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3224B-001

Psychology 3224B-001

Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

Neural mechanisms in human perception, spatial orientation, memory, language and motor behaviour.

 

Antirequisite: Psychology 3227A/B

 

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

 

Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E, or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, and one of Psychology 2220A/B, 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000

3 lecture/discussion hours, 0.5 course.

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites 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.

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. Ingrid Johnsrude

Office and Phone Number: Natural Sciences Centre 227 519-661-2111 Ext. 84447

Office Hours: You’re welcome to make an appointment – I’d be very happy to meet with you. Email:  ijohnsru@uwo.ca

 

Teaching Assistant: Evan Houldin Office: NSC

Office Hours: by appointment* Email:  ehouldin@uwo.ca

 

Time and Location of Classes: Monday, 1:30 – 4:30 PM    Alexander Charles Spencer Engineering Building (SEB) Room 1056

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 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Required:

Bryan Kolb & Ian Q. Whishaw (2015). Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology, Seventh Edition. Worth Publishers; Macmillan Learning.

 

Occasionally extra readings or diagrams will be required and they will be posted on OWL in PDF format (see Class Schedule).

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with some of the symptoms that follow acquired   brain damage in human beings, with an aim toward understanding what these symptoms can tell us about the normal functional organization of the human brain.

 

1. To provide an introductory overview of the principal methods, research findings, theories, and contentious issues in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

 

1. To encourage the reading of primary source material; to encourage critical thinking and logical scientific or clinical inference.

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Explain major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience.

 

Describe the basic anatomical/functional systems of the human brain, including sensory and motor language, executive function, memory, emotion/motivation systems.

 

Define key concepts that characterize cognitive neuroscience as a field of scientific inquiry. Apply basic research methods in psychology to investigate cognitive neuroscientific questions Identify relevant neuropsychological mechanisms/issues and apply to real-world contexts.

Critically analyze published research, including methodology, results and conclusions in the field of cognitive   neuroscience/neuropsychology.

 

Articulate some of the central questions and issues in contemporary neuropsychology/cognitive neuroscience.

 

Clearly communicate cognitive neuroscientific material and and principles to a scientifically literate audience.

5.0     EVALUATION

There will be a quiz on February 6 (Quiz 1), worth 15% of the final grade, and a second quiz on March 13 (Quiz 2), worth 15%. The final exam in April will be worth 55%. It will be written during the final exam period, and the timing will be scheduled by the Office of the Registrar. The final exam will be 3 hrs in length. Both quizzes and the exam will be composed of questions that require a written answer that will range between 2 and 8 sentences in length, and label-the-diagram questions. The final will also include 2 “essay” questions. Quizzes will not be cumulative. The final exam will be cumulative.

 

Quizzes and exams will be based on the lecture material and associated assigned readings. Quiz 1 will cover material from weeks 1 – 4; Quiz 2 will cover material from weeks 5 – 8. Extra readings or diagrams that are posted on OWL will be included in the quizzes and exams.

 

The remaining 15% of the final grade will be based on a written mini-review, due on March 27th. This should take the form of a written scholarly essay of ~ 1200-1400 words (not counting references), which critically analyzes and discusses a topic of current controversy within cognitive neuroscience. A selection of appropriate topics will be provided, but students may also design their own topic (with the prior agreement of the course instructor). You will be required to independently research your topic and synthesize the material into a scholarly critique, citing references to support your arguments. Your mini- review is due December 1 and must be submitted electronically to Turnitin. A late penalty of 10% of the assignment’s value per day (1.5 of the 15-point total value) will be applied to papers submitted after the deadline.

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%     2190-2990 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/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):

A+  90-100      One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail

6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Quiz 1	Feb 6	15%
Quiz 2	Mar 13	15%

Mini-Review    Mar 27                15%

Final Exam      Apr 9-30 (TBD)   55%

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

readings described below can be found in the Kolb & Whishaw textbook. You should check the OWL website regularly for additional required readings or diagrams posted in PDF format.

 

Week	Date	Topic	Readings	Approx # pages
1	Jan 9	Course Introduction Anatomical Organization of the Human Brain and Brainstem	Ch 01 pp 1 - 4 Ch 03, pp 53 – 84 Ch 10, pp 255 - 282	64
2	Jan 16	Ways of Understanding Brain Function: Are Functions Local or Distributed? Assessment Methods	Ch 01 pp 8 – 27 Ch 07, pp 174 – 200	49
3	Jan 23	Organization of Sensory Systems and Vision Disorders of Vision	Ch 08, pp 202 – 213 Ch 13, pp 350 – 353 pp 368 - 373 Ch 14, pp 387 Ch 15, pp 400 - 411	35
4	Jan 30	Organization of the Somatosensory System, The Parietal Lobe, Perception and Action, and Associated Disorders	Ch 08, pp 217 – 223 Ch 13, pp 353 – 368 Ch 14, pp 374 – 386 pp 388 – 399	48
5	Feb 6	Quiz 1 (1 hour)/     Organization of the Auditory System/Auditory  Disorders	Quiz will cover class Jan 9-30 and associated readings.   Ch 08, pp 214 - 217 Ch 15, pp 411 - 419	13
6	Feb 13	Speech and Language	Ch 19 pp 515-519, Box pp 520-521, pp 526 – 536	18
Feb 20		Family Day/Reading Week	No Class
7	Feb 27	Language Disorders and Laterality	Ch 11 pp 283 – 304 Ch 12 pp 316 - 323 Ch 19 pp 536 – 547 Ch 23 pp 656 – 662	49
8	Mar 6	The Motor System, Plasticity, and relevant disorders	Ch 09 pp 232 – 254 Ch 25 pp 700 - 709	33
9	Mar 13	Quiz 2 (1 hour)/ Memory	Ch 18 pp 480 – 502 Ch 21 pp 586 pp 587-598	37
10	Mar 20	Dementias, and Attention and Executive Function	Ch 16 pp 427 – 446 pp 452 – 455 pp 457 -461 Ch 18 pp 502 – 514	41
11	Mar 27	Mini Review Due / Emotion and Motivation	Ch 20 pp 548 – 562 pp 567 - 574	23
12	April 3	Catch-up/In-class  Review
	Apr 9- 30	Exam – Exact date TBD

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/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.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 papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western 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    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        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/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- 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
- 2016 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.