Lower Division Courses numbered 1–99 are designed primarily for freshmen and sophomores but are open to all students for lower division credit. (Graduate students requesting to enroll in lower-division undergraduate courses will not receive unit credit nor will the course fulfill degree requirements.)
Upper Division Courses courses numbered 100–199 are open to all students who have met the necessary prerequisites as indicated in the catalog course description. Preparation should generally include completion of one lower division course in the given subject or completion of two years of college work.
GRADUATE COURSES
Courses numbered 200–299 are open to graduate students. (Undergraduate students must obtain the signature of the instructor, School Dean, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. Graduate level units will count towards the required 120 units for graduation; however students are urged to meet with their academic advisor in order to determine if graduate course units may be used to fulfill a graduation requirement.)
CROSS-LISTED/CONJOINED COURSES Cross-listed Courses are the same course offered under different course subjects at the same level (either undergraduate or graduate) that share the same meeting time, requirements, units, etc.
Conjoined Courses are the same course but one is undergraduate and one is graduate.
COREQUISITE COURSE
A corequisite course is a course that must be taken at the same time as another course.
PREREQUISITES
Prerequisites for courses should be followed carefully; the responsibility for meeting these requirements rests on the student. If you can demonstrate that your preparation is equivalent to that specified by the prerequisites, the instructor may waive these requirements for you. The instructor also may request that a student who has not completed the prerequisites be dropped from the course. Note: For all courses a “C-” or better grade is required for a course to be used as a prerequisite for another course. If a course was taken for a “P/NP” grade then a “P” grade is required. If the prerequisite for a course is not satisfied, students must obtain the approval of the instructor (or school designee) of the course they wish to take.
Cross-national comparison of the design, evolution, and impact of political institutions, such as electoral systems, legislatures, executives, courts, and parties.
Analysis of multiple forms of political behavior across a variety of countries. Includes public opinion, political culture, voting, and less conventional forms of participation.
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to major issues in contemporary
Chinese politics. The course will focus on the major challenges confronting China today, including economic reform and development, social unrest, democratization and the Tiananmen movement, village elections, ethnic conflicts, news media, Taiwan, and China’s foreign relations.
An introduction to the study of human judgment and decision making. Topics include decision making under uncertainty, financial choices, health decision
making, group decisions, rational theories of choice behavior, and improving decision making. The material will be related to cognitive science, psychology,
economics, and other social sciences.
The formation of U.S. foreign policy, with an emphasis on the modern era and an introduction to analytical tools for understanding current foreign policy issues and debates.
Investigates the emergence and rise of international organizations and the network of regulation and international governance that they facilitate. The course
explores the institutional structures, political processes, and impact of international organizations within three issue areas: international peace and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs, and global trade and development.
The development, utility, and limitations of theoretical models of the political world. May include rational choice theory, game theory, and psychological theories of politics.
Considers whether politics as portrayed on film differs from political reality as understood through political science, and further uses films as vehicles for better understanding an array of topics from political science, including legislative behavior, elections, presidential politics, local politics, war, and international relations.
Advanced course on the application of social scientific methods to the study of politics. Covers quantitative testing of hypotheses about political phenomena, with a particular focus on the use of regression analysis.
An in-depth, research-intensive, seminar-style treatment of a specific problem, topic, or puzzle in the field of political science. Recommended for students considering graduate school in political science.
Prerequisite: Junior standing and POLI 010 or consent of instructor. Political Science majors only. Normal Letter Grade only.Course may be repeated 4 times for credit.
Provides oversight and structure for a student’s internship in a field of political science in community organizations, professional research projects, etc. connected to the study of political science. Requires students to write an original research paper or relevant product that demonstrates how the internship advanced their
knowledge of political science.
Prerequisite:Junior standing. Permission of instructor required.Pass/Fail only.Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Intended to give students an introduction to designing political science research. The course will emphasize scientific method and causal inference, with special emphasis on designing strong tests, including introductory experimental and quasi-experimental design, as well as the use of natural experiments and observational data.
POLI 210: Quantitative Analysis of Political Data, I
[4 units]
A graduate-level introduction to the theory and practice of quantitative data analysis. As the first statistics course in the department’s research methods sequence, it is intended to prepare students for future work in methodology. Aside from formal treatment of the material, students will receive an basic introduction to the use of Stata statistical analysis software. As time permits, we will also discuss substantive examples of the quantitative techniques introduced in class.
POLI 213: Experimental Methods in Political Science
[4 units]
Intended to provide students with an understanding of experimental methods in political science. The first portion of the semester will emphasize concepts and tools from the experimentalist’s toolbox with a strong focus on causal inference, external and internal validity, and choosing subjects and subject’s motivations. Later weeks will focus on issues and challenges to specific types of political science experiments including survey experiments, laboratory experiments, physiological experiments, and field experiments.
This is an introductory course on game theory and its applications in social and political science. Students will learn basic concepts and tools of non-cooperative game theory, covering both complete and incomplete information games in static and dynamic settings, and see how they can be used in studying political/social phenomena.
Normal Letter Grade only.Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Introduces the formal analytic tools that are now used extensively to model political phenomena. It is more advanced and technical than POLI 215, and covers materials not included in POLI 215. It will provide students with interests in formal theory a foundation to construct serious formal models of politics in their areas of interests.
Prerequisite:POLI 215 or consent of instructor. Normal Letter Grade only.Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Intended to provide students with a broad understanding of American political institutions (the constitution, Congress, presidency, bureaucracy, judiciary, electoral systems, and subnational governments). The first portion of the semester will emphasize concepts and tools while later weeks will examine institutions in more depth, emphasizing classic writings and contemporary research controversies.
Provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical literature on legislative politics. The main focus of the course will be the U.S. Congress, but much of what we cover will have direct relevance for the study of legislatures more generally (both cross-nationally and the American state legislatures).
Examines executive politics, with special attention to the U.S. presidency and the politics of the bureaucracy. The course considers the theoretical and empirical literature on the processes of presidential selection (nomination and election), the ways in which presidents differ in their leadership styles, skills, executive management, and their roles as decision makers are also analyzed for their consequences.
Provides an introduction to politics in American cities and metropolitan areas. We examine the historical development of local government institutions, analyze urban coalitions, investigate distributions of power, investigate the process and consequences of suburbanization, and examine local development and poverty policy.
Provides a general overview of political parties and party systems. We investigate the goals of parties, organizational structures, and the sources of parties (including societal divisions, coordination needs, and institutional structures). We explore party competition and interaction, study the causes of party system change, and the effects of parties in electoral and policy making arenas.
Examines the role of the mass media in politics. We analyze the function of media in different political settings, study the development and transformation of the media, explore sources of bias, evaluate theories of news development and analyze the effect of the media in campaigns, elections, and governance.
POLI 230: Institutions and Institutional Change in Comparative Perspectives
[4 units]
Explores the political economy of institutions and institutional change in comparative perspectives. It will analyze the causes of institutional emergence/change and the effects of institutions.
The purpose of this class is to introduce students to political economy, a field of inquiry that seeks to explain political and economic behavior by characterizing the incentives of actors and the context in which these actors make decisions and influence outcomes.
Intended to provide students with a broad understanding of American political behavior (political participation, the nature and origins of public opinion, vote choice). The first portion of the semester will emphasize concepts and tools while later weeks will examine political behavior in more depth, emphasizing classic writings and contemporary research controversies.
Intended to provide students with an understanding of political cognition, a topic that examines political attitudes and behavior from the perspective of research from psychology and cognitive science. Each week’s readings will include research from psychology or cognitive science and research in political science informed by these disciplines.
Provides an in-depth examination of American public opinion. We will cover concepts and tools, including technical issues of sampling and measurement, as well as the origins and structure of political attitudes and specific areas of public opinion research such as approval of political institutions, war attitudes, and tolerance.
The purpose of this course is to explore the factors that explain citizens’ vote choices and the strategies used by candidates and their campaigns to win these votes. Additional consideration will be given to the structural factors influencing elections in the United States.
Provides an overview of different avenues explored by scholars working in the bio-politics paradigm. The course covers a number of disparate topics, including: twin studies and other techniques of behavior genetics, neuroscience, psychophysiology, personality psychology, and evolutionary psychology.
Examines politics through the lenses of race, ethnicity, and immigration. We consider topics such as the development of racial and ethnic identities, discrimination, voting rights, electoral mobilization, campaigns, representation, and policy debates over issues like affirmative action, immigration and naturalization, and language policy.
An introduction to the study of comparative mass political behavior. The seminar will focus on research questions related to cross-national differences and similarities in public opinion, voting behavior, and other forms of political participation.
Introduction to psychology as a science of behavior, including history, research methods, biological bases of behavior, cognition, personality, social behavior, psychological disorders, techniques of therapy and applied science.
Design and analysis of psychological research including experimental design, correlational research, and descriptive and inferential statistics. Students in the Psychology major or minor must take this course before taking any upper division Psychology courses.
Provides oversight and structure for a student’s internship in a field related to psychology in community organizations, professional research projects, etc. connected to the study of psychology. Students are required to write an original research paper or relevant product that demonstrates how the internship advanced their knowledge of psychology.
Permission of instructor required.Pass/Fail only.Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Covers major schools of psychology (functionalism, behaviorism, etc.) and the precursors that lead to psychology as an independent discipline. Focus will be on integration and better understanding the current state of the science of psychology. Themes include the mind/body problem, the nature/nurture debate, and the criteria for a science.
Survey of major drugs of abuse, their mode of action, and their behavioral effects, both acute and chronic; etiology and maintenance of drug abuse and review of prominent strategies for prevention, intervention and treatment.
In this course, we will focus on the differential effect of environmental factors and behavior on human health. In our examination of the determinants of health, we will discuss issues related to ethnic, cultural, and gender psychology, risk behavior, behavioral medicine, psychosocial epidemiology, and policy.
Examines how cognitive and emotional processes influence the body’s physiological systems in ways that increase or decrease our risk for physical illnesses. We will discuss how thoughts, emotions, and social experiences influence health behaviors such as exercise and diet, and implications for health promotion and illness management interventions.
Critical review of the research and theories on the development of infants and children. Covers cognitive, biological, social, personality, and emotional development, among others. Emphasis on integrating across areas of development, as well as the relative contributions of biology and experience.
Behavior of the individual in social situations, surveying problems of social cognition, social interaction, group tensions, norm development, attitudes, values, public opinion, status.
PSY 133: Neurodevelopmental Cognitive, Language and Learning Disorders
[4 units]
This is an introduction to the expression and causes of a variety of cognitive disorders (e.g., reading disability, mental retardation,, dementia, etc.). Genetic syndromes and neurodevelopmental origins are emphasized. Other atypical conditions are discussed as well, including giftedness. Some background in psychology and human biology is advantageous but not required.
Covers the stages that children go through as they learn their first language. It will also explore the causal mechanisms behind language acquisition as outlined by the major theoretical approaches in the field. Bilingual language acquisition will also be covered.
Covers the major theories and stages of children’s cognitive development. Among others, we cover Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing theories, and connectionist approaches to learning.
Explores how children learn about specific conceptual domains, such as naive biology and theory or mind. The major theoretical approaches in the area will be covered. Questions of process, such as radical reorganization vs. enrichment of content areas will set the context for the course.
Considers the emergence of social reasoning and behavior from infancy to adulthood. Special focus on the cognitive processes underlying reasoning about others as intentional agents, as members of social groups such as race and gender.
How can developmental psychology inform educational practice? We review current developmental theories as well as attempts to apply them to education, with the aim of building an understanding of both the promise and pitfalls of a developmentally based approach to education.
Major theoretical approaches to clinical psychology, including psychoanalysis, existentialism, humanism, systems theory, and behavioral approaches. A review of what clinical psychologists do, including assessment methods, professional roles, and approaches to treatment.
Review of scientific knowledge and approaches to learning about major psychological disorders in childhood, including adolescence. Examples are anxiety, attention deficit, autistic, and substance use disorders. Interventions implemented to prevent or treat these disorders are also examined.
Survey of existing knowledge of human sexual behavior; physiological, anatomical, psychological, and cultural components; normative sexual functioning. Such topics as sexual deviation, sexual dysfunctions, and types of treatment are also considered.
Introduces students to a breadth of topics in health psychology, behavioral medicine, and public health. Particular emphasis is placed on the roles of psychological processes in altering physical and mental health, promoting
well-being, preventing illness, and treating disease.
PSY 150: Psychological Perspective on Cultural, Racial Ethnic Diversity
[4 units]
Issues that bear upon race, ethnicity, and culture, such as the cultural specificity of psychological theories, cultural influences on child development, ethnic identity, psychological issues in immigration, ethnic and racial prejudice, and assessment and interventions with culturally diverse and ethnic minority populations.
PSY 151: The Psychology of Stereotyping and Prejudice
[4 units]
Cognitive processes underlying stereotyping and prejudice are reviewed. Focuses on the relationship between stereotyping and categorization in general, the development of stereotyping and prejudice, and empirical proposals to reduce bias through contact or other forms of intervention.
Survey the psychological science of close relationships, including
interpersonal attraction, communication, interdependence, friendship, love, sex,
conflict, violence, breakups and relationship loss.
Survey of research on the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and
communities to thrive. Positive Psychology emphasizes positive emotions, positive
individual traits, and positive institutions. Note: This course fundamentally addresses the UC Merced guiding principles of scientific literacy, communication, self and society, and development of personal potential.
Examines how individuals are unique and similar to other people. The course will cover major theories in personality that attempt to describe human nature and empirical research on individual differences and personality development.
Introduction to human information processing, mental representation and transformation, imagery, attention, memory, language processing, concept formation, problem solving, and computer simulation.
Provides an introduction to data, theoretical constructs, and experimental procedures associated with research on perceptual psychology. Topics include: visual and auditory perception, skin and body senses, chemical senses, person-action perception, and perceptual attention. This course focuses on psychophysics experimental methods, brain imaging techniques, brain function, and perceptual disorders.
This is a comprehensive course on the psychological study of vision, including: color vision, motion, object recognition, depth perception, visual attention, oculomotor behavior, and visual consciousness. Also covered is the neurophysiology and development of the visual system; evolutionary and biological variations of vision; psychophysical methods; and vision disorders.
Provide an introduction to how psychological tests and other measurements are developed, evaluated, and used across several areas, such as education, clinical and counseling practice, and businesses. Ethical and legal issues in the use of psychological tests will also be discussed.
Survey of the application of psychology to the criminal justice system, including public policy, sanity, competency, eyewitness testimony and treatment of mentally ill offenders.
Relationship of brain structure and function to behavior, motivation, emotion, language, and learning in humans and other animals. Review of research methods used in physiological psychology and neuroscience.
Designed to provide students with an understanding of the theory, method, and practical applications of neuropsychology. Topics include functional neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, neuropsychological assessment, and the complex functions of the normal brain. Neurological and psychiatric disorders of the brain will be described including their diagnosis and treatments.
Evolutionary psychology is an approach to psychology in which knowledge and principles from evolutionary biology are implemented in the study of the human mind. This course provides a brief introduction to evolutionary theory, surveys research within the discipline, and discusses interdisciplinary applications within the broader field of psychology.
An introduction to the genetic (and nongenetic) contributions to individual and group differences observed for a variety of human traits, including personality, psychopathology, intelligence, language, learning, sexuality, health, and some medical conditions. What knowledge is needed in genetics and specialized methodologies will be provided in class.
Provides oversight and structure for a student’s internship in a field related to psychology in community organizations, professional research projects, etc. connected to the study of psychology. Students are required to write an original research paper or relevant product that demonstrates how the internship advanced their knowledge of psychology.
Prerequisite:Junior standing. Permission of instructor required.Pass/Fail only.Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
PSY 200A: Professional Seminar for First-Year PhD Graduate Students I
[4 units]
A two semester sequence required of and limited to first-year Ph.D. students in Psychology. Survey of major issues in contemporary psychology with their historical backgrounds.
PSY 200B: Professional Seminar for First-Year Graduate Students II
[4 units]
A two semester sequence required of and limited to first-year Ph.D. students in Psychology. Survey of major issues in contemporary psychology with their historical backgrounds.
Topics covered include: descriptive and inferential statistical techniques; correlation and linear regression with one predictor and multiple predictors; linear statistical inference. The goal is to teach the skill of thinking statistically so that the student can learn new techniques independently.