HD 3530

Risk and Opportunity Factors in Childhood and Adolescence

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This advanced active-learning class will focus on theories and empirical findings concerning risky decision making in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The material will be scholarly and intellectually challenging. We will engage active-learning strategies such as problem-based learning, case studies, group projects, and extended discussions. The course draws on multiple disciplines, such as psychology, economics, neuroscience, and information sciences (e.g., AI). If your main interest is in positive psychology, youth development applications, or social factors such as poverty, there are other excellent courses in Human Development focusing on those topics. Class sessions will consist of lectures covering the theoretical background, key topics and discussion designed to deepen understanding and explore possible real-life applications in law, medicine, and public health.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2024SP, 2023SP, 2022SP, 2021SP

Learning Outcomes

• Identify and understand theories and basic mechanisms underlying risky decision making.
• Integrate multi-disciplinary theoretical perspectives on risky decision making.
• Understand research paradigms and tasks, and what they imply about mechanisms of risky decision making.
• Understand developmental differences in judgment and risky decision making, including heuristics and biases.
• Apply insights from the class to real-world contexts, including policies, programs, and practices in law, medicine, psychology and public health.

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