Psychology 4295G 001 FW25

Special Topics in Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience: Origins of the Social Brain 

Western University 

London                   Canada 

 

Department of Psychology 

Winter 2025 

 

Psychology 4295G    Section 001 

  

1 Calendar Description 

 

This course operates as a collaborative seminar where we explore the social behaviour of humans and other animals from neurobiological, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives. 

 

Antirequisites: n/a  

Prerequisites: One of Psychology 2220A/B, Psychology 2221A/B, or Neuroscience 2000, PLUS registration in fourth year Main Campus Honours Specialization in Psychology, fourth year Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, fourth year Honours Specialization in Neuroscience, or fourth year Honours Specialization in Animal Behavior. Fourth year Main Campus Psychology students and Main Campus Psychology Special Students who receive 70% in the prerequisite course may enroll in this course. 

 

3 lecture/seminar hours; Course Weight: 0.5 

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol 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. 

 

2 Course Information 

 

Instructor: Dr. Morgan Gustison (Pronouns: she/her) 

Office & Phone: see Brightspace

Office Hours: By Appointment 

Email: mgustiso@uwo.ca 

 

Teaching Assistant: TBA 

Office:  

Office Hours:  

Email:  

 

Time and Location of Classes: see Timetable on Student Centre

 

For courses that include an online component, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer that are compatible with online learning system requirements.  

 

3 Course Materials 

 

Readings on specific topics will be provided through the course Brightspace site. 

 

4 Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes 

 

This course surveys empirical work and theoretical advances in the study of social behaviour, with an emphasis on brain mechanisms. This is a rapidly growing and multidisciplinary field, and as such, readings will emphasize current research from the primary literature. We will read articles that focus both on human and non-human study systems to address three main questions: (1) How do neurobiological mechanisms regulate social behaviour? (2) How do brain systems that support social behaviour develop across the lifespan? (3) Why have complex forms of social behaviour, and their brain mechanisms, evolved in some species over others? By the end of the class, students will able to read, understand, and critique empirical research papers. 

 

Learning Outcome  

Learning Activity  

Assessment 

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge  

  • Understand key concepts and research findings on social behaviour from neurobiological, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives 

Course Readings 

 

Lectures 

 

Class Discussion 

 

Assignments 

Class Participation 

 

Reflections  

 

Thought Papers 

 

Final Project 

 

Knowledge of Methodologies  

  • Understand data collection approaches used to study social behaviour from different biological perspectives 

Course Readings 

 

Lectures 

 

Class Discussion 

 

Assignments 

 

Class Participation 

 

Reflections  

 

Thought Papers 

 

Final Project 

 

Application of Knowledge  

  • Use online databases to locate current empirical research 
  • Evaluate research results and develop testable hypotheses 

Class Discussion 

 

Assignments 

Leading Discussion 

 

Thought Papers 

 

Final Project 

Communication Skills 

  • Clearly communicate complex ideas in written and spoken formats 

Class Discussion 

 

Assignments 

Class Participation 

 

Leading Discussion 

 

Reflections 

 

Thought Papers 

 

Final Project 

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge 

  • Learn to assess the strengths and limitations of current research on the biological basis of social behaviour 

Course Readings 

 

Class Discussions 

 

Assignments 

Class Participation 

 

Leading Discussion 

 

Thought Papers 

 

Final Project 

 

Autonomy and Professional Capacity 

  • Learn how to formulate complex ideas and communicate these ideas to others 

Class Discussion 

 

Assignments 

Leading Discussion 

 

Final Project 

 

 

5 Evaluation 

 

Class Participation 30% 

 

Leading Discussions 20% 

 

Reflection Assignments 5% 

 

Thought Papers 15% 

 

Final Project 30% 

 

Class Participation & Leading Discussions 

 

Students are expected to attend class and read assigned materials. Participation is marked on the basis of student engagement during all class activities. Participation consists of asking or answering questions about the assigned readings and class topic, contributing additional information from other courses and lived experiences, or similar involvement in classroom lectures and seminar-style discussions. In-class discussions during weeks 3-11 will be led by a team of two or more student discussion leaders. 

