PSYC 132 sec 29-42
General Psychology I, Spring 2007
UConn Storrs Campus SCHN 55
MON WED 4:00-4:50
Eric Lundquist

SOME STUDY TIPS : Here I've tried to write down everything I would ever tell someone who wanted advice about studying or how to do better in class. It's pretty long (maybe nine pages) but I think it's all good advice that would apply to any class in college. Browse at your leisure and see if it's worthwhile. Let me know if you think of any questions I didn't address, or any suggestions you think would be better than mine. (Notice that some parts of it are out of date... not the advice though!)

Slides continue with this PowerPoint file:
PowerPoint version of the Sensation and Perception slides for Exam 3: Here are the slides I use in discussing the topics of Sensory Processes and Perception. [NOTE: the text of all the Memory slides is included in the previous link above.] The first bunch of Sensation and Perception slides actually appear in lecture. A number of them will not be on the final, though -- especially the later ones on Perception. I'll elaborate on that on the review sheet, but at least for now you have MORE than you'll need. You DON'T have to know that extra stuff about Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz, but I did show the slides in class, so I included them here. Some other slides may be useful to you in studying, so I'm making them available here even though I didn't use them in class. But don't think of them as an additional studying burden -- if they don't help you, just stick to the book...

NERVOUS SYSTEM HANDOUT: an outline of what to know about the nervous system for this course. Here's a pdf version, in case the formatting is messed up in the Word version. And here's an on-line version.
BRAIN CARTOON: need I say this?... you do NOT need to know this picture for the exam!

Quicktime movie of the action potential and neurotransmitters crossing the synapse as described on pp. 63-74 of the text (with awesome music by They Might Be Giants). It may be helpful to move through the movie frame by frame to study the sequence of events and match it up to the lecture and text. [Note that at the end of the sequence just before it repeats, an enzyme labeled AChE (for acetylcholinesterase) appears, to break down any neurotransmitter (apparently acetylcholine in this case) that remains in the synapse after the signal has been sent.]

Some links related to Parkinson's Disease, if you're interested:

The cerebral localization clip from "Scrubs" is posted here, for those who believe things they see on TV.

Inhibition in Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery: On this page of notes written for a class devoted to Learning Theory (PSYC 220) you can see my brief description of the roles of excitatory and inhibitory associations in accounting for classical conditioning phenomena. (The other information on this page is probably beyond what we'll talk about in PSYC 132, though it's probably not beyond what you're able to understand as we go through our material.)

I Was Not A Lab Rat: B. F. Skinner's daugher, Deborah Skinner Buzan, is angry with idiots like Lauren Slater (author of the obnoxious Opening Skinner's Box - don't waste your time!) and others who persist in spreading rumors claiming that her father somehow mistreated her and set her on the road to insanity and suicide. Nice appreciation of the man and of the "Air Crib" he invented for her, which was NOT a "Skinner Box" in any way!

Topics and Reading Assignments

1. Introduction
2. Neural Bases of Behavior (Ch. 2 pp. 41-44, 49-74, 78-85; Ch. 3 pp. 91-92, figure 3.9 p. 102 [ANS, hypothalamus]; Ch. 1 figure 1.4 p. 9, Ch. 11 p. 450 [amygdala]; Ch. 8 pp. 310-311 [frontal lobe and memory]); consciousness (Ch. 8 pp. 311-315)
   1. neural basis: reflex, nerve impulse, action potential, communication by neurotransmitters
   2. brain basis: nervous system structure, localization of function, disorders, lateralization
3. Learning: The Changing Organism's Adaptation to the Changing World (Ch. 4 pp.123-152, 156-163); reinforcement value of electrical stimulation of the brain (Ch. 3 p. 118); natural selection (ch. 11 pp. 416-417); drug addiction (ch. 3 pp. 116-118)
   1. classical and operant conditioning: concepts, procedures, and experimental phenomena
   2. biological constraints: belongingness
   3. cognitive learning: contingency in classical conditioning, learned helplessness, latent learning
4. Memory: Preserving the Episodic Moment (Ch. 7 pp. 241-275); Generic and Semantic Memory (Ch. 8 pp. 284-287)
   1. types of memory: short-term/long-term, episodic/generic, explicit/implicit, declarative/procedural
   2. encoding and retrieval
5. Sensory Processes: Experiencing the World (Ch. 5 pp. 167-172, 175-177, 183-190, 192-201); note figures 5.3 & 5.4 on (sound) waves; 5.10 & 5.11 on the eye; 5.18 on lateral inhibition; 5.19 on the visible spectrum; 5.25 on cone types; 5.29 & 5.30 on opponent processes in color vision
   1. psychophysics
   2. light and sensory mechanisms in the eye
6. Perception: Knowing the World (Ch. 6 pp. 203-225, 232-239)
   1. empiricist approach to depth perception: Helmholtz
   2. nativist approach to form perception: Gestalt Psychology
   3. ecological approach: Gibson
   
   READINGS FOR FINAL EXAM SPRING 2007 END HERE; "Language" and "Thinking" topics (in italics below) will NOT be on the final exam.
   
