Brain, Mind & Behavior (47

BRAIN, MIND & BEHAVIOR (47.273) Fall 2010 Section 201: MWF 8:00am – 8:50am Section 202: MWF 9:00am – 9:50am

Instructor: Dr. Ivy Ho Email: [email protected] Office: Mahoney Hall Room 7 Phone: (978) 934-3963 Office Hours: MWF 10:00am – 11:00am, or by appointment Course website: http://faculty.uml.edu/iho/47.273/material.htm

COURSE DESCRIPTION Like most psychology courses, this course explores the mystery of how and why we do what we do. In this course, we will approach this mystery by studying the brain and other parts of the nervous system. You will learn how the brain acts as a “control tower” that navigates us through everyday life, experience, and behavior. Along the way, we will not only begin to understand the intricacies that underlie daily behaviors, but also begin to ponder questions such as: Why do fools fall in love; Can people literally be “worried sick;” Can memories be fabricated; and many more.

COURSE OBJECTIVES It is my goal to make your experience in this course fun, educational, and meaningful. If you take full advantage of what I have prepared for this course, at the end of the semester you will: 1) Understand more about what makes you tick; 2) Sound cool at parties (by talking in tongue-twisting technical terms); 3) Start thinking about real-life, real world issues beyond the course material.

COURSE ACTIVITIES A. Required reading materials 1) Textbook Klein, S & Thorne, B. M. (2007). Biological psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

There is a copy of the textbook on reserve at O’Leary Library. You can check the book out for 2 hours at a time to read in the library (will not be allowed to take the book out of the library). If you choose not to purchase your own copy, and to use this reserved copy, you should be aware that it may not be available when you want to use it, because another student may be using it at the time. This is especially true when there is an exam coming up.

Do not deface the reserved copy in any way. I will be checking the book periodically to make sure that it is still in good condition. If I see any handwritten notes, highlighting, underlining, etc, I will remove the book from the library and it will no longer be available to any student.

2) Journal articles Loftus, E. F. (2003). Make-believe memories. American Psychologist, 58(11), 867-873.

Blascovich, J., Spencer, S. J., Quinn, D., & Steele, C. (2001). African Americans and high blood pressure: The role of stereotype threat. Psychological Science, 12(3), 226-229. 2

B. Article quizzes You will thoroughly read the Loftus and Blascovich articles indicated above and take a quiz on each article. The quiz for the Loftus article will take place on Nov 3, 2010 and the quiz for the Blascovich article will take place on Dec 1, 2010. The purpose of the quizzes is to encourage you to read the articles before coming to class. You should be able to do well at the quizzes as long as you have read the articles thoroughly, even if you do not fully understand all the concepts. Each quiz is worth 6 points, for a total of 12 points.

The quiz will take place during the first 5 minutes of class. You will not be allowed to take the quiz if you are absent or if you arrive after those 5 minutes are up. If you miss the quiz, and provide appropriate documentation, you may earn the 6 points by writing a 2-page summary of the article which the quiz was on. The summary must be written in your own words. In order to earn full credit for your summary, you must briefly describe the content of the article, so that I can tell that you have read it thoroughly. Your summary must be handed in within one week of the quiz date.

C. Attendance You are expected to attend class regularly and contribute to class discussions. I will take attendance at the beginning of each lecture by passing around an attendance sheet. I will begin passing around the attendance sheet at the beginning of the class hour (i.e., 8:00am or 9:00am), according to the time displayed on the computer in the classroom. On the days we have a quiz (Nov 3, 2010 and Dec 1, 2010), I will pass around the attendance sheet after the quiz is over. Because it is distracting and disruptive when students arrive to class late, you are required to come to class on time. If you arrive after the attendance sheet has made its way around the class, you will not be allowed to sign in and will be considered absent for that day.

Attendance counts for 16 points. You are allowed three unexcused absences. Any subsequent unexcused absence will result in a ½-point deduction per unexcused absence. Therefore, at the end of the semester, students who have had no more than three unexcused absences will earn all 16 points for attendance. Students who wish to be excused for an absence will have to provide appropriate documentation.

D. Exams: You will complete five exams during the semester, and one exam during finals week. Exams are non-cumulative. Each exam will cover material since the last exam (or, in the case of Exam 1, since the beginning of the semester). Each exam will be worth 37 points. Altogether, the exams are worth a possible 222 points. The exams will contain multiple-choice items. They will be given during class time on the dates noted in the Tentative Course Schedule below. Any exams you miss will receive zero points.

