Sept

Psychology 356, Section 01—Physiological Psychology

Spring Semester 2004

MWF: 11:45-12:40, Psych A, Rm 137

Instructor: Dr. Brenda Anderson Office: Psychology B, Rm 216

Office Hours: check blackboard Telephone: 632-7821 email: banderson@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Teaching Assistant: ToddWatson Office: Psychology A, Room 212

Office Hours: MW 10:45-11:45 email: tdwatson_5HT@yahoo.com

Undergraduate TA: Tim Hirsch Office:

Office Hours: T/TH 1-2:00 email: thirsch14@yahoo.com

Required Texts:

1) Text: Principles of Neural Science (4^th Ed), by Kandel, Schwartz & Jessel; Available at: Stony Books, Stony Brook, New York (Rt. 25A) and University Bookstore.

As you will see below, there are specific page numbers assigned. For that reason, it is necessary that you buy a copy of the 4^th edition, not an earlier edition.

2) Additional Text: Course Pack for Physiological Psychology Psych 356, Spring 2004. Available at: University Bookstore only. (approx cost $20.00). This packet will not be available until after the first of February, but we will not need it before then.

3) Additional material will be made available on Blackboard.

· Attendance is necessary for this course. The lectures serve to simplify the material from the textbook. If you cannot attend class consistently, you are advised to drop the course. I will not accommodate students that cannot attend class regularly. Online courses are more appropriate for such circumstances.

· Exams will be on material covered in the lecture. This helps you focus your efforts. Only in a few cases will exams cover material covered only in the book. When that is the case, you will be forewarned.

· The pre-requisites are a MUST for this course. Students in the past who have not had basic biology and Survey in Biopsychology have not been able to keep up with the course, and have received failing grades.

Schedule:

Week of Jan. 26:

Monday: Handout syllabus

Wednesday: Guest lecture: Philosophy of the Mind (Origins of how we view the relationship between the brain and behavior), no readings

Friday: Guest lecture: Philosophy of the Mind (Origins of how we view the relationship between the brain and behavior), no readings

Week of Feb. 2:

Monday: History of Neuroscience; Textbook: Chapter 1

Wednesday: Chapt 1, continued

Cells of the Nervous System” Textbook: Chapter 2

Friday: Cells of the Nervous System, Textbook: Chapter 2 ;

Week of Feb. 9:

Monday: Ion Channels; Textbook: Chpt 6, pp 105-108, 112-116

Wednesday: Ion Channels, Textbook: Chapter 6, pp 105-108, 112-116

Friday: Electrical Potential of the Resting Neuron, Course Pack, Chpt 4

**Citation search due (10 points). See Blackboard for instructions.**

Week of Feb. 16:

Monday: Group Activity on ion gradients and ion movement. (Participation and summary together are worth 10 points)

Wednesday: Action Potential”, Course Pack, Chapter 5 pp 109-128, Textbook: Chapter 9 (pp.150-163, 169).

Friday: Action Potential Conduction,” Course Pack: Chapter 5 pp 128-132, Textbook: p 148; 703-704, see also figure 35-3.

Week of Feb. 23:

Monday: Multiple Sclerosis, Supplementary material on Blackboard

Wednesday: Review

Friday: Exam 1

Week of Mar. 1:

Monday: Neurotransmitters and their Release,” Textbook: Chapter 14

Wednesday: Types of Synapses: Textbook: Chapter 10

Friday: Transmitters and Receptors Textbook: Chapter 12 (pp. 207-217, 217-218 start at “how does…”; 222-227). Chapter 13: 240-243—stop at “cyclic AMP”. Chapter 15, pp 280-286.

Week of Mar. 8:

Monday: Transmitters and Receptors Textbook: Chapter 12 (pp. 207-217, 217-218 start at “how does…”; 222-227). Chapter 13: 240-243—stop at “cyclic AMP”. Chapter 15, pp 280-286.

Wednesday: Post-synaptic Potentials: Textbook: Chapter 11: Course Pack, Chapter 8

Friday: Spatial and Temporal Summation, Course Pack: Chapter 8.

Week of Mar. 15:

Monday: Neural circuits; See material on Blackboard.

Wednesday: Circuit Activity (Participation and summary: 10 points).