   
7. Language (Ch. 9 pp. 319-333, 338-349, 354-357, 362-365); language learning by deaf or blind children (Ch. 9 pp. 349-352)
   1. language structure
   2. language learning in humans and animals
8. Thinking (Ch. 8 pp. 298-309, 287-298, 277-284, 315-317)
   1. reasoning; problem solving; imagery and representations

LAB:
ATTENDANCE AT LAB SECTIONS IS MANDATORY FOR EVERY PSYC 132 STUDENT. PSYC 132 is a 3 credit class, corresponding to 3 meeting hours per week; 2 of those hours are lecture and the third is lab. LAB GRADES COUNT FOR 25% OF THE COURSE GRADE. This means that if you skip the lab you could score perfectly on all three exams and still only receive 150 out of 200 points for the course. Laboratory meetings for PSYC 132 sections 29-42 are in WHETTEN GRADUATE CENTER (WGC) ROOM 300-C at the times stated below (and in the course schedule). All students should know their lab section number, meeting time, and teaching assistant's name. LABS BEGIN TUE 1/23/07.

 
LAB SEC.  DAY    TIME      TEACHING ASSISTANT
 
29        TUE    8:00 AM   Melissa-Sue Angus-John
30        TUE    9:00 AM   Melissa-Sue Angus-John
31        TUE   10:00 AM   Stephanie Penley
32        TUE   11:00 AM   Stephanie Penley
33        TUE   12:00 PM   Stephanie Penley
34        TUE    1:00 PM   Colleen Jackson
35        TUE    2:00 PM   Colleen Jackson
36        TUE    3:00 PM   Colleen Jackson
37        TUE    4:00 PM   Laura Sabadini
40        THU   10:00 AM   Judy Tan
41        THU   11:00 AM   Judy Tan
42        THU   12:00 PM   Matthew Marmet

EXPERIMENT PARTICIPANT POOL:
There is a large amount of ongoing psychological research in the department which depends mainly upon the participation of General Psychology students as subjects. Researchers include faculty, graduate students, and other undergraduate students. The traditional mechanism that has been in place for several decades nationwide is to allow introductory psychology students to earn part of their course credit through participation in experiments. Benefits to the science of Psychology are obvious; benefits to the student include exposure to research in specific areas of Psychology, insight into the general nature of psychological research, and opportunity to earn extra credit in this course (see details below). Information about experiments (time, place, duration, description, experimenter's name, etc.) is posted on the Participant Pool experiment sign-up page, which is also where you make appointments to participate in the studies you choose; there are instructions on the page for how to log in. Refer to the handout on experiment participation for more details of participation procedures. Specific policies for PSYC 132 sec 29-42 are as follows:

Each 1/2 hour of experiment participation counts for 1 experiment participation credit. All experiments are at least 1 credit; some are only 1 but some may be more depending on the amount of time required to participate. Experiments this semester run from Monday January 22nd through Wednesday April 25th. All experiment participation must be completed during that time, and any credit accounting errors must be detected and corrected absolutely no later than Friday April 27th.

5 experimental credits (2.5 hours) are REQUIRED of each student to maintain the grade they earn for the course. These credits count ONLY as points to be LOST from the final point total for the course, if they are not completed. For example, a student who earns 40 points on exam 1, 40 points on exam 2, 40 points on exam 3, and 40 points in lab has a total of 160 points; with 5 experimental credits the student maintains that score, but without the 5 credits the total score would drop to 155. All 5 credits must be earned; if only 4 credits are earned, the 5 points are still lost.

Up to 7 additional experimental credits (3.5 hours) may be earned as EXTRA CREDIT, once the required 5 credits have been completed; this is the only form of extra credit offered in this course. These extra credits count ONLY as points to be ADDED to the final point total for the course. For example, a student who earns 40 points on exam 1, 40 points on exam 2, 40 points on exam 3, and 40 points in lab and has completed the required 5 experimental credits has a total of 160 points; with 1 extra credit the total becomes 161, and with the maximum of 7 it becomes 167. Note that the difference between 160 points and 167 points out of 200 could be the difference between, say, a B and a B+ as a course grade. (Actual course letter grade cutoffs will be determined before adding any extra credits, so that no one is penalized for not earning extra credit.)

Participation in experiments is strictly voluntary. For students not wishing to participate in experiments an alternative assignment may be arranged, requiring about the same amount of time as the 5 experimental credits and playing the same role in grade calculation as described above for the 5 credit requirement. However, no extra credits may be earned until 5 experimental credits are completed.

Once you make an experiment appointment you MUST keep it, or cancel with at least 24 hours notice; the web page allows cancellations only until the 24-hour point is reached! If you miss TWO appointments with less than 24 hours notice, the system will automatically disqualify you from further participation in experiments: it won't allow you to sign up for any more experiments; you won't earn any more extra credits; and if you are lacking your five required credits you will have to complete the alternative assignment described above to avoid losing the associated points. (But really, keeping appointments is a fairly basic responsibility that you can probably manage okay!)

All questions about experiment participation procedures and issues should be addressed to Dr. Lindy Coldwell at the Psychology Center, Rm. 100 in the Psychology Building.