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Mind
& Behavior Aysecan
Boduroglu, Ph.D. Contact:
aysecan.boduroglu@boun.edu.tr
OR aboduroglu@su.sabanciuniv.edu Class
Website: to-be-announced! Office
Hours: Wednesday
TA:
Yeliz
Yorulmaz (yelizy@su.sabanciuniv.edu) |
This course is an introductory level course on human mind and
behavior, designed to provide an overview of scientific psychology. The major
goal of this course is to introduce theoretical perspectives as well as some classical
and recent empirical findings in psychology. In doing so, the course also aims
to highlight both the interaction of psychological sciences with other allied
disciplines and the impact of psychological findings in applied fields. In this
regard, the course will present an opportunity for students with different
backgrounds to explore links between their own fields of interest and study and
psychology.
Overall structure of the course: Each week, we will be meeting for 3 hours. Part of this 3 hour
meeting will be devoted to a brief lecture. During the remaining time we are
going to complete some in-class activities and discuss weekly reading
materials.
Lectures: Weekly lectures will introduce each topic and provide a base for
the assigned readings (besides the textbook). The lectures will be designed to
be as interactive as possible. There will be in-class demonstrations and
mock-experiments to illustrate key concepts and findings. You will also be
encouraged to participate in some on-line experiments to complement your
understanding of the material. Also, short video clips from documentaries will
be presented whenever possible to augment the material. You are expected to attend lectures!
The coursepack readings related to each lecture will be
discussed during the next class
meeting. The one week lag between
lectures and discussion of these additional readings will enable you to come to
discussions more prepared. You will be expected to come to this meeting haven
written a short critique and ready to discuss your ideas.
EvaluationYou will be evaluated via two midterms
(60%), your class participation (20%) and a final project (20%).
Exams. The examinations will include objective,
multiple-choice questions as well as short-answer questions. For the exams you
will be responsible for material covered during lecture, in the reading pack
and during the discussion. Each exam will focus on material from the corresponding
part of the course. Nevertheless, the exams assume the course is cumulative,
and questions may require knowledge acquired earlier. EXAM 1: November 5, EXAM
2: Jan 7.
Missed Exams. It is not possible to devise make-up
exams that are comparable to the actual exams and that will test you fairly if
you miss an exam. Make-up exams will therefore not be given. Only in extraordinary
circumstances will special arrangements be made if you miss an exam for a well-documented
reason.
Participation: Critiques
& Discussion Questions. Your participation grade will be based on
both your weekly critiques and your in-class participation. For each assigned
reading you will be asked to write a one-to-two paragraph critique, and also
generate a discussion question. Your critique should include a short summary of
the content, as well as your overall evaluation of the piece (e.g. what is
interesting, novel, surprising, controversial, contradictory etc.?) and your
questions about methods/analyses/reasoning etc.
In addition to your critique you will be asked to generate a discussion
question. This discussion question should highlight what the assigned reading
made you question and what it made you think. It should not have a correct or a yes/no answer. Your critiques should be type-written.
Also, please pay attention to your writing (e.g. style, clarity, grammar,
spelling etc.). The written work should reflect your own work. Critiques that
are emailed to me will not be
accepted. Late assignments will be
penalized.
Final project. You will be asked to write a short research
paper. Your paper will be asked to review some recent work and integrate it
with what we have covered during the term. You will be encouraged to integrate
what you have learned about the “mind” with your own fields of interest. More
details to come.
Plagiarism:
The easiest way to
reach me is via email. However do not
expect me to reply to you immediately. I
will try to reply your mails in 24 hours (i.e. Do not send me an email in
Also, I might use
email to send reminders, clarifications, assignments etc. Before the exams, if
you have any questions and if you email them to me, I will do my best to answer
your questions and will forward the replies to the whole class.
Feedback
During the term, you may have some comment to make
about how the course is being run. Always feel free to speak with me about
this. Alternatively, you may wish to submit your comment anonymously. I urge
you to use either route if you have a criticism, a comment, a suggestion, or a
question. Do not wait until the end of
the term if you want your comment to have an immediate impact.
Note: The outline of topics and the
coursepack is tentative. There is a possibility that this syllabus will
be revised during the term. Any such revisions will be announced during lecture
and on the webpage.
General
Outline of Topics
The science of psychology:
Introduction to the “big” questions of psychology
Historical perspectives
Mind-Body dualism and its impact on psychology
The logic of scientific research
Biological basis of behavior
Introduction to the brain
The mind is what the brain does
Techniques: How can we probe the brain?
Sensation and Perception: how the
world enters the mind
Dissociation between sensation and perception
An introduction to the visual system
“Learning how to see”
Consciousness
Link between attention and consciousness
Conscious states (sleep, meditation, psychoactive drugs)
Learning
How do we learn? (classical and operant conditioning)
Learning models to depression
Memory
What do we remember and how?
Memories of individuals and societies: Eye-witnesses
testimonies, flashbulb memories
Motivation and Emotions
Emotions and their characteristics
Manipulation of emotions
Role of emotions on cognitive processes:
Human happiness: individuals vs. societies
Judgment and Decision Making
Rational and irrational choices
Emotions, judgments and neuroeconomics
Culture
Impact of culture on human behavior and cognition
What is universal and what is unique
The malfunctioning mind
Psychological and neuropsychological impairments
Treatment: classical therapies and new technologies (implants,
drugs etc.)
Recovery of function: plasticity of the
brain
Coursepack Readings:
On
the nature / nurture debate
Le Doux, J. (2002). The Synaptic Self. (Chapter 1:
The big one, pg. 1-12).
In this reading LeDoux argues that one of
the most essential questions that psychologists should try to answer is “What
makes us who we are?”. Discuss whether
you agree with him or not. Can you think of any examples of when “nature” is
more important than “nurture” (or viceversa).
Optional:
Pinker, S. (2004).
Why nature and nurture won’t go away. Daedalus,
Fall, 1-13.
http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/papers/nature_nurture.pdf
The mind is what the brain does—and maybe more?
Damasio, A. R.
(1994). Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason
and the Human Brain. (Chapter 1 & 2, pg. 3-33).
In this reading Damasio
presents the famous case of Phineas Cage. What is intriguing about this case?
Anything you find particularly surprising or hard to believe? If so, why do you
think that might be the case?
Learning to see
Sacks, O. (1993).
A neurologist’s notebook. To see or not to see.
The New Yorker (May10), 1-13.
Oliver Sacks is a famous
neurologists (also known for his witty case histories). In this article he
reviews the case of Virgil-a blind man who starts to see at age 50. Do we
really “learn” to see? What does this say about brain plasticity and/or the
nature-nurture debate?
Check out Oliver Sack’s
webpage for more cool stuff: http://www.oliversacks.com/
Attention & Consciousness
Ramachandran, V.
S. & Blakesee, S. (1998). Phantoms in
the Brain. (Chapter 4: The Zombie in the Brain, 63-84).
Ramachandran, like Sacks, is
a famous neurologists and he has been investigating how bizarre neurological
disorders shed light onto the mind and brain.
This particular case story is about a woman who behaves as if she sees
certain things but she has no awareness of it. So, what is the value of
conscious perception?
Carey, B. (2007).
Who’s minding the mind? NYTimes,
This is an excerpt from a
NYTIMES SCIENCE article and it summarizes some recent research on unconscious
influences on behavior. Do you buy it? Can you think of any problems with this
type of research? If you were to design an experiment like this what would you
want to investigate?
Do we learn to believe in “weird” things?
[readings to be
announced later!]
The sins of memory
Loftus, E. (2003).
Make-believe memories. American
Psychologist, 867-873.
Elizabeth Loftus is a very famous Proffesor of
Psychology & Law. She focuses on the implications of memory distortions on
legal affairs. In this paper she reviews empirical work on how easily false
memories can be planted.
An interesting question to think about is the
implications of this research on individual on memories of societies? Do you
think it is equally easy to implant memories in societal minds?
For more on implications of memory distortions on law
etc. check out E. Loftus’ webpage: http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/
Kruglinski, S.
Perfect memory. News piece in Discover magazine (online!)
An exclusive interview with the woman who cannot
forget!
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/perfect-mem/
Emotions and Memory
LeDoux, J. E.
(2002). Emotion, memory, and the brain.
Scientific American Special Issue on the Hidden Mind, 68-75.
Emotions: Their role in thinking, judgment and
decision making
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’
Error. Chapter 9, pg.
206-222.
Focus on the gambling experiments.
How do frontal patients and normals differ?
Sacks, O. (1994). A
neurologist’s notebook. An Anthropologist on Mars, The New Yorker(Dec 27), 106-122 (pages 111 & 119 were ads in
the magazine so there is NO 111 and 119).
Oliver Sacks describes
Thomson, C.
(2003). There is a sucker born in every medial prefrontal cortex. NYTimes,
In this NYTimes-Science article recent findings from
an emerging field –neuromarketing- is discussed. What is the neural basis for
our preference for certain brands over others? Is this important? Why or why
not?
Optional:
Kruglinski, S. Do emotions cloud commonsense. News
piece in Discover magazine online!)
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/nov/do-emotions-cloud
Are we all the same?
Nisbett, R. E.,
& Masuda, T. (2003). Culture and point of view. Proceedings of the
Richard Nisbett is a social psychologist and for more
than a decade now he has been investigating the social, cultural and most
interestingly the cognitive differences between Asians and Westerners. Where do
you think ‘we’ fit in?
Malfunctioning Mind
Verhaeghen,
P., Joormann, J., & Khan, R. (2005). Why we sing the blues: The relation between self-reflective
rumination, mood, and creativity. Emotion, 5, 226-232.
Paul Verhaeghen is a cognitive psychologist-award
winning novelist. In this paper he addresses the myth-depression brings along
creativity. Can you think of counterexamples? Any famous individuals who have
claimed their psychological disorders have led to creativity? Can you think of
any novels/movies which may have helped
For more on Paul Verhaeghen and his creative
activities check out http://chb.syr.edu/projects/recall/paul.htm
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Sept |
24 |
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Intro |
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Oct
|
1 |
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Science
of Psychology |
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Oct
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8 |
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Biological
Basis |
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Oct
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15 |
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Sensation
& Perception |
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Oct
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22 |
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Consciousness |
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Oct
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29 |
Cumhuriyet |
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Nov |
5 |
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EXAM1 |
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Nov |
12 |
Semester
Break |
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Nov
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19 |
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Learning |
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Nov |
26 |
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Memory |
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Dec |
3 |
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Motivations
and Emotions |
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Dec |
10 |
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Judgment&
Decision Making |
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Dec |
17 |
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Culture |
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Dec |
24 |
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Malfunctioning
Mind |
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Dec |
31 |
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Jan |
7 |
Last
Day of Classes |
EXAM 2 |
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Jan |
14-26 |
Finals |
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