Psychology 3226A-001

Hormones 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 in-depth review of current research problems in the field and the biological mechanisms by which hormones can affect behaviour. Topics may include hormones and brain development, sexual differentiation, sexual and courtship behaviour, parental behaviour, aggressive behaviour, stress, food intake, and endocrine disorders in humans.

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

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:                                                     Prof Scott MacDougall-Shackleton

       Office and Phone Number:                            SSC 7412       x84629

       Office Hours:                                               TBA on owl site

       Email:                                                          smacdou2@uwo.ca

 

       Teaching Assistant:                                      Madeleine Brodbeck

       Office:                                                         TBA

       Office Hours:                                               TBA

       Email:                                                          mbrodbec@uwo.ca

 

            Time and Location of Classes:               Wednesdays, 11:30-14:30 in SSC-2024                                                                                   

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

An Introduction to Behavioral Endocrinology, 5th edition
Nelson and Kriegsfeld (2017) Sinauer ISBN 9781605353203

*this textbook will on reserve at the library, and will be required for weekly quizzes

 

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will examine how hormones modify behaviour. Students completing this course will acquire a strong foundation in behavioural endocrinology and will understand current research topics in the field on a variety of species. There will be a strong emphasis on biological processes that regulate behaviour

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Learning Outcome

Activities that support outcome

Identify and describe key concepts in behavioural endocrinology

Lectures, assignments, quizzes, exams

Identify major hormone systems and how they affect brain and behaviour

Lectures, quizzes, exams

Describe how hormones are similar and different to other chemical messengers

Lectures, quizzes, exams

Critique news articles covering hormones and behaviour

Short written assignments

Interpret evidence used to determine the effects of hormones on behaviour

Lectures, exams

 

5.0     EVALUATION

Evaluation in this course will be based on the following:

 

Weekly Online Quizzes (Best 8 of 10)                           8% total (1% each)

Short Written Assignments (Best 2 of 3)                       16% total (8% each)

Midterm Exam (multiple choice & short answer)          36%

Final Exam (multiple choice)                                        40%

 

Weekly quizzes will consist of about 5 questions (multiple choice, fill in the blank, etc) that are based strictly off the readings in advance of the lecture for that week. Deadlines for quizzes will be posted on the OWL site. There are no make-ups for missed quizzes. Only the best 8 of 10 will count towards your final grade. Quizzes are open-book and are submitted through OWL. The quizzes are designed to be completed in 10 minutes, but you will be allowed 30 minutes to complete them.

 

Assignments will include short written responses (usually 500 words maximum) to assigned readings and may also involve peer evaluation of other students’ written work. Information about the assignments will be posted on OWL and you will submit assignments through OWL. There is a strict policy that late assignments will not be accepted and late assignments will be given a grade of zero. There are no make-ups for a missed assignment. Only the best 2 of 3 assignments will count towards your final grade.

 

The midterm and final exam will be based on both lecture material and assigned readings from the textbook. The midterm will include multiple choice and short-answer questions.  The final exam will include multiple choice questions only. The final exam will focus primarily on the second half of the course, but approximately one-quarter of the questions will be on broad topics and themes that run throughout the entire course.

 

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

Weekly Quizzes                                                   due every Wed morning (online)

Assignment 1                                                      due 2019-OCT-13

Assignment 2                                                      due 2019-NOV-02

Assignment 3                                                      due 2019-DEC-01

Midterm examination                                           2019-OCT-23 (in class)

Final Exam                    TBA during December exam period (December 8-19)

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Tentative Schedule: Check OWL site for updates.

Unit

Date

Topic

Text Readings

Quizzes/Tests

1

2019-SEP-11

Introduction

ch 1

2

2019-SEP-18

Endocrine System, Hormones

ch 2

quiz 1

3

2019-SEP-25

Sexual Differentiation

ch 3

quiz 2

4

2019-OCT-02

Sex Differences in Brain and Behaviour

ch 4

quiz 3

5

2019-OCT-09

Female Reproductive Behaviour

ch 6

quiz 4

6

2019-OCT-16

Male Reproductive Behaviour

ch 5

quiz 5

2019-OCT-23

Midterm Exam [in class]

midterm exam

7

2019-OCT-30

Parental Behaviour

ch 7

quiz 6

Fall Reading Week

8

2019-NOV-13

Social Behaviour/ homeostasis

ch 8,9

quiz 7

9

2019-NOV-20

Biological Rhythms

ch 10

quiz 8

10

2019-NOV-27

Stress

ch 11

quiz 9

11

2019-DEC-04

Learning and Memory

ch 12, 13

quiz 10

Final Exam Period

final exam

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

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:

  1. Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
  2. 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.