Psychological & Brain Sciences

The search to understand the psychological and neural mechanisms that support and shape human cognition and behavior is ripe for the fruitful application of computational and data sciences. Although we have made progress in understanding the key factors that drive human behavior, the efforts to date have served to illustrate the deep complexity of these processes and the need for the application of more sophisticated computational and data analytic approaches to understand them.

Faculty in the Psychological & Brain Sciences Track are actively involved in research that includes mapping the brain and understanding how different modalities of data from brain mapping can be connected to behavior, in-depth behavioral phenotyping using data from social networks, smartphones, and other sensors, understanding the lifespan dynamics of individual differences in behavior and social and economic outcomes using multi-generational, multi-country panel studies. You can learn more about the research interests of program faculty on the track faculty page.

Track Course Requirements

Students must complete three substantive classes in one subfield (Behavior, Brain, & Cognition, Clinical Science, Social/Personality, Development & Aging). With permission, students may substitute the Psychological & Brain Sciences Research Methods Course for one of those substantive classes depending on their background in Psychological Science.

Social and Personality Psychology

Psych 427: Social Gerontology

Psych 503: Seminar in Experimental Social Psychology

Psych 5355: Personality Development Across the Lifespan

Psych 540A: Advanced Seminar in Clinical Psychology: Personality & Psychopathology

Psych 592A: Theories of Social Psychology

Psych 5932: The Person from the Inside and Outside (or Personality and the Self)

Psych 5955: Memory, Emotion and Attitudes

Psych 5991: Social Cognition

Clinical Science

Psych 4745: Genes, Brain, and Behavior: Pathways to Psychopathology

Psych 5345: Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Psychological Phenomena: The Nature and Etiology of Personality and Psychopathology

Psych 537: Advanced Psychopathology

Psych 540A: Advanced Seminar in Clinical Psychology: Personality & Psychopathology

Psych 545: Introduction to Psychological Treatments

Psych 5453: Affective Science

Psych 546: Behavior Therapy

Psych 5523: Neuropsychological Syndromes

Psych 588: Clinical Psychology of Aging II

Psych 5886: Clinical Assessments with Older Adults

Psych 5958: Emotion Regulation

Behavior, Brain, & Cognition

Psych 4745: Genes, Brain, and Behavior: Pathways to Psychopathology

Psych 4746: Biological Pathways to Psychopathology: From Genes and the Environment to Brain and Behavior

Psych 4765: Inside the Disordered Brain: Biological Basis of the Major Mental Disorders

Psych 5523: Neuropsychological Syndromes

Biology 5651: Neural Systems

Psych 5831:  Biological Foundations of Behavior

Psych 4181 or 4182: Perception, Thought, and Action

Psych 433: Psychology of Language

Psych 473: Decision and Choice

Psych 5081: Advanced Seminar in Cognitive Psychology

Psych 5085: Human Memory

Psych 5086: Retrieval Processes in Human Memory

Psych 5087: Advanced Cognitive Psychology

Psych 5088: Key Readings in Cognitive Psychology

Psych 5089: Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory

Psych 5095: Concepts in the Science of Memory

Psych 532: Seminar in Developmental Psychology: Language and Cognitive Development

Psych 5505: Seeing

Psych 555: Seminar in Hearing

Aging and Development

Psych 427: Social Gerontology

Psych 4301: Advanced Cognitive Development

Psych 4591: The Development of Social Cognition

Psych 532: Seminar in Developmental Psychology: Language and Cognitive Development

Psych 5355: Personality Development Across the Lifespan

Psych 556 (sec. 02): Seminar on Cognitive Development (Markson)

Psych 588: Clinical Psychology of Aging II

Psych 5881: Psychology of Aging

Psych 5886: Clinical Assessments with Older Adults

Psych 5887: Clinical Interventions with Older Adults