Dr. Wendy Sternberg
KINSC (Sharpless Wing) S408
896-1237
wsternbe@haverford.edu
Office hours: MW 10:30-11:30 or by appointment
Teaching Assistants:
This course serves as an introduction to the Foundations of Behavior series. We will begin by discussing the biological and evolutionary bases of behavior. The comparative approach to the study of behavior will be emphasized (i.e., studying correlates of human behaviors in other animal species, particularly non-human primates), as will basic nervous system anatomy and physiology. Several topics considering the interaction between nature and nurture will also be covered.
Assignments: Your grade will be based on your performance on two exams and a library assignment. You can earn up to 12 extra points by completing optional writing assignments
Exam 1 (September 23): 100 points
Exam 2 (October 21): 100 points
PsycINFO Assignment: 15 points
Course Evaluation: 5 points
In addition to the above requirements, you will also be required to participate as a subject in three Psychology experiments at some point during the Fall Semester. You will receive credit for your participation during the second half of the semester (in Psyc 104e), however you may participate at any time. Students will come to class periodically to recruit subjects for projects. If you are unable or unwilling to participate in experiments, you may request an alternative assignment. The Psychology department uses a software package to manage experiment participation (recruiting and signing up subjects, and ensuring you get credit for participating). Click here for information about Experimetrix.
Grading policy: I assign grades based on the following scale:
| Average | Grade |
| >95 | A |
| 90-94 | A- |
| 87-89 | B+ |
| 84-86 | B |
| 80-83 | B- |
| 77-79 | C+ |
| 74-76 | C |
| 70-73 | C- |
| 60-69 | D |
| <60 | F |
Hints on how to get a good grade in this course are provided here.
The following is an outline of the topics to be covered this quarter with a rough idea of the schedule, and the associated readings for each day.
Date |
Topic |
|
| 8/29 | Introduction to the Course | |
| 8/31 | What is Psychology? | Tavris C. (2003), Mind Games: Psychological Warfare Between Therapists and Scientists. Chronicle of Higher Education, 49. |
| 9/2 | The Scientific Approach | Shaffer, Chapter 1, pp. 1-14 |
| 9/5 | A brief history of psychology as a science | Ridley, Prologue, pp. 1-6 Gray, Chapter 1, pp. 2-27 |
| 9/7 | Introduction to the Biology of Behavior: Cartesian Dualism | Bloom, Chapter 1, pp. 1-17 |
| 9/9 | Human Nature and the Blank Slate |
Pinker, Chapter 3, pp. 30-40 Ohman & Mineka (2003). The Malicious Serpent: snakes as a prototypical stimulus for an evolved module of fear. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12 pp. 5-8 |
9/12 9/14 9/16 |
Genes and Behavior |
Turkehimer (2000). Three laws of behavior genetics and what they
mean. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, pp. 160-164.
|
| 9/19 & 9/21 | Evolutionary Psychology |
Pinker, Chapter 3, pp. 51-58 Diamond, Chapter 1, pp. 15-31 Diamond, Chapter 9, pp. 168-179 Povinelli, D., and Gallup, G., Animal self-awareness? A Scientific American debate. Scientific American Presents, November 1998 |
| 9/23 | Exam 1 | |
9/26 & 9/28 |
Neuroanatomy | Bloom, Chapter 1, pp. 17-25 Bloom, Chapter 2, pp. 51-55 |
| 9/30 & 10/3 | Neuronal communication | Bloom, Chapter 2, pp. 27-38 |
| 10/5 & 10/7 | Synaptic Transmission, Drugs and Behavior | Bloom, Chapter 2, pp. 41-48 |
| 10/17 | Hormones and Behavior | McEwen, Chapter 2 McEwen, Chapter 4 Bloom, Chapter 7, pp. 234-235 Kimura, Sex Differences in the Brain, Scientific American, 1999 |
| 10/19 | Sex Differences in Behavior | |
| 10/21 | Exam 2 |
Consult the above schedule of topics to determine the apporpriate readings for each class. It is important to do the relevant readings before class. Below is the list of books that are used as resources for this course, with their full citations. They are identified in the schedule of readings by the first author's last name and year of publication, along with the relevant page numbers. Articles are listed in the schedule with full citations. All readings can be found through the Blackboard interface (as PDF's in the Documents page), as well as on print reserve in Magill.
Bloom, F., Nelson, Lazerson, A. (2000) Brain, Mind and Behavior, 3rd Ed. Worth Publishers
Diamond, J. (1992). The Third Chimpanzee Harper Collins Publishers
Gray, P. (2002) Psychology, 4th Ed. Worth Publishers (Why is there no intro psych textbook required for this course?)
McEwen, B.S. and Schmeck, H.M. (1994). The Hostage Brain. Rockefeller University Press
Pinker, S. (2002) The Blank Slate. Viking Press (this book is available for sale on the non-academic shelves in the bookstore)
Ridley, M. (2003) Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience and What Makes us Human. Harper Collins Publishers.
Shaffer, L and Merrens, M.R. (2004). Research Stories for Introductory Psychology, 2nd Ed. AB Longman Publishers.