University of Toronto

Courses and Timetable 2015-2016

Fall Term (September 14 – December 4, 2015)

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

FALL TERM (September 14 to December 4, 2015)

PSY1000HF Directed Studies Instructors: Faculty
Under the direction of a two-person committee, students in the M.A. year will (a) complete a programme of prescribed reading in their general area of specialization (b) prepare a major paper, which will include a proposal for M.A. thesis research (c) defend the paper to the satisfaction of the two-person committee. 

PSY1200HF Introduction to functional magnetic resonance imaging for cognitive neuroscience Instructor: Lee
This course is for those with limited or no knowledge of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We will cover some of the basic principals of this methodology including MR physics, experimental design, data preprocessing, statistical analysis, and results reporting. There will be opportunities to design your own experiment, analyse sample data, and consider some of the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of fMRI.

PSY2001HF General Linear Model Instructor: Cunningham
This course is designed to introduce the student to the General Linear Model and two of its most common expression: Analysis of Variance and Multiple Regression. Additionally, student we be asked to familiarize themselves with some of the current theoretical issues in realm of data analysis itself, e.g., the value of testing the null hypothesis.

PSY5112HF Sex Differences in Brain and Behaviour Instructor: Einstein
This course will engage with the historic and contemporary literature in the field of Hormones and Behaviour following the development of the field from Beach’s early rodent studies to current studies using brain imaging to identify differences in female, male, gay, straight, and transgendered human brains. Primarily dealing with central nervous system anatomy and its relationship to sexually dimorphic behaviours, this course emphasizes the role of steroid hormones and experience in shaping differences in behaviour, cognition, and identity. In following this field into the present, students will gain an appreciation for changing norms in research, how a field of scientific knowledge develops, what is known about sex differences in the brain, and the role of steroid hormones in shaping cognition, mental health, and neurological disorders. Students will present papers in the text as well as of their own choosing.

PSY5203HF Higher Cognition: Cognitive Neuroscience Instructor: Moscovitch
The core course in cognitive neuroscience will cover a variety of functions, including memory, attention, face and object-recognition, spatial cognition, language, emotion and consciousness, as well as touch on topics in social cognition such as theory of mind, decision making and empathy. Evidence for the involvement of specific brain areas in these functions from human lesion and neuroimaging studies will be addressed. A brief overview of brain anatomy and neuroimaging techniques will be included.

PSY5204HF Attention and action: Then and Now: Pratt
This seminar will examine current research in the areas of visual attention and action (motor control) in the context of some of the classic research papers in the respective fields. The topics covered in include attentional capture, attentional control sets, inhibition of return, the gap effect, action-based attention, object-based attention, and component submovements of rapid aimed limb movements. 

PSY5305HF Socialization Across the Life Span: Grusec
Whenever individuals join a new group they must take on the attitudes, beliefs, and values of that group in order to fit in. Socialization is the process whereby new group members are assisted by older group members in this acquisition. Most of our knowledge of the socialization process comes from research on parenting and children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. However, there is a growing literature on socialization during adolescence, early adulthood, and old age, as well as in the work place. Additionally, we are discovering more about the role of teachers, siblings, peers, media, the internet, and cultural institutions in socialization. We will consider features of this diverse literature, including the evolutionary, genetic, neurological, and physiological underpinnings of the socialization process.

PSY5310HF Neuroimaging of Development Instructor: Mabbott
The brain undergoes significant structural and functional growth during childhood and adolescence. This growth is linked to the development of cognitive, social, and emotional functions. Various neuroimaging techniques allow the in vivo study of brain maturation and experience dependent brain plasticity from infancy through to adulthood. Current research in this emerging field will be presented, with a focus on the relations between brain growth and cognitive development The course will include the presentation of a range of neuroimaging methods including MRI (e.g., fMRI, DTI, MTI, volumetric), EEG, and MEG and how neuroimaging can be used to inform our understanding of development in normal children and those with neurological compromise.

PSY5311HF The Intersubjective Mind: Haley
How do relationships influence the development and regulation of subjectivity from infancy onward? Focusing particularly on infant relationships and mental health, but also considering development across the lifespan, this course will review work on intersubjectivity, drawing on texts from developmental science, psychoanalysis, ancient literature, philosophy, feminism, and social criticism. Throughout, students will have the opportunity to integrate the course material and reflect on its implications for parenting, education, therapy, and society.

