4B: Biology and Culture in Human Development

Human Biology 4A/4B Spring 2003 4A: The Human Organism 4B: Biology and Culture in Human Development

elcome back to the final quarter of HumBio Core! This quarter, we focus on the human Worganism from the perspectives of biological and behavioral science. 4A is devoted to the study of neurobiology and physiology – how the brain regulates behavior, how behavior shapes the brain during development, and how physiological mechanisms in humans and other animals function. 4B explores the interaction of biology and culture in cognitive and social development. 4B will also examine how culture provides a necessary context for early development as well as how cultural assumptions influence the scientific understanding of human behavior. A central theme in 4A and 4B will be the nature and extent of plasticity in developing physiological and behavioral systems. Eight modules across 4A and 4B will integrate biological and psychosocial perspectives on human development and behavior.

FACULTY AND LECTURERS Coordinators: Anne Fernald, Ph.D., Josephine Knotts Knowles Professor of Human Biology, Associate Professor of Psychology, Stanford University Russell Fernald, Ph.D., Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor and Director of Human Biology, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Stanford University Daniel Garza, M.D., Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center Guest lecturers: Nancy Adler, Ph.D., Professor, Health Psychology Program, University of California, San Francisco Harry Chugani, M.D., Chief of Pediatric Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Michigan; Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University Lia Fernald, Ph.D., MBA, Haas School, U.C. Berkeley & Economica y Politicas de la Salud Institut Nacional de Salud Publica, Cuernavaca, Mexico John Gabrieli, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Stanford University Kevin Graber, M.D., Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University Susan McConnell, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences, Stanford University Tom Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford University Paul Rozin, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences and of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University

COURSE ASSISTANTS (CAs) A Side: Vivian Truong (Head) [vdtruong] B Side: Amy Perfors (Head) [perfors] Jaclyn Czaja [jaczaja] Robyn Lamar [rlamar] Steve Gelber [sgelber] Donald Matsuda [dmatsuda] Alan Teo [ateo] Kim Woodhouse [kimw] Email addresses are in brackets next to each person, all @stanford.edu. 2

Enrollment Policy The two sides of the Core MUST be taken together. Only in rare, exceptional circumstances will students be authorized to take only 4A or 4B. In such cases, students MUST petition the Director of Human Biology. Petitions are available in the Student Advisors Office (Building 80, Room 105) and are due back to the Student Services Coordinator, Lia Cacciari (Building 80, Room 104), no later than April 2 nd. If a petition is not received and/or not approved, we reserve the right to withhold midterm grades and the student runs the risk of not receiving a grade for the entire class.

Please note that 4A and 4B will be closely integrated along several themes, and this quarter there will be 8 modules spanning from 1-4 days each. Any student enrolled in only one of the two courses will nevertheless be responsible for both A-side and B-side lectures and for all the readings related to these modules.

Office Hours 4A Russell Fernald will hold office hours on Tuesdays 3:30-5:30 PM in the Director's office (80-101) of the Human Biology Building; there is a sign-up sheet on the door.

Dan Garza will hold office hours TBA, and can be reached at garza@stanford. 4B Anne Fernald will hold office hours on Wednesdays from 1:30-3:30 PM in Building 420, Room 202. A sign-up sheet is posted outside her door. She is also available on Thursdays after class, by arrangement.

The Human Biology Course Assistants (CAs) can be found in Room 106 of the Human Biology Building (Bldg. 80). Schedules of CA office hours will be available in class and on the web. If you want to talk to a CA, email is usually best. You can also catch her or him at class, leave a message in one of their mailboxes at Human Biology, or leave a voice mail message on their telephone and your call will be returned. A Side CA Phone and Voicemail ...... 725-0342 B Side CA Phone and Voicemail ...... 725-0343

Websites Information for the Core will be available through two websites: the Human Biology Program Core website (http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/Core) and the Coursework website (http:// coursework.stanford.edu).

The Core website will contain information about the courses: syllabus, lecture schedule, scheduled office hours, etc. Note that several of the required readings are listed in the syllabus as *TBA. These readings will be added to Coursework a week or more before the assignment date, so you should check the website regularly for updates to the reading list.

The Coursework website is designed to be your first point of contact for information concerning the Core. For announcements, problem sets, handouts, changes in office hours, etc., LOOK HERE FIRST! All B-side information will be found on the Coursework website, not the Core website.

Practicum in Child Development

In conjunction with 4B, Human Biology 4Y is offered as a practicum in child development at the Bing Nursery School on the Stanford campus. Students enrolling in 4Y will participate in supervised observations of children as well as a weekly seminar with the Bing staff. Information about 4Y will be distributed in class on April 2nd. 3

EXAMINATIONS, ASSIGNMENTS, AND GRADING Grades for 4A and 4B will be based on the examinations and assignments listed below. Examinations will be based upon material covered in lecture, sections, and in readings. Relative contributions to the final grades will be as shown.

DATE DUE ASSIGNMENT PERCENT OF TOTAL GRADE

4A Weekly Section Attendance, Preparedness, Participation 5%

Weekly Problem Sets 20%

Thursday, April 24th Midterm 30% 9:00-10:15 AM (covers material through 4/22)

Tuesday, June 10th Final 45% 8:30-11:30 AM (cumulative)

DATE DUE ASSIGNMENT PERCENT OF TOTAL GRADE

4B Weekly Section Attendance, Preparedness, Participation 5% Section poster presentation on FAS: week of 5/26-29 5%

Weekly Problem sets 20%

Thursday, May 1st Midterm 30% 9:00-10:15 AM (covers material through 4/28)

Wednesday June 11th Final 40% 8:30-11:30 AM (cumulative)

Exam Administration Scheduling Conflicts: If you have a conflict with any of the scheduled exam times due to a University-sanctioned activity (i.e. athletic events, performances), you must inform the respective head CA in writing by April 14, 2003. Plane reservations, vacations, etc. are not valid reasons for submitting a request for an alternate exam time. Proctoring Policy: During exams, Course Assistants will only answer questions regarding structural errors in exam questions (i.e. typos, miswording), or questions regarding ambiguity. Questions of the latter nature will be considered collectively by the proctoring CAs and faculty members. If they are deemed valid, an announcement will be made to the entire class, rather than to an individual student.

