Mind and Brain

Psy201
Jagdeep Kaur-Bala, Ph.D.
INSTITUTE OF NEUROSCIENCE & DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
213A (217 door) Huestis Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday - 10:30 am to Noon & by appointment
jagdeep@uoregon.edu emails always welcomed!
Blackboard: http://blackboard.uoregon.edu
 Why are we here?
MY GOALS: Introduce you to the exciting science of
(cognitive/neuro-) psychology
• Behavior and Brain
• How the structure and function of the brain relates to
psychological processes
• Information processing and behavioral responses

Help develop scientific thinking about psychology

• Research methods
• Critical Reasoning Skills
• Self-study skills
• YOUR GOALS: Learn more about the relationship between the
MIND, BRAIN and behavior!
• And…Make a good grade!!
 … The Plan
• Syllabus and Schedule
• Exams and Grading
• Other Assignments
• Labs
• RERs
• Class participation
• Extra-credit
Opportunities
 REQUIRED TEXT

• Psychological Science by Michael Gazzaniga, Todd

Heatherton and Diane Halpern, 3rd edition, Norton
Publishers, 2009.
• What about other texts?
– It shall be your responsibility to cover all materials related
to each class!
– Psychology: The science of Mind and Behavior by
Passer and Smith.
– Psychology by Peter Gray .
– Psychological Science by Gazzaniga and Heatherton
2nd edition
 Exams and Grading
• Exams - 60% of final grade
– 4 equally weighted MCQ-type exams (20% of final grade
each)
– Total of the 3 highest scoring exams = 60% of final grade
– No comprehensive final (Each exam covers reading AND
lecture materials immediately preceding the exam)
– No makeup exams unless totally unavoidable

• Low overall load

• Consistent performance
• Tip:
– Read ahead… or review class notes before class
 LABS
• Labs/Discussion sections
– 25% of final grade
– Based on in-class and online demonstrations
– ZAPs or non-ZAPs labs posted on Blackboard each week.
– Each week’s lab reports due by midnight of Friday of that
week.

• Motivated Consistent performance

• Come to class!
– Partial credit for in-class
participation
 ZAPs labs…
• ZAPs require
– Access card to register/login
– Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher /
– Mozilla-based browser 1.5 or higher
– Flash plugin version 7.
• ZAPs classID: CQ35F56F
– to record participation and credit.
• If you’ve used ZAPs before
– Visit the About Me page to update your Class ID,
Student Id, or Name (no nicknames please!).
 Research Experience
• Research Experience Requirement
– 10% of final grade
– 2 options
• Learn about research in psychology first hand by participating
in the Psychology Department's Human Subjects Pool and
completing a Bb assignment.
Guidelines in separate handout and discussed in
presentation by HS coordinator in next class.
• Read 4 research papers. The four different published journal
articles will be provided by your TA.
Talk to your GTF for this option ASAP
– RERs – 2 responses for option1 and 4 for option2 submitted via
Bb.
– Half your responses are due by midnight, Friday of week 6 and
half by Friday of week 9.
 Participation
• Class Participation (5%)
– Come to class!
– Bring your iClicker
• Attendance taken in randomly selected classes
• Participation in class demos via iClickers
– Register your iClickers
• 8 digit ID on back
• DuckID – same as your Bb login
 Exams and Grading
• Every point counts!
• Grades may be curved
– Typically
• A: 90-100
• B: 80-89.99
• C:70-79.99
• D:60-69.99
– Plus and Minus for upper and lower third of each grade
range
– Pass: ‘C-’ or better.
– Up to 4 points added to final grade
• 2 points for taking all 4 exams with at least 50% scored on each.
• 2 points for completing all 13 labs
 Exams and Grading
• Final Grade?
• Curved to average class performance on
total scores, if necessary
• Generally
• A – 90-104
• B – 80 – 89.99
• C – 70-79.99
• D – 60-69.99
• F - <60
– Class average is cutoff for ‘B’
Course Outline
 Outline
Assignments
All labs and
Readings RERs are due
Date Topic
Book chapters @ midnight on
Friday of the
week
28-Mar Syllabus and Introduction Ch. 1 (15 -30)

Practice Lab (not

graded)
30-Mar Research Methods Ch. 2 (33-73)
Research
methods
Lab #1
Synaptic
4-Apr Brain structure and function I Ch. 3 (92-130)
transmission
video
Lecture slides & Lab #2
6- Apr Brain structure and function II
class notes ZAPS: Split brains

