Psychology 3224A-200

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.

 

WESTERN UNIVERSITY 

LONDON               CANADA 

Department of Psychology 

2021 - 2022 

 

Psychology 3224A    Section 200 

Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience  

 

  1. CALENDAR DESCRIPTION 

 

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

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 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. 

 

 

2.0 COURSE INFORMATION 

 

Instructor:  Dr. Laura Batterink  

Office: Western Interdisciplinary Science Building 6124 

Phone Number: 519.661.2111, ext. 85409  

Office Hours: Friday, 11-12 (held on Zoom), or by appointment  

Email:  lbatter@uwo.ca  

 

Teaching Assistant: TBA  

Office:  

Office Hours:  

Email: 

 

Delivery Method: Blended Format. Online asynchronous lectures and in-person graded synchronous tutorials. 

 

Time and Location of Tutorial Sessions: Tuesday 1:30 – 3:30 PM, WIRB 1170 

   

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. You may also wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147. 

 

3.0 TEXTBOOK 

 

Required: Marie Banich & Rebecca Compton. (2018).  Cognitive Neuroscience. Cambridge University Press. 

 

Physical copies of the text are available through the Western bookstore, or you may also purchase an e-copy of the text at this link: 

https://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/psychology/cognition/cognitive-neuroscience-4th-edition?format=AR 

 

On most weeks, additional readings will be required and they will be posted on OWL in PDF format (see Lecture Schedule).  

 

4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES 

 

  1. To familiarize students with the human mind as a phenomenon whose biological basis can be studied in scientific research; to explore and appreciate the limits of current scientific knowledge in the field. 
  2. To provide a comprehensive overview of the methodology, research findings, theories, and contentious issues in the study of cognitive neuroscience. 
  3. To encourage the reading of primary source material on research in cognitive neuroscience; to encourage critical thinking and discussion of contentious issues. 

Any course of this sort contains material that must be learned from both lectures and readings. Some material from the text will not be covered in lectures; similarly, some material from the lectures will not be covered in the readings. Therefore, it is necessary that students view the prerecorded lectures, attend class sessions, and do the readings regularly for successful completion of the course.  

 

Learning Outcome  

Learning Activity  

Assessment 

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge.  

  • 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, motor, language, executive function, memory systems 
  • Define key concepts that characterize cognitive neuroscience as a field of scientific inquiry 

Pre-recorded lectures 

 

Assigned textbook readings 

 

Assigned primary article readings 

 

Tutorial/discussion sessions 

Quizzes 

 

Final exam 

 

Knowledge of Methodologies.  

  • Understand the strengths and limitations of various cognitive neuroscience methodologies, and how these methods contribute to the current state of knowledge in this field 

Pre-recorded lectures 

 

Assigned textbook readings 

 

Assigned primary article readings 

 

Tutorial/discussion sessions 

Quizzes 

 

Final exam 

 

Application of Knowledge.  

  • Apply basic research methods in psychology to investigate cognitive neuroscientific questions. Identify relevant neuropsychological mechanisms/issues and apply to real-world contexts.  

Assigned primary article readings 

 

Synchronous group work and group assignments 

 

Written review paper 

 

Group assignments 

 

Written review paper 

 

Quizzes 

 

Final exam 

Communication Skills.  

  • Articulate some of the central questions and issues in contemporary neuropsychology/cognitive neuroscience 
  • Clearly communicate cognitive neuroscientific material and principles to a scientifically literate audience 
  •  

Data blitz presentation 

Assigned primary article readings 

 

Synchronous group work and group assignments 

 

Written review paper 

 

Group assignments  

 

Written review paper 

 

Data blitz presentation 

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge. 

