Courses Taught

PSY 201 – General Psychology

This course is designed to give students a comprehensive overview of what psychological science has discovered about human behavior and mental processes over the past century. An evolutionary, functional perspective will be applied across the many fields of psychology. Students will gain an understanding of the psychological phenomena that occur in daily life as well as the practical applications of psychological knowledge.

PSY 301W – Introduction to Research Methods

This course is designed to give students the tools to become conscientious consumers and producers of psychological research. In the lecture portion of this course, students will learn how to critically evaluate psychological claims made in scientific journals and the popular media. In the lab portion of this course, students will learn how to design and execute an empirical study, as well as write an APA-style paper. This course will provide the foundation for students’ careers as psychologists. It is a strenuous course, but one that I believe students will find tremendously rewarding.

PSY 334D – Social Psychology

This course is designed to give students a comprehensive overview of the major principles and findings of social psychology—an interdisciplinary field that explores how the real or imagined presence of others influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. An evolutionary, functional perspective will be applied throughout this course to emphasize (1) the goal-directed nature of social behavior and (2) the continual interaction between the person and the situation.

PSY 360 – Cognitive Psychology

This course is designed to provide an overview of topics related to the information-processing mechanisms of the mind, including consciousness, perception, attention, memory, conceptual knowledge, and emotions. Special emphasis is placed on biases in judgment and economic decision-making. An evolutionary, functional perspective is applied throughout.

PSY 350 – Evolutionary Psychology

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of psychology from an evolutionary perspective. We will apply to humans the same adaptationist lens that evolutionary biologists apply to other species. In doing so, the evolved function of various psychological mechanisms will be considered. The course will begin with an in-depth introduction to evolution by natural selection, followed by a survey of more specific psychological phenomena studied from an evolutionary perspective. Topics include food and landscape preferences, human mating, sexual conflict, parenting, cooperation, and warfare.

PSY 467Q and PSY 468QW – Quantitative and Advanced Research Methods

This course sequence covers fundamental concepts and statistical procedures used by psychologists to describe, summarize, and make inferences about data. Students will learn and apply the scientific method to an individual research project.