Class descriptions and resources for classes are posted below.
STUDENTS:
If you have any questions that aren't answered here, feel free to email me at pkvam@ufl.edu. Make sure to include the
title of your class (e.g. "PSY395") in the subject of your email to make sure
that your message doesn't get lost in my spam folder or anything.
University of Florida
PSY 4930 - Special Topics in Psychology (Decisions & Judgment)
This course explores how people make decisions and how we study the psychological processes underlying their choices and judgments. The first part of the course will cover traditional theories of choice and how we “should” make decisions and judgments, as well as the mental shortcuts (heuristics) and biases that lead us astray. The second part will examine how we use social and affective information and learn to make better choices over time, considering many factors in order to satisfy our preferences and achieve our desired outcomes. The final part of the course will examine the neural underpinnings of decision processes as well as disordered decisions and judgments arising from brain damage or clinical conditions, such as schizophrenia and substance dependence. Students will read primary source articles (provided) to learn about the various sources of experimental data used to study decision processes and how researchers use models to predict and explain the choices that people make.
Michigan State University
PSY-395: Research Design and Measurement
This class covers topics relating to carrying out psychological
research; in particular, it goes over validity, reliability, causal inference
(and how this relates to strictly correlational research), and several common
psychology research tasks. The syllabus, slides, class projects, and other resources are provided on the class page linked above.
PSY-101: Introductory to Psychology
The goal of this class is to give students a broad introduction to psychology. It offers a survey of fields of several fields of study, including learning, neuroanatomy, language, memory, intelligence, emotion, personality, social psychology, and psychological disorders. The syllabus and my guest lectures are provided on the class page linked above.
PSY-992: Cognitive Modeling
This graduate-level seminar introduces students to mathematical models in the field of psychology, including both descriptive statistical models and process-level cognitive models. It covers models based on signal detection, ACT-R, neural networks, sequential sampling, prospect theory, general recognition, generalized context, and a number of other important models and modeling frameworks. Students complete hands-on modeling projects with assistance from Tim and Peter. Some of my lecture slides and recommended readings can be found on the class page linked above.
Indiana University
PSY-P199: Planning Your Psychology Career:
This class was focused on
career development for psychology majors. It covered topics including campus
organizations, internships, resume building and writing, opportunities for
getting involved in research, departmental programs, psychology-relevant clubs,
graduate school and its demands, types of degrees, and careers relevant to
psychology majors.
PSY-P304: Social Psychology & Individual Differences:
A
requirement for all psychology majors and minors, this class covered the basics
of social psychology. Topics included person perception, priming, social memory,
social cognition (attirbutions, biases, heuristics), social comparison,
attitudes, persuasion, social influences, group processes, stereotypes,
attraction and relationships, and pro- and anti-social behavior.