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

Assigned primary article readings 

 

Synchronous group work and group assignments 

 

Written review paper 

 

Group assignments 

 

Written review paper 

 

 

 

5.0 EVALUATION 

 

Course performance will be evaluated based on the following sources: 

  1. Quiz 1–  15%  
  1. Quiz 2 – 15% 
  1. Written Mini Review – 22% 
  1. Final Exam – 36% 
  1. Participation in Class Discussions (during live tutorials) and Small Group Assignments - 7% 
  1. Data Blitz Presentation – 5% 

 

 

 

5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK 

 

Missed In-Class Quizzes: No make-up quizzes will be scheduled in this course.  If you have received academic consideration for an absence, or have submitted a self-reported absence form, your final exam will be reweighted more heavily to account for the missed quiz.  The reweighting will be done such that specific questions representing the material from the missed quiz will count more heavily towards your final grade. Note that questions on the final exam may be more challenging than those on the in-class quizzes, so students should carefully consider the implications of missing a scheduled in-class quiz.  Without submitted documentation, a mark of 0 will be assigned. 

 

Missed Class Session/Missed Groupwork:  The grade for this component of the course will be assessed by the following: group worksheets to be turned in to the TA each week for grading, and in-class participation. For this component, your lowest weekly grade will be dropped from your overall grade. Therefore, if you miss only one week of synchronous class time for the term, you do not need to worry about this affecting your grade. No other make-up opportunities will be provided (no exceptions). 

 

Mini Review: Without submitted documentation, a late penalty of 10% of the assignment’s value per day (e.g., 2 of the 20-point total value) will be applied to papers submitted after the deadline. If you have received academic consideration for this assignment, the deadline will be adjusted as recommended by Academic Counselling. If you have submitted a self-reported absence form for the period covering the deadline, you will receive a 48-hour extension. 

 

Data Blitz: Without submitted documentation, a mark of 0 will be assigned for a missed data blitz presentation. If you have received academic consideration for this assignment, please contact me and we will make arrangements for you to present your data blitz talk at an alternative time.  

 

The final exam can be rescheduled only with documented academic consideration. Completion of the final exam and written mini review are required to pass this class. 

 

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 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 

 

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 

 

Note that 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. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course. 

 

6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE 

 

Quiz 1             Oct 5 

Quiz 2            Nov 9 

Mini-Review          Dec 3 

Data Blitz Presentations Dec 7 (in class) 

Final Exam            TBA – scheduled by Office of the Registrar  

 

 

7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE 

 

PowerPoint Notes will be posted on OWL, typically before each day's lecture.  Textbook readings refer to the course textbook, Cognitive Neuroscience (5th ed.).  Additional required readings not found in the course textbook and journal articles will be posted on the OWL website. 

 

Week 

Date 

Topic 

Readings to Complete Prior to Class 

# of  

textbook 

pages  

Tutorial Activities/Synchronous Group Work 

1 

Sept 14 

Course Introduction 

Review of brain anatomy 

Chapter 1 (1-18, 26-38 [from beginning up to and not including Neurotransmitters; beginning again at Closer Look at Cerebral Cortex to end] 

39 

Escape (the Zoom)Room Neuroanatomy Game  

 

2 

Sept 21 

Methods of Understanding the Brain 

Chapter 3 

29 

“Method Experts” Worksheet + Research Scenarios Activity 

3 

Sept 28 

Brain Development, Neuroplasticity and Critical Period Effects  

Chapter 15 (pp. 455-468 [from beginning up to Developmental Disorders]; 476-485 [Brain Plasticity in Adulthood up to Aging]) 

 

Read one of the following 2 articles (as individually assigned). Fill out Journal Article Worksheet (posted under Resources in OWL) and bring to class. Articles posted on OWL. 

 

Bedny et al., 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 

 

Bola et al., 2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 

 

 

23 

Modified Jigsaw + Class Discussion 

 

Oct 5 

In Class Quiz 1 

Quiz will be held during the live tutorial time 

 

 

4 

Oct 12 

Object recognition 

The “what” ventral visual stream 

 

Spatial cognition and the “where” dorsal ventral stream 

Chapter 6; Chapter 7 (pp 199- 201 (beginning up to Coding For Three Dimensions, 210-214 (Space and Action section)  

 
Read one of the following articles (as individually assigned). Be prepared to discuss your article in detail in your small group and present it to the class. 

