Undergraduate Teaching

Introduction to Clinical Psychology

This course is designed to introduce you to the concepts and methods of the science of clinical psychology. It has three areas of emphasis:

  1. Fundamentals of Scientific Clinical Psychology
  2. Evidence-Based Psychological Assessment
  3. Evidence-Based Psychological Intervention

This course will provide an introduction to (a) major theoretical models and research methods in scientific clinical psychology; (b) several psychological problems that are particularly relevant to college students (depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and eating disorders); (c) the general principles underlying the construction, administration, and interpretation of evidence-based clinical assessments; and (d) empirically supported approaches to psychological intervention. You are urged to reconsider your decision to take this class if you are reluctant to examine these topics in a scientific manner.

Taking this course should make you a more informed consumer of claims about contemporary clinical psychology and may assist in your evaluation of clinical psychology as a potential career goal. This course is not designed to provide extensive information on the nature of psychological disorders or to provide you with the skills to assess and treat psychological problems. Some topics and movies will deal with sensitive or controversial issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, sexual assault, and suicide.

Laboratory in Psychology: Social Perception

The purpose of this course is to have students conduct research in the area of clinically relevant social perception, much as research is conducted by clinical and social scientists in the field. Students will read relevant primary literature, develop research questions, design and prepare experiments, collect and analyze data, and discuss and present their findings in both written and verbal forms. Research projects will be a largely collaborative endeavor, with small groups formed to design and conduct experiments. 

Graduate Teaching

Therapy Practicum

This year-long practicum on behavioral management of anxiety and depression is conducted with the Director of the Seashore Clinic.  Clinical psychology students in our doctoral training program complete this practicum during their third year in our doctoral training program.  In a weekly didactic session, we discuss research and clinical literature bearing on the conceptualization and treatment of anxiety and depression, as well as apply this literature to students’ current clinical cases.  Weekly individual supervision meetings also are held. 

Introduction to Mixed-Effects Modeling in Psychology

This course provides an introduction to the use of mixed-effects modeling to examine both hierarchically structured and cross-classified data in psychology. The course is implemented entirely in R, and an introduction to R will be provided during the first 2 weeks of class.

Course Sections

  1. Review of Multiple Regression & Introduction to R
  2. Linear mixed-effects analysis with cross-classified random effects (e.g., subject and item effects, with continuous DV)
  3. Linear mixed-effects analysis with nested random effects (e.g., cases within groups, families, classrooms, therapists, with continuous DV)
  4. Linear mixed-effects analysis of longitudinal data (e.g., repeated observations over time that are nested within cases, as modeled with polynomial functions, with continuous DV)
  5. Logistic mixed-effects analysis with cross-classified random effects (e.g., subject and item effects, but with dichotomous DV)
  6. Non-linear mixed-effect analysis with cross-classified or nested random effects (e.g., repeated observations over time, as modeled with exponential or logistic functions rather than polynomial functions (as in section 4))