Department of Psychology
PSYC 2012-002
Biological Psychology
Fall 2014
Classroom: HMN 150
Time:Tuesday-Thursday 12:30-1:45
Professor:David L. Allen, Ph.D. (Dr. Allen)
Office:D261a Muenzinger (2nd floor)
Phone:303-492-3175
e-mail:
Office Hours:Tuesday 10:30-12:30 or by appointment
TA: Alexander Hatoum
TA E-mail:
TA Office: TBA
Ta Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 1-2 PM
Prerequisites: None
Text: None.
Course Objectives:
Thepurpose of this course is to understand the principles of biological psychology and the fundamentals of the relationships between brain structure, brain function, and behavior. The course will provide a survey of the structure and function of the nervous system and its cellular components. Among the topics we will discuss are neuronal structure and excitability, synaptic transmission and plasticity, sensory perception, neural development, brain injury, addiction, emotions and stress, eating behaviors and neurohormonal regulation of hunger and feeding, motor behavior and movement control, sleep and circadian rhythms, and the biological basis of psychiatric disorders. Association of these topics with everyday life experiences will be made as often as possible. By the end of the semester, you will be conversant in conventional psychobiological terminology and be able to discuss the relationship between the biological processes covered during the course and the behavioral/experiential correlates of those processes.
Grading Evaluation:
Your final grade will be based upon a total of 500 possible points broken down as follows:
Midterm Exam 109/18/14100 points
Midterm Exam 210/14/14100 points
Midterm Exam 311/06/14100 points
Final Exam12/18/14200 points
Random QuizzesRandom100 points
Total500 points
Exam grades will be determined in the following manner. First, a Reference Score Curved Grading Scale (RS) will be calculated by taking the mean of the top 4-6 scores (of the class). This compensates for any imperfections that might be present in the exams, and avoids the skewing that might occur from curving off just the top score. The RS tells you how you are doing in reference to the rest of the class and your grade will be determined by how well you have done in comparison with the RS. For example, suppose the top scores on the first exam were:
98, 96, 94 92, 90
The mean of these scores is a 94. Therefore the top score of 94 will be normalized to 100 and all other scores will be shifted upward by 6 points.
The courseitself has the final grade distribution of 92% and higher an A, 90-92% an A-, 88-89.99% B+, 82-88 a B, 80-82% a B-, 78-79.99% a C+, 72-78% a C, 70-72% a C-, less than 70% is a D, and so forth.
Exam Policies:
There will be 4 total exams in the lecture portion of the class: 3 midterms and 1 final. The final is cumulative and is worth more points. All exams will be multiple choice. You are responsible for any material covered in the lectures.
Students are allowed to drop ONE midterm score from their grade. Usually this is the lowest of the 3 midterm scores. However, if a student misses an exam FOR ANY REASON, then that will be the score that is dropped. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE; NO MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN IN THIS COURSE. Because dropping your lowest midterm score will improve your score in the course, it is strongly encouraged that students take all three exams if they are able to do so.
Everyone must take the final—there are NO exceptions and NO makeup exams for the final. If you have a scheduling conflict with the final, you need to drop the class immediately; makeup final exams will NOT be given and you must take the final or you will not pass the class. As per university policy, ifstudents have three or more final examinations on the same day, they are entitled to arrange an alternative examination time for the last exam or exams scheduled on that day. Such arrangements must be made no later than the end of the sixth week of the semester. Students are expected to provide evidence that they have three or more examinations by that day, and that the final for this course is the last one of the day, to qualify for exceptions. Students are encouraged to check the finals schedule before making their end of the semester travel plans; special accommodations will NOT be made for students who inadvertently purchased a plane ticket or made other travel arrangements that preclude their taking the final.
In addition, random quizzes will be given throughout the semester. These quizzes will not be difficult and will not require preparation. The purpose of the quizzes is to encourage you to attend class by rewarding attendance with these points as well as to provide you with another means to demonstrate your knowledge of the material. If you are not in class on the day of the quiz you will get a zero for that quiz, NO EXCEPTIONS, no matter how valid or legitimate; THERE ARE NO MAKEUP QUIZZES IN THIS COURSE. All students who take the quiz will get 8 points just for taking it, and further points for every right answer they provide, up to 10 possible points per quiz. All students are allowed to miss or drop TWO quizzes from their final score without penalty. If you have not missed any quizzes, the LOWEST of your quiz scores will be dropped instead. Please note that missing a quiz because you were not yet enrolled in the course does not matter, you will still receive a zero for that quiz.
If because of severe and medically documented illness, injury or personal tragedy you do end up missing more than two weeks of class, here are your options; the latter two are also the only options for students who miss the final for a severe and medically documented illness or other serious health or personal issue:
1) Drop the course, assuming it is not past the drop deadline, and take the course in a semester in which you have fewer physical or personal problems;
2)Take an incomplete fail, which is actually the official university policy for someone who is passing a course but who has a legitimate and documented health or personal crisis; you will then need to retake the course again within one year;
3)I am willing in certain extreme cases to make the following exception to the grading policy: instead of counting your quiz total and two of your midterms plus the final for your average, I will instead take the average of ALL THREE of your midterms (instead of dropping your lowest midterm score) and the average of your final and drop your quiz score; you must have taken all three midterms and also take and pass the final to be eligible for this opportunity. If the average of all four of your exams in this course is higher than your score with your quizzes and changes your grade, I will use that as the basis of your grade instead. This means that if you are doing well in the course without attending, I will not punish you. Keep in mind that this is typically true for less than 1% of students.
