Psychology 3485F-001

Research in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

An introduction to the design, administration, and interpretation of developmental cognitive neuroscience research. Students receive instruction in the formulation of developmental research questions and the choice of appropriate methods, and training in the analysis and interpretation of pediatric evoked response potential (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) data.

Prerequisites: Psychology 2800E, 2810, and one of Psychology 2040A, 2220A/B, 2221A/B, 2410A/B or Neuroscience 2000, plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience or Honors Specialization in Neuroscience

Third or fourth year Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and 2810), plus 60% or higher in one of Psychology 2040A/B, 2220A/B, 2221A/B, 2410A/B or Neuroscience 2000 also may enrol in this course.

4 lecture/laboratory hours, 0.5 course

Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr J Bruce Morton                
Office and Phone Number:  WH324; 519-661-2111 x84795          
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: bmorton3@uwo.ca          

Teaching Assistant:  Niki Hosseini-Kamkar
Office:  WH215         
Office Hours:  TBA
Email: nhossei4@uwo.ca          

Time and Location of Lectures:  Tuesdays, 9:30am - 11:30am, WH36
Time and Location of Tutorials:  Thursdays, 8:30 - 10:30, UCC66

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.  You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Huettel, S. A., Song, A. W., & McCarthy, G. Functional Resonance Magnetic Imaging, 3rd Edition. Sunderland MA: Sinauer Associates.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The course provides an introduction to the design, administration, analysis, and interpretation of experiments in developmental cognitive neuroscience focusing in particular on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—and their use with developing populations. The course combines lecture-style instruction on select topics with hands-on experience analyzing existing fMRI data.

5.0     EVALUATION

MIDTERM EXAM: 25%
GROUP PRESENTATION: 15%
RESEARCH PAPER: 25%
FINAL EXAM: 35%

Exams will be mixed format MC and SA questions. Research paper will be a 20-page write-up of an independent developmental fMRI research project. Group presentations are shared research presentation required of each research group in the class. The final exam will be cumulative.

Students who are unable to attend a MIDTERM examination and provide the necessary documentation to the Academic Counsellors in their home faculty will be given an opportunity to write a MAKE-UP examination. There will be one date and time for the MAKE-UP exam which will be determined after the MIDTERM exam date. The format of the MAKE-UP exam will be different than the format of the MIDTERM exam.

Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%    1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):

A+    90-100    One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail

6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Tuesday October 27, 2015, 9:30 to 11:00am, WH36.
FINAL EXAMINATION: Scheduled through the Registrar's Office

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Tuesday, September 15, 2015. Introduction to Research in DCN.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015. Formulating a research question; why fMRI?

Tuesday, September 29, 2015. fMRI Signal & Measurement; Experimental Design.
Recommended reading: READING 1 (posted) or Chapter 9 from textbook
Additional reading (not for the faint of heart): Chapter 3 from textbook (not posted; AND please note, this is not required. The basics will be covered in class and that is all you will need to know).

Tuesday, October 6, 2015. Ethics & Pre-processing
Recommended reading: READING 2 (posted) or Chapter 8 from textbook

Tuesday, October 13, 2015. Single-subject analysis: Introduction to General Linear Modeling
Recommended reading: READING 3 (posted) or Chapter 10, pp. 331 - 357

Tuesday, October 20, 2015. Spatial Normalization and Pediatric fMRI
Required reading: Burgund et al, 2002, NeuroImage.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015. MIDTERM EXAMINATION (WH 36)

Tuesday, November 3, 2015. Group analysis: Second-level GLM

Tuesday, November 10, 2015. Statistical thresholds; Age effects
Recommended reading: Chapter 10, pp. 357 - 369

Tuesday, November 17, 2015. Putting it all together.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015. EEG or fMRI?

Tuesday, December 1/3, 2015. In-class group presentations.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015. REVIEW

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences

- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.