Psyc 2: Biological Foundations


Thank you for a great quarter.


PSYC 2: Biological Foundations - Fall 2012 - Professor Claffey

Instructor: Mike Claffey (mclaffey@ucsd.edu)
Location: Price Center Theater (map)

Scroll down for Syllabus
To view grades and discussion forums, go to csemoodle.ucsd.edu and use your UCSD login

Announcements

Calendar


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Weekly schedule for:

Class

Office Hours (OH)




1 PM class (Price Center Theater)

3:30 - 5 PM Brad OH (McGill 3340)





1 PM class (Price Center Theater)









3-5 Prof. Claffey OH (McGill 3340)

5-6 Sinjin OH (Muir Woods)
10:30-12 Hans OH (McGill 3318)

1 PM class (Price Center Theater)

Sept

Week 0
24
25
26
27
28

Syllabus

podcast
29


Week 1


Oct 1

UNIT: NEURONS

Notes: Neurons

Neurons

podcast
2
3

Action potentials

podcast
4
5

Notes: Synapse

Notes: Synapse part2 (Sinjin's PDF)

Synapses/ neurotransmitters

podcast
6
7

Week 2

8

Synapses cont.

Synaptic learning/ plasticity

podcast
9
10

Synaptic learning/ plasticity cont.

podcast

11
12

Cell Biology supplement added

Quizlet

EXAM 1
(PDF, Analysis)

last day to add
13
14

Week 3


15

UNIT: SENSATION

Notes: Vision part I

Light / eyes

podcast
16
17

Lower vision

podcast

Professor's OH, 3-5 PM, (McGill 3340)
18

This week only: professor's OH moved to Wednesday, Brad's OH 3:30-5 PM (McGill 3340)
19

Cortical vision

Notes: Vision part II (Brad's lecture)

podcast
20
21

Week 4

22

Audition

Notes: Other sense

podcast
23
24

Touch/
smell/
taste

podcast
25

Association for Women in Science SD Open House, 5:30 PM
26

EXAM 2
(PDF, Analysis)

last day to drop without W
27
28

Week 5


29

UNIT: ORGANIZATION

Notes: Anatomy of the nervous system (PDF)

podcast
30
31

(Halloween)

Notes: Organization (PDF / HTML)

Cortical/ subcortical structures

podcast
Nov 1
2

Motor system

podcast
3
4

Week 6


5

Lateralization

podcast
6
7

Development

podcast

(Enrollment for Winter quarter begins)
8
9

EXAM 3
(PDF, Analysis)

Study Guide

Quizlet
10
11

Week 7


12

Veteran's holiday: no class
13
14

UNIT: COGNITION

Notes: Cognition 1 (PDF / HTML)

Executive Functions

podcast
15
16

Executive function cont.

podcast
17
18

Week 8


19

Notes: Cognition 2 (PDF / HTML)

Human Memory

podcast
20
21

Animal memory (podcast only, no class)

podcast
22
23

Thanksgiving: no class
24
25

Week 9

26

CAPE evaluations start

Notes: Cognition 3 (PDF / HTML)

Motivation / Attention

podcast
27
28

Emotion

podcast
29

Review session: 6-7 PM, McGill 1350

Deadline to propose a topic is 11:59 PM
30

EXAM 4
(PDF, Analysis)
Quizlet

last day to drop with a W

Deadline to have extra credit topic approved with professor (approved topics)
Dec 1
2

Week 10

TEDxWomen Conference

3

UNIT: DAMAGE & DISORDERS

Notes: Damage & Disorders
(PDF / HTML)

Damage, Neural Recovery

podcast
4


5

Neuro-psychological
Diseases

podcast

4 PM Deadline to assign Sona credits
6




4 PM Deadline to assign Sona credits

Review session: McGill 1350,
6-7 PM


7

Finish neuropsych diseases, last lecture

podcast

Deadline to turn in extra credit paper
at beginning of class
8
9

Finals Week

Last day to submit CAPES
10

FINAL
11:30-2:30
Location:
Same as class
(analysis)

11
12
13
14
15


Syllabus

Biological Foundations
PSYC 2
Instructor: Michael Claffey
Fall 2012

At a glance

How does the nervous system enable us to see, remember, think, act and feel? This is an intro course at the intersection of psychology and neuroscience. That means that we will be learning about the details of neurons, the retina, the frontal lobe and the hippocampus (to name a few topics) to help us understand human behavior.

The course will be organized in 4 units, each lasting about two weeks and having a multiple choice exam. These exams will be worth 50% of your grade with the cumulative multiple choice final worth 40%. The other 10% will consist of in class questions answered with iClickers (you'll only have to answer half of the questions correctly to get full credit, so low pressure).

The class will be tightly integrated with the textbook, so expect to read as necessary. Notes will be available online and the lectures will be podcast.

Description

Physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying selected areas of human behavior. Emphasis on sensory processes, vision, and the neuropsychology of motivation, memory, and attention.

Lectures

MWF 1:00-1:50 PM
Location: Price Center Theater (map)

Holidays:
Veteran's Day: Monday, November 12
Thanksgiving: Friday, November 23

Final Exam

There will not be make-ups for the final, so please consider alternative classes if you have a conflict.

Monday, December 10th, 11:30 - 2:30 PM
Location: TBD

The final exam will be multiple choice, cover the full course, and is worth 40% of your course grade.

Instructor

Michael Claffey
mclaffey@ucsd.edu
Office Hours: Thursday, 3-5 PM, McGill 3340

Units

The course will be organized into 4 main units. Each unit will last 2-3 weeks and have a unit test.

Unit 1: Neurons
Unit 2: Sensation
Unit 3: Organization of the nervous system
Unit 4: Cognition

Grading

Clicker Questions (in class)
10%
Unit Tests
50% (4 at 12.5% each)
Final 40%
Extra Credit +3%
Your course grade will be assigned based on the number of points as follows:
A+ (97 or more), A (93-97), A- (90-93), B+ (87-90), B (83-87), B- (80-83), C+ (77-80), C (73-77), C- (70-73), D (60-70), and F (below 60). For example, a 92.9 is an A- and 87 is a B+.

Teaching Assistants

Name
Email Office Hours
Brad Monk
bmonk@ucsd.edu Mon 3:30-5 PM (McGill 3340)
Hans Peterson h1peters@ucsd.edu Fri 10:30-12 PM (McGIll 3318)
Sinjin Swartz scswartz@ucsd.edu Thurs 5-6 PM (Muir Woods)


Podcasts

After each lecture, video podcasts will be automatically available on the ucsd podcast site here. I will periodically copy these videos to Youtube because the interface is better. If you do not see a link for a YouTube lecture in the calendar above, check the ucsd site in the interim.

Lecture Notes

Any materials that are made available will be posted on this page in the calendar.

Clickers

For details on Clickers, see mikeclaffey.com/psyc2/clickers.html

Clickers are required for this class starting in week 2 (Monday, October 8th).

In each class, there will be live questions which you will respond to individually and after group discussion.

10% of your course grade will be based on your Clicker answers. You will only need to answer half of all questions correctly in order to receive full credit. This means you can attend all classes and only get half the questions right, or attend half of the classes and get all of the questions right, or some combintion between.

EXEMPTION: If you score 90% or higher on the Unit 1 Test, you will be exempt from Clicker questions. This is to allow students that can master the material to choose their own level of class room participation. Your grade will based on the higher of these two calculations: a no-clicker grade based on 56% tests and 44% final exam -OR- a standard grade based on the outline in the "Grading" section above. Note: if you get 100% on clicker participation, the standard grade calculation will be higher than the no-clicker calculation. This means that even if you are exempt, there is the potential to further boast your grade with good clicker performance.

For more information on iClickers, see acms.ucsd.edu/units/mediaservices/clickers.shtml

Textbook

Biopsychology, Pinel, 7th or 8th edition


The 8th Edition is the most current (amazon)




Biopsychology Pinel 8th Ed
The 7th edition is perfectly acceptable (amazon)



Biopsychology Pinel 7th
The 6th edition (and older) may be okay, but I haven't checked them and won't guarantee that they will have all content or that the chapter organization will be similar.

Biopsychology Pinel 6th


Unit Tests

There will be 4 unit tests throughout the quarter. These tests will be multiple choice and take the full class time. No notes will be allowed. See the calendar for dates and topics of the tests. Test scores will comprise 50% of the grade.

Homework

There is no assigned homework other than readings.

Extra Credit

You have two options to receive extra credit: experiment participation or a summary paper.

Experiments: You can sign up for experiments at ucsd.sona-systems.com. Experiments vary in length and descriptions are available on that website. One point will be added to your final course grade per hour of participation, up to 3 points total. As course instructor I do not have access to the sona system and will only assign credit based on the final numbers provided to me at the end of the quarter; please address any discrepancies to the help listed on the website.

Paper: Alternatively, individuals not wishing to participate in experiments can write a 3-4 page paper on a topic of their choosing relating to biopsychology.  Paper topics must be cleared with the instructor no later than Nov 30th and emailed or handed in at the beginning of class on Dec 7th. Format: 3-4 pages double spaced, cite your works, can include images but does not count toward length, email or print ok.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in any form is against University policy and will NOT be tolerated. 

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:
- Copying answers on tests
- Communicating with other students during a test
- Copying from a friend’s homework
- Misrepresenting a medical or family emergency or other personal contingency in order to delay a scheduled exam or get extra time on an assignment
- Modifying graded material and then resubmitting it to “correct the error in grading”

Acceptable Actions:
- Working with other students on homework assignments but completing the assignment “in your own words”
- Sharing notes with other students outside of exams


Copyright 2012 - Michael Claffey