Class Attendance:
I will not take attendance but do expect you to attend regularly. People who do not attend class tend to earn lower grades. You will miss announcements, material that is not in the presentations, and other critical information. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from another student. The instructor will not make their notes available, aside from the materials available on Desire2Learn online.
The Powerpoint presentations from the lectures and other relevant information will be available on the course web site on Desire2Learn. Please note that the presentations posted on D2L are NOT comprehensive and key slides are not provided on D2L and are ONLY provided in class. In addition, other critical information such as study suggestions, handouts, and additional testable information, will be provided in class that will NOT be put on the presentations on the web site. I also reserve the right to change slides, add slides, or discuss material not on the slides that WILL be testable material for the midterms and final.
Computer and Internet Policies:
Ownership of a computer is not a requirement for this course, but access to the internet is. If you do not own a computer with internet access you can use a computer in one of the computer labs available on campus. The Dept. of Psychology has a computer lab for undergraduate use located in Muenzinger.
Students who wish to do so may take notes in class on a laptop. However, taking notes on laptops tends to be less learning assistive than taking notes by hand. Research has shown that students who use a computer to take class notes on average score half a grade lower than students who take notes by hand.
The Powerpoint presentations from the lectures and other relevant information will be available on the course web site on Desire2Learn. This is intended as a service to help you in your studies and/or in case you miss a class; it is NOT intended as a substitute for class attendance or note taking! As mentioned above, critical slides, quizzes, study suggestions, and other information will be provided in class that will NOT be put on the presentations on the web site. The Powerpoint presentations are created using Microsoft Office 2010 on a PC (Dell) computer running the Windows 7 operating system; if you have problems viewing the Powerpoint presentations because of computer incompatibilities (Mac vs. PC), operating system incompatibilities, or software version incompatibilities, it is up to YOU to find a solution to these problems. I can only offer two other suggestions to try. First, there are two free programs that I’m told can open powerpoint in most any version. They are Open Office 2.0 and Foxit Reader, and they are open source programs that are free to the public. Simply Google "open office" or "foxit reader" and it should lead you to a site to download them; try opening the powerpoints with these. Second, if you indeed have the correct computer type, operating system, and version of Office/Powerpoint, and these two programs won’t allow you to see all the diagrams either, try updating your operating system and/or Office. You can update your operating system by opening Microsoft Explorer (it only works with this browser), going to the "tools" bar (usually it’s at the upper right), and selecting "Windows update". This will scan Microsoft's page for updates and your computer to see if you are deficient in recent patches, updates, upgrades, etc., that may limit accessibility to certain programs. Do so, allow it to upgrade your computer, restart it and try again. If you try both of these and you STILL can’t view all the slides, try asking Information Technology here at CU and maybe they can help, I cannot.
All students are expected to check their e-mail regularly. Occasionally the professor will send critical information via e-mail to the students, and it is the student’s responsibility to check their e-mail and obtain this information once it has been sent. As a courtesy to students I usually send an e-mail reminding them of upcoming exams and their time and location and what they need to bring.
Students who cannot make it to office hours may e-mail brief questions to me and I will attempt to answer them. I will attempt to answer all e-mail queries and questions in a timely fashion; however, I will do so on my time schedule, not yours. Questions or other requests for information received late at night or on weekends may not be addressed until the next work morning. Finally, no queries made after 8 PM the night before the exam will be answered.
Disability Policy:
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or by e-mail at .
If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries under Quick Links at Disability Services website ( and discuss your needs with your professor.
Religious observances:
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, students who foresee a conflict with religious observances and class attendance are encouraged to discuss this with me as soon as possible so alternate arrangements can be made. If a quiz falls on a documented religious holiday recognized by the University of Colorado, students will be allowed to drop that quiz without penalty. If an exam falls on a documented religious holiday recognized by the University of Colorado, students may drop that exam as per course policy without penalty or take the exam 1-2 days early depending upon their circumstances. See full details at
Classroom Behavior and Etiquette:
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at
and at
In addition, I expect students to observe basic class etiquette. This includes the following:
-Please refrain from reading the newspaper, talking to your friends, working on your computer, texting, listening to music, napping, etc. when you are in class.
-Please be on time to class and plan to stay the entire class period
-Please be prepared to devote all your attention to the material when you are in class.
-If you carry a cell phone, please turn off the ringer/beeper while you are in class. NO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF ANY KIND IS PERMITTED WITHOUT EXPLICIT CONSENT OF THE INSTRUCTOR.
Discrimination and Sexual Harrassment:
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities. (Regent Law, Article 10, amended 11/8/2001). CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of this CU-Boulder policy, "Protected Classes" refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or veteran status. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated againstshould contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) at 303-492-5550. Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at
Honor Code:
All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (; 303-735-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at
and at
Course Outline, PSYC 2012 Lectures:
DateTopic
Week 1
8/26Introduction to Biological Psychology
8/28Anatomy of the Central Nervous System
Week 2
9/2 Nervous System Cell Structure & Function
9/4Ion Channels, Pumps & Resting Membrane Potential
Week 3
9/9 Changesto Membrane Potential
9/11Synaptic Transmission, Neurotransmitters & Receptors
Week 4
9/16Receptors & Post-Synaptic Potentials, Review for Exam I if time
9/18EXAM I
Week 5
9/23Developmental Neurogenesis
9/25Brain Development& Environment
Week 6
9/30Memory & Learning I: Habituation
10/2Memory & Learning II: LTP andSynaptogenesis
Week 7
10/7Brain Injury
10/9Neurodegenerative Diseases
Week 8
10/14Exam II
10/16Sensory Perception & the Visual System
Week 9
10/21Visual Processing
10/23Hearing, Taste & Smell