 

Discussion leaders will select their topic’s scientific articles (1 article per discussion leader) at least one week before class from a pre-selected list or by finding alternative articles through a database search. Chosen articles will include diversity in the scientific perspectives and study species. During class, discussion leaders will provide an introduction to the assigned reading material, raise questions about research ideas and findings, and lead the class in synthesizing and critiquing the reading material. 

 

Reflection Assignments 

 

Reflection Assignments are short responses to a set of questions about the assigned research articles for each topic. For each article, students will be asked to share what they found the most interesting about it, what they found the most confusing, and a thoughtful question to stimulate class discussion. These responses will be shared on the Brightspace course site to help Discussion Leaders facilitate in-class discussions. 

 

Thought Papers 

 

Thought Papers are brief (400-500 words) informal essays that synthesize and evaluate the in-class discussion of each topic along with the student’s unique critique of the research articles and ideas brought up in class. Students can include comparisons to other articles, proposals for future research, ideas discussed in other courses, or similar relevant material. 

 

Final Project 

 

The Final Project is composed of two parts – an oral presentation and a written essay – on a single topic chosen by the student. Students will develop a research question and hypothesis about a social behaviour. They will design a proposal for a research project that tests their hypothesis. Oral presentations are no more than 12 minutes in duration. Written essays are ~10 double-spaced pages (2,400-2,500 words) that follow the APA Style. The presentation and essay components will be on the same research topic. 

 

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives 

 

Policy on Missing Coursework 

 

Academic consideration or accommodation must be submitted for any missed Discussion Leader assignments. In the event that a student misses part or all of a class for which they are assigned as a Discussion Leader, they will be required to make-up missed discussion by submitting a more extensive Thought Paper (at least 1,500 words) for that week’s topic. 

 

Flexibility in assessment is used for Reflection Assignments and Thought Papers. Only the highest scoring 8 Reflection Assignments and the highest scoring 8 Thought Papers will be counted towards the final grade. Due to this flexibility, requests for academic consideration may be denied. Late assignments will incur a 5% per day deduction when submitted late without academic consideration. 

 

The Final Project is considered a designated assessment, which means that it will require formal supporting documentation for any academic consideration for a make-up presentation or extended essay deadline. Late assignments will incur a 5% per day deduction when submitted late without academic consideration. 

 

Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%. 

 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty. 

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines:  https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf 

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages: 

 

70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses 

72% 2100-2999-level courses 

75% 3000-level courses 

80% 4000-level courses 

 

In the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components. 

 

Policy on Grade Rounding 

 

Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered.  

 

6 Assessment/Evaluation Schedule 

 

There are no tests or examinations in this course. 

 

Class Participation 30%: This course component uses flexible assessment – students can miss one class (or a part of a class) without penalty. All other full or partial absences must abide by academic consideration and accommodation policies. Due to the flexibility in assessment, requests for academic consideration may be denied. 

 

Leading Discussion 20%: During the first class period, students will rank their preferences for discussion topics and the instructor will set a tentative schedule for weeks 3-11. Students are responsible for trading weeks with other students if they have a scheduling conflict. 

 

Reflection Assignments 5%: Papers are due weekly on Tuesdays (by 11:55pm on Brightspace) prior to classes held between Weeks 2-11. This course component uses flexible assessment – grading will be based on the top 8 of 9 assignments. This means that students may miss one assignment without penalty. 

 

Thought Papers 15%: Papers are due weekly on Sundays (by 11:55pm on Brightspace) following the nine classes held between Weeks 2-11. This course component uses flexible assessment – grading will be based on the top 8 of 9 papers. This means that students may miss one paper without penalty. 

 

Final Project 30%: The final project oral presentation (10%) is given on April 1 or April 8. The final project written essay (20%) is due April 8 (by 11:55 on Brightspace). Formal supporting documentation is required for academic consideration. 

