History and Methods of Psychology Syllabus

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Abstract

This course is designed to expose students to the history of psychology through a study of the methods used in research over time, with an emphasis on methods used in developmental psychology. Unlike most traditional history of psychology courses, we will focus less on the emergence and differentiation of different schools of psychological thought, and more about the emergence and differentiation of different methods of empirical inquiry. Unlike traditional methods courses, we will focus less on specific research designs and analytic techniques, and more on broader issues of inference that permeate all psychological research (i.e., meta-psychology). Importantly, the historical focus of the course will be grounded in contemporary methodological issues, both to illustrate how many of the current issues have persisted for decades, but also to highlight the tremendous advances in potential solutions we have seen in recent years. Through this course, students will develop a basic familiarity with a core set of issues in the history of psychology and will be competent in rudimentary meta-psychology. These skills are intended to greatly enhance the research acumen of the students, both as rigorous producers of new research and informed consumers of existing work.