PSYCH 470: Applied Topics in Psychology course descriptions

This course is designed as a capstone experience for psychology majors who would like to learn how some of the principles of psychology can be applied to complex real-world problems. Psychological concepts and techniques have played a functional role in the development of our modern technical systems, and by all estimates will continue to do so in the future. This course will be divided into four main sections. First, we will develop our historical perspective on current applications, (e.g., the scientific study of time and motion; Taylorism) and how these ‘Scientific Management’ techniques evolved into Human Factors, and eventually Cognitive Ergonomics. Second, we will investigate some of the major applications and successes of this branch of psychology in the 20^th century. Third, we will explore the modern landscape: UX-Design, Human Computer Interaction, Human Factors, and other overlapping domains. Finally, we will conclude our studies with the exploration of possible futures, based on current theories, technologies, and trends. Virtualization, Augmented Cognition, Cybersecurity, Modelling, AR/VR applications in the workplace, remote work, AI/Human teams, etc. This last section offers the opportunity for creative investigation of some emerging technologies and applications.

Social behaviour is governed largely by expectations about right and wrong. This course focuses on both the basic science of moral psychology and on its applications to real-world contexts. From the basic science perspective, we will consider theories and evidence concerning how morality evolved, develops in childhood, regulates social interaction, and is computed by the mind. From the applied perspective, potential topics include legal decision-making, business and marketing, workplace behaviour, and societal polarization and change. Sessions will be organized around a combination of student-led discussions of original research articles and proposals for how to apply this knowledge in the real-world.

Although still underutilized, evolutionary approaches are increasingly gaining favour in the social sciences because they offer a unique and useful perspective on human cognition, emotion, and behaviour. When evolutionary theory is applied to mental and physical illness, however, an interesting question arises: Given that pathologies are heritable (there is a nontrivial underlying genetic component) and that they have a significant negative impact on fitness (decrease survival and reproduction) why do pathologies persist in the population? In other words, why has natural selection failed to remove genes that contribute to physical and mental disease?

The internet democratized access to information. Social networks make it easier for people to inform and be informed (of the content algorithms delivered to each user), and messaging applications allow individuals to spread information to a mass audience with a single click. Unreliable sources and misperceptions, amplified by the speed of the internet, can play a pivotal role in our lives, from the outcome of an election to controlling the spread of a virus. How can we fight misinformation in a polarized society of influencers and fake profiles empowered by social networks? In this course, we will explore the phenomenon of misinformation and how it impacts the pandemic response, review literature on attitudes and persuasion, identify the challenges of legal coercion versus voluntary compliance, and outline strategies to fight misinformation and stop the spread of COVID-19.

Motivation is a multifaceted construct, encompassing a variety of underlying processes that initiate, direct, and maintain human behaviour. This course will explore classic and contemporary perspectives on human motivation and emotion, including physiological, psychological, and social perspectives, to explore how motivational principles can explain human behaviour. Further, we will explore the application of these principles to a number of social contexts, including prejudice, love, and intimacy.

[Antirequisite: PSYCH 363 Spring 2019]

This course reviews social psychological theory and research on intergroup relations: how groups of people and people from different groups interact. It examines stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, weight, or sexual prejudice) from both majority and minority perspectives. It also discusses implications for promoting intergroup trust, reducing inequality, and resolving real-world conflict.

[Antirequisite: PSYCH 355]

Corequisite: PSYCH 320 (students must have already taken PSYCH 320 or take it concurrently with this PSYCH 470 section)

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 – 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.

With so much going on in their environments, how do young children learn about the world around them? In this course, we will explore learning and decision-making during infancy and early childhood. We will consider the ways children learn from their own observations and how they glean information from others. We will explore how children’s memory and executive functions contribute to variation within and across age groups. We will also consider how aspects of their environment affect these outcomes.

This course addresses planning, motivation, communication, information exchange, influence, relationships, emotion, and reaching objectives in a diverse array of interdependent decision making contexts. Topics include distributive and integrative negotiations, coalitions, negotiating on teams, dispute resolution, and multi-party negotiations.

[Antirequisite: PSYCH 439]

This offering’s domain is organizational change and development, and organizational functioning more broadly. Accordingly the course examines models and theories of organizations, along with psychological theories (concerning motivation, group process, and so forth) that play out in organizations. Consulting practice that draws on these concepts is also covered, presented in terms of key stages of the consulting process.

Although healthy intimate relationships offer a wide range of positive effects, including increased life satisfaction and improved physical and mental health, maintaining positive interpersonal bonds is an elusive goal for many individuals. In this course, we will examine two influential theories that describe mechanisms by which intimate relationships become distressed - attachment theory and interpersonal theory. We will examine how these theories are applied to address real-world relational difficulties, such as communication problems in romantic relationships, family violence, and intergenerational experiences of trauma. Students will get hands-on training in applying psychological theories to interpersonal problems and will investigate the challenges of translating basic research to effective psychological interventions.

As human beings, we are social by nature. We spend a considerable amount of time interacting and communicating with one another, and forming relationships. In order to do so successfully, we need to have a good understanding of the social world and the people in it. This Psych 363 course will examine theory and research in social cognitive development. We will look at children’s knowledge of the social world and their understanding of other people’s mental states and behaviours. We will explore topics such as morality, theory of mind, fairness, and other topics within social cognition.

[Antirequisite: PSYCH 363 Winter 2020]

As cities become more complex and dense, there is increasing recognition that good urban design is vitally important to public health, including our mental health. The new interdisciplinary field of urban psychology is devoted to understanding how to build cities that support good psychological health. In the emerging post-COVID world, these principles have never been more important. All over the world, designers, architects, city planners and health professionals are struggling to understand how to reconstruct a world that is more resilient to public health emergencies. In this course, we will work collaboratively with urban design and architectural professionals both locally from the city of Kitchener and from the international design community to develop psychologically grounded post-COVID plans for workspaces, public and institutional spaces, commercial environments and the streets. We will work collaboratively on projects that will include literature reviews in urban psychology, study and analysis of planning and design documents, virtual field visits, and a final online presentation to a variety of local and international stakeholders, which outlines recommendations based on psychological principles. This course should be of interest to anyone with an interest in cities and urbanism and a desire to put into action ideas and methods developed from their core work in psychology.

As cities become more complex and dense, there is increasing recognition that good urban design is vitally important to public health, including our mental health. The new interdisciplinary field of urban psychology is devoted to understanding how to build cities that support good psychological health. In this course, we will work collaboratively with urban design professionals from the City of Kitchener to develop a psychologically grounded plan for a part of the city that is undergoing rapid change. Students will work on projects that will include literature reviews in urban psychology, study and analysis of planning documents, field visits and data collection, and a final presentation to the City of Kitchener which outlines recommendations based on psychological principles. This course should be of interest to anyone with an interest in cities and urbanism and a desire to put into action ideas and methods developed from their core work in psychology.