PSYCHOLOGY 115
PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
SPRING 2009
Lecture: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 930-1045 AM in Haines 39 (note change!)
Description of the course: This course is designed to provide you with a survey of the anatomy, physiology, and
pharmacology of the nervous system, with an emphasis on the biological basis of behavioral processes.
Faculty:
Dr. J. David Jentsch: Tuesday 11-12 noon and Thursdays 4-5 pm
Teaching Assistants (TAs): Laurie Brenner, Caroline Crump, Alex James and Andrew Hill
TA Office Hours and Locations will be posted on the Course Website
Textbook (OPTIONAL!): SM Breedlove, MR Rosenzweig, NV Watson. Biological Psychology. Fifth Edition.
Sinauer Associates, Inc.: Sunderland, MA, 2007.
This textbook includes a Study Guide on a CD, which is really helpful!
Class Website: http://courses.psych.ucla.edu/
Class Facebook Group: UCLA Psych 115 – Spring 2009
Got Questions…
… about course material, lectures, exams, etc.?
There are two ways to get a quick answer to your question:
Post a question on the Course Website discussion board
– or Send an email to uclapsych115@gmail.com (responses may be delayed)
Confidential or personal issues that need to be addressed: You may, of course, email the professor or
TAs directly in this situation. Email addresses for each of us can be found in the UCLA directory (e.g.,
jentsch@psych.ucla.edu)
Course Details:
1. You must enroll in a Discussion Section, which will account for 25% of your final grade. There will be 8
Discussion sessions held across the quarter (no sessions are scheduled in weeks 1 or 9). Please do not sign
up for a discussion section that conflicts with another course or that you otherwise cannot attend because
Discussion section attendance is mandatory.
If you are not enrolled in a discussion by the end of the second week, you will be automatically dropped
from the course. You may switch section if you find someone willing to swap with you, but all swaps
must be completed prior to the end of week 2. Students with enrollment concerns should go to the
Psychology Advising Office at 1531 Franz Hall.
After week 2, further discussion section switches will not be possible, and you will only receive credit
for attending and taking quizzes within the section in which you are enrolled. Although you may receive
TA permission to attend the lecture component of a section in which you are not enrolled, you will not
receive credit for attending or taking a quiz in any Discussion section other than the one for which you
are registered.
The first ten minutes of each discussion section will involve a quiz with questions pertaining to the
previous week’s lectures; if you are more than 10 min late, you may miss the quiz. During the remainder
of the section, the TA will give a lecture on a topical issue that relates to the course. The discussion
lecture material will be covered on the examinations.
Discussion section grading (25% of the final grade):
•
•
8 total points for attendance (1 pt for each of the 8 sessions)
49 total points for weekly quizzes (7 quizzes @ 7 points/quiz)
•
Your lowest quiz score (including a ‘0’ -- should you miss a section) will be dropped. Please use the “one-off”
you are being granted wisely, as we will not grant any 2nd requests for a drop or retake of a missed quiz for
any reason (sports, illness, interviews, etc.).
2.
•
•
Exams: The exams count for 170 points (75% of your final grade).
First exam, 50 points: Tuesday, April 21, during usual class time. This exam covers topics discussed in
weeks 1-3.
Second exam, 50 points: Tuesday, May 12, in during usual class time. This exam covers topics discussed
in weeks 4-6.
•
These two exams will be 1:10 hrs in duration.
•
Final exam, 70 points: Tuesday (Finals week), from 11:30 AM-2:30 PM in Moore 100. This exam covers
topics discussed in weeks 7-10.
•
You must arrive on time for the exams. You will not be permitted to take the exam at all if you arrive
after the first exam has been turned in by another student (you will get a zero on the exam, in this case).
•
If you miss an exam for a sanctioned reason (severe illness, etc.), you must inform the Professor or your
TA in advance and you must provide documentation that satisfies us. Any medical excuse request must
include a visit to a licensed physician who was visited on the day of the exam, and the physician’s note
must specify the symptoms and rationale for why the illness precluded the ability to take the exam at the
pre-set time. We will call the treating physician for verification purposes for virtually every requested
exception. In those cases where an exam is missed for a sanctioned reason, a makeup exam (different
from the original exam) will be given on the last day of finals week (not before). You will only be
permitted to take a makeup exam this day if you can earn a ‘C’ or better in the course by scoring 90% on
the makeup exam (so regardless of your reason for missing the exam, you will not be allowed to take a
makeup if you have performed so poorly in the class that a perfect score on the makeup will earn you less
than a ‘C’ in the class).
•
Although the exams are not explicitly comprehensive, information in this course is by its nature
cumulative, building upon itself each week.
•
Material covered by the exams will be derived from the class and discussion section lectures. If we don’t
talk about it in lecture/discussion, it won’t be on the exam. We will discuss things in class that are not in
the book and/or that are not on our slides.
3.
An honors discussion is listed as Psych 189, Sec 3. Those wanting to earn Honors credit for 115 may
enroll in this section, as well. This section does not replace enrolling in one of the above sections. You will
need to enroll in both sections to earn credit for the course.
The section will be held on Thursdays from 1:00-1:50 PM in Franz A279.
Extra Credit
You have the opportunity to earn up to 2 extra credit point(s) by participating in an experiment through the
Psychology Department Subject Pool. Serving as a subject in an experiment provides students with direct
exposure to psychological research. By participating in experiments, you will have the opportunity to contribute
to on-going research at UCLA while getting an inside glimpse of how research studies are conducted.
One credit is given for every hour of experiment participation. If you complete 2 hour(s) of experiment(s), you
will have 2 point(s) added to your final grade at the end of the quarter. The posting and scheduling of
experiments is handled via the Psychology Department Subject Pool system at http://ucla.sona-systems.com/.
More
information
on
how
to
use
the
system
can
be
found
at
http://www.psych.ucla.edu/undergraduate/subject-pool-experiment-participation
NOTE: Before signing up for experiments, you MUST select the course for which you want your experiment
credits to count. All experiments must be completed by June 4, 2009 (Thursday of 10th Week).
•
•
Grading:
All grades will be posted to my.UCLA for you to check. Grades will not be posted in any other form.
Final grades will be curved (~20% A’s, 30% B’s, 40% C’s, 10% D/F’s). WE WILL NOT BE CURVING
DOWN ANY ONE’S GRADE FOR ANY REASON!
Re-grading policy:
You may check over your exam answers in Discussion section or with your TA in office hours. If you have
questions about your answer on an exam or quiz, or your grade, you must submit an email request to your TA,
who will initially re-consider your grade. The professor will not consider your requests for a re-grade unless you
have addressed your concerns to the TA first.
Cheating:
Cheating can take many forms, but we are a group of grownups: we know what cheating is, and we know that it
is not acceptable. If you cheat on an exam or quiz or if you plagiarize, and are caught, you will fail this course
and be reported to the Dean for disciplinary action. Just don’t cheat, and everyone will be happier.
SCHEDULE
Week 1
3/31
4/2
Note: No sections this week
T
Introduction
R
What is the micro- and macro-structure of the brain?
Week 2
4/7
4/9
Note: Sections begin this week
T
How do brain cells communicate with one another?
R
How do brain cell networks compute information?
Week 3
4/14
4/16
Note: No further changes in sections will be allowed
T
How do genes affect brain function?
R
How does the brain develop?
Week 4
4/21
4/23
Note: Exam 1 covers lectures from weeks 1-3 only
T
Exam 1
R
How do we smell and taste?
Week 5
4/28
4/30
T
R
How do we feel?
How do we hear?
Week 6
5/5
5/7
T
R
How do we see the world?
How do we move?
Week 7
5/12
5/14
Note: Exam 2 covers lectures in weeks 4-6 only
T
Exam 2
R
How does our brain coordinate learning?
Week 8
5/19
5/21
T
R
Week 9
5/26
5/28
Note: No sections this week
T
What is the biological basis of emotion and motivation?
R
No class
Week 10
6/2
6/4
T
R
What is the biological basis of addiction?
What is the biological basis of AD/HD?
6/9
T
Final Exam (from 11:30 AM-2:30 PM)
How do our neurons coordinate learning?
How do we communicate with others?