WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology
2014-2015
Psychology 3485F Section 001
Research in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
1.0
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An introduction to the design, administration, and interpretation of developmental
cognitive neuroscience research. Students receive instruction in the formulation of
developmental research questions and the choice of appropriate methods, and training
in the analysis and interpretation of pediatric evoked response potential (ERP) and
functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) data.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2800E, 2810, and one of Psychology 2040A, 2220A/B,
2221A/B, 2410A/B or Neuroscience 2000, plus registration in third or fourth year
Honours Specialization in Psychology or Honours Specialization in Developmental
Cognitive Neuroscience.
Third or fourth year Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who
receive 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology
2800E and 2810), plus 60% or higher in one of Psychology 2040A/B 2220A/B,
2221A/B, 2410A/B or Neuroscience 2000 also may enrol in this course.
4 lecture/laboratory hours, 0.5 course
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission
from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will
be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will
receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a
course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
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2.0
COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr J Bruce Morton
Office and Phone Number: WH324; 519-661-2111 x84795
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: bmorton3@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Niki Hosseini-Kamkar
Office: WH215
Office Hours: TBA
Email: nhossei4@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures: Tuesdays, 9:30 - 11:30, WH36
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here
at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for
more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if
you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You
may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-6612111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0
TEXTBOOK
Huettel, S. A., Song, A. W., & McCarthy, G. (2004). Functional Resonance
Magnetic Imaging. Sunderland MA: Sinauer Associates.
4.0
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course provides an introduction to the design, administration, analysis, and
interpretation of experiments in developmental cognitive neuroscience focusing in
particular on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—and their use with
developing populations. The course combines lecture-style instruction on select topics
with hands-on experience analyzing existing fMRI data.
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5.0
EVALUATION
MIDTERM EXAM: 25%
GROUP PRESENTATION: 15%
RESEARCH PAPER: 25%
FINAL EXAM: 35%
Exams with be mixed format MC and SA questions. Term paper will be a 20-page
critical review of primary developmental cognitive neuroscience research papers.
Students who are unable to attend the MIDTERM examination are required to provide
the Instructor with documentation that clearly attests to their inability to be present for
the MIDTERM. Failure to do so will result in a grade of 0 for the MIDTERM.
Students who provide necessary documentation will be given an opportunity to write a
MAKE-UP examination. There will be one date and time for the MAKE-UP exam
which will be determined after the MIDTERM exam date. The format of the MAKEUP exam will be different than the format of the MIDTERM exam.
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their
course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will
be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2100-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading
guidelines, which are as follows (see
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
below 50
One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
Superior work that is clearly above average
Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
Competent work, meeting requirements
Fair work, minimally acceptable
Fail
6.0
TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Tuesday October 21, 2014, 9:30 to 11:00am, WH36.
FINAL EXAMINATION: Scheduled through the Registrar's Office
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7.0
LECTURE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Introduction to Research in DCN.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014. Formulating a research question; why fMRI?
Tuesday, September 23, 2014. fMRI Signal & Measurement; Experimental Design.
Recommended reading: READING 1 (posted) or Chapter 9 from textbook
Additional reading (not for the faint of heart): Chapter 3 from textbook (not posted;
AND please note, this is not required. The basics will be covered in class and that is
all you will need to know).
Tuesday, September 30, 2014. Ethics & Pre-processing
Recommended reading: READING 2 (posted) or Chapter 8 from textbook
Tuesday, October 7, 2014. Single-subject analysis: Introduction to General Linear
Modeling
Recommended reading: READING 3 (posted) or Chapter 10, pp. 331 - 357
Tuesday, October 14, 2014. Spatial Normalization and Pediatric fMRI
Required reading: Burgund et al, 2002, NeuroImage.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014. MIDTERM EXAMINATION (WH 36)
Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Group analysis: Second-level GLM
Tuesday, November 4, 2014. Statistical thresholds; Age effects
Recommended reading: Chapter 10, pp. 357 - 369
Tuesday, November 11, 2014. Putting it all together.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014. EEG or fMRI?
Tuesday, November 25/27, 2014. In-class group presentations.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014. REVIEW
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of
plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very
serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and
education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following
link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to
detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for
similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be
made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will
be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by
comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or
in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as
source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of
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papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the
licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and
Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of
the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergradresponsibilities.htm
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2014 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
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