 

Sahraie et al., 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 

 

Heywood et al., 1987, Journal of Neurology 

 

Zeki et al., 1999,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 

 

Schenk et al., 2000, European Journal of Neuroscience 

 

Jakobson et al., 1991, Neuropsychologia 

 

Riddoch et al., 2008, Cognitive Neuropsychology 

 

Servos et al., 1993, Neuropsychologia 

 

Persaud et al., 2011, NeuroImage 

 

35 

Present a Patient: 

Clinical Case Presentations 

 

5 

Oct 19 

Attention 

Chapter 10 (beginning up to p. 328 -- Processing of Unattended Stimuli) 

 

Cukur et al., 2017 

 

 

“Dissect a difficult journal article” exercise 

 

 

6 

Oct 26 

Long-term Memory 

Amnesia and Memory Disorders 

Chapter 9 (everything except working memory section pp. 287-291) 

 

Bayley et al., 2005 

 

Isausti et al, 2013 (each group member to focus on one section of results; specified in OWL). 

 

33 

Case study of patient EP 

 

 

 

Nov 2 

Fall Reading Week – No Class 

 

 

 

 

Nov 9 

In Class Quiz 2 

Quiz will be held during the live tutorial time 

 

 

7 

Nov 16 

Sleep and Memory Consolidation 

 

For students wishing to participate in the optional peer review process for the Mini-Review, a draft of your paper is due on March 19. 

 

No readings from course textbook. 

 

Fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience, 2nd ed (Gage & Baars), Chapter 12 -- Sleep and levels of consciousness (posted on OWL) Pages 393-398; 405-422 Only. 

 

Read both of these articles (second is only a single page).   

 

Fuentemilla et al., 2013, Current Biology 

 

Rudoy et al, 2009, Science 

33 

Journal Club Activity 

 

8 

Nov 23 

Language processing; aphasia and language disorders 

 

 

 

Chapter 8 (up to and not including p. 242 – Neurological Bases for Visual Language Processing)   

 

Read one of these two articles (as assigned individually). Fill out Journal Article Worksheet (posted under Resources in OWL) and bring to class. Be prepared to explain your article to your classmates. Articles posted on OWL. 

 

Group 1,2,3: Chang et al., 2010, Nature Neuroscience 

 

Group 4,5,6: Levy & Wilson, 2019, Cerebral Cortex 

 

17 

Modified Jigsaw + Class Discussion 

9 

Nov 30 

Consciousness 

 

Mini Review Due Friday This Week – Dec 3. 

 

 

Chapter 14 Gazzaniga chapter posted on OWL (EXCEPT for sections 14.4 and 14.8) 

 

Read one of these articles (as individually assigned). Fill out “Consciousness Article Worksheet” posted on OWL and bring to class. 

 

Coleman et al., 2007, Brain 

 

Sharon et al., 2013, Plos One 

 

Yu et al., 2013, Neurology 

Perrin et al., 2006, Archives of Neurology  

Naci et al., 2014, PNAS 

Naci et al., 2013, JAMA 

37 

Exploring experimental paradigms to measure consciousness 

 

What does it mean to be conscious? How can we measure consciousness in the vegetative state? 

 

10 

Dec 7 

Final Data Blitz Presentations 

 

No assigned readings but come to class prepared to ask questions!  

 

 

 

 

TBA 

Final Exam – to be held in person 

 

 

 

 

 

8.0 LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. 

 

With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service. 

 

 

9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES 

 

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence 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 offences. 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 will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating. 

 

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.  

 

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. 

 

10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE 

 

When examinations and tests cannot be given in person (e.g., in courses coded as Distance Studies; in the event of a lockdown order), they may be conducted using either a monitoring platform such as Zoom or a remote proctoring service, such as Proctorio. If Zoom is used for exam invigilation, you will be required to keep your camera on for the entire session, hold up your student card for identification purposes, and share your screen with the invigilator if asked to do so at any time during the exam. The exam session using Zoom will not be recorded.* 

If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. The instructor will alert you to the use of this software as close as possible to the start of the term, however, in the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf 

 

* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us   

 

11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES 

 

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 

 

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); 
  1. 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;  
  1. 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 must be submitted before the exam/coursework deadline in order to be valid. It 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 

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term. 

 

12.0 CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR RETURN TO LOCKDOWN: IN-PERSON & BLENDED CLASSES 

 

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor. 

