Syllabus
Course Outline
Course Requirements
Grading Procedures

Professor:  Amy Jo Stavnezer
Office:  Morgan 109
Office hours: By Appointment
Contact info:  ajstavnezer@wooster.edu, x2215

Required Textbook:


Kalat, J.W. (2003).  Biological Psychology (Eighth Edition).  United States:Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.

 

Supplemental readings will be provided through Electronic Reserves (ERes).  Password: neuro

Course Outline:

Date	Topic	Readings
Jan 17	Mind/Brain Question The Brain in current news	1.1 How the Brain Creates the Mind
19	Evolution and Nature/Nurture	1.2 Tangled Skeins
24	Animal Use Peripheral Nervous System	1.3, 4.2 Animal Research
26	Neuroanatomical Methods	4.1 New Imaging Methods
31	Lateralization of Function	4.3 & 14.1 The Split Brain Revisited
Feb. 2	Neurons, Neuronal Transmission and Action Potentials	2 Carnal Acts
7	Action Potentials, Synapses and Neurotransmitters	3.1 & 3.2
9	Drug effects and Mood disorders	15.1 & 15.2 The Neurobiology of Depression Your Brain on Alcohol
14	Sleep and Wakefulness	9
16	Function of Sleep articles in Group	Variety of empirical articles
21	EXAM #1
23	Visual processing	6.1
28	Neural basis of visual perception	6.2 Vision: A Window on Consciousness
Mar. 2	Audition and chemical senses	7.1 & 7.3 Bilingual Article
7	Somatosensory Processing, Pain and phantom limbs Abstracts for Empirical Article Due in class	7.2 Phantoms in the Brain
9	Brain Development and Plasticity	5.1 & 5.2 New Nerve Cells Brain Plasticity
14&16 21&23	Spring Break Enjoy and rest!
28	Movement and Repairing the Damaged Spinal Cord	8.1 & 8.2 Repairing the Damaged Spinal Cord
30	Stem Cell Use Debate	Variety of empirical articles
Apr 4	Parkinson's Disease	8.3 New Movement in Parkinson's
6	Huntington's Disease and Behavioral Genetics
11	Exam #2
13	Neurological Basis of Learning	13.2 Hippocampus empirical articles
18	Memory and disorders	13.1 Stress and your shrinking brain
20	Memory and disorders	Nun Study empirical articles
25	Hormones and Sex Differences in Behavior Empirical Article Presentations	11.1 & 11.2
27	Sex Differences cont. and Emotion Empirical Article Presentations continued	12.1
May 2	Emotion and lateralization	Variety of empirical articles
4	Schizophrenia	15.3
May 9 9 am	Exam #3

Course Requirements:

The general format of this course will be lecture-based, HOWEVER, this does not mean that your only responsibility is to show-up to class and listen.  By taking an active role in your learning -- reading the material BEFORE lecture, coming prepared with questions or comments, asking for clarification during lecture, meeting with other students in study groups, reviewing and recopying notes -- you will improve your learning and most likely your grade.

1.     Attendance:  You are expected to attend all classes, and to arrive on time.  Be aware that we will cover material, use examples, see videos and have discussions in class that may not be available in your readings but will be fair-game for exams. If you miss a class, be sure to get the notes and assignments from someone in class.  Read over those notes before you ask me if you missed “anything important” that day (I think everything is pretty important).  If you find a particular area that is still unclear after reviewing the notes, I would be happy to help you.  If you know you will be absent, let me know and arrange to have a friend pick up any material handed out in class.

2.     Readings:  As stated above, it is in your best interest to complete all reading assignments on the course outline BEFORE class.  This does not mean simply skimming through the pictures while walking to class.  It means reading all of the information in such a way that you can be an active and informed participant in classroom discussions, which should be important to you because participation will count toward your final grade. Taking notes on concepts that are unclear, formulating questions for clarification, and relating previous knowledge to new concepts will aid you this process.  We will not use class time to cover all of the material from your textbook, which places further responsibility on you to read and understand the concepts from the text and supplemental readings.  I would like for us to use class time for examples, discussion and concept development, however please remember that I am always available during office hours to discuss topics in more detail if necessary.

3.     Exams:  We will have 3 exams throughout the semester.  Please mark these dates on your calendar now, as they are not flexible.  The exams will be a combination of multiple choice, identification, short answer and essay. If you are unable to take an exam at the scheduled time you MUST notify me as soon as you find out, but it MUST be BEFORE the scheduled exam, and it must be for an extremely important reason.  A make-up exam will be given during finals week.  Format and difficulty of the make-up exam will differ from the original exam.