Friday: Diseases that Illustrate the Importance of Ion Channels, Textbook: Chapter 16

**Neuroanatomy Assignment Part I: Due. Name the structures (15 pts)**

Week of Mar. 22:

Monday: Metabolism, See webpage

Wednesday: Metabolism, See webpage

Friday: Stroke

Week of Mar. 29:

Monday: Blood Brain Barrier: Textbook: Appendix B and webpage

Wednesday: High Altitude Environments, see Blackboard

Friday: Review

SPRING BREAK APRIL 5-11

Week of Apr 12:

Monday: Exam 2

Wednesday: Autonomic Nervous System and the Hypothalamus Textbook: Chapter 21 (pg. 960-962; pg. 974-980; Chapter 50: 982-986; we’ll focus on the hypothalamus.); Also see webpage on blackboard.

Friday: Stress

Week of Apr. 19:

Monday: Depression, Textbook Chapt. 61

Wednesday: Depression

Handouts for literature activity

Friday: Literature Activity—Group preparation

**Neuroanatomy Assignment Part II: Due. Describe functions associated with the structures (15 points).**

Week of Apr. 26:

Monday: Literature Activity-group presentations (10points for quality of presentation)

Wednesday: Literature Activity-group presentations

Friday: Literature Activity-group presentations

Week of May 3:

Monday: Catch up day—or extra lecture

Wednesday: Catch up day—or extra lecture

Friday (Last class): Review

May 10-12: READING DAYS

May 13-19: FINAL EXAMS

Wed, May 19: 11:00-1:30 PM, FINAL EXAM

(Location to be announced)

The schedule outlined above may change as needed.

EXAMS

Objective: Whereas each exam is designed to test knowledge of material covered in lecture and text since the previous exam, mastery of some of the material may be dependent upon knowledge from the first part of the course.

Structure of Exams: Exams will be multiple choice. There may be a short answer challenge question at the end of exams.

Rules: Only the exam, scantron and pencil are allowed on the desk (no food, drinks, cell phones …). Any translators must be checked out by course director in office hours before the exam. During exams, students must sit spaced apart, with books away neatly, and all baseball or other caps with bills removed or turned backward. Your ears must be visible unless you have our advanced permission to have your ears covered. Do not bring headphones to the exam. Do not cheat and do not take part in any activity resembling cheating. Turn beepers and cell phones off and put them away, unless you have advanced permission otherwise. You are not allowed to look at beepers or cell phones during the exam. If you need to know the time, ask the TA or course director. Do not speak to friends or classmates during an exam. Doing so will bring about an automatic F on the exam. If you have any needs, you can ask the TA or instructor rather than a classmate. We will do our best to accommodate your needs (such as getting a scantron form, eraser, pen, tissue, etc.) When you have completed the exam remove yourself promptly from the classroom.

Show up on time for exams. Exams start at 11:45 am. No one will be admitted after 11:55. Everyone is expected to finish no later than 12:40. Please show up on time so that you will have plenty of time to complete the exam.

Policy on Make-up Exams: Each student is permitted to take one exam late. Advanced notice is required to take advantage of this option (leave a message at 632.7821 or email banderson@notes.cc.sunysb.edu). Make up exams will be given at the TAs first office hours held after the day of the exam (or following recovery from an illness with a doctor’s note). Additional make-up exams will be given only in cases where formal excuses are received. In those cases, you must show your formal excuse to the TA in order to receive the exam. Make up exams may be in the form of either short answer or multiple choice. They may be more difficult.

HOMEWORK GRADE

Homework Assignments:

1)Researching Neuroscience-related Topics (Due Feb. 13): The objective of this assignment is to familiarize you with databases used by neuroscientists. You are required to turn in 5 abstracts obtained from a search of PubMed [http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi]. There must be a search result listing 5 (at least 5 and only 5) references and abstracts to journal articles related to behavioral neuroscience. I recommend you search a topic of interest, then read through the titles and check five of interest. Then look at the top and find the “display button.” Next to that choose abstract, and then hit display to view the references and abstracts of the articles of interest. This should yield 5 references with their abstracts. Worth 10 points. Full points require following the instructions of the assignment carefully.

2) Neuroanatomy Assignment (Part I due Friday March 19, Part II due, Friday April 23). You will receive a handout with necessary images and instructions. (Part I, 15 points, Part II, 15 points).

In-Class Activities: Many of the activities of science and psychology require group projects. In-class activities provide the opportunity to participate in, and develop skills for solving problems in groups. These activities provide the opportunity to use appropriate social skills required for group cooperation. At various times during the course you will be asked to break apart into groups. Your group will have to perform a task within the amount of time given so work quickly. At the end you will be required to present your product to the class or each individual will have to hand in their record of the work. Each student should turn in a 1 paragraph summary of the activity to receive credit. (Three activities, each worth 10 points)

Group Projects: Each student will be responsible for contributing to one-two large group projects. These projects will involve responsibilities that range from understanding the basic biology of the question, the behavioral outcomes of a biological disorder, human behaviors that may or may not contribute to the disorder, understanding government agencies that are responsible for protecting citizens, and developing a statement regarding what public policy should be toward the problem. For each issue assigned, class members must provide information and identify critical questions using the discussion board on Blackboard. When providing information, references must be included. Your citations may be from newspaper articles, peer-reviewed scientific articles, web pages, and interviews. Participation in the activity must include providing information and references, opinions, raising critical questions, demonstrating that you are well-informed, showing that you are capable of drawing conclusions (but with caution).

