Definitions of requisites for enrolment
- Antirequisite: When two courses are listed as antirequisites, this means that there is too much overlap between the two courses to allow credit towards the degree for both courses.
- Corequisite: A course that is named as a corequisite for another course must be taken before or at the same time as the course for which it is listed as the corequisite.
- Prerequisite: A course that must be successfully completed before taking the current requested course.
Enrolment in honours seminars
Check our Psychology Course Offerings website to see what topics will be offered each term.
Review the expanded course descriptions and requisites for enrolment in honours seminars:
PSYCH 420: An Introduction to Computational Neuroscience Research Methods
An Introduction to Computational Neuroscience Research Methods
Instructor: Britt Anderson
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 420 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded Course Description
Computational neuroscience uses mathematical and computational methods to develop, explore, and test theories and models in neuroscience.
Intended audience for this course: students with computational training, but limited knowledge of neuroscience and psychology, or students from psychology with limited computational or mathematical training.
This course is intended to give students from both backgrounds an introduction to the computational material and how they can be used to address psychological and neuroscience topics. The course involves a gentle series of computational and programming exercises. Some of the early work is done with spreadsheet based exercises, but the goal is to gradually move to some beginning programming with the Python programming language. While this expectation can create some hesitancy, several prior offerings have demonstrated that all Psychology students can excel if they are willing to commit to learning this increasingly important skill. There is ample instructor support for this process. Students already comfortable with a particular computer programming language are free to use that. If you want more detail regarding the level of difficulty of PSYCH 420, please see student comments provided below as well as contact the instructor.
Final projects are planned and will represent a significant contribution to the final grade.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: PSYCH 363 Computing and Psychological Research or knowledge of this content; Level at least 3A Honours Psychology students or permission of instructor, Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Antirequisite: PSYCH 463 taken Winter 2009 and Winter 2010
Student comments regarding PSYCH 420
This course is not as scary as it sounds! I do not know any computer languages nor did I take any math courses in university, but Dr. Anderson was extremely helpful in making sure everyone understood the concepts. I took this course only because Dr. Anderson was teaching it. He is always willing to help and is able to communicate very complicated material in a way that non-math students can understand. The material of the course also gave me a completely different perspective and approach to psychology research not taught in other courses.
- Cynthia
This course is great for people of different experience levels, from those with no programming or math background to those who have dabbled in them before. Dr. Anderson tailors the course to individual experience levels and provides an excellent mix of lecture, discussion and hands on experience. He also makes sure to be available to aid students with conceptual or programming questions. The course material is presented in a very straightforward and easy to understand manner. I would highly recommend this course for students who have an interest in the area but are uncertain of exactly what it is or how they can be involved in it.
- Neethan
"The true benefit of PSYCH 420 is exposing students to the different ways of thinking present in modern neuroscience. Those in psychology and biology are exposed to methods of quantification and computation which have exploded, in the last couple of decades, in the theoretical neuroscience field. Those in computer science and mathematics are given an informative introduction on scientific concepts and experimental results. All of this is gently introduced, and students are permitted to use Excel to complete all the assignments. However, Britt (and I) encourage students to start to learning, or relearning, that programming language that they have been putting off. I also thoroughly enjoyed the historical lessons in the course, such as those on cell pioneers Hodgkin and Huxley. The textbook being written by Professor Anderson is an excellent supplement (and extension) to the course material."
Lawrence
PSYCH 453: Being Bilingual
Honours seminar in developmental psychology
Specific topic: Being bilingual
Instructor: Katherine White
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 453 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Learning even a single language is a monumental task. Yet, while most research on how people acquire and use language focuses on monolinguals, the majority of the world's population speaks (or signs) more than one language.
In this seminar we will explore the complexities of multilingualism. Some of the questions asked will include:
- In what ways does the developmental course of bilingual acquisition differ from or parallel the acquisition of a single language?
- How separate or interdependent are a bilingual's two languages?
- How does the brain process and handle multiple languages?
- Does learning more than one language have effects outside of the language system itself, affecting other aspects of our cognition?
