After reading all of the class projects, complete this assignment - deadline = May 7, 2004
After reading all of the class projects, evaluate your team and its work - deadline = May 7, 2004
BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR
Psychology 321 # Spring, 2004
Dr. John M. Morgan
REQUIRED TEXT: James W. Kalat
Biological Psychology (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
8th Edition © 2004, Wadsworth Publishing
ISBN: 0534588166
Jan 21 (1) Introduction to the Course and Field -- Ch. 1
Jan 23-Feb 11 (9) Chapters 1-3
Feb 13 (1) Test 1
Feb 16-Mar 10 (11) Chapeters 4 - 6
Mar 8 First Project Due
Mar 12 (1) Test 2 & turn in First take home exam and first evaluation
Mar 24 (10) Chapters 9 - 12
Mar 14 Semester Break
Apr 16 (1) Test 3
Mar 24-Mar 14 (9) Chapter 13 - 15
May 3 Second project due
(43) Class days in second half of semester
Final Exam (1st 50 minutes only) Fourth test & turn in second take home test &
peer evaluation
The organization of the course will be lectures on Mon, Wed,
Fri with tests on four of the fridays and on alternate fridays
team discussions, some in private and some open in class for all to
profit. All sessions are mandatory.
Letter grades are calculated on a curve generated only by this
class. There will be 4 periodic examinations worth 100 points each.
In lieu of the usual midterm and final examinations there will be
a midterm and a final project worth 150 points each and a take-home
exam to ascertain whether or not each student in the class has read
and studied the projects of their colleagues (30 points) along with
team peer evaluations of 20 points. Additional credit points may
be earned as follows:
20 points for the class crossword puzzle turned in on time,
20 points for volunteering for a research project sponsored by
a Psychology faculty member.
Increase of either 1/3, 2/3 or 1 letter grade by an extra
credit term paper due by the day that the final exam is
scheduled.
My office is in room 116C of HGH (826-4571). I invite you to
consult with me on any matter during my office hours or any time
that is agreeable to you and me either in person or by email
(jmm4@axe.humboldt.edu - include the course number anywhere on the
subject line).
Projects
This is a new portion to my courses and stems from the
philosophy that the students should bear a reasonable share of the
work of a course. The first half of the course is composed of
learning and exploring how the brain and nervous system work and
the second half is devoted to a discussion of how that brain can
support some of the behaviors of which humans are capable.
FIRST PROJECT
The first project will explore the workings of the brain by
requiring that each student team explore the mechanisms by which
drugs affect the human brain and, therefore, the person's behavior.
The teams will consist of 5 or 6 students from our class and each
student will accept responsibility to research, explore and
describe for the team and the rest of the class one of the factors
listed below:
I. Possible student's topic (include human and non-human research
models and data, and data derived from Psychopharmacology
research methods):
Chemistry of the drug and route of access of drug
Synaptic Transmitter(s) involved
Part of the neuron affected
(Dendrites, cell body, terminal boutons, post-synaptic,
autoreceptors)
Inhibitory or excitatory potential changes
Ion channels effected
Physiological (whole body) changes
Primary behavior changes
Side effect behavior changes
Effects reported by users and/or survivors of the use of drug
II. Each team will explore the above different aspects of one of
the following drugs:
Anti-Schizophrenics:
Phenothyazines, e.g. Chlorpromazine
Butyrophenones, e.g. Haloperidol
Atypical, e.g. Clopazine
Anti-Depressants:
Tricyclics, e.g. amitriptyline
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, e.g. Phenelzine
Selective Serotonin Receptor Inhibitors, e.g. Fluozetine
(Prozac)
Manic-depressive treatments, e.g. Lithium
Hallucinogenic, e.g. LSD, Psilocybin, Marijuana
Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder, e.g. Ritalin
Drugs often abused:
Opiates, e.g. heroin
Amphetamines, e.g. speed
Cocaine, e.g. crack
Designer drugs, e.g. MDMA
Legally available, e.g. Nicotine, Caffeine, Alcohol
Anxiolytecs, e.g. Benzodiazepines
A team can negotiate with me for acceptance of another drug
group
SECOND PROJECT
The second project will explore the workings of the brain by
requiring that each student team explore the effects of a tumor or
a lesion to a specific part of the brain on human behavior. The
lesion may be caused by an accidental trauma to the head, a stroke,
a penetrating projectile, etc.