 

7 Class Schedule 

 

Week 

Date 

Topic 

Example Readings (Reading list is flexible and adapted based on student interests) 

1 

Jan 7 

What is social behaviour? 

n/a 

2 

14 

Levels of analysis 

• Tinbergen (1963) On aims and methods of ethology 

• Krakauer et al (2017) Neuroscience needs behavior: Correcting a reductionist bias 

• Decety & Cacioppo (2010) Frontiers in human neuroscience: The Golden Triangle and beyond 

3 

21 

Social attachment 

• Escobar et al (2013) Attachment patterns trigger differential neural signature of emotional processing in adolescents 

• Moutsiana et al (2014) Making an effort to feel positive: insecure attachment in infancy predicts the neural underpinnings of emotion regulation in adulthood 

• Topal et al (2005) Attachment to humans: A comparative study on hand-reared wolves and differently socialized dog puppies 

4 

28 

Parental care 

• Cerrito & Burkart (2023) Human amygdala volumetric patterns convergently evolved in cooperatively breeding and domesticated species 

• Danoff et al (2023) Father’s care uniquely influences male neurodevelopment 

• Rilling et al (2021) The neural correlates of grandmaternal caregiving 

5 

Feb 4 

Pair bonding 

• Acevedo et al (2020) After the honeymoon: Neural and genetic correlates of romantic love in newlywed marriages 

• Coan et al (2006) Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat 

• Kinreich et al. (2017) Brain-to-brain synchrony during naturalistic social interactions 

6 

11 

Group living 

• D’Onofrio et al (2022) The anatomy of friendship: Neuroanatomic homophily of the social brain among classroom friends 

• Fox et al (2017) The social and cultural roots of whale and dolphin brains 

• Testard et al (2022) Social connections predict brain structure in a multidimensional free-ranging primate society 

7 

18 

Reading Week 

 

8 

25 

Communication 

• Gold et al (2013) Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging 

• Nagasawa et al (2015) Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds 

• Zhao & Kuhl (2016) Musical intervention enhances infants’ neural processing of temporal structure in music and speech 

9 

Mar 4 

Motivation & Reward 

• Kilford et al (2023) Associations between age, social reward processing and social anxiety symptoms 

• Sherman et al (2018) What the brain ‘Likes’: Neural correlates of providing feedback on social media 

• Tomova et al (2020) Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger 

10 

11 

Cognition & Cooperation 

• Decety et al (2004) The neural bases of cooperation and competition: a fMRI investigation 

• Nguyen et al (2020) The effects of interaction quality on neural synchrony during mother-child problem solving 

• Samuni et al (2018) Social bonds facilitate cooperative resource sharing in wild chimpanzees 

11 

18 

Empathy 

• Burkett et al (2016) Oxytocin-dependent consolation behavior in rodents 

• Goldstein et al (2018) Brain-to-brain coupling during handholding is associated with pain reduction 

• Levy et al (2019) The neural development of empathy is sensitive to caregiving and early trauma 

12 

25 

Workshop on Research Proposals 

 

13 

Apr 1 

Final project presentations 

 

14 

8 

Final project presentations 

 

 

 

8 Academic Integrity  

 

Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf. 

 

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University. 

 

Statement on Use of Electronic Devices 

 

Computers and tablets are admitted in class so that students can access digital reading materials and notes. Use of electronic devices are limited to these functions during class time. Use of these devices for other purposes will impact participation assessment. 

 

Plagiarism Detection Software 

 

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism.  All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com. 

 

Use of AI 

 

The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content. 

AI Policy for Psychology:  

Responsible use of AI is allowed in Psychology.  This includes using AI for brainstorming, improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic.  

  

AI is not to be used in place of critical thinking.  

  

The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course.  Relying on AI to create full drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited.  You are ultimately responsible for any work submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before incorporating this information into your assignments.  

  

If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work.  All written assignments will require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information.  Assignments without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.  

  

Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies. 

 

9 Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education 

 

View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link. 

 

Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western. 

If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information.  Email: aew@uwo.ca  Phone: 519 661-2147 

 

10 Absence & Academic Consideration 

 

Academic Considerations: https://registrar.uwo.ca/academics/academic_considerations/index.html 

 

11 Other Information  

 

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. 

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.  

 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf. Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal in writing to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca). 

 

Copyright Statement  

 

Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.