Faculty of Arts and Science
Introduction to Psychology A: Evolution, Mechanisms, and Cognition/Perception
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Survey of Psychology as a science, including, but not limited to, brain and behaviour, sensation and perception, cognition, learning, memory, comparative psychology, and animal behaviour.
Lib Ed Req:Science
Introduction to Psychology B: Developmental, Sociocultural, and Abnormal
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Survey of Psychology as a social science, including, but not limited to, social psychology, developmental psychology, cross-cultural psychology, abnormal psychology, and forensic psychology.
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Key Skills in Psychology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 2-0-1
Development of skills needed to think scientifically and help students navigate their degree. The tutorial component will include basic data analysis techniques including spreadsheets, graphs, and descriptive statistics, as well as scientific reading and writing.
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Psychological Sketches: Straight from the Researchers
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Introduction to specific research topics in Psychology. Students learn from a team of scholars, each of whom teaches in their own area of expertise. The "team taught" format helps Psychology majors identify professors with whom they would like to take classes or conduct research in the future.
Equivalent:Psychology 1000 (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Thinking with Data I
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 2-1-0
Methodological and statistical techniques as used by psychologists. Lecture topics will focus on specific methods (e.g., experiments), the questions they can answer, and their strengths and weaknesses, along with basic inferential statistical techniques (e.g., linear regression). The laboratory component will focus on the application of those tools in practice to answer specific questions.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 1030 or Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
Mutually Exclusive:
Sociology 2130
Substantially Similar:
Sociology 2130
Lib Ed Req:Science
Introduction to Child Development
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Introduction to social, physical, and cognitive development from infancy to late childhood, and the major theoretical perspectives underlying research in each domain.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 1020 or Psychology 1000 (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Learning and Cognition
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Conscious and unconscious cognitive processes in humans and other animals, including classical and operant conditioning.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 1010 or Psychology 1000 (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Behaviour and Evolution
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Concepts and research from the fields of evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, and comparative psychology are outlined and used to provide an evolutionary context for our understanding of psychological mechanisms.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 1010 or Psychology 1000 (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Social Psychology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
An introduction to the major theoretical perspectives used in social psychology and the research methods used in the study of social behaviour. Topics include: attitudes and persuasion, prejudice and discrimination, aggression, and love and friendship.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 1020 or Psychology 1000 (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Issues in Psychology (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings, but will normally include two 2000-level courses (6.0 credit hours) in Psychology or Neuroscience
Human Cognition
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Thinking, remembering, talking, problem solving, seeing, hearing, and feeling as cognitive and perceptual processes.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2330 AND
One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 2320 (prior to 2018/2019);
Psychology 3850 (Human Cognition) (prior to 2018/2019)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Adolescent Development
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Introduction to social, physical, and cognitive development from late childhood to emerging adulthood, and the major theoretical perspectives underlying research in each domain.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 3000 (Adolescence) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Psychology of Aging
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Current theories of adult development and aging; the effects of aging on sensation and perception, learning, personality and social adjustment.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Recommended Background:
Psychology 2800
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Developmental Psychopathology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Current theories and research into atypical child development with a focus on biological, cognitive, social, emotional, and environmental influences on disordered development from conception to adolescence.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Psychology 3240/Linguistics 3240
Psychology of Language
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The study of how language is processed in the mind. Topics include language production and comprehension, language acquisition, bilingualism, and language disorders. Special emphasis will be placed on the developmental aspects of psycholinguistics.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Recommended Background:
One of Psychology 2330, Psychology 2800, Linguistics 2300, or Linguistics 2600
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Social Cognition
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course will explore how individuals make sense of themselves and the people around them. We will study classic and contemporary social cognition research to examine how people process information about their social world.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2800 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Sensation and Perception
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The study of sensation and perception is the evaluation of human reception and computation of incoming information about ourselves and the environment. This course will cover the five senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. It will also cover the changes in these senses over the lifespan, aspects of individual differences and sensory malfunction, the interaction between perception and cognition, and common characteristics of processing by all the systems.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2330 AND
One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Recommended Background:
Psychology 3050
Lib Ed Req:Science
Thinking with Data II
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-1.5
Advanced methodological and statistical techniques as used by psychologists. Lecture topics will focus on inferential statistical techniques that will work with many kinds of data (e.g., generalized linear regression). Introduction to statistical confounds, and a framework to avoid them.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2030 AND
One additional 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Psychology or Neuroscience
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Psychology 3405/Linguistics 3405
First Language Acquisition
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Introduction to first language acquisition. Topics include: research methods; phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and communicative development; language acquisition in special circumstances (deafness, blindness, mental retardation, autism); bilingual language acquisition.
Prerequisite(s):Linguistics 2300 AND
Linguistics 2600
Recommended Background:
A 2000-level course in Psychology
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Applied Statistics for Clinical Practice
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-1-0
Traditional application of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques used in applied disciplines such as health sciences and clinical psychology. Topics include choosing statistical tests, data entry and coding, parametric and non-parametric tests, correlation, chi-square, t-tests, ANOVA, interpretation of statistical tests, statistical significance versus clinical significance, and clinical implications of statistical testing.
Prerequisite(s):Two courses (6.0 credit hours) at the 2000 level or higher in Addictions Counselling, Health Sciences, Neuroscience, or Psychology
OR
Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Abnormal Psychology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination of the realm of abnormal behaviour and experiences, their causes, developmental course, and treatments. Historical perspectives on abnormality; a wide range of psychopathologies currently included in the DSM; major theoretical perspectives that attempt to explain mental illness; and approaches to altering abnormal behaviour.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
Psychology 2330 AND
One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 2505 (prior to 2020/2021);
Psychology 3850 (Topics in Abnormal Psychology) (prior to 2020/2021)
Substantially Similar:
Addictions Counselling 3150 (prior to 2022/2023);
Health Sciences 3150
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Hormones and Behaviour
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course will explore how hormones, external environmental signals and the nervous system interact to produce complex behaviour.
Prerequisite(s):One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Science
Drugs and Behaviour
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course will explore the interaction between the cellular and molecular effects of psychotropic drugs on brain function, and the resulting effects on behaviour.
Prerequisite(s):One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023) AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Science
Psychology 3570/Health Sciences 3570
Contemporary Issues in Mental Health
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Mental health issues, including mental health research, the mental health care system, the nature of mental health, the DSM diagnostic system, the interplay between the pharmaceutical industry and the mental health care system, gender issues, mental health treatments, the role of trauma in mental health, and various specific mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHD, and eating disorders.
Prerequisite(s):One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Psychology, Neuroscience, or Health Sciences
OR
Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Evolution and Psychobiology of Religious Behaviour
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination of the conditions in/under which our brains developed and evolved the capacity and strong tendency to believe in supernatural agents, and to what extent this belief influences our daily behaviours. Cognitive science of religion.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 3850 (Psychobiology of Religious Behaviour) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Human-Animal Interactions
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Exploration of the many and sometimes changing relationships of humans with non-human animals. Evaluation of the bases on which we form these relationships and our cognition about and attitudes to non-human animals. Interactions with parasites, pets, animals in agriculture and research, control of and values for wildlife, and what the future of such interactions should be.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 3000 (Human-Animal Interactions) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Animal Communication
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Survey of the diversity of systems of communication found in animals, including humans, and how they are tailored to the variety of social and ecological challenges that different species face. The overarching goal will be to distill from this variety some common design principles from which we can begin to understand how communication systems function, how they evolve, and how they are organized mechanistically.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Science
Primate Lives and Human Cognitive Evolution
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Comparative information on phylogeny, ecology, and social lives of other primates will be used to assess the extent to which the nature of human cognition can be understood in terms of evolutionary processes.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Animal and Human Personalities
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination of the development, mechanisms, function, and evolution of personality traits in humans and other animals, by exploring the theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and broad implications of this psychological research field. Ultimately, it aims to answer a key question: What defines and explains who someone really is?
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2330 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 3850 (Animal and Human Personalities) (prior to 2018/2019)
Lib Ed Req:Science
A Biosocial Framework for Human Behaviour
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The intention of this course is to contextualise human psychology by considering the ways in which biology and culture playoff each other to structure human action. It takes as its starting premise that our understanding of the behaviour and social organisations of modern humans can usefully be interpreted within a historical socio-ecological framework that acknowledges our biology without reducing to it.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 2850 (Human Behavioural Ecology) (prior to 2018/2019);
Psychology 3850 (Human Behavioural Ecology) (prior to 2018/2019)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Social Learning and Culture
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
How and why humans and non-human animals innovate, learn in a social context, and generate culturally transmitted information, behaviour, and artefacts.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2330 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 3850 (Social Learning and Culture) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Human Sociality: Ourselves and Others
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
An exploration of the evolutionary and sociocultural factors that shape human lives and minds. Meta-analytical examination of a variety of topics that have relevance to modern society, including race and health differentials, fertility and assisted reproduction, the likely impact of climate change on behaviour, the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders, and how cultural influences shape our understanding and attitudes toward death.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2800 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Recommended Background:
Psychology 2700
Equivalent:Psychology 3850 (Culture, Evolution, and Human Social Life) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Issues in Sexuality
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Human universals in sexuality examined within the broader context of human sexual diversity.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2800 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Psychology of Criminal Behaviour
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination of the individual and social factors that increase the likelihood of people engaging in antisocial and criminal behaviour. Topics include developmental continuity; persistence or desistance; psychopathy; risk assessment; and psychological treatment.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2110 AND
Psychology 2330 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Recommended Background:
Psychology 2800
Equivalent:Psychology 3850 (Psychology of Criminal Behaviour) (prior to 2022/2023);
Psychology 3850 (Psychology of Crime) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Social Science
Speech Development
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Advanced seminar on child speech acquisition. Topics include speech production and perception mechanisms, classical theories and recent findings in child phonological development, and hands-on practice in the application of acoustic analytical tools.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 3240/Linguistics 3240 or Psychology 3405/Linguistics 3405
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
The Psychology of Choice
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Choice is an integral component of adaptive behaviour in humans and other living organisms. In this seminar-style course, we discuss rational choice, as well as deviations from rationality that can bias decisions. We focus on psychological and economic theories of choice, but we also consider choice from biological, philosophical, and neuroscientific perspectives.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2700 AND
Psychology 2330 AND
One of Psychology 2030, Sociology 2130, Statistics 1770, or Psychology 3450/Health Sciences 3450
Equivalent:Psychology 4850 (The Psychology of Choice) (prior to 2018/2019)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Celluloid Psychology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Advanced scientific study at the intersection of experimental psychology, perceptual science, and film studies, with topics focusing on psychological and technical aspects of film-making, perceptual and psychological dimensions of film viewing, and associated psychological representations in film. Combines findings and theory from basic empirical research in psychology with corresponding applied elements in the construction, presentation, and perception of film, as may also pertain to the subfield of cognitive film studies.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 3050 or Psychology 3360
Recommended Background:
Psychology 3050
Equivalent:Psychology 4850 (Celluloid Psychology) (prior to 2019/2020)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Biological Bases of Mental Disorders
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Biological and cognitive factors that are implicated in the pathology of atypical behaviour. Emphasis will be placed on the research methodology used to investigate these relationships.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 3500 AND
One of Psychology 3525 or Psychology 3535
Equivalent:Psychology 4000 (Biological Bases of Mental Disorders) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Coverage of atypical developmental trajectories of behaviour due to core disruptions to neural development. Emphasis will be placed on the research methodology used to investigate the neuropathology of atypical development and behavioural outcomes.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 3130 AND
One of [Neuroscience 2610 and Neuroscience 2620] or Neuroscience 2600 (prior to 2022/2023)
Equivalent:Psychology 4000 (Neurodevelopmental Disorders) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science
Current Issues in Psychopathology
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Critical evaluation of the arguments and claims asserted in/by peer reviewed literature, popular media, and clinicians about current issues in assessment, etiology, and treatment of psychopathology.
Prerequisite(s):Psychology 3500
Equivalent:Psychology 4850 (Current Issues in Psychopathology) (prior to 2022/2023);
Psychology 3850 (Current Issues in Psychopathology) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Abnormal Psychology (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Offerings will focus on issues and concepts involved in psychological abnormality through evaluation of specific disorder categories.
Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings, but will normally include two 3000-level courses (6.0 credit hours) in Psychology or Neuroscience
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Human Health, Behaviour, and Social Technologies
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
How cultural practices and technology have transformed the world around us with the aim of increasing human survival and well-being. Pros and cons of a variety of health-related transformations from both a biological and psychological perspective.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 3790, Psychology 3805, or Psychology 3825
Equivalent:Psychology 4850 (Human Health, Behaviour, and Social Technologies) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Cultural Organisms
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Exploration of different forms of material and social culture in humans and non-human animals. Examination of the psychological processes underlying innovation, cultural norms, ethnic markers, cultural taboos, cultural stereotypes, culture shock, etc. The evolutionary implications of culture, including cumulative cultural evolution, cultural group selection, niche construction, biology-culture coevolution as a dual inheritance system, and the concept of memes.
Prerequisite(s):One of Psychology 3805 or Psychology 3825
Equivalent:Psychology 4850 (Cultural Organisms) (prior to 2022/2023)
Lib Ed Req:Science or Social Science
Undergraduate Thesis
Credit hours: 6.00
Contact hours per week: Variable
This is a challenging, work-intensive, research-oriented course in which students will conduct empirical research, report orally on the work, and submit a report in the form of an Undergraduate Thesis which will be made publicly available.
Prerequisite(s):Fourth-year standing (a minimum of 90.0 credit hours) AND
A minimum GPA of 3.30 calculated on all completed University of Lethbridge courses or calculated on all University of Lethbridge and transferable courses taken within the terms containing the last 20 courses (60.0 credit hours), whichever is higher AND
One Independent Study or Applied Study (3.0 credit hours) in Psychology AND
Application to the Department of Psychology
Recommended Background:
Psychology 3400
Note:Contact hours will vary. Students should be aware that this course involves regular contact with the Thesis Supervisor as well as considerable independent work.