Sample Curriculum – Doctor of Clinical Psychophysiology

Course Outline and Requirements for:
Biological Basis of Behavior / Introduction to Psychophysiology
Presented by Rich Sherman, Ph.D.

Course Concept and Description: This three-credit course explores the manifold ways the brain and body work together to produce behavior and the cycle between behavior and physiology. The course begins with a description of the body’s organizational structure and genetics as related to behavior. The basic physiological ways information is received from the external and internal environments through a variety of sensors and then processed by the hormonal / nervous system are described. Typical psychophysiological dysfunctions and interventions are also described. You should have taken undergraduate biology and psychology before taking this course.

Required Texts:

1. Pinel, John P.J., Biopsychology – 6^th edition. 2006; Published by Pearson of Boston & New York. ISBN 0-205-42651-4.
2. Andreassi, John: Psychophysiology: Human Behavior and Physiological Response 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum of NJ, ISBN 0805828338.

Format: Home study supported by e-mail chats after each unit is completed. The lecture portion of the course is presented through a series of audiovisual lectures profusely illustrated by power-point slides. You will receive CDs containing both the audiovisual lectures and a copy of the slide set upon which the lectures are based so you can make notes on your copy of the slides as you attend the lecture. Reading assignments in the Pinel book parallel the lectures. There are no lectures for a few of the topics. After watching the lecture and reading the chapters, you will answer a brief series of questions. The answered questions are then e-mailed to the instructor. You and the instructor will discuss each unit via e-mail chat after your answers are assessed. After the discussion, you will proceed to the succeeding lecture and chapters. This course requires between 90 and 120 hours of work to complete including attending the lectures, doing the required reading, answering questions, writing papers, interacting with the instructor, etc.