hence adult patterns of behavior.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2016

3 pts. D. Amso 

Prerequisite: UN1001 or the equivalent

Description: The course will be an introduction to the science of structural and functional brain development
beginning in the prenatal period. We will cover major domains in both cognitive and social
development. This is a flipped course, where students will watch lectures online (three 55
minute lectures each week) and participate in classroom discussions and exercises (1 hour 50
minutes twice a week) with the Professor and each other when in person.

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2021
 

3 pts. L. Reed 

Prerequisites: PSYC 1001 or equivalent 

Description: Is it not reasonable to anticipate that our understanding of the human mind would be aided greatly by knowing the purpose for which it was designed?” (Williams, 1999, p. 16). Traditional psychologists have focused primarily on answering “how?” questions regarding the mechanisms that underlie behavior (i.e. How does the system work?). In contrast, evolutionary psychologists focus primarily on answering ultimate, or “why?” questions (i.e. Why does this system exist, and why does it have the form it does?). This course is designed to apply our knowledge of evolutionary theory to psychology in order to answer such questions

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2019

3 pts. E. McCaskill.

Prerequisite: An introductory psychology course. 

Description: An examination of definitions, theories, and treatments of abnormal behavior.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2019 (E. McCaskill)

Summer: 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2019 (K. Hebert)

3 pts. Higgins 

Description: Surveys important methods, findings, and theories in the study of social influences on behavior. Emphasizes different perspectives on the relation between individuals and society.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2020 (T. Higgins)

Summer Session: 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2020 (J. Feinberg) 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2019 (J. Feinberg) 

3 pts. J. Feinberg 

Course Description: Study of behavior in organizational and business-related settings. Examination of such topics as employee motivation and satisfaction, communication patterns, effective leadership strategies, and organization development.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2023 (J. Feinberg) 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2024 (J. Feinberg)

3 pts. L, Heiphetz

Prerequisite: An introductory psychology course or instructor's permission. 

Description: An introduction to basic concepts in social cognition. Topics include attribution theory (how we explain our own and other's behavior), social categories and schema (social perception and stereotyping), the social self (the development and maintenance of a self-concept), attention and consciousness, person memory, affect and cognition, and social inference, among others. 

[View Syllabus] - Summer 2021

3 pts. L. Solomon 

Prerequisites: An introductory psychology course.
Description: An introduction to basic concepts in moral psychology. Topics include controversies around the definition of morality, bedrocks of moral thought and behavior, and connections between morality and other areas of life, among other subjects.

View Syllabus-Spring 2024

3 pts. V. Purdie Greenaway.

Prerequisites: Although there are no proper prerequisites, some basic knowledge of social psychology is desirable 

Description: A comprehensive examination of how culture and diversity shape psychological processes. The class will explore psychological and political underpinnings of culture and diversity, emphasizing social psychological approaches. Topics include culture and social cognition, group and identity formation, psychology of multiculturalism, stereotyping, prejudice, and gender. Applications to real-world phenomena discussed.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2016

3 Pts. M. Naft 

Prerequisites: An introductory course in psychology is required to enroll in the course. Students seeking an exemption from this general requirement should contact me before or during the first week of class.

Description: This course seeks to (1) illuminate the psychological pathways through which stigma impacts members of devalued social groups, and (2) investigate the mechanisms through which interventions at different levels of an ecological system either succeed or fail. The course broadly considers identity devaluation, discrimination, and exclusion as general processes that apply to a range of social categories and status characteristics, including sexual orientation, obesity, mental illness, racial and ethnic identity, physical disability, immigration status, and having a criminal record. Conceptualizing stigma as a multi-level construct, we will focus on both psychological and structural mechanisms through which stigma harms its targets and contributes to population-level inequalities. 

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2022

3 pts. J. Curley

Prerequisite: PSYC UN1001, or the equivalent.

Description: This lecture course introduces students to the study of typical human social development with a particular focus on genetic, familial and peer influences on the development of social behaviors during early childhood.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2016 

3 pts. S. Lutz

Prerequisite: An introductory psychology course. 

Description: Exploration of social, emotional, and moral development in children and adolescents, and consideration of the interactive influence of biology, culture, and social context on development. Particular attention to cultural context and current research, as well as interdisciplinary insights.

[View Syllabus] - Fall 2013

4 pts G. Downey & A. Sorett

Prerequisites: An introductory course in psychology, sociology, African American studies, Human rights, or political science is recommended but not required. Permission of instructor required.

Description: Frontiers of Justice is designed to encourage students and equip them with the skills to become active and effective “Change Agents” within their academic institutions and larger communities. Oriented by the question, What does justice look like?, this course aims to raise political and social awareness and engagement with the challenges facing New York City and strengthen ties between Columbia University, disadvantaged communities, and city government agencies and community organizations. Through sharing ideas about how to make structural and systemic change in ways that integrate science, law, politics, history, narrative and community engagement, the course is intended to support students in working to break down racial and ethnic barriers and toward a more fair and just society.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2021

3 pts. C. Marvin. 

Description: Attention, perception, memory, executive function, decision-making – we often learn about these processes and more in isolation. But these cognitive processes occur in context, influencing and being influenced by our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, and by the social and societal structures in which we live.

Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001, PSYC UN1021, or equivalent introductory psychology course.

Role in the Psychology Curriculum:

This course can be used to fulfill the following requirements:

●          For the Neuroscience & Behavior major, this course can fulfill the P4 Additional 2000-level lecture course requirement

●          For the Psychology major or concentration, this course can be used to fulfill the Special Elective or additional elective course requirement. With permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, this course can also be used to fulfill the Group 1 Perception & Cognition requirement.

●          For the Postbaccalaureate certificate program in Psychology, this course can be used to fulfill the elective requirement. With permission from the program director, this course could also be used to fulfill the Group 1 Perception & Cognition requirement.

[View Syllabus] - Spring 2022