PBS Policy on Enrolling in Permission Courses Spring 13
Permission courses (numbered 60-86) are limited in size and require permission. To ensure that all students approaching their senior year have access to these courses, the Department has designated the first week of May as a sign-up period for all of the following year's laboratory courses and seminars. In this way, students can assure themselves access to these courses.
Beginning May 1, 2013 all permission requests must be submitted via the <Permission Course Request Form> on the web. The Department will review all requests and grant permission based on availability. Although senior majors usually receive preference in all of these courses, they are not guaranteed permission in their first-choice course, because more senior majors may apply than room in a given course permits. For that reason, we also ask for alternative choices. Students who have submitted requests will be notified of their permission status beginning May 9 for Fall Term or within two weeks of submitting the permission course request. You will receive notification from PBS through the permissions overide system and be notifed with a blitz. You will then need to enroll in Banner.
If you are granted permission for a course, but choose not to enroll in that course your slot will be given to another student. You will need to submit another request for permission; the courses that still have available slots are likely to be more limited than in the initial enrollment period.
Students who do not obtain permission to enroll in Culminating courses that are needed to fulfill their major requirements risk not graduating. Special waivers will not be granted to students who fail to obtain needed permissions during this enrollment period. Students who wish to change their major to Psychology during their senior year will need to obtain permission to enroll in a culminating course before being allowed to declare.
Although our labs and seminars are typically populated by seniors, we realize that some students who will be juniors next year will want to enroll in these courses. These students should also request permission during the first week of May. However, they should realize that because these courses are a graduation requirement, priority will typically go to seniors.
Permission Course Request Formhttp://www.omniupdate.com/oucampus-dc/browse.jsp?site=psych&path=%2Fundergrad%2Fpermission9.html
65. Systems Neuroscience with Laboratory - CLASS CLOSED
In 13F:10. Robert Maue. The primary focus of this course is the physiological basis of behavior from a systems perspective. Such topics as localization of function, neural models, and the physiological bases of sensory/motor systems, learning/memory, and spatial cognition are considered. The laboratory introduces the student to the anatomy and physiology of the mammalian central nervous system and to some of the principal techniques used in systems and behavioral neuroscience. A single laboratory section will be held Tuesday afternoons in the Fall 2013. In the Fall 2013, two laboratory sections will be scheduled for a 3.5 hour period on either Tuesday morning or afternoons; students will be assigned to one of these two laboratory sections. Prerequisite: Psych 1 or 6 and 26 or 45 or Biology 34 and permission through the department website. Dist: SLA.
83. Affective Neuroscience - CLASS CLOSED
In 13F:2A. Paul Whalen. This course will explore the very latest approaches and findings in the field of emotion research. The emphasis will be on understanding the research strategies that affective neuroscientists use to address the role of emotion in our daily lives. We will see that affective neuroscience is a highly interdisciplinary field that draws from basic, cognitive and social neuroscience to emerge as a distinct field in its own right. We will read and discuss the most current research findings in the field and if our discussions lead us to unanswered questions, we may even do a bit of original research ourselves. Prerequisite: Psychology 43. Permission through the department website.
85. Top-Down Processing and Plasticity in the Brain
In 13F:2A. Won Mok Shim. Information in early sensory cortex has been traditionally viewed as rudimentary and hard-coded. However, research has shown that activity in early sensory cortex is not fixed but changes with experience, and does not hold raw sensory data but often representations modulated by top-down influences, such as attention and interpretation. In this course, we will consider how the functional organization of the human brain changes with experience. We will also explore the variety of higher-level information that can be found at early stages of processing. A mid-term exam and a seminar paper will be required. Permission through the department website.
86. Neuroscience Seminar and Annual Meeting
In 13F:10A. David Bucci. This seminar will explore topics and issues that are on the cutting edge in the field of neuroscience. The specific topics selected for discussion will be identified from the published list of Symposia and Lectures scheduled the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in November 2013. In the first part of the term students will read background material and discuss the selected topics. Students will then accompany the instructor to the Annual Meeting. This meeting is held every fall over the course of 5 days and is a gathering of over 30,000 scientists from around the world, who are conducting cutting-edge neuroscience research. Students will attend symposium and data presentations on the topics discussed in the course and those of personal interest. Upon returning from the meeting, the class will present and discuss the research presented at the meeting. Prerequisites Psychology 6 or Biology 34; and Psychology 26 or 45. Permission through the department website.
60. Principles of Human Brain Mapping with fMRI - CLASS CLOSED
14W:2A. Won Mok Shim. This course is designed to introduce students to the theoretical and practical issues involved in conducting functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments of cognitive and behaviorally-related brain activity. Participants will gain an understanding of the physiological principles underlying the fMRI signal change, as well as the considerations for experimental design. The course will include firsthand exposure to the scanning environment and data collection procedures. Participants will be provided conceptual and hands-on experience with image processing and statistical analysis. At the completion of this course, it is expected that participants will be prepared to critique, design and conduct fMRI studies; appreciate limitations and potentials of current fMRI methods and techniques; and better understand the broad range of expertise required in an fMRI research program. The course is designed to provide the participant with intensive, hands-on instruction. As a result, enrollment in the course will be limited to 12 people. Knowledge of MR physics, signal processing, or the UNIX/Linux operating system is not a prerequisite. Permission through the department website.
80. Neuroscience of Reward
In 14W:10A. Kyle Smith. Much of the life of humans and other animals revolves around reward, whether engaging in basic pleasures like food and sex or enjoying more complex things like music. This course will introduce conceptual frameworks to understand reward as a phenomenon that is distinct from other features of goal-directed behavior. We will then discuss recent advances in neuroscience research that are helping us to understand the basic brain mechanisms that make things pleasurable, including anatomical pathways, neurotransmitter systems, and dynamics of neural activity. Prerequisite: Psyc 6, and Psyc 26 or Psyc 45 or Bio 34.
83.1 Non-Verbal Aspects of Social Interaction - CLASS CLOSED
14W: 2A. Robert Kleck. The seminar will focus on the nonverbal and paraverbal dimensions of human communication. Particular attention will be given to research which has examined the role of gaze behavior, facial expressions of emotion and appearance cues in social relationships. Video records of social interaction will be used to demonstrate and illustrate the various ways in which nonverbal behaviors play an important role in interpersonal dynamics. A mid-term exam, a seminar paper and participation in class discussions are the mechanisms through which the student's mastery of the seminar materials is assessed. Permission through the department website.
83. 2 Person Perception - CLASS CLOSED
In 14W: 3B. Jon Freeman. Whether it be a first date, a job interview, or simply walking down the street, the brain is constantly extracting information from other people's sensory cues. This course will provide an introduction to the psychology and neuroscience of person perception. As such it will explore a basic contradiction. At first blush, seeing and understanding people can seem so intuitive that it does not require any scientific description. In fact, however, the kind of computations the brain must make to accomplish it is astounding and complex. We will consider person perception processes through a multidisciplinary approach, one that incorporates research, methods, and theories across social psychology and the cognitive, vision, and neural sciences. We will also look at social, cultural, and contextual influences on processing others' facial, vocal, and bodily cues. We will pay particular attention to how we use this information to sort others into categories (e.g., gender, race, age), and infer their emotions, intentions, and personalities. Permission through the department website.
86. Higher-level Cognition
In 14W:2A. Jerald Kralik. "What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculty?" To answer Shakespeare's question is to understand higher-level cognition. Cognition balances our instincts with thoughtfulness and tempers impulsivity with patience. Cognition allows us to plan over long time horizons, to solve novel and seemingly intractable problems, and to rise above the concrete experiences of our daily lives to thrive in a world of analogy, metaphor and imagination. In this course, we study problem-solving, planning, reasoning, insight, decision-making, symbolic processing, and virtually instant learning. We explore whether these are distinct processes, what they allow us to accomplish, and how they may interact with other brain functions, such as emotions, to create nobility in reason and infinity in faculty. Permission through the department website
Spring 2014
63. Experimental Study of Social Behavior
In 14S:11. Todd Heatherton. This course deals with the ways in which social psychologists collect data to answer questions about motivation, social cognition, and interpersonal behavior. Theoretical issues and methodological problems are dealt with in class discussions, laboratories, and small group research projects on selected topics. Prerequisite: Dist: SOC.Prereqs: Psyc1, 10 11 and 23. Permission through the department website.
65. Systems Neuroscience with Laboratory
In 14S:10. Jeffrey Taube. The primary focus of this course is the physiological basis of behavior from a systems perspective. Such topics as localization of function, neural models, and the physiological bases of sensory/motor systems, learning/memory, and spatial cognition are considered. The laboratory introduces the student to the anatomy and physiology of the mammalian central nervous system and to some of the principal techniques used in systems and behavioral neuroscience. A single laboratory section will be held Tuesday afternoons in the spring 2013. In the spring 2013, two laboratory sections will be scheduled for a 3.5 hour period on either Tuesday morning or afternoons; students will be assigned to one of these two laboratory sections. Prerequisite: Psych 1 or 6 and 26 or 45 or Biology 34 and permission through the department website. Dist: SLA.
80.Neuroeconomics
In 14S: . Alireza Soltani. Neuroeconomics is a new emerging field where a combination of methods from neuroscience, psychology, and economics is used to better understand how we make decisions. In this seminar, we learn about economic and psychological theories that are used to investigate and interpret neural activity and processes which underlie decision making. We also examine how recent neurobiological discoveries are used to refine decision theories and models developed in psychology and economics. During this course, not only will students read and discuss the most current research findings in neuroeconomics, but also gain hands-on experience with experimental paradigms used in that research.
84. Ability, Giftedness, Genius, Ambition: the Psychology of High Achievement - CLASS CLOSED
In 14S: 2A. Rogers Elliott. This course will consider the nature and nurture of mental abilities, the different kinds of these, both general and special, and their social and economic implications. It will also examine abilities at the level of giftedness, particularly the meaning and development of giftedness in its many forms; and important aspects of personality and temperament, such as achievement orientation, conscientiousness, energy, openess, stability, and leadership that contribute to great accomplishment. Permission through the department website.
85. Cognitive Neuroscience Seminar: Development, Learning and Disorders
In 14S: 10A. Ming Meng. Understanding how the human brain develops and learns to process and organize information is one of the fundamental challenges in cognitive neuroscience. This seminar will cover topics of infants' development as well as neural plasticity in adolescents and adults. We will focus on visual and auditory development, including visual acuity, color vision, depth perception, object and face perception, auditory sensitivity, and speech perception. Case studies of atypical development and developmental disorders will also be discussed, with emphasis on how these studies can help us to understand the normal developmental process. No textbook will be assigned for this course. Students are expected to review current trends in cognitive neuroscience literature. Throughout the course students will also develop critical thinking skills needed to effectively evaluate research.
88. The course is designed to enable specifically qualified students, usually seniors, to engage in independent laboratory or field research under the direction of a faculty member. Students may take up to three terms of Independent Research. However, no more than two terms of 88, 89, or a combination of 88s and 89s may count toward the eight required courses for the major. Normally a student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 both overall and in the major to enroll.
NOTE: This course may NOT be used to satisfy the 60- or above requirements for the major.
Non-majors may request exemption from normal prerequisites and other requirements of Psychology 88.
Checklist for enrolling in Independent Research, Psychology 88, not part of a psychology major.
Checklist for enrolling in Independent Research, Psychology 88, for library research.
