Cognitive Science Q301 - Brain & Cognition

Cognitive Science Q301 - Brain & Cognition
Syllabus

Class Time & Place
Instructor Information
Schedule
Instructional Format
Required Textbook
Additional Readings
Evaluation & Grading
Tips for Success

Class Time & Place

Time: 9:30-10:45 Tuesday and Thursday
Place: Psychology 115

Instructor Information

	Instructor	Associate Instructor
	Dr. Tom Busey	Behnaz Jarrahi
Office:	P330
Office hours	Monday 10-11, Tuesday 11-12, by appt.
Office phone:	855-4261
e-mail address:	busey@indiana.edu	bjarrahi@indiana.edu

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Schedule

Dates of assignments will be given in class and via email.

note: all information may change if necessary. Rely on the web version of this document and class emails

Date	Topic/Activity	Readings That Might Be Helpful
9/3	Principles of Neuroscience	Chapter 1
9/5	Epilepsy Patient: Casey Cave
9/10		Chapter 2
9/12		Posner & Raichle paper
9/17		The ERP and Cognitive Psychology Instructions for Neurodule
9/19
9/24	Perception	Chapter 3
9/26		Chapter 4 Chapter 5
10/1		The Puzzle of Concious Experience Consciousness Readings (TBA)
10/3		fMRI of Human Visual cortex
		Visual Object Recognition
10/8		Visual Imagery and Visual Representation
10/10
10/15	Human Memory	Chapter 7
10/17		Memory, Hippocampus and Brain Systems
10/22		Organization of Memory: Quo Vadis?
10/24		Event-related Potential Studies of Human Memory
10/29
10/31		Classical Conditioning Long-term potentiation

11/5		Why are there complementary learning systems
11/7
11/12
11/14
11/19	Jane Doe Consulatation Project: Language	Chapter 8 Chapter 11
11/21		Cortical Organization of Language
11/26		Lesioning an Attractor Network
11/28	No Class- Thanksgiving
12/3		Special Topics
12/5		Precis of Origins of the Modern Mind
12/10		Special Topics
12/12		Precis of Origins of the Modern Mind

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Instructional Format

The structure of Q301 is based around problem-focused sections where students individually or in teams, solve problems that are authentic to the field of cognitive neuroscience and appropriate for an undergraduate classroom experience. Lecture, demonstration, and discussion are used when needed as a means for students to gather information that will be helpful in solving their problems.

Required Textbook

Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R. (2002). Cognitive neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Second edition. About $85 at the campus bookstore,

Online materials in PDF format.

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Evaluation & Grading

Grading will be based on the products you develop for each of the assigned problems as well as quizzes and participation on in-class activities. The authentic problems are an important way for you to demonstrate your knowledge of cognitive neuroscience in a practical way.

Grading criteria

The following may change as we adjust experiments to the class interests.

Assignment	% of final grade
Brain Areas	5
Cognitive Neuroscience in the Popular Press (individual)	5
Quiz	10
Prosthetic Vision assignment (team)	10
Connectionism Assignment (individual)	10
EEG expt (team with individual contributions)	20
Shared Structure Assignment	10
Memory Assignment	10
Final exam (individual)	15
Participation assignments	5

Final grade distribution (based on 40 points total, rounded. Eg. 36.4=36, 36.5=37)

A	38-40
A-	36-37
B+	35
B	33-34
B-	32
C+	30-31
C	29
C-	27-28
D+	25-26
D	23
D-	21-22
F	< 21

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Tips for Success

Based on talking with students from previous years, I can offer this advice if you want to do well in Q301:

Come to class. It makes understanding the readings much easier and is by far the most efficient use of time when it comes to figuring out what material is relevant.
Read the required materials, and select other materials that are relevant to the problem you are solving. The required reading is insufficient for solving the problems.
Spread out your studying. People learn most efficiently when the material is spread out over time. This gives your brain time to organize and incorporate new information.
Get into the material. Q301 is a course that has the potential to describe how you think about your brain and how to make it work better. If you get interested in the material you will enjoy it more and problem solving will be easier.
The EEG projects take time to plan and to analyze. Group projects can be time-consuming. Attend and contribute to every meeting.
Group members will have different strengths and weaknesses. Actively work to figure out which tasks group members are good at and assign tasks appropriately. Often a task will not be amenable to breaking into parts; if so, resign yourselves to working together on the project, even if it takes more time.

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