 

13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE 

 

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette: 

  • please “arrive” to class on time 
  • please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet) 
  • please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material 
  • to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise 
  • In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak 
  • In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable 
  • Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting 

 

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following: 

  • If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question. 
  • Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking. 
  • Self-identify when speaking. 
  • Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise). 

 

General considerations of “netiquette”: 

  • Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course. 
  • Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing. 
  • Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate. 
  • Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately. 

 

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct. 

 

14.0 OTHER INFORMATION 

 

Office of the Registrar: http://registrar.uwo.ca   

 

Student Development Services: 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 

- 2021-2022 Calendar References 

 

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 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. 

 

Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor. 

 

General Class Policies 

 

Quizzes and Exam 

The quizzes and final exam will cover materials from pre-recorded lectures (videos) as well as all readings, including journal articles. Both quizzes and the exam will include multiple choice questions, short-to-medium answer questions (e.g., fill-in-the-blanks, definitions, or questions that require a short- to medium- length written response), and/or label-the-diagram questions. Quizzes will not be cumulative. The final exam will be cumulative but weighted more heavily with material covered since Quiz 2.  

 

The quizzes are expected to be held in class from 1:30 - 3:30 PM, on the dates outlined in the syllabus.  

However, in the event of a rapid return to an online format (due to lockdown restrictions related to COVID-19), the quizzes and exams will take place online and will be open-book. In this case, question ordering and answer choice will be randomized, and there will be a time limit for the exam, and the exam format will be “linear” – you will NOT be allowed to return to a question you have already answered. (This feature is necessary in an online environment to discourage peer collaboration during the exam and to ensure the integrity of individual student answers). 

 

Mini Review 

A written mini-review is due as a final assignment in this course. The mini-review 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, or that summarizes and discusses an exciting development in the context of the existing literature. A selection of appropriate topics will be provided, but students may also design their own topic (with the prior agreement of the course instructor).   Further instructions will be posted on OWL. 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 should be submitted electronically to OWL. Turnitin will be used to check for plagiarism. A late penalty of 10% of the assignment’s value per day (2 of the 20-point total value) will be applied to papers submitted after the deadline.  

 

Data Blitz Presentations 

Also known as “lightning talks,” a datablitz is a series of exciting, fast-paced, very short presentations.  Our final class period will consist of a datablitz event, which will provide an opportunity for you to share something interesting learned over the course of researching and writing your mini-review.  It usually works best to focus on a single exciting finding, rather than attempting to summarize your entire topic.  Your presentation should be no longer than 3 minutes long and contain only a single slide. A 2 min Q&A will follow each presentation. Additional instructions will be posted on OWL.  

 

Course Readings 

Course readings not included in the main textbook will be available to students via OWL. 

 

Email Policy 

I will respond to your email within 2 business days (Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM), though I try to respond within a single business day. I do not consistently monitor email on the weekend. If you haven’t heard from me within 2 days, please feel free to send another message. Please include the course reference number in the subject line (Psych 3224). 

 

Small Groups 

At the beginning of the course, you will be assigned to a small group of 3-4 students. Your group will be the same from week to week. You will complete assignments during synchronous class time in your small group. At two points in the semester (approximately 1/3rd through the class and at the end), you will be asked to complete peer and self-ratings of team members on criteria related to preparation, effort and overall group citizenship. Ratings are used to adjust the final group grade for each student, using an autorating system. This is to encourage full participation and effort in this component of the course, and also to flag any potential problems relatively early on. You can also use your small group outside of the class time as a study group. The hope is that your small group will be able to support you in your learning of all aspects of the course material. 

 

Blended Format and Class Groupwork/Tutorial Sessions 

The asynchronous lectures are designed to cover 100-120 min of typical lecture content.  While the in-person synchronous “tutorial” component of this course is scheduled for 2 hours to allow for in-class exam scheduling, we will typically meet for around 75 minutes most weeks (beginning at 1:30). These in-person sessions will involve an opportunity for synchronous instructor Q & A, with the majority of time focused on class discussion and group work, as specified in the Class Schedule. Depending on the week, a scientific journal article may be assigned in addition to reading from the textbook.  Students are expected to come to class prepared for the in-class group work by carefully reading the article prior to class. Additional details for each week will be provided on OWL.