After reading all of the class projects, complete this assignment - deadline = May 17, 1997
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Psychology 472 #24253 SPRING, 1997
Dr. John M. Morgan Tues & Thurs, 3:30 - 4:45 PM
Harry Griffith Hall, 226
REQUIRED TEXT: Human Cognitive Neuropsychology
by Andrew W. Ellis & Andrew W. Young
Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., Hillsdale (USA)
ISBN 0-86377-034-7 pbk
This is a new method of conducting my courses and stems from
the philosophy that the students should bear a reasonable share
of the work of a course. The semester will be divided into two
sections, each with its own team project. Each project will be
published on the Internet on our class's home web page for anyone
in the world to read. The class sessions (with required
attendance and participation) will consist of class discussions
of the topic, of the content of the textbook and team discussions
of the projects (in private and in public) with coaching of the
teams by the instructor.
The projects will explore the workings of the human brain
and its control of behavior by examining the changes in behavior
resulting from lesions to the brain. The first half of the
course and project will explore the changes in behavior after
lesions to specific areas of the brain. The second will explore
theories and the data supporting the theories of the organization
in the brain for a variety of behaviors.
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. Each student will select a different team
topic and a different individual topic for each of the projects
during the semester.
FIRST PROJECT
The first 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:
Neuroanatomy of the brain area, including inputs and outputs
Synaptic transmitter systems utilized by the area
Neuropsychological tests utilized to diagnose behavioral
changes
Behavior changes resulting from the lesion
Interactions of the neurons in the area with those of other
areas of the brain underlying the control of the
behaviors
Adaptations required on the part of the patient, family,
employer, etc in response to the changes in the
patient's behavior
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
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SECOND PROJECT
The second will explore theories and the data supporting the
theories of the organization in the brain for a variety of
behaviors. Each team should select a behavior treated in the
textbook and explore more deeply the theories and data
surrounding the selected behavior. The projects should emphasize
the recent data.
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III. Process of the project:
Solo Each student selects a drug group in which to
participate (II. above)
Solo Each student selects the aspect of the brain effected
by the drug (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 report in the format and style
agreed upon by the team.
Team Members of the team meet during class time 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.
Periodical section of the library (see my www home page)
Search of electronic indexes through the library, e.g.
Medline, Psychlit, ERIC, etc.
Internet newsgroups and lists (see my www home page)
Search internet for specific topic home pages
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
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 during the
class periods 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 each individual report for all to reference. The
individual reports should be 4 single-spaced, full pages. Each
of these reports needs 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 only
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 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 only ASCII (DOS) TEXT
file type, not ASCII delimited nor your word processor's
proprietary file type.
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. Chronology:
First Team Project March 10, 1997
Second Team Project May 13, 1997
VII. Evaluation: Total Points
Mandatory:
2 projects: Solo portion @ 200 points each 400
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 (use on-line form) 40
Class Session participation 300
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Total for the Semester 900
Voluntary extra credit:
Volunteering to be a subject in a research project
sponsored by faculty of the Psychology dept. - up to 2 occasions
@ 25 points each
1 extra credit term paper can increase your letter
grade by either 1/3 or 2/3 or 1 letter grade.
The course this semester will be conducted in a totally new
fashion for me. I have never tried this kind of a system but I
have attended a teaching seminar this summer and I believe this
system will be more instructive and a more insightful learning
experience than any other method. If perchance the system does
not work as well as I think it will, I will not penalize you the
students.
My Wide World Web home page address is
http://users.humboldt.edu/jmmorgan.
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Copyright © 1995, Dr. John M. Morgan, All rights reserved -
This page last edited October 23, 1996
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