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

Josh Jackson
Track Chair, Psychological & Brain Sciences
Associate Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Email: j.jackson@wustl.edu
Josh Jackson’s research focuses on the assessment of individual differences in an effort to better understand the link between individual differences and life outcomes (e.g., premature mortality, job market success). His research routinely combines existing large scale longitudinal datasets with additional multimodal data sources ranging from broad country/county/census tract data to more “boutique” datasets such as intensive time series data and biomarker assays. Frequently used quantitative methods include: Bayesian multi-level models, IRT, SEM, and network models.