Psychology 531 (15437): Psychobiology

 

Fall 2009

John Sparrow, Ph.D.

Office: University Center Room 351

Phone: 641-4151  (E-mail:  john.sparrow@unh.edu;  WWW:  pubpages.unh.edu/~jes1)

Office hours:

 

                        Tuesday           -           3:00 – 4:00; 5:00 – 5:45

                        Thursday         -           3:00 – 4:00

                        Friday              -           1:00 – 2:00

 

            Additional meeting times can be arranged by appointment.

 

 

Course Syllabus

Textbooks:

 

Kalat, J. W. (2009). Biological Psychology (10th ed.).  Belmont, CA:           

            Wadsworth.  [ÒJWKÓ in calendar]  (ISBN 978-0-495-60300-9)

 

Sacks, O. (1990). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical

tales. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.  [ÒOSÓ in calendar] (ISBN 9780060970796)

 

The textbooks are available at the UNHM Bookstore

 

 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

 

            This course is designed to give students an appreciation of the biological determinants of behavior.  While the essential components of biological and neurological processing will be discussed, emphasis will be placed on how these processes affect behavior and mental processing.  Topics to be covered include: operational characteristics of neurons; synaptic processing; structure of the brain and nervous system; brain anomalies; sensation and perception; sleep; emotions and stress; biological correlates of mental disorders, and other topics.  Psychology 401 (Introduction to Psychology) is the only prerequisite for PSYC 531.

 

TEACHING/LEARNING STRATEGIES

 

            The primary class format will consist of lectures, discussions, short video segments, and various reading assignments.  Given the level of detail associated with this subject matter, you will find that I tend to follow the textbook rather closely.  It is extremely important that you keep up with the assigned readings. In looking at the course calendar, you will note that we will be covering the material at a brisk rate -- about one/two chapters per week. Do not put off the reading assignments until the night before an exam!  The information in many cases is too detailed to be  assimilated in a single session.  Likewise, it is critical that you make an attempt to attend every class meeting. Similar to many math courses, PSYC 531 starts out at a rather general level and builds momentum quickly. 

 

STUDENT EVALUATION

 

Students will be graded based on the following criteria:

 

In-Class Exams

 

            Three exams will be given over the course of the semester.  The exams assess your knowledge from each of the three, multi-chapter units.  Exam format will consist of a mixture of multiple-choice questions, definitions, and questions selected randomly from the "Stop & Check" questions that appear throughout every chapter in the textbook.  Moreover, additional essay questions that ask you to pull some ideas together (similar to the "Thought Questions" from the textbook) will be included.  These latter essay questions could also test your knowledge on material that is covered in class only (i.e., material that does not appear in your textbook).  I will tell you more about the exam format as the test dates approach. As a general rule, NO MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN!  Therefore, make sure you do not miss any scheduled exams (unless there are extenuating circumstances - if so, see me at least one week before the scheduled exam).

 

Online Textbook Quizzes

 

            Every week you will be expected to complete an online quiz for each chapter of the Kalat textbook.  These quizzes will be multiple-choice in format and you will be given immediate feedback when each quiz is completed.  Links to these quizzes will be provided in the "Assignment" folder of the UNH Blackboard site, MyUNH (http://blackboard.unh.edu/). Click on that link, and you'll see the links for each quiz as the semester progresses.  There's no time limit for each quiz, per se, but you must complete the assigned quiz each week before we start the next chapter in the textbook; hence, all of the quiz links will be available at the start of a new unit, but the links will be removed from the site, one at a time, as we finish covering the chapter material in a given unit.  Note that you may refer to your textbook and class notebook to help you complete each quiz -- hence, the online quizzes are all open-book!.

 

Paper Assignment

 

            To help you appreciate the vast amount of psychobiological research that exists, you will be writing a research paper on a relevant topic of your choice.  Your task is to find three recent (i.e., within the last 5 years), related psychobiological journal articles and summarize them in paper format. Please note that the articles must be from scholarly journals!  Hence, I am not looking for articles from Psychology Today, Time, or Redbook!  Please be aware of the fact that many of your chosen articles may be rather technical and detailed.  Be sure to pick articles that you can understand!  The paper is due on December 8.  Please attach a photocopy of the first page from each of the three articles when you turn in your paper.  Please note that FOR EVERY WEEKDAY THAT PAPERS ARE HANDED IN LATE, GRADES WILL BE LOWERED BY ONE LEVEL (E.G., A GRADE OF "B-" WILL BE DROPPED TO A "C+" ON THE FIRST DAY, A "C" ON THE SECOND DAY, A "D" ON THE FOURTH DAY, ETC.).  ALSO, PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT PAPERS AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS!

 

I will be telling you more about this assignment in an upcoming class meeting.

            To summarize, then, grades will be broken down as follows:

 

                        Exam 1                                      20%

                        Exam 2                                      20%

                        Exam 3                                      20%

                        Online Quizzes                          20%

                        Paper Assignment                     20%

                                                                        -----------

                                                                          100%

 

Grades will be calculated based on the following percentage cutoff points:

 

                                                A  = 93 - 100%           A- = 90 - 92%

            B+ = 87 - 89%                        B  = 83 - 86%             B- = 80 - 82%

            C+ = 77 - 79%                        C  = 73 - 76%             C- = 70 - 72%

            D+ = 67 - 69%           D  = 63 - 66%             D- = 60 - 62%

                                                F  =  0 - 59%

CHEATING

 

            Cheating will not be tolerated in this class. Students caught cheating on exams or writing assignments will automatically receive a course grade of "F" and his/her name will be forwarded to the dean's office in accordance with university policy.  Hopefully, this information goes without saying.  Please note that plagiarism also constitutes Òcheating.Ó  The UNH Department of PsychologyÕs statement on plagiarism goes as follows:

 

 ÒPlagiarism is a form of cheating, punishable (at the discretion of the instructor) by failure in the course in which it occurs and possibly (at the discretion of the dean) by suspension or dismissal from the University.

 

            Plagiarism can take a number of forms, including the re-use of your own written work without appropriate modifications and/or without the permission of your instructor.

 

            Plagiarism most commonly occurs when material is taken from a source without proper citation.  Whenever material is directly quoted it must appear in quotation marks and be properly cited either in the text or in a footnote.  A citation without quotation marks is not adequate since it implies that the material quoted is your wording.  It is even less acceptable to simply put the source of material in a bibliography at the end of your paper, with neither quotation marks nor references made in the text or notes.

 

            Indirect quotations – that is, points taken from some source but restated in your own words – should not appear in quotation marks, but the source from which they come should be cited in the text or in a footnote, depending on the reference style your instructor prefers.

 

            If necessary, ask me for further clarification.  Remember that a course grade or even your undergraduate career could be jeopardized by ignorance in this matter.  Ignorance does not constitute an excuse for plagiarism.Ó

 

From the UNH Department of PsychologyÕs ÒStatement on Plagiarism,Ó September 5, 2001.

 

 

A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS

 

            If you have taken other classes with me in the past you know that I expect a great deal from my students.  You should take your work very seriously and make a strong attempt at keeping up with the reading assignments, paper assignments, etc.  Keep in mind that the general rule-of-thumb for attending college at UNHM is that for every hour of in-class meeting time, the student ought to be spending 2-3 hours outside of class time preparing for the class meetings.  I do not mean to scare you off by stating this policy, but I do want my students to know this fact up front.  Also, you should be aware that I keep all student examinations on file; hence, you will not be able to keep your examinations after I return them for your perusal.  I will spend some time in class going over the exams after they have been graded.  If you would like to go over your examination in more detail, you are welcome (and encouraged!) to come see me during office hours.  This policy is a strict one and is non-negotiable.  As a final note, please turn off all cell phones during class time!  If you must leave the phone on for critical reasons, please set the ringer to Òvibration mode,Ó if possible, or, at the very least, make sure the phone is easily accessible so that youÕre not digging around trying to find the phone while itÕs disturbing the class.  Please note that all of the information outlined in this syllabus is subject to slight modification throughout the course.  If any substantive changes in the syllabus are warranted, I will let you know well ahead of time.  Let's work on having both an educational and enjoyable semester of "Psychobiology"!

 

 

TENTATIVE COURSE CALENDAR

 

            DATE                          TOPIC                                                            CHAPTER

 

 

            Sep.     1          What is Psychobiology?                                 JWK: 1; OS: 1, 2

                        3

                        8          Neuron Functioning                                        JWK: 2, Appendix A

                        10

                        15        Synaptic Processes                                          JWK: 3; OS:3, 4, 5

                        17

                        22        Nervous System/Research Methods                JWK: 4; OS: 6, 7

                        24

                        29        Brain Lateralization & Language                     JWK: 14; OS: 8, 9

            Oct.     1

                        6          ******************** EXAM #1 ********************

 

                        8          Sensation                                                         JWK: 7; OS: 10, 11, 12

                        13

                        15

                        20        Vision                                                              JWK: 6; OS: 13, 14, 15

                        22

                        27

                        29        Development of the Brain; Movement JWK: 5, 8; OS: 16, 17, 18

            Nov.    3          Typed Paper Topic & References Due

                        5          Sleeping                                                          JWK: 9; OS: 19, 20

                        10

                        12        ******************** EXAM #2 ********************

 

                        17        Internal Regulation                                          JWK: 10; OS: 21

                        19        Research Paper Rough Draft Due

                        24        Sexual Behavior and Hormones                      JWK: 11, 3; OS:22

            Dec.     1

                        3          Emotional Behavior                                         JWK: 12; OS: 23

                        8          Learning/Memory                                           JWK: 13

                                    PAPER DUE IN CLASS – DEC. 8

                        10

                        15        Biology of Psychological Disorders               JWK: 15; OS: 24

17        ******************** EXAM #3 ********************

 

Within a few days, a copy of this syllabus

will be posted on my web page:

 

http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jes1