I. Each student topic will research the cause of the change in
the behavior of the person and what to do about the change from the
prospective of the:
Neurosurgeon
Neurologist
Neuropsychologist
Patient him/herself
Spouse and other family members
Employer / Social worker
II. Each team will explore the above different aspects of a tumor
or lesion to one of the following brain areas:
Frontal cortex
Temporal cortex
Parietal cortex
Occipital cortex
Subcortex motor areas, e.g. Caudate nucleus, Putamen, Globus
Pallidus, etc.
Cerebellum
Subcortex diencephalon, e.g. Hypothalamus, Subthalamus,
Thalamus
Brainstem
----------------------------------------------------
PROCEDURES FOR BOTH PROJECTS
III. Process of the project:
Solo Each student selects a drug group or brain area in which
to participate (II. above)
Solo Each student selects the aspect of the brain effected by
the drug or the prospective of a person dealing with
the tumor or lesion (I. above)
Team Members of the team negotiate with each other so that
each student is assigned a different brain aspect on
which to concentrate (I. above)
Solo Each student researches his/her topic and assimilates the
material, then writes a 4 page reports in the format
and style agreed upon by the team.
Team Members of the team meet often and produce a team report
that integrates each of the member's reports in a
publishable format and that maintains each student's
section separate and signed.
IV. Resources:
Text book of the course
Book section (stacks) of the library (use the library's on-
line index - Catalyst)
Periodical section of the library (see attached list of
Neuroscience journals)
Search of electronic indexes through the library, e.g.
Medline, Psychlit, ERIC, etc.
Internet newsgroups and lists (see attached list for examples)
Search internet for specific topic home pages
FDA and/or Drug company reports on internet or in the PDR
Physician, Patient and/or survivor home pages and/or
newsgroups on internet
V. Final Report will be published on the Internet as a product of
our class. Only those reports that are of sufficient quality will
earn course credit and be published for all to read. The reports
will be typed in either Wordperfect or Word word processing
computer programs with one inch margins all around and a font of
10 characters per inch (12 point size).
Graphs, charts, pictures, figures are welcomed and, in fact,
recommended. Please include them, not in the text, but in a separate
file on the same CD or floppy disc with an indication in the text
where you wish the figure to be placed. Please use APA format style.
The individual student will write his/her part individually
but the team will be responsible to insure that each part fits well
with each other part. Therefore, the team needs to meet several
times during the period in order to insure that the individual reports
mesh together in substance and style. Each section needs to use
some of all of the resources listed above and referenced on the
fifth page of the report for all to reference. The individual
reports should be 4 single-spaced, full pages.
Each of these reports need to be highly compacted with
knowledge and data written in a very concise form. There is
no room for sentences which do not materially advance the topic
or that repeat a previously state thought.
Personal, unsubstantiated opinions have no place here. This
is not an "I think" piece or a composition for an english class but
a report on hard data that extends the textbook treatment of the
topic.
Please be sure to follow these guidelines:
1 Establish your specific topic with the other members of your
team after repeated meetings.
2 Research and write your part of the team report in the word
processor of your choice consulting periodically with
your team members.
3 When completely finished with your part, examine it to
follow these cautions:
a Use only one set of formatting codes and place them
only at the beginning of your report.
b Use Courier or New Courier font.
c Use 12pt font size only - do not change this anywhere
in the body of your report.
d Use single space vertical line spacing only.
e Use 1" margins at the top, bottom, left and a 1.5"
margin at the right. Otherwise, the lines may
overrun the viewers screen.
f Do not use hyphens anywhere in the text. They will not
translate well.
g Do not use fancy formatting anywhere in the text, e.g.
avoid hanging indents for the bibliography.
h. Avoid underlines, italics, etc. because they will not
translate to the web.
4. Save your work to floppy disc using Microsoft Word (.doc)
file format, but no other word processor.
5. Get together with the rest of your team and join all of your
team member's individual reports together as one
sequential team report, eliminating any formatting
codes in the body of the team report and placing them
at the very beginning of the document only.
VI. Evaluation: Total Points
Mandatory:
4 tests @ 100 points each 400
2 projects: Solo portion @ 100 points each 200
Team portion @ 50 points each 100
2 Take home exam over the published team
projects @ 30 (use on-line form) 60
2 Team peer evaluation @ 20 40
---------------
Total for the Semester 800
Voluntary extra credit:
2 Crossword puzzles 40
2 Volunteering to be a subject in a
Psychology dept experiment 40
1 Extra credit term paper 1/3 or 2/3 or 1 letter grade
increase variable
Go back to the beginning
Copyright © 2004, Dr. John M. Morgan, All rights reserved
This page last edited 10 Mar - 2004
If you have any feedback for the author, E-mail me