You will have 50 minutes (i.e., the duration of the class period) to complete each exam. If you arrive late, you will only have the time remaining in the class period to take the exam, unless you have a documented reason for being late, in which case you may take a make-up exam per the conditions listed below. You may only take the exam during the class period for which you are registered. For example, if you are registered for the 8:00am section, you may not take the exam with the 9:00am class. 3

Make-up exam policy: If you who miss any exam, you may take a make-up exam if ALL of the following conditions are met:

a) You must notify me within 48 hours of the scheduled exam; b) You must take the make-up exam during designated weekly make-up exam sessions (days, times and venues to be announced); c) You must take the make-up exam within one week of the original exam; d) Prior to taking the make-up exam, you must provide written documentation for the reason the original exam was missed (e.g., doctor’s note, police report, mechanic’s quote/receipt, obituary). You will not be given the make-up exam until you present the written documentation.

Special note about the exam during finals week I am required by the University to administer a finals week exam only on the day and time scheduled. I cannot honor any requests to change the exam date or time for any student, unless you are scheduled to have three exams on one day, or if you have a time conflict with another exam. If you cannot take the final exam as scheduled because of an emergency, you must notify me within 48 hours of the scheduled exam, and provide documentation (e.g., police report, doctor’s note). You may then take a make-up final exam.

Even though the University schedules a three-hour time block for the final exam, you will have 50 minutes to take this exam. For example, if the final exam is schedule to take place from 8:00am-11:00am, you need to take the exam between 8:00am – 8:50am.

FEEDBACK I will give you ongoing feedback about your learning throughout this course. One way to do this is through your performance on each exam. Another is for you to come by and talk to me in my office. At the end of the semester, you will receive overall feedback on your learning in this course in the form of a grade.

Article quizzes (2 x 6 points) = 12 points Attendance/class participation = 16 points Exams (6 x 37 points) = 222 points TOTAL = 250 points

A = 235-250 A- = 224-234 B+ = 217-223 B = 208-216 B- = 200-207 C+ = 192-199 C = 183-191 C- = 175-182 D+ = 166-174 D = 150-165 F = 149 and below 4

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q I have a disability. Can I receive accommodations in this class? : A: Yes. Students with disabilities who need accommodations must have documentation from the University's Disability Services (located in O’Leary 240). You can speak with me regarding these accommodations during my office hours or by appointment.

Q I will be away on a vacation/attending an out-of-town wedding/etc. during one of the : scheduled exams. May I take a make-up exam? A: No. You should not make travel plans until the exam schedules (including final exam schedule) have been announced.

Q I do not like to use my UMass Lowell student email account. If you need to email students in : the class, could you send the email to my personal email account? A: I will only use the email account that appears on ISIS. Please make use of your UMass Lowell student email account. The University and your instructors use your UMass Lowell student email account to send you important announcements. If you do have problems with your student email account, please call the IT Helpdesk at (978) 934-4357.

Q Will you be giving any extra credit? : A: Extra credit is given at my discretion. Please do not ask me for extra credit; if I decide to give extra credit assignments, I’ll let you know.

Q Do the exam questions come mostly from lecture notes or the textbook? : A: Both. It is important that you read the textbook and journal articles assigned for each lecture. Unless specifically told otherwise by me, there may be information in the textbook/ journal articles that I do not mention in class but that may appear in the exams.

Q Will we get to keep the exams? : A: I will return the exams to you during class time so you can see your grade, and give you brief feedback about correct responses. After that I will collect the exams back. Since we will not have time to discuss the exams thoroughly during class time, all students are strongly encouraged to come to my office and review the exams and discuss how you can learn better.

Q Anything else I should know? : A: As a gesture of respect to yourself, your classmates, and your instructor, refrain from talking when others are talking, and when the class is watching a video clip. Keep all cell phone ringers off during lecture. Do not send text messages during lecture – the constant clicking of the buttons is distracting to students sitting near you. 5

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Dates Topics Readings

Sep 1 Introduction The syllabus, Chapter 1 Sep 3, Sep 8, Sep 10 The nervous system Chapter 2 Sep 13 Research Chapter 1 pp. 15-19 Sep 15 Catch-up/Review Sep 17 Exam 1 Sep 20, Sep 22, Sep 24, Sep 27 Electrical & chemical pathways Chapter 4

Sep 29 Textbook/Review Oct 1 Exam 2 Oct 4, Oct 6, Oct 8 Mental illness Chapter 15 Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 15 Emotions Chapter 12 Oct 18 Catch-up//Review Oct 20 Exam 3 Oct 22, Oct 25, Oct 27 Stress and health Chapter 12 Oct 29, Nov 1, Nov 3 Memory Chapter 14, Loftus Nov 5 Catch-up/Review Nov 8 Exam 4 Nov 12, Nov 15, Nov 17 Perception and Movement Chapters 7 and 8

Nov 19, Nov 22 Brain lateralization and language Chapter 13 Nov 24 Catch-up/Review Nov 29 Exam 5 Dec 1 Stereotype Threat Blascovich Dec 3, Dec 6 Sleep Chapter 9 Dec 8, Dec 10 Vision Chapter 6 Finals week Exam 6