Psychology 3225B-001
Sex Differences in Human Brain and Behaviour
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
An evolutionary and biological approach to understanding the differences between men and women. Topics include sociobiological explanations of sex roles; gonadal and brain sexual differentiation; hormonal factors in aggression, sexual preference and gender identity; sex differences in cognitive function; genetic and hormonal influences on sexually dimorphic brain function.
Antirequisite: Psychology 3215F/G
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 Psychology 2810, and one of Psychology 2220A/B, Psychology 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000. Minimum grade of 60% required in all prerequisite courses.
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.
3.0 lecture/discussion hours; 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Ryan Calhoun
Office Hours: By appointment on Thursdays only
Email: rcalhoun@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: TBD
Office Hours: By appointment
Email:
Time and Location of Classes: Thursday 2:30-5:30pm, SSC-2036
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
There will be no textbook for this course. Published reviews and original research articles will serve as course material, which will be posted to OWL for downloading and reading. Please consult on a regular basis, as assessments may include this content.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course provides students with a neurobiological understanding of human sex differences. Topics will be drawn from a number of sub-disciplines including: neuro -anatomy, -chemistry, -endocrinology, -genetics, -pathology, and -physiology. An understanding of the methods used to discover these differences will be an important theme throughout the course. Where time, interest, and a sufficiently deep body of literature exists, students will be given opportunities to examine the evolutionary causes and psychological consequences of these differences.4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
-Understand and correctly use a glossary of terms used throughout various neurobiological disciplines. (Assessed by exams, oral presentations, written assignments)
-Describe research methods that are capable of identifying sex differences. (Assessed by exams, oral presentations, written assignments)
-Locate, read, analyse, summarize, and present material from research literature. (Assessed by written assignments, oral presentations)
-Demonstrate critical thinking and original ideas that further add to the discussion and comprehension of research (In-class discussion, written assignments)
-Explain the cascade of genetic and hormonal influences involved in sex determination and differentiation. (Assessed by exams, oral presentations, written assignments)
-Present and write on the sex differences found in a specifically assigned topic in the field. (Assessed by oral presentations, written assignments)
-Discern which differences are empirically validated versus those that are non-empirically constructed/ deconstructed. (oral presentations, written assignments)
-Apply insights from the current catalogue of sex differences to applications in medicine and research. (Assessed by exams, oral presentations, written assignments)
-Know the general evolutionary principles underlying the dynamics of sexes and sexual dimorphisms in animals. (Assessed by oral presentations, written assignments)
-Evaluate ways in which sexual selection may have operated on humans. (Assessed by oral presentations, written assignments)
5.0 EVALUATION
Assignment (Grade weighting)- Due date
Midterm Exam 1 (20%)- February 7
Midterm Exam 2 (20%)- March 14
Term Paper (35%)- April 4
Post-lecture papers (10%)- End of each lecture
Lightning Talk (15%)- Assigned to a specific lecture
Midterm exams are 60 minutes, in-class, and composed of multiple choice and fill-in-the blank questions. The second midterm test contains material from the first portion of the course but will focus mostly on material presented after the study week break. Exams are based on lecture material and study resources posted in OWL. There is no final exam.
Lightning talks on specific topics are assigned to pairs of students. Talks are 7-8 minutes long, followed by 1-2 minutes for questions. A small portion of the grade will be based on audience feedback. The assigned lecture date (and time slot within the lecture) for the talk can be found in the class schedule on OWL.
A term paper on the same topic as your presentation is assigned on the first day of class. A hard copy of the term paper is to be handed in physically by the end of the final lecture. A digital submission to Turnitin will also be required by this date. The paper is to be researched and written independently.
Post-lecture papers are to be completed in the last 10 minutes of the lecture and contain two components: 1) A brief meditation on the material presented during the lecture. 2) Feedback for the presenters of the lightning talks in that week's lecture. The template for the Post-lecture paper can be found on OWL.
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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 Western's 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
Midterm Exam 1- February 7
Midterm Exam 2- March 14
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
PDFs of lectures will be posted the night before they are given. PDFs of lightning talks will be posted the night after they are given. Readings and videos will be posted on the Sunday preceding the lecture they are meant to supplement. Starting on January 31, two student 'lightning talks' will be given during each lecture. Weeks designated as 'Midterm' will have four lightning talks preceding the examination.
January 10- Course introduction/Evolution of sexual dimorphisms in animals
January 17- Human sex determination and differentiation
January 24- Sex differences in the endocrine system
January 31- Sex differences in neuroanatomy
February 7- Midterm 1
February 14- Sex differences in neurochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology
February 21- STUDY WEEK
February 28- Human sexual selection and mating
March 7- Relationships of the sexes towards children, kin, and rivals
March 14- Midterm 2
March 21- Guest lecture: Clinical applications
March 28- Sex differences in the development of children and adolescents
April 4- Sex differences in personality and preference8.0 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://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
