psb3002d - Physiological Psychology
Dr. Lorraine Sutton
I earned my Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, training under renowned biopsychologist Dr. Steven Maier and equally renowned physiologist Dr. Linda Watkins. My area of specialty is Behavioral Neuroscience. My research focused on the neurochemistry and neuroanatomy of learned helplessness, endogenous pain control systems and the effects of stress on reactivity to opiate drugs.
Please visit my personal web site at http://home.cfl.rr.com/suttonbeach to get to know me better!
This course will explore the relationship between human physiology and behavior. Emphasis will be placed on the structures, circuits, and biochemistry of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems and their interactions with behavior, and psychological and physical health.
It is my intent to introduce you to the mysterious and fascinating machine in which you live. You will discover systems whose complexities are unrivaled by technology's most sophisticated computers. We will explore the biology of depression and joy, pain and pleasure, mental illness and healthy behavior. In 1990, the President and Congress declared the 90's "The Decade of the Brain." Indeed, there are discoveries in the field of physiological/biological psychology occurring every day that will impact your lives.
In addition to exposing you to the wonderful "machine in which you live", there are several objectives that I hope to attain with you over the course of your participation in Physiological Psychology. These include:
Introductory or General Psychology is a prerequisite for this course. However, it is unlikely that your brief exposure to the biology of behavior in General Psychology will have provided you with a strong foundation for the material covered here. Should you choose to remain in this course, you are making a commitment to taking responsibility for your learning experience. Most students find the biological realm of psychology among the more challenging topics covered in the field. In order to perform well in this course, you should expect to spend a significant amount of time engaged in the course activities, including reading assignments, term papers, forum activities, quizzes, and the "virtual lab".
I will not accept late assignments (labs, quizzes, forums, papers, etc.) without a documentable circumstance that prevents you from logging on to the course for at least 5 days. Please contact me in advance if there are other life emergencies that interfere with your ability to submit your work by deadlines.
Web courses require self-motivation and discipline. I have made every attempt to distribute assignments (quizzes, forums, labs, and papers) so that you will not have several things due at one time. You should pace yourself accordingly. I have provided a complete course calendar (under Toolbox in WebCT) which you should find helpful in planning your work.
Quizzes are open for seven days. DO NOT wait until the last hour of Day 7 to take a quiz. If the Reach server is down, or there are other technical difficulties, you will be locked out of the quiz at the posted closing time. I cannot re-open a quiz for a single student once Web CT closes it out.
DO NOT wait until the day before a lab or paper is due to begin work on that assignment. These assignments require research, reading, and web exploration. It will be impossible to complete a quality lab report or term paper at the last minute.
Stay caught up! That way illness or other unforeseen events in your life will not cause you to miss assignments when they are due. Should you experience difficulties or an emergency that interferes with your coursework, please contact me immediately.
If there is one word of advice that my web veterans could offer you, it would be to stay on top of assignments here. A course schedule with assignments and their due dates is posted on the course "home" page. You should print this out and have it nearby. There is also a calendar in Web CT under "Toolbox". Assignment due dates are also specified within each module. So, is there any reason to miss a due date? I think not.
Be familiar with policies and protocols as described in the Syllabus and Protocols on the course home page…
Print out the course schedule for the semester and course calendar for the month.
Print out the current Module according to the course schedule/calendar. Please note that Virtual Lab assignments are under a separate button in WebCT.
Manage your time.
The quizzes for this course are open-book. However, they are timed to allow you, on average, 2 - 3 minutes per item. You should read and highlight the key points of each chapter prior to taking a quiz. That way you can find needed information efficiently.
While I encourage you to discuss issues and to help one another, when you write your lab reports and papers, your writing needs to be your own. I am very adept at spotting "shared" writing! I will not tolerate plagiarism and will refer any suspected cases of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Your grade will be comprised of the following elements: