John Dewey Hall 206
Office Hours: TR 12:00 to 1:30 or by appointment william.falls@uvm.edu
Teaching Assistant and Office Hours:
Kim Rhodes (kimberly.rhodes@uvm.edu)
Office hours ‐ MW 10:45 – 12:15
Overview and course goals:
Psychology 121 explores the biological bases of behavior. We will examine both classical and contemporary issues in behavioral neuroscience, including introduction to nervous system, physiological and behavioral effects of drugs, biological theories of behavioral disorders and the biological basis of learning, memory, emotion and stress. The goals of the course are to provide students with foundational knowledge in behavioral neuroscience which …show more content…
Grades on summary papers comprise 10% of your final grade.
Neuroscience in the Media Paper:
Another goal of the course is to encourage students to think now, and into the future, about the role of nervous system in all psychological processes. To encourage such broader thinking, each student will be required to discuss an example of “biopsychology in the media” (movies, television, music, magazines, newsprint, etc). This term paper will discuss and critique an example of biopsychology in the media with reference to original scholarly research articles on the topic. The Media Watch paper will comprise 15% of the final grade and is due on December 4th 2009. To facilitate the Neuroscience in the Media paper project, a brief description of the media example that will be the basis for your paper is due on October 7th and a bibliography of original research articles for the topic is due on November 6th. A grading rubric for the Media Watch paper will be provided at least one month in advance of this due date.
Text Book
Pinel, J. (2007). Basics of Biopsychology. Allyn & Bacon.
Grading:
Your final letter grade will be comprised of the following