T.G. Fikes Courses

Courses:

Synopsis:: Physiological Psychology is aimed at upper-division psychology and biology students, and emphasizes the relationship between cellular and brain-system mechanisms on the one hand and complex human and animal behavior on the other. The content of the course includes basic neural physiology and anatomy, primate visual systems, primate motor systems, human language and memory, and animal learning in general. Laboratories involve basic vertabrate brain anatomy, basic brain histology, gross electrophysiology, electrical stimulation of brain, and extracellular nuit recording. Students are expected to be familiar with experimental design and basic statistical analysis, and with APA-style writing. It is also expected that students have general writing skills appropriate to junior college students. Laboratory reports focus on the ability to communicate difficult scientific techincal material to non-specialists, emphasizing general principles of neural systems.
Text:: Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J.H., and Jessel, T.M.. (1995).Essentials of Neural Science and Behavior. Appleton & Lange.

Synopsis:: Sensation and Perception focuses on thepsychophysical, physiological, and cognitive (information processing) approaches to the study of sensory phenomena. Regarding content, the course focuses primarily on visual perception, with an emphasis on general principles that apply to all sensory systems; secondarily, we survey the auditory, cutaneous, and chemical senses. Regarding methods, the course focuses on both historical and contemporary psychophysics. The laboratory is largely devoted to the application of threshold (classical) psychophysics and signal detection theory to human visual and auditory phenomena. It is expected that students have confronted the general approach (e.g., in a General Psychology survey), and have writing skills appropriate for sophomore college students. Laboratory reports focus primarily on communicating methods and results of the experiments and demonstrations conducted.

Signal Detection Theory homework and solutions

Text:: Goldstein, E.B. (1999).Sensation and Perception, 5th edition. Brooks/Cole

Synopsis:: The History and Systems course emphasizes key historical figures, issues, and approaches to the study of mind and behavior. In addition to reading a text on the subject, students must also report on an important historical figure after reading primary and secondary sources. Students are expected to have some background in writing in APA style, and should have completed a substantial amount of the psychology major before enrolling in the course.
Text:: Kendler, H. (1986).Historical Foundations of Modern Psychology. Wadsworth.

Synopsis:: While the specific nature of the content changes each time the course is taught, the general emphasisremains the same: the application of modern methods in the neurosciences to the investigation of complex cognitive and behavioral phenomena. The course is an upper division seminar, and it is expected that students are (1) motivatied to read original literature on the subject of interest and (2) are reasonably well-aquainted with and practiced in scientific/technical writing. In the Spring 1999 semester, the course focused on neurobiological and neuropsychological investigations of learning.
Texts (Spring 1999):: Rugg, M.D. (Ed.) (1997).Cognitive Neuroscience. MIT Press.; Squire, L.R. & Kosslyn, S.M. (1998). Findings and Current Opinion in Cognitive Neuroscience. MIT Press.

Synopsis:: The General Psychology course at Westmont College surveys a broad range of topics in psychology involving natural and social science approaches. Students are introduced to scientific method as it applies to the study of human and animal behavior, and are introduced to the principle writing genres (APA-style research reports, literature reviews) they would encounter were they to continue in the discipline.
Text:: Kalat, J. (1996).Introduction to Psychology, 4th edition. Brooks/Cole.