Course Description:

This course reviews human brain-behavior relationships. The outline is designed to provide you with a study guide which emphasizes the important aspects of the material pertaining to this topic. Use the outline as a guide to study, the book, and other resources to expand on its contents.

Course Objectives:

ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN OF THE COURSE

This course assumes no prior knowledge of the topic but involves the study of the human brain, the most complex structure in the known universe. Thus, it comes as little surprise that you will be dealing with rather complex material. It is too complex to approach with the limited tools of memorization. Rather, successful mastery of the material in this course depends upon you developing an effective organizational plan for approaching the problem. You must link your readings and study to this organizational plan which is provided as a series of questions and popup brief answers. Included below are three organizational plans which will provide the framework for study of physiological psychology. They may not mean much in the beginning but you should try to organize the material with them in mind. You should gradually expand on this plan in stages. As you progress through the material you should have organized your understanding much like a pyramid. The plan is at the top. Each successive level down will represent increasing detail.

Material is organized into three sections (see schedule).

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1. STRUCTURE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM -- TRANSMISSION

The unifying concept for section one is TRANSMISSION. The basic function of the nervous system is transmission of information. The introductory section will review the history and discuss Parker's theory of the organization of the nervous system. The neuron is the basic transmission unit and is dependent upon supporting cells for nourishment. The sections on resting and action potentials review how transmission is possible within a neuron and the section on the synapse will review how neurons communicate with one another. Techniques and the organizational plan will present an overview of how we study the transmission process and how the nervous system is organized to more complex functions involving the transmission of information.

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2. FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM -- FUNCTIONAL UNIT

The functional unit is a representation of the manner in which information passes through the nervous system.

General Motor Association Cortex	<---	General Sensory Association Cortex
V		^
Motor Association Cortex		Sensory Association Cortex
V		^
Motor Strip		Sensory Projection Cortex
V		^
Motor Neuron Pool		Thalamus
V		^
Effectors (muscles & glands)		Receptors

The above diagram represents the organizational plan of the second section of this course. All of the material in section two can be linked to this model. Input to the system begins with receptor activity. This information is then transmitted through the thalamus to the cortex for processing. Output then passes from the motor strip to the motor neuron pool and out to the effectors to produce behavior.
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3. COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM -- DUAL ACTIVATION SYSTEM

ARAS DTPS Cortical Activation Information Processing

Posterior Hypothalamus Limbic System Internal monitor -

This section will be presented so as to elaborate on the diagram above. The complex workings of the nervous system can be simplified by investigating three primary functional systems (a. Cortical activation, b. information processing, & c. the monitoring of internal state of the organism. The section of activation and sleep will relate to the activation system, emotion & homeostasis will relate to the monitoring of the internal state, & both will be related to the information processing system discussed in section two. Finally, learning and memory will be discussed and related to the above diagram.

Always use the webct email when communicating. It is devoid of advertisements and other unwanted messages that clog up public email.
You should check the webct email at least every 24 hours as I will try to correspond with you 2 to 3 times per week.
In the event that it won't work use my office email address.

Dates, times, and assignments are subject to change during the semester. It is the student's responsibility to log in to the course several times per week to check email and to contribute to the discussion.

The course topics will be covered in the order presented in the course outline. It begins with a discussion of neuropsychology and then follows the three basic sections described above. Note: each section builds upon the preceding sections. Thus, if you encounter any problem with a module be sure to ask questions necessary for clarification before you proceed.

The best strategy is to read the question and then use the book in order to develop an answer to the question.

You may use other resources but this is not required.

Use the question as the main point about which to organize your thoughts.

Once you have answered the question click on the question mark to check and/or modify your answer.

There will be material not directly related to the questions but which can be linked to the question to facilitate easier recall.

The idea, as stated above, is to learn the material from the top down. That means learn the basic concept and then progress downward.

Do not try rote memorization but focus on understanding the basic concepts and then relating terms, etc. to each of these points.

Once you have your answer, enter it into your group discussion board.

If someone else has already answered the question, then compare with your answer and clarify what is on the board.

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:

 http://rodp.bkstr.com

You may find Prentice Hall's Internet site of value in your studies: Text Internet Resources

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include (A list of software the student is required to purchase or download for the course, Real Player, Media Player, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Office, etc.).

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

PRACTICE TESTS

1. There are 22 topics.
2. Some topics have multiple-choice practice tests available.
3. After you have studied the material you may take these tests.
4. You may retake these tests a number of times (indicated on WEBCT) but questions are randomly selected each time.

SECTION TESTS

1. After completion of each of the three sections there will be 50 item multiple choice tests covering that material.
2. You will have 60 minutes to complete each of these tests.
3. Your score is based on the percent correct.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The class will be divided into discussion groups of 5 each.
2. You will work as a group to answer the question assigned for this topic.
3. The assignment for the week is noted on the course schedule.
4. In cases where more than one topic is listed for a week, the group may choose to answer any one of those with the same number.
5. You will be graded individually in regard to your contribution to the final group answer.
6. There is a maximum of 10 points possible for each question.
7. NOTE: Do not cut and paste. All answers or comments must be in your own words.
8. Your final score is based on the percent correct of the possible 100 points.

Assignments:
This course covers 12 weeks. You will have 1 week for the group discussion for the topic associated with that week in the schedule. You may take the topic tests at any time after you have studied the material. Although there is some flexability as to when you work on the material better grades are usually associated with earlier contributions.
We will set up a schedule which begins at noon on Thursday and continues until noon the following Thursday. Thus new questions and tests will be made available at noon each Thursday.
I will monitor your posts daily and will remove posted material on a question Thursday at noon.
Grades will be posted by Monday at noon and may be accessed by clicking discussion grade.
Feedback will be provided by email at the same time each week.

Your course grade will be determined by your percent correct on the two activities.

One half on the multiple-choice tests (average percent correct) and

One half from your participation on the group discussion questions (percent correct of possible 100 points).

In other words, each will have equal weight in determining your final grade.

The grading policy is as follows: A=90%+, B=80%+, C=70%+, D=60%+.

Class participation is obtained by use of the discussion board. The class will be divided into small groups of 5 and each group will have their own discussion board. It is important that you enter all discussion material for the questions on your group board. In addition, the general bulletin board will be used for information provided by the instructor and questions and comments by students not directly related to the questions for the assignment.

The topics covered in this course are presented in the course schedule with the week number for which they are assigned.  Note: at the end of the assigned week the discussion board and the exams for those topics will be closed.

While you have flexibility as to when you work on the material, it is essential that you keep to the weekly assignments. Your grade will be based upon your communicate with other members of your group in answering the questions. It is essential that you learn how to navigate in WebCT, keep abreast of course announcements , use the assigned university E-mail address as opposed a personal E-mail address, address technical problems immediately, and observe course netiquette at all times. 

Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://help.rodp.org