Prerequisite: Psych 1 or 6, 10 and 11. Written permission from the advisor, and then written permission from the Chairman of the Undergraduate Committee (for 09-10, Professor Catherine Cramer).
89. Honors Research
This course is designed to enable especially qualified students, usually seniors, to engage in independent laboratory or field research under the direction of a faculty member. Students may take two or three terms of Honors Research, but no more than two terms of 88, 89, or a combination of 88s and 89s may count toward the eight required courses for the major. This course may not be used to fulfill the upper-level (60 or above) major requirement. A student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.30 in the major and 3.0 overall to enroll and must enroll before the end of the Fall term of their Senior year. Honors theses will be evaluated by a two-person Thesis Committee approved by the Undergraduate Committee. Thesis Committee members must be identified prior to the student signing up for Psych 89. The Thesis Committee must include a regular member of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences faculty. The other individual, if not a regular member of PBS, must have an active academic appointment (e.g., Research Associate, Research Assistant Professor, Medical School Faculty, Faculty in other departments of the College, for instance). Either Committee member may serve as the primary advisor. The two members of the Thesis Committee may not be in the same laboratory. The Thesis Committee will read and evaluate the thesis and oral presentation, and make recommendations to the Undergraduate Committee regarding the awarding of Honors or High Honors. In addition, all Honors students will present their work in a departmental symposium at the conclusion of the Spring term. The Thesis Committee will also recommend in writing meritorious students to the Undergraduate Committee for consideration for the various departmental prizes. Two terms of this course are required of those who seek to graduate with Honors in Psychology.
Potential sources of funds for independent research may be found in the description of The Filene and Benner Fellowships for Independent Research and on the web site http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ugar/undergrad/
Prerequisite: Psych 1, 10 and 11. A sixty level course is strongly recommended. Students should check well in advance with their faculty advisor for additional prerequisites. Written permission from the advisor, and then written permission from the Chairman of the Undergraduate Committee (for 09-10, Professor Catherine Cramer).
Checklist for enrolling in Honors Independent Research, Psychology 89. Be sure to read the Expectations and Procedures for Honors in Psychology, to help you design and conduct a successful Honors Major.
Checklist for enrolling in independent research, Psyc88.
Checklist for enrolling in Honors Independent Research, Psyc89.
90. Independent Neuroscience Research
This course is designed to enable Neuroscience majors to engage in independent laboratory research under the direction of a neuroscience faculty member. This course is suitable to use for your culminating experience, but cannot be used to fulfill the elective requirement for the Neuroscience major. Students may take up to two terms of independent research. Students are required to write a final report of their research.
Prerequisite: Psychology 6, and 10. A completed Checklist for Independent Study form along with the signed permission from the advisor on the form should be submitted to the PBS Department office. The Neuroscience Steering Committee will evaluate and approve the application. The Staff.
91. Honors Neuroscience Research
This course is designed to enable especially qualified Neuroscience majors, usually seniors, to engage in independent laboratory research under the direction of a neuroscience faculty member. Students must take at least two terms of Psychology 91. A student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.30 in the major and 3.00 overall to enroll and must enroll by the Fall term of the senior year. The honors thesis will be evaluated by a two-person thesis committee approved by the Neuroscience Steering Committee. Thesis committee members must be identified prior to the student signing up for Psychology 91. The thesis committee must include a regular faculty member of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. The other individual must have an active academic appointment at Dartmouth. A prospectus of proposed research is due by the end of the Fall term for approval by the Neuroscience Steering Committee. The student is expected to submit a written thesis, give a public presentation and pass an oral examination administered by the thesis committee. The thesis committee will make recommendations to the Neuroscience Steering Committee regarding the awarding of Honors or High Honors.
Prerequisite: Psychology 6, and 10. A 60s level course is strongly recommended. Students should check well in advance with their faculty advisor for additional prerequisites. A completed Checklist for Honor's Thesis form along with the signed permission