PSY4700HF Psychological Testing and Assessment I (requires CLEX approval): Katz
The Goals of This Course:
1. To introduce graduate students to the identification of the criteria for recognized psychiatric disorders and to develop assessment techniques to determine, assess and implement these criteria. Emphasis will be placed on the identification of psychiatric disorders as identified by the DSM model of classification.
2. To introduce students to a set of memory, intellectual and personality assessment techniques and to help them to build a proficiency in the administration and scoring of these instruments. Students will develop a working knowledge of the Wechsler Memory Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. They will also become familiar with the administration, scoring and interpretation of personality assessment tests such as the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).
3. The evaluation of the properties of assessment tools is an important part of this course. The research project involves looking at the properties of assessment tools for particular psychological disorders and developing a critical evaluation of what is currently available for treatment planning and outcome assessment and how, in the student’s opinion, the tools might be improved.

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SPRING TERM (January 11 to April 8, 2016) 

PSY1500HS Philosophy of Psychology as a Social Science: Tafarodi
Despite the prescriptive claims of scientific unitarians from J. S. Mill to E. O. Wilson, the discipline of psychology continues to walk on two legs as both a natural and a social science. This course addresses key metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical questions concerning the second leg -- psychology as a social science. What is social reality? How does it relate to agency and intentionality? What does it mean to explain human action? How do and should causality, prediction, laws, reasons, and interpretation figure in social scientific explanation? Can naturalist and interpretive approaches to understanding social life be reconciled? What is the place of values in social inquiry? To what extent does studying the social world legitimate or challenge it? What are the ethical implications of this for the social scientist? Finally, do responses to the above questions point to any essential differences between natural and social science? Guided by classic and contemporary readings in philosophy of science, students will be encouraged to develop their own positions on the issues examined and test out these positions in class discussion. The result, it is hoped, will be as many distinct perspectives as there are students enrolled.

PSY2002HS Multivariate Statistical Inference Instructor: McIntosh

The course will cover both conceptual and technical links between various traditional multivariate statistical methods, such as MANOVA, discriminant analysis, factor analysis and canonical correlation, with an emphasis on their derivation from the general linear model. Extensions to causal and predictive modeling will also be covered. The assumption is that students will have had at least one upper level statistics course (e.g., PSY2001) and be familiar with basic matrix algebra. Course evaluation will be based on short lab assignments, a take-home midterm exam and final term paper.

PSY3001HS Research Ethics and Survival Skills: Ferber
This course will deal with issues surrounding ethical conduct in research, intellectual property, ethical treatment of data, identifying and dealing with scientific misconduct. In addition, we will discuss how to prepare effective presentations, how to apply for scholarships, postdoctoral positions and/or jobs (academic and non-academic). These are all skills which will help you in writing your PhD proposal. Members of the Department with expertise in particular areas (e.g., journal editors, members of granting councils, people fresh from the job market) will contribute. Primary requirements are participating in class discussions and completing occasional short written pieces on the required readings.

PSY5101HS The neurobiology of engrams Instructor: Frankland
Memories are thought to be encoded as enduring physical changes, or ‘engrams’, in the brain. Karl Lashley was among the first to use an empirical systematic approach in an attempt to localize an engram. Famously, his search proved unsuccessful, and his conclusion—that the engram is elusive—became widely influential. From today’s perspective, we appreciate that this elusivity is, at least in part, due to the sparse, distributed and dynamic nature of memory representations in the brain, making engrams challenging to identify and ‘pin down’ using traditional neuroscientific methods. However, new mouse genetic tools have recently been developed which provide unprecedented opportunities to visualize and manipulate defined brain regions and specific cell populations. The goal of this course is to discuss to what extent these contemporary studies have brought us closing to finding the engram. In the first part of the course we will cover recent studies that have sought to observe, erase and artificially express engrams in mice. In the second part of the course we will focus on the dynamic nature of engrams and, in particular, we will discuss studies that have characterized how consolidation processes may lead to changes in engram strength, quality and physical/chemical organization.