4.     Critique Papers: In order to help you develop your writing and critical thinking skills, you will write 2 reaction papers (2-3 pages in length) over the course of the semester. The reaction papers will be based on the supplemental readings for Sleep, Stem Cells, Learning, Memory or Emotion. The entire assignment is attached at the end of this syllabus.

Each one is due by the beginning of class on the date on which it is listed under “assignments”.

Reaction papers are to be typed and double-spaced.

Points will be deducted for late assignments, and avoidable problems (such as your printer not working) are not valid excuses.

5.     Empirical Research Article Presentation:  Empirical research articles published in peer-reviewed journals are a scientistÕs main and most important source of experimental information. Therefore, it is important that you learn to find these sources by conducting literature searches. Your initial assignment will be to read through at least 10 abstracts (which are very brief summaries of the experiment conducted) on a neuroscience topic of your choice and from that list choose the one you find most interesting.  You must print out all 10 abstracts and bring them to class (with your preference marked #1 and stapled on top) by Thursday, March 7^th to get my approval.  I will read through your choices and respond before Spring Break.  Your task will then be to read the ENTIRE ARTICLE and share with the class the topic that you chose to explore, the procedure used in the experiment, the results presented and the importance of this study to the overall exploration of Neuroscience.  These presentations, occurring on Tuesday, April 25^th and Thursday, the 27^th, will only be about 7 minutes long, so you must be organized and succinct.  Though the presentations will be short, I do expect you to be formal in your presentation style.  The entire assignment is attached to the end of this syllabus.

6.     Research Participation:  You have the opportunity to be a participant in the experiments going on this semester in the Psychology department.  As a participant you will have first-hand experience with experimental procedure and design, which will supplement our in-class discussion nicely.  You will be given extra credit for participating in these experiments; each 30 minutes of experiments will count as 1 percentage point added to your attendance grade, up to a total of 8% points. If you sign up for an experiment and then skip your appointment (without canceling) you will lose the number of extra credit points you would have gained from that experience.  The experimenterÕs time is just as valuable as yours, so please respect their time and efforts to collect data toward there project and show up when expected.  In order to prevent this from occurring you should always write down ALL of the experimental information given, experimenterÕs name, and phone number, the room number, time, and date.

7.     Code of Academic Integrity:  The College's understanding and expectations in regard to issues of academic honesty are fully articulated in the Code of Academic Integrity as published in the Scot's Key and form an essential part of the implicit contract between the student and the College. The Code provides a framework at Wooster to help students develop their own personal integrity.

While you are a student at this college, you will be treated as adults.  You are expected to know and abide by the rules of the institution as described in The Scot's Key and The Handbook of Selected College Policies  (http://www.wooster.edu/policies). Particular attention should be directed to the appropriate use of referenced or cited materials available from print and on-line sources. It is important that you read and understand the ethical use of information (http://www.wooster.edu/library/ instruction/ethics/ethics.html). Whether intentional or not, improper use of materials can be considered a violation of academic honesty. 

Cheating in any of your academic work is a serious breach of the Code of Academic Integrity and is grounds for an F for the entire course.  Such violations include turning in another person's work as your own, copying from any source without proper citation, going beyond what is allowed in a group project and lying in connection with your academic work. You will be held responsible for your actions. If you are unsure as to what is permissible, please consult your course instructor before trying it out.

8.     Academic Support: The Learning Center offers services designed to help students improve their overall academic performance. Sessions are structured to promote principles of effective learning and academic management. Any student on campus may schedule sessions at the Learning Center.   In addition, the Learning Center offers a variety of services and accommodations to students with learning disabilities based on appropriate documentation, nature of disability, and academic need. If a student does not request accommodations or does not provide documentation, the faculty member is under no obligation to provide accommodations.  In order to initiate services, students should meet with Pam Rose, Director of the Learning Center at the start of the semester to discuss reasonable accommodations. You may contact the Learning Center at ext 2595 or through email at prose@wooster.edu.

 

Grading Procedures:

Exam 1                                                15%
Exam 2                                                15%
Exam 3                                                15%
Critique Papers                                    10%
Article Presentation                              15%
Participation and attendance                   5%
Laboratory Grade                                 25%

Your final grade will be determined by the average of all scores above, weighted as indicated.

A	93+	B-	80-82.5	D	60-69.5
A-	90-92.5	C+	77-79.5	F	below 60
B+	87-89.5	C	73-76.5
B	83-86.5	C-	70-72.5