11- Apr Exam #1

 Outline
Assignments
All labs and
Readings RERs are due
Date Topic
Book chapters @ midnight on
Friday of the
week
Lab #3
13- Apr Mind and Consciousness Ch. 4 (all) Sleep-memory
connection
Lab #4
Sensation – Psychophysics,
18- Apr Ch. 5 (179 -212) ZAPS: Signal
Sensory processes
detection
Lab #5
Perception – Visual
20- Apr Ch. 5 (213 -231) ZAPS: Visual
Perception
search
Perception – Object Lab #6
Lecture slides &
25- Apr recognition, Depth, Motion & ZAPS: Ames &
class notes
Size Perception Ponzo illusions

27- Apr Exam #2

 Outline
Assignments
All labs and
Readings RERs are due @
Date Topic
Book chapters midnight on
Friday of the
week
Lab #7
Ch. 6 (235-268;
2- May Learning, Reward & Motivation ZAPS: Classical
Class notes)
conditioning
Lab #8
ZAPS: Implicit
learning
4- May Plasticity Ch. 6 (268-275;
RER 1
Class notes)
(Reports 1&2 for
option2)
Lab #9
9- May Attention & Memory Ch. 7 (279-305) ZAPS: Spatial
cueing
Ch. 7 (305-325) Lab #10
11- May Memory Additional class ZAPS: Memory
notes span
16- May Exam #3
 Outline
Assignments
All labs and
Readings RERs are due
Date Topic
Book chapters @ midnight on
Friday of the
week
Lab #11
18-May Cognition Ch. 8 (331-356) ZAPS: Mental
rotation 2D & 3D
Lab #12
ZAPS:
23-May Thinking & Intelligence Ch. 8 (356 - 375)
Missionaries and
Cannibals
Lab #13
ZAPS: Decision
Additional class making
25-May Disorders of the Mind and Brain
notes. RER 2
(Reports 3&4 for
option2)
30-May No class - Memorial Day!
1-Jun Exam #4
(Makeup exam, if
9-Jun NO final exam
necessary)
Connect all the dots with 4 straight lines
without lifting your pencil
 What is psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of mind, brain, and
behavior
• This definition endorses the scientific method
• This definition includes the behavior of all animals,
especially humans
– Behavior includes mental, as well as observable activity
– Behavior reflects the influence of:
• biological processes of the cells within the nervous
system
• the context of cultural beliefs and values
 What are the roots of modern
psychology?
• Philosophical • Biological

Formal logic, Physical models

scientific method of brain org.

Aristotle Descartes

Specificity of
The ethereal mind
nerve function

Descartes Mueller
Philosophical Issues in Psychology
Mind- Body problem

Free will vs. determinism?

Reason vs. emotion?

Continuity vs. discontinuity (with other animals)?

Nature vs. nurture? Psychological scientists now believe
that many mental disorders result as much from the way the
brain is “wired” (nature) as from the way people are treated
(nurture).

Will we ever answer these questions?!

According to John Searle…
 Goals of psychological science
(sans individual and social psychology)
• To describe
• To explain
• To predict
• To control/improve

 Structure
 Function
 Regulation
Research on mind, brain, and behavior has
accumulated over time to produce the principles
of psychological science.
 Themes of Psychological Science
• The Principles of Psychological Science Are Cumulative
– Research on mind, brain, and behavior has accumulated over time to
produce the principles (simplified ideas?!) of psychological science.
– Complexity is inherent in science as ideas and theories are modified by
new information
• A New Biological Revolution Is Energizing Research
– Brain Chemistry: neurotransmitters and drugs to mimic or antagonize
their actions!
– The Human Genome: understanding of the association between genes
and behavior/ability!
– Watching the Working Brain: how different brain regions interact to
produce conscious experience or memory
• The Mind Is Adaptive
– Evolutionary perspective to triats
– Success of those able to solve survival problems and adapt to their
environments
• Psychological Science Crosses Levels of Analysis
– same problem, different questions
– Interdisciplinary approach to social, individual and biological issues
 Biological Issues:
What governs behavior?
Biopsychology seeks to understand
the mind through understanding the Damage
biological activity of the brain Damage here
here produces
Localization of function is the produces difficulty in
notion that discrete brain regions difficulty language
control discrete aspects of mental in comprehensi
speaking on
functioning
-Lesions of neural pathways alter
behavior in animal studies
-Humans with focal brain damage
show evidence of
impairment of language