In all of your assignments you should strive to demonstrate that you are using your critical thinking skills.

According to Ennis, critical thinking ``is reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do''.

Moreover, According to Ennis, an able critical thinker will (interdependently):

1. Judge the credibility of sources.

2. Identify conclusions, reasons, and assumptions.

3. Judge the quality of an argument, including the acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence.

4. Develop and defend a position on an issue

5. Ask appropriate clarifying questions.

6. Plan experiments and judge experimental design

7. Define terms in a way appropriate for the context.

8. Be open-minded.

9. Try to be well informed

10. Draw conclusions when warranted, but with caution

This list of abilities and dispositions is Ennis's own abridgement of work presented in (Ennis 1991) and (Ennis 1993).

Ennis, R. H. (1991). Critical Thinking; A Streamlined Conception. Teaching Philosophy, 14(1), 5-25, 1991.

Ennis, R. H. (1993). Critical Thinking Assessment. Theory Into Practice, 32(3), 179-186, 1993.

I suggest that you check your assignments to be sure that you have demonstrated the 10 items listed by Ennis in your assignment.

GRADING: Your final grade will be based on the average of the percent correct for three exams and the the homework. Do not compute your grade from your raw scores. Instead use the percent correct out of the total possible points. You must take all exams and the final. Consider the percent correct on all homework assignments and class activities added together to be equal to the weight of one exam.

Because your scores will always be out of 100 percent possible, at any time during the course you can easily compute your current grade by averaging your percent correct for the exams taken so far and the homework/activities completed so far. For the final grade, there will be 3 exams plus all the home work assignments added together, which make 4 scores to be averaged. Each score is worth a total of 100 percentage points. The average percent correct from all 3 exams plus the home work assignments/activities (4 scores) will determine your grade. (Example: Exam 1: 81%; Exam 2: 85%; Exam 3: 90%; Homework: 87% = an average of 85.75%, or a B)

If the instructor feels the need to curve grades, the curves will be made at the time the exam and homework scores are computed, not at the end of the semester. As a result, you have certainty of your current standing at any time in the course. No tests will be thrown out.

Excuses: For those who would like to bring formal excuses for missing class, especially when activities are missed, the excuses will be filed and taken into consideration when grades are on the border. Likewise, if you have family concerns, emotional problems, and health problems, I will be happy to take these into consideration if your grade is on the border. However, it is difficult to use this information for anything other than making borderline grade decisions. In other words, I cannot grade exams more easily because of these concerns. If any such concerns are severe enough, I would recommend the student drop the course or consider taking an incomplete until their situation is resolved. Incompletes must be negotiated with Dr. Anderson. Likewise, if such concerns interfere with your ability to take exams on time and hand in homework on time, documentation from a doctor or campus counselor will be needed. Students should be aware that in situations that warrant missing all of your classes for several days, you should contact the Dean of Student services. He/She can help you contact professors, and your absence will then be considered excused. For any issues that require your absence at critical class time or your inability to hand in homework, you are expected to act responsibly and notify us in a timely manner.

TO STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: If you have a physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work, please notify the instructor early on in the course so that arrangements can be made to accommodate your needs. You should also contact the staff in the Disabled Student Services office (DSS), Room 128, Educational Communications Center, 632-6748/TDD. DSS will review your concerns and determine, with you, what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability is confidential. You cannot be accommodated unless DSS sends a letter to the instructor.

Students cannot take exams at DSS or ask for special accommodations without a formal letter from DSS to the course director.

For your records: This is a copy of the statement below that you are required to sign and give to Dr. Anderson by the second class period.

I have read the syllabus and I understand the grading system. With that in mind, I understand that all students will be graded as fairly as possible. I understand that my grade along with all grades in the course will be based on my test performance and the quality of my homework. With fairness in mind, I cannot ask for special consideration when my grade is given. Therefore, I will not ask the instructor to change my grade because of outside circumstances.

Signature:___________________________________________ Date: ______________

Read and sign below. Please turn this in to Dr. Anderson

Signature:___________________________________________ Date: ______________