Psychology ENV/PSY 2500: Psychology for Sustainability This course applies psychological theory and research to understand the causes of human behavior that degrades natural systems and to identify and promote more sustainable actions and policies. Topics will include: social dilemmas and cognitive limitations as root causes of environmental problems; psychological methods for studying sustainability; the potential for and limitations of changing individual environmental cognition and behavior; environmental knowledge, attitudes, and values; motivations for sustainable behavior; and the relationship between environmental quality and human health and mental health. Students will gain experience applying social and cognitive behavior change strategies to reduce their own environmental impact. Students may not receive credit for both ENV 2400 and ENV/PSY 2500. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter. Units: 1/3 Category: Category II Suggested Background: introductory psychology and/or environmental studies.
431
GOV/PSY 3000: Psychology and Law How does the courtroom work and where does psychology come into play? Is it really “innocent until proven guilty”? Do people confess to crimes they never committed? How accurate are eyewitnesses? In this course, we will discuss and examine questions like these and many more. This course examines empirical research in the interface of psychology and law. We will learn about standard practices in the criminal justice system and empirical psychological research devoted to understanding these practices. As a discussion-based course, we will tackle topics such as: courtroom procedures, confessions, death penalty, deception, decision making, deliberations, eyewitnesses, expert testimony, jury selection, memory, police, and pretrial publicity. We will also explore how and when psychologists can impact legal guidelines and policies. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter. Units: 1/3 Category: Category II Recommended Background: Introduction to Psychological Science (PSY 1400), Social Psychology (PSY 1402) and/or Cognitive Psychology (PSY 1401). Courses in Government and Policy Studies will also be beneficial.
MU/PSY 2501: Music and Mind How are we able to distinguish instruments, timbres and rhythms from the intertwined sonic stream presented by the world? How do we organize these elements in time to create rhythms, melodies, phrases and pieces? How do perception and memory contribute to our understanding and navigation of a musical work? We will explore these questions by considering the cognitive and perceptual processes that shape our musical experience. Topics covered will include event distinction, temporal perception, hierarchical organization, perceptual grouping, expertise, memory and categorization. Psychological Ideas will be musically illustrated through close listening exercises involving a variety of musical works. We will consider how psychological principles are applied to music technologies, such as compression algorithms, mixing methodologies and the field of music information retrieval. We will consider experimental methods that purport to further our understanding of musical experience. Units: 1/3 Category: Category I Recommended Background: Fundamentals of Music I and/or Fundamentals of Music II
WPI 2021-22 Catalog