PSY5110HS The Human Frontal Lobes: Levine
The frontal lobes mediate high-level mental processes involved in the control of cognition, behaviour, and emotion. They are also implicated in numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders. This seminar course will explore human frontal lobe function from neuropsychological, cognitive, and neuroimaging perspectives, emphasizing network systems and clinical syndromes, including case presentations. The format will be a combination of student presentations of classic and contemporary research literature and lectures. Marks will be based on a major paper, reaction papers, and participation. Prerequisites include a background in brain anatomy and cognitive psychology.

PSY5111HS Drugs, Neurotransmitters and Behaviour: Fletcher
Most psychoactive drugs produce their behavioural effects by altering the functioning of brain neurotransmitter systems. Alterations in these same transmitter systems may underlie psychiatric disorders (e.g. addiction and schizophrenia). This course will examine selected topics related to neurochemical theories of psychiatric disorders, and the mechanisms of action of psychoactive drugs (both therapeutic and recreational). In covering these topics we will consider experimental work conducted at the preclinical level (using laboratory animals) as well as in humans.

PSY5121HS Animal Behaviour Genetics: Gerlai
The course will examine modern genetic approaches utilized in the analysis of brain function and behaviour. It will discuss reverse and forward genetic methods, the principles and applications of the latest recombinant DNA techniques.

PSY5205HS Theories of Memory: Ryan
This course will cover prominent theories regarding the nature of memory, and the empirical support for and against each theory. This course will cover readings from William James to the present day to illustrate the evolution of ideas regarding representations, processes and systems. The course will review evidence derived from behavioral and neuroimaging work with non-human animals, neuropsychological and neurologically-intact populations.

PSY5220HS Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience: Finn
This course will ask how changes in the developing brain can influence theories of cognitive development. We will ask whether and how methods in human neuroscience can help our understanding of cognitive development. To this end, we will explore the utility of human cognitive neuroscience methods in pediatric populations. We will then ask how these methods, and neuroscience more broadly, can inform classic debates about 1) the role of nature versus nurture, and 2) how neural plasticity influences developmental change in variety cognitive domains. These areas will include perception, object representation, navigation, number, concepts, memory, executive function, categories, language, and social cognition among others. This course will ask how findings in developmental cognitive neuroscience can, do, and/or should influence medicine, education and the law.

PSY5221HS The Psychology of Reading: Daneman
The primary purpose of this seminar course is to expose students to an in-depth examination of the leading theories and experimental findings in the psychology of reading. The course will cover various topics concerning the reading processes and their acquisition. Such topics include perceptual processes in reading, reading comprehension and recall, learning to read, individual differences in reading skills, and reading disabilities.

PSY5303HS The Psychology of Music: Trehub
The course (seminar format) will focus on cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of music processing, with special attention to developmental perspectives. We will also consider cross-cultural perspectives, ideas about the origins of music, claims of near- and far-transfer of musical skills, and music-related skills in other species.

PSY5431HS The Psychology of Human Sexuality: MacDonald
Sexuality is a topic of growing interest in psychology. Although sexual selection is arguably the strongest driver of human evolution and the management of sexual needs is deeply intertwined with cultural practices, psychology has left many fundamental questions regarding human sexuality largely unanswered. This course will survey multiple issues including sexual orientation, sexual attraction, short and long term sexual relationships, sexual fantasy, and paraphilias. If you intend to take the course and there is a topic not listed here you would like to see included, please let me know.

PSY4701HS Psychological Testing and Assessment II (requires CLEX approval): Murphy
This course will examine the field of neuropsychological assessment, including the psychological effects of specific neurological diseases and syndromes. Students are expected to gain an understanding of and a proficiency in use of specialized neuropsychological test instruments e.g., tests of memory, attention, language, constructional abilities, and concept formation. Ethical and professional issues specific to neuropsychology will be discussed. The prerequisites are graduate courses in Neuropsychology and Neuroanatomy, and PSY4700H (Psychological Testing and Assessment I).

PSY4706HS Human Brain Neuroanatomy (requires co-coordinator's approval), Co-ordinator: Moscovitch
The course consists of lectures in human brain neuroanatomy and function, dissection of the human brain under the guidance demonstrators, individual study time in the laboratory in which students become familiar with the structures. The readings for the course include a lab manual. The students are expected to learn to identify the structures of the human brain and to know their function. At the end of the lab and lecture portion of the course, students are required to present a lecture on the neuroanatomical underpinnings of the psychological function on which they are conducting their research.

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