Psychology 391h: Cognitive Neuroscience

Spring, 2006

Tuesday & Thursday
1:00 - 2:15
520 Tobin Hall 

email: psy391h@psych.umass.edu

Instructor: Kyle Cave

office: 432 Tobin
phone: 5-2787

Office hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:00

(This page last updated 16 May, 2006)

The pages below for Emotion, Evolution, and Consciousness have links to additional pages, providing information on material that we covered in class that is not in the textbook.

The final exam is in Tobin 204 on Wednesday, 24 May at **8:00 a.m.**
See you there.

This course will cover what we can learn about human and animal cognition from studying the brain.

Readings:

The textbook for this course is Cognitive Neuroscience (2nd edition) by Gazzaniga, Ivry, and Mangun. It will be available at the Textbook Annex and at the Jeffery Amherst Bookshop, and you can get it from other sources as well. Be sure to get the second edition. It has been around for a few years, so used copies should be available. Other readings may be added later.

Schedule:

Below is a schedule showing the topic, and readings from the textbook for each class. Be sure that you have completed the readings before class, so that you can understand the material presented during class and can participate in the discussion. If you are confused about any part of the reading, try to formulate questions and ask them at the beginning of class.

date

topic

reading

1

Jan 31

introduction

2

Feb 2

History of Cognition and Neuroscience

chapter 1

3

Feb 7

Neurons

chapter 2

4

Feb 9

Brain Organization

chapter 3

5

Feb 14

Brain Organization contd.

6

Feb 16

Methods
presentation: MRI and functional MRI
Eric French and Gary Armeen

chapter 4

Feb 21

no class

7

Feb 23

Perception

chapter 5

8

Feb 28

Perception contd.

9

Mar 2

Perception contd.
presentation: agnosia
Chance Richiedei and Amy Frithsen

10

Mar 7

exam 1

11

Mar 9

Object Recognition

chapter 6

12

Mar 14

Object and Face Recognition

paper topic due

13

Mar 16

Attention
presentation: neglect
Sean Kern and Stacy Wong

--- Spring Break ---

14

Mar28

Attention contd.

chapter 7

15

Mar 30

Memory
presentation: amnesia
Adam Frappier and Eddie Miretsky

chapter 8

16

Apr 4

Memory contd.

17

Apr 6

Language
presentation: aphasia
Lauren Bellegarde and Melanie Moser

chapter 9

18

Apr 11

Language contd.
presentation: differences in neural mechanisms for speech and writing
David Abrami

Apr 13

exam 2

19

Apr 18

Cerebral Lateralization
presentation: split brain patients
Aaron Silver-Pell and Brendan Bobzin

chapter 10

paper outline and sources due

20

Apr 20

Cerebral Lateralization contd.

21

Apr 25

Executive Function

chapter 12

22

Apr 27

Emotion

chapter 13

23

May 2

Emotion contd.
presentation: cognitive aspects of schizophrenia
Amanda Vining

paper due

24

May 4

Evolution
presentation: evolution of vision
Sean Thomas Duram

chapter 14

25

May 9

Consciousness 1
presentation: V1 and visual awareness
Nick Cammuso

chapter 16

26

May 11

Consciousness 2

27

May 16

Consciousness 3

We may decide to change the schedule as the class progresses.

 

 

 

 

 

Communicating Outside of Class:

If I need to reach you in between classes, I will send you e-mail. There is also a World Wide Web site for this class with this syllabus, class notes, and other materials. If there are notes available for a particular class beforehand, you may want to print them out and bring them to class. The address for the Web site is at the bottom of this page.

Exams:

Read this carefully. Ask me if there is any part you do not understand.

There will be two exams during the semester and a final exam at the end.

The exams will cover both material from class and material from the reading.

Each exam will cover all the material that has been presented up to that point, including material that may have been on previous exams.

The exams may include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching questions, along with short answer/essay questions requiring answers between one sentence and half a page.

No make-up exams will be given. Any missed exams can be made up with a paper.

Presentations:

Many of the classes will include a student presentation. Most of the presentations will be given by a pair of students working together, and each student will contribute to one presentation.

Your presentation should be based on sources beyond the textbook. You can look for references to relevant sources on the class web pages and in the textbook.

The topic of your presentation should be something related to the class topic for that day. The slots for presentations are indicated on the schedule above. In some cases, a suggested topic for the presentation is included, but you can work out a different topic with me if you prefer.

Three weeks before your presentation, you should inform me of the topic you have selected. Two weeks before your presentation, you should send me a list of your sources. If you find other sources after you send me the list, you are free to include them as well.

Each presentation should be about 20-30 minutes long.

As part of your presentation, you should prepare a file with displays to use during your presentation, and should turn that file in to me on the day of your presentation. Part of your grade will be based on your class displays.

Paper:

You will write a paper on some topic within Cognitive Neuroscience. Your paper must show a good deal of research and thought. Consult with me about appropriate topics before you start. It should be no more than 12 pages. Papers can be turned in at any time before May 2.

You have the option to write a double-length paper. If you do, your paper will replace either Exam 1 or Exam 2. If you select this option, be sure to inform me that you are doing so before you hand in your paper.

Your paper can be on a topic related to that of your presentation. It should be written independently of the other student that you work with on your presentation. You can include ideas that came from your presentation partner, as long as you give appropriate acknowledgement.

See the Guide to Writing the Paper.

Other Assignments:

There may be other assignments throughout the class. They will include your written thoughts and questions about one of the readings or a class discussion, other short written assignments, and perhaps an occasional short quiz. I may encourage you to discuss these assignments with other students (except, of course, the quizzes). However, unless I specifically say otherwise, the work you turn in for the assignments must be entirely your own.

Experimental Participation:

By participating in experiments done within the Psychology Department, you can learn first hand how experimental psychology is done, you can contribute to the advancement of the field, and you can improve your grade through extra credit.

You will receive one credit for each half-hour of experimental participation. Each credit will add one-half of one percent to your total number of points..

The total amount of extra credit you can receive is 8 credits, which will take 4 hours, and will add 4% to your point total.

If you sign up to participate in an experiment and do not show up, you lose one credit for each credit you would have received.

Extra credit cannot make a failing grade into a passing grade.

Avoiding Plagiarism:

All students are expected to adhere scrupulously to the University policy concerning academic honesty in their written assignments and in their presentations. For guidelines about plagiarism, see http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html. If you are ever in doubt about when and how to give credit for the ideas and experimental results you include in your written assignments and presentations, consult me.

Final grade:

Exams 1 and 2: 15% each
paper: 30%
presentation and other assignments: 20%
Final exam: 20%

extra credit is available through experimental participation. See above.  



An updated version of syllabus is available on the World Wide Web at: http://courses.umass.edu/psy391h/


Psych 391h: Cognitive Neuroscience Kyle Cave Psychology Dept. U. Mass.