Advanced Seminar in Cognition or Neuroscience (391-0-1)
Topic
Left Brain, Right Brain
Instructors
Mark Elliot Beeman
847/491-4617
104 Cresap Hall
Office Hours: Office Hours: M 11:00am-noon, by appt
Meeting Info
Annenberg Hall G30: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This course will examine the how the two hemispheres of the human brain differ, in cognitive processing, anatomy, and computation. We will explore this specific topic in depth, as a model for cognitive neuroscience methods and theoretical approaches. We will link to other topics, potentially including complex language processing, visual perception and attention, emotion, mental illness, and others. The course will be taught in a mix of lecture, student presentations, experiment design and potentially data collection, depending on the enrollment. Students graded on class discussion participation, presentations, very brief reaction papers, and a brief experiment proposal paper at end of term.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisite: Psych 205, at least one class in cognition or neuroscience, or permission of instructor
Learning Objectives
Understand the pros and cons of different methods used in cognitive neuroscience; understand different theoretical approaches to understanding hemispheric differences; improved.
Teaching Method
Lecture: some lecture, but largely class discussions of empirical papers from the field
Class participation
Demonstrations
Discussion
Presentations: Leading discussion on paper(s) that we've all read for the day (1 or 2 times per term)
Seminar
Writing Assignments: 2-3 times per term: Discussion/reaction papers to readings (1-2 ss page)
Evaluation Method
Attendance, class participation, demonstrations, final paper, readings
Papers: 4 short (1-3 ss pages) per term
Presentations: 1-2 per quarter
Quizzes: brief weekly quizzes about papers read & discussed
Class Materials (Required)
Readings provided via canvas. No textbook.
Class Attributes
Attendance at 1st class mandatory
Prerequisites apply, see description
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: Students must complete Psych 205-0 before taking this course.