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.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E (or both Psychology 2800E and 2810), AND one of Psychology 2220A/B, 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.
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.
3 lecture/discussion hours; 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Iman Ibrahim
Office: SSC 7440
Office Hours: 12 pm – 2 pm on Thursdays + By appointment
Email: iibrahi7@uwo.ca iibrahi7@alumni.uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Thursdays, 2:30 – 5:30 PM
Room 63, UCC
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ 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. You may also wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Students will be required to read journal articles and book chapters provided by the instructor through the OWL website. These will constitute the primary reading materials for the course.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objective of the course is to provide an introductory overview of how certain sex differences can be understood from a neurobiological perspective. Topics will include: the principles of natural and sexual selection; sex differences in primary and secondary sex characteristics; genetic and endocrine contributions to sexual differentiation of the brain; sexual orientation; gender identity; sex differences in brain morphology and function; social play and aggression; sex differences in cognitive functions; sex differences in health and aging.
Understanding sex differences that are observed in humans will be the main emphasis of the course, but data from other species will be included where relevant.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, the successful student should be able to:
- Articulate the difference between sex and gender
(Assessed by exams, appropriate use in written assignments or verbal presentations)
- Explain major schools of thought regarding the causes of differences between the sexes
(Assessed by quizzes and exams)
- Describe basic principles that govern how gonadal hormones alter brain structure and function
(Assessed by quizzes and exams)
- Describe ways in which genetic factors can give rise to sex differences
(Assessed by quizzes and exams)
- Explain the concept of sexual selection in evolutionary theory
(Assessed by quizzes and exams)
- Evaluate research methods and decision trees commonly used to investigate sex differences
(Assessed by quizzes, exams, in-class discussion, verbal presentations)
- Recognize examples of empirically validated sex differences vs. false stereotypes that lack a true empirical basis
(Assessed by quizzes and exams)
- Read and evaluate primary journal articles in the field of sex and gender differences
(Assessed by quizzes and exams, in-class discussion, written assignments, verbal presentations)
- Identify sex differences that have significant applications in psychology, neuroscience, medicine
(Assessed by quizzes and exams, verbal presentations)
- Locate and independently read research literature on a particular topic and integrate your ideas in the form of an analytical written assignment or essay (or verbal presentation to the class and/or the instructor)
(Assessed by written assignments, essays, verbal presentations)
5.0 EVALUATION
There will be one midterm exam, on February 13 (worth 25%). The midterm will consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions (e.g., fill-in-the-blanks, definitions, or questions that require a brief written response). There will also be a final exam in April (April 6-26), scheduled by the Registrar. The final will be worth 45%, and it will be 3 hours in length. The final exam will have a format similar to the midterm.
There will be six mini-quizzes (Multiple-choice) worth 5% of the final grade. Quizzes will be handed to you during the class on the following dates: Jan 23, 30, Feb 6, Mar 5, 12, 19. The lowest quiz score will be dropped from the average.
The final exam is cumulative.
Exams will be based on the lectures, assigned readings, and any additional resources specified by the instructor.
The remaining 25% of the final grade will be based on a group project. Students will be divided into groups of 3 to 5, depending on the course enrollment. You and your partners will research a topic related to sex differences in mental health, then create a 15-minute presentation based on available research findings selected from the scientific literature. The presentation is worth 15%. This will be due on March 26. Your presentation should describe what is currently known about sex differences in the mental health topic you’ve chosen and their possible causes, should provide an evaluation of the evidence, and give suggestions for future research in the field (further details to follow). You will also complete an individual 500 -750 word lay summary of your idea (not counting References). Each student should submit their individual summary, worth 10% of the final grade to OWL. It is due April 2.
There will be no make-up midterm; if you have a documented excuse for missing the midterm, the weight from your midterm will be added to the final exam. In that case, the final exam is worth 70% of the overall grade. The final exam make-up date is Monday 27 April 2019 from 2 to 5pm. Please do not book travel prior to that date in the even that you need to miss the scheduled final exam.
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
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 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
Midterm Test February 13 25%
Final Exam TBA 45%
PowerPoint presentation March 19 - 26 15%
Lay summary April 2 10%
Mini-quizzes Jan 23, 30
Feb 6 5% Mar 5, 12, 19
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
PowerPoint slides will be posted on OWL, before or after each day's lecture. All weekly readings (journal articles and book chapters) can also be found on OWL, under the Course Readings link:
January 9: Introduction to the course
Course organization and evaluation
Video - "The Mating Game - Triumph of Life"
January 16: Evolution of sex
Natural and sexual selection
Mating systems, parental investment
January 23: The genetics of sexual differentiation
Sex chromosome anomalies
January 30: Hormonal control of sexual differentiation
February 6: Theoretical Perspectives on Gender
February 13: Midterm test
(In class)
February 20: Spring Reading Week - No Class
February 27: Sexual orientation and sexual behaviour
The hypothalamus
March 5: Gender identity
The case of David Reimer
Video - "Dr. Money and the boy with no penis”.
March 12: Childhood play and gender role behaviours
Sex differences in affiliation, aggression
March 19: Sex differences in the central nervous system
Differences in brain morphology and function
PowerPoint presentation -1
March 26: Sex differences in perception and cognition
PowerPoint presentation -2
April 2: Sex differences in aging, health, and disease
Lay summary due8.0 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
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
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/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf
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
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
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
- 2019-2020 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, 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 lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