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 211, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology; Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 453: Cognitive Development
Honours seminar in developmental psychology
Specific topic: Cognitive Development
Instructor: Ori Friedman
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 453 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
This class will explore current research on cognitive development in early childhood. Topics will likely include young children’s understanding of people’s mental states (“theory of mind”), morality, social relations, possibility and probability, number, and executive functioning. We will also review different theories of how children form and update concepts.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 211, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology; Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 453: Language Development and Social Inequality
Honours seminar in developmental psychology
Specific topic: Language Development and Social Inequality
Instructor: Daniela O'Neill
Enrolment limit: 20
See the PSYCH 453 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
What factors impact children’s language development, both positively and negatively, among children growing up in more socially and economically inequitable situations? This is the question we will explore in depth in this course via readings in relevant fields and projects that will allow you to think these issues from a more applied and experiential perspective. The challenge of accounting for differences in early language ability observed among children is extremely complex. Whether the differences found in research studies are best interpreted as individual differences, differences in styles of talk, differences due to parental attitudes and beliefs, and/or differences due to socio-economic inequity are issues that have provoked much discussion and disagreement. But the issue of why some children lag far behind other children with respect to language development, particularly upon the age of school entry, is of great importance in many countries around the world â especially those that seek to assure that all children receive the best start they can to benefit from formal education and develop to their full potential. Via several in-depth projects conducted individually or in groups, topics explored will include seminal and recent work investigating child and parent-child interactions in different socio-economic and cultural groups; examination of variables such as parental education level and SES and their impact; discussion of different theoretical approaches to explain variability observed among children; and the differences between the language of home and school.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 211, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology; Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 455: Psychology of Men
Honours seminar in social psychology
Specific topic: Psychology of Men
Instructor: Chris Burris
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 455 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
This seminar is intended as an interactive, research-based exploration of the interplay of physical, cognitive-emotional, and social-relational facets of men’s lived experiences, mindful of how diversity and challenges shape these experiences.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: PSYCH 253; Level at least 3A Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 457: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Honours Seminar in Personality and Clinical Psychology.
Specific Topic: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Instructor: Tara McAuley
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 457 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is arguably one of the most controversial and poorly understood disorders of neurodevelopment. This course will provide students with an in-depth examination of basic research and applied science that is relevant to understanding ASD, which will be accomplished via the integration of readings, in-class discussion, and knowledge translation activities. The course will begin with an historical overview of ASD and will then delve into specific topics including etiological factors, clinical assessment, brain and neuropsychological development, conventional vs. alternative treatments, and long-term prognosis.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 257/257R, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 457: Depression
Honours Seminar in Clinical Psychology.
Specific Topic: Depression
Instructor: Pamela Seeds
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 457 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
This course will expose students to contemporary research and controversies in the area of depression by examining primary empirical and review articles from leading researchers in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. Initially, we will discuss ways of conceptualizing major depressive disorder. The course will then focus on cognitive, social, and biological theories of the etiology and maintenance of depression. We will also discuss several empirically-supported treatment approaches, including cognitive behavioural therapy, pharmacotherapy, and behavioural activation.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 257, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 457: Social Anxiety and the Self
Honours Seminar in Personality and Clinical Psychology.
Specific Topic: Social Anxiety and the Self
Instructor: David Moscovitch
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 457 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
This course is a senior undergraduate seminar course focused on the topic of social anxiety and the self. Students will engage with the research literature on this topic from multiple perspectives in clinical psychology. Collaborative class discussion and curiosity-driven critical reading, thinking, and writing will be emphasized. This course is designed to strengthen students’ skills in developing research questions, articulating and sharing ideas, and deepening knowledge of clinical models of social anxiety and the self, with practical application to clinical assessment and intervention for social anxiety disorder..
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 257/257R, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 458: Economic Decision Making
Honours Seminar in Cognition
Specific Topic: Economic Decision Making
Instructor: Derek Koehler
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 458 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Throughout our lives we are faced with difficult economic decisions, both major (selecting a pension plan) and minor (buying a television). How do people make such decisions, and are there ways in which their decisions could be improved? Psychologists and economists have developed an increasingly sophisticated and influential depiction of the processes by which people make choices under conditions of uncertainty and conflicting objectives. This research field is sometimes referred to as behavioural economics.
This seminar provides a survey of recent research on the psychology of economic decision making, with an emphasis on the ways in which people's financial decisions systematically deviate from those expected under a 'rational', economic analysis.
Each week we will read and discuss three original research articles on a common topic, with a focus on generating new research ideas based on the work reported in the articles.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 207, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 458: Evolutionary Medicine
Honours Seminar in Cognition
Topic: Evolutionary Medicine
Instructor: Jennifer Stolz
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 458 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Just as the environmental pressures that our ancestors faced influenced the evolution of our physical form, human behaviour can also be viewed through the lens of evolutionary adaptations.
In this seminar, we will consider how adaptations in our ancestral history affect our health, both physical and mental. We will evaluate how contemporary circumstances may be at odds with evolved adaptations in our ancestral history and as a result constitute a source of many medical and psychological problems.
Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to, diet and exercise, sources of infection and immunity, sleep patterns and the photo period, recreational drug use, cosmetic enhancements, breeding patterns, mate choice, the use of birth control, and various other reproductive issues.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 207, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 458: Moral Psychology
Honours Seminar in Cognition
Specific Topic: Moral Psychology
Instructor: Sam Johnson
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 458 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Human morality is a puzzle. On the one hand, we have sharp intuitions about how to treat others, how others treat us, and even how others should treat each other. Yet, this sits uneasily with our understanding of evolution by natural selection: How could altruistic individuals prevail in an evolutionary contest against mercenary maximizers, doggedly pursuing their self-interest? Examining the puzzle of human morality has been one of the great interdisciplinary success stories of cognitive science in recent years, with a variety of important ideas not only from various areas of psychology - cognitive, social, affective, neuroscientific, and developmental - but many adjacent disciplines including evolutionary biology, economics, and anthropology. We will read papers from all of these perspectives, focusing both on how and why we behave morally (or fail to do so) and on how we evaluate the morality of others. Sessions will be organized around student-led discussions of original research articles and proposals for research studies.
Requirements for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 207, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology, Psych average of 74% or higher
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 459: Close Relationships
Honours seminar in close relationships
Instructor: Cam Smith
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 459 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
As human beings, we all share a fundamental need for connection. The relationships we enjoy with our close friends and loved ones represent the most meaningful of these connections. This course will explore the processes involved in forming, developing, and maintaining such connections. Students will review classic theories and new developments in the areas of attraction, self-disclosure, trust, power, intimacy, communication, and conflict. We will also discuss empirically-supported best practices for building and maintaining strong, healthy relationships.
Requisites for enrolment
-
Prerequisites:(PSYCH 354/354R) or (PSYCH 253/253R and SMF 306); enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-Up Psychology; Psych average at least 74%.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391.
- Antirequisites: PSYCH 448R; PSYCH 455 taken winter 2015.
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 461: Classic Cases in Human Neuropsychology
Honours seminar in cognitive neuroscience
Specific topic: Classic cases in Human Neuropsychology
Instructor: James Danckert
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 461 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
Understanding how the brain controls behaviour has relied on detailed examination of rare and unusual cases of brain damage. In this course we will explore some of the classic cases that have propelled our understanding of the brain forward. From patient H.M., who can no longer form new memories, to the rare and bizarre cases of foreign accent syndrome - patients who present with a foreign accent for a language they do not speak after suffering a stroke! From these cases we developed some of the most important and long-lasting models of human behaviour. We will ask in this course, how far have we come since?
Quote from a student who took this course/topic previously:
"This class gave me the opportunity to go beyond the information found in textbooks and explore the research that makes cognitive neuroscience so important to psychology. This is a great class for anyone interested in the brain and its interaction with cognition."
Alex Filipowicz
Requisites for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 261, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 461: Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
Honours seminar in cognitive neuroscience
Specific topic: Cognitive Neuroscience of memory
Instructor: Myra Fernandes
Enrolment limit: 25
See the PSYCH 461 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded description
Memory is intimately involved in most, if not all, domains of human cognition, from the ability to temporarily remember a phone number to the acquisition of language, to defining who we are. This course will consider the cognitive and neural organization of memory, the basis of remembering and forgetting, and the nature of false memories, with an emphasis on the consequences of brain changes associated with normal and pathological aging. Throughout, cognitive theory and behavioural evidence will be integrated with data from neuropsychology and functional brain imaging. By reviewing and discussing classic and current research using these methods, and their findings, students will develop an understanding of how cognitive neuroscience informs current theories of memory function.
Requisites for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 261, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology; Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
PSYCH 461: Face Processing, Social Cognition
Honours seminar in cognitive neuroscience
Specific topic: Face Processing, Social Cognition
Instructor: Roxane Itier
Enrolment limit: 20
See the PSYCH 461 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded course description
We encounter people every day of our lives and the cues we extract from their face shape our social behaviour. For example you behave differently with your professor than with your best friend, or with someone looking distressed than with someone looking ready to jump at you. Successfully decoding the human face is central to navigating appropriately our social environment and relies on complex brain networks that can go awry or simply break down as seen in Autism Spectrum disorders or prosopagnosia. This course will consider the cognitive and brain basis of face processing and its links to social cognition, including the recognition of face identity, facial expressions of emotion, gaze perception and social attention. We will take a multidisciplinary approach and integrate classic and more recent data from several neuroimaging techniques, cognitive theories and behavioural evidence, neuropsychology and clinical disorders. Students will develop an understanding of how cognitive neuroscience informs current theories of socio-cognitive perceptual functions and get a better idea of what the fascinating social brain is all about
Requisites for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 261, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.
PSYCH 461: Virtual Reality and Cyberpsychology
Honours seminar in Cognitive Neuroscience
Specific topic: Virtual Reality and Cyberpsychology
Instructor: Colin Ellard
Enrolment limit = 25
See the PSYCH 461 course description in the undergraduate calendar.
Expanded description
The new technologies of virtual and augmented reality are beginning to show their potential to exert widespread impact on human behaviour. The ability to generate high-fidelity simulations of “real life” not only provides us with a potent new set of tools for psychological experimentation, but may also transform the way that we understand physical reality and conduct human relationships. In this course, we will begin with a brief exploration of the technologies used to generate virtual environments (including some hands-on exploration in the laboratory). We will then explore the wider implications of this technology by examining the work of thought leaders such as Jaron Lanier and Jeremy Bailenson. Finally we will look in detail at some case studies that show the contributions of VR and AR to the conduct of psychological science.
Requisites for enrolment
- Prerequisites: all of PSYCH 261, 291, 292; enrolment in Honours Psychology or Make-up Psychology; Psych average of 74% or higher.
- Corequisite: PSYCH 391
See priority enrolment for honours seminars.