Grading Policy For both sides of the Core, scores will be assigned letter grades according to the approximate scale below:

90% and above A 80-89% B 70-79% C 60-69% D 59% and below NP 4

Regrade Policy: We will accept regrade requests for examinations only to correct addition errors, or when a grader has overlooked an answer that clearly corresponds with the key. Arguments over number of points assigned for partial credit will not be considered. Regrade requests must be submitted to the respective Head CA in writing no later than one week after the exam is returned, and must identify specific items for the CAs to re-evaluate. We will not accept regrade requests for material written in pencil, including the scantron sheet. We reserve the right to regrade your entire exam, and your grade may be affected positively or negatively.

Honor Code: As with all courses at Stanford University, students and faculty in the Human Biology Core are bound to uphold the Honor Code. If a question arises regarding what constitutes permitted and unpermitted aid or a possible Honor Code violation, please contact a faculty member or a CA.

DISCUSSION SECTIONS Sign-ups: Thursday, April 3rd, at 5:00 PM, through Friday, April 4th, at 5:00 PM, on the Coursework web site (http://coursework.stanford.edu). Size Limits: Section sizes are limited to a maximum of 18 students per section; these limits will be strictly enforced. As always, sections will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Begin: The week of April 7th Changes: We will only allow a change in section if you can document that you absolutely cannot make your assigned section. Any changes to section assignment must be submitted by Monday, April 7, 2003. Section grades: Based on attendance, preparedness, and participation in section and on problem set rationales. Expectations: Sections will be 50 minutes long. The goal of the sections is to serve as an interactive discussion of important concepts from lecture and reading. Thus sections will not provide a comprehensive review of all the materials for which students will be responsible on the exams. Instead, students are encouraged to attend office hours for clarification of concepts not covered in sections.

WEB BASED COURSEWORK Posted: Officially, by Wednesday 8pm on http://coursework.stanford.edu (Unofficially, problem sets will usually be posted earlier in the day) Due: Problem Sets will normally be due on Friday at 8pm. Problem sets may be submitted on-line as many times as you wish until the time they are due. Late submissions will receive no credit. Scores: Will be posted on the website by the following Monday at 5pm. Goal: The problem sets are intended to facilitate student out-of-class learning, to prepare students for section, and to guide section planning for the following week. Scope: While the questions will relate to the central points of the material and will reflect the types of questions that will appear on exams, problem sets will not provide a comprehensive review of all the materials for which students will be responsible on the exams. Format: Problem set questions will be multiple choice with occasional short answer questions. For every question, students will also be required to provide a brief rationale explaining their chosen answer. Collaboration: Students are encouraged to discuss and work through problem sets together. However, in accordance with the Honor Code, students must enter their answers and rationales on their own & in their own words. Athletes: Athletes or others gone from campus for university-sponsored activities from Friday AM or earlier through Saturday evening may receive an extension. Athletes are responsible for making individual arrangements with their CAs before leaving town. If possible, athletes away over the weekends should contact Verity Powell (eavkp@stanford, 5-0790) to receive access to the laptops available to enable them to complete their assignments on time.

The first problem set (Assignment 1) will be released on Wednesday, April 10th and is due at 8pm on Friday, April 12th.

Virtual Labs The Virtual Labs provide interactive and simulation-based learning environments in physiology and neurology, designed to complement the material taught in the Core. The site is available at: http://summit.stanford.edu/physio. Individual accounts will be created after section assignments are completed. In the meantime, you may access the site by using “humbio” as both login and password. 5

READINGS Reading assignments are listed in the lecture schedule. The following texts will be available for purchase at the Stanford Bookstore and are on reserve at Meyer Library:

A side Purves, W.K., D. Sadava, G.H. Orians, &H.C. Heller. Life: The Science of Biology, Sixth Edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2001. Silverthorn, D.U. Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prenctice Hall, 2001. Gilbert, S.F. Developmental Biology, Sixth Edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2000.

B side Eliot, Lise. What's Going On In There?: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. Bantam Books: New York, 1999. (available at Stanford bookstore) Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord. New York: Harper Perennial, 1989. (Used copies of this book can be purchased very cheaply from Amazon.com, so it’s best for you to order it yourself. New copies will also be available at the Bookstore in early May.)

All other readings will be posted on Coursework. Readings listed as *TBA on the syllabus will be available on Coursework at least a week before the assigned date, so be sure to check regularly for updates.

Lecture Tapes Audiotapes of this year's class lectures will be on reserve at Green Library. Please do not rely on the tapes to replace attending lectures. CAs are not responsible for lost, damaged or missing tapes. Please note that it takes Green a few days to process the tapes and make them available. Status of reserves can be checked at the Stanford University Libraries' Web page: www-sul.stanford.edu.

Students with Documented Disabilities Students who have a disability which may necessitate an academic accommodation or the use of auxiliary aids and services in a class must notify the Head CA's and initiate a request with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The DRC will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend appropriate accommodations, and prepare a verification letter dated in the current academic term in which the request is being made. Please contact the DRC as soon as possible; timely notice is needed to arrange for appropriate accommodations. The DRC is located at 123 Meyer Library (phone 723-1066; TDD 725-1067).