Course:
PSYCHOPHYSICAL MEASURES
PSY 4190
Instructor:
James E. Horton
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Webpage:
Office Hours:
Textbooks: (Required)
(Required)
Course Objectives:
216 Smiddy Hall
328-0136
jeh2b@uvawise.edu
http://people.uvawise.edu/jeh2b
Posted on Web Page
Hugdahl, K. (1995). Psychophysiology: The Mind-Body Perspective, Harvard University Press:
Cambridge, Massachusetts
BioPac Student Lab Manual (may be shared with a small group)
The course will cover some of the basic concepts of psychophysiological research. The students will
read the assigned material from the text and outside readings independently and work in the laboratory
in small groups. The laboratory portion of the course will be scheduled with the instructor for each
group and the students will acquire various types of psychophysiological data including:
electromygraphical recording (EMG), electroencephalagraphic recording (EEG), electroocular
recording (EOG), electrodermal activity (EDA), respiratory measurements, electrocardiographic
recording (ECG), heart rate, etc.
At the completion of the course, the student should possess an elementary working knowledge of the
following areas of psychophysiology and psychophysiological research.
1) The student should have an elementary knowledge of psychophysiological concepts and approach
to research including ethical concerns of psychophysiological measurement and research.
2) The student should be able to correctly participate in psychophysiological research.
3) The student should have a basic knowledge of how to acquire physiological and
psychophysiological measurements.
4) The student should have a rudimentary knowledge of analyses and interpretation of
psychophysiological data.
5) The student should be able to successfully design a psychophysiological research project.
6) The student should be able to successfully collect and analyze data psychophysiological data.
7) The students should be able to correctly interpret the results of their analyzed data.
8) The student should be able to properly report the results of their findings.
Class Attendance:
Students will be responsible for reading the assigned material from the text and outside readings
independently and prior to meeting with the instructor in the NeuroCognitive Sciences Laboratory.
Students will schedule meetings in the Lab on a weekly basis to perform the lessons in the BioPac
Students Manual and acquire psychophysiological data. The students will work in small groups in the
lab to acquire data but will be responsible for completing the worksheets and analyses of the acquired
data individually.
Section Exams:
There will be no exams given during the semester.
Assignments:
Students will complete the assigned lessons from the BioPac Student Lab manual.
Grading:
Your grade will be determined by class participation and assignments.
Honor Code:
The Honor Code of Clinch Valley College is fully and unconditionally supported in this
course. Violations of the Honor Code will be prosecuted through the Honor Court.
Special Accommodations:
If you have any type of learning disability or problem that might require special
accommodations, please inform me at the beginning of the term to enable appropriate arrangements to
be made.
Tentative Schedule and reading assignments:
Week of
8/25-8/27
Chapter
Syllabus
Assignments
Register for class
Meet in 216 Smiddy and form lab groups
9/1-9/3
1
2
Introduction
Concepts and Terms
9/8-9/10
3
4
5
The Nervous System
The Brain
The Autonomic Nervous System
9/15-9/17
14
Lab lesson 1
Lab lesson 12
Lab lesson 13
Skeletal Muscles, Eye Movements, and the Respiratory System
Electromyography (EMG) (Standard and Integrated EMG)
Pulmonary Function (Volumes & Capacities)
Pulmonary Function (Pulmonary flow rates)
9/22-9/24
11
Supplementary readings
Lab lesson 3
Lab lesson 4
Lab lesson 10
The Electoroencephalogram
EEG
EEG acquisition and analyses (relaxation and brain rhythms)
EEG acquisition and analyses (alpha rhythms in the occipital lobe)
Electrooculogram (EOG) (Eye movement: Saccades & fixation during reading)
9/29-10/1
9
10
Lab lesson 5
Lab lesson 6
The Heart and Blood Circulation
Cardiovascular Paychophysiology
Electrocardiography (ECG) (Components of the ECG)
Electrocardiography (ECG)
(Bipolar leads, Einthoen's Law, Mean electrical axis on the frontal plane)
Lab lesson 7
ECG & Pulse
(Mechanical action of the heart, peripheral pressure, pulse, plethysmography)
10/6-10/8
6
7
8
Lab lesson 9
Electrodermal Activity
Orienting and Conditioning
Clinical Applications of Electrodermal Activity
GSR & Polygraph (Galvanic skin response & the polygraph)
10/13-10/15
SEMESTER BREAK
10/20-10/22
Lab lesson 11
10/27-10/29
Lab lesson 14
11/3-11/5
Lab lesson 15
11/10-11/12
12
Lab - EEG acquisition
Event-Related Potentials
Neuroscan equipment
11/17-11/19
Supplementary readings
Lab
Event-Related Potentials
ERP analyses
11/24
Lab
ERP analyses
11/26
Thanksgiving
12/1-12/3
Lab
ERP analyses