The Study of the Mind: Psychology, Neuroscience, and Philosophy

In this course, we will study the mind and human behavior by exploring the insights that have emerged in the intersecting fields of neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. We will draw on texts such as Pinker’s The Language Instinct, Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, Wilson’s Strangers to Ourselves, and Sacks’s The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, to examine language and mind, reasoning and biases, the unconscious, and abnormal psychology. Topics may include Freudian psychoanalysis, the neurobiology underlying emotion, and animal cognition, as well as topics to be determined by student interests. While not designed to strictly follow the AP Psychology curriculum, this course will provide a conceptual foundation for students who are interested in preparing independently for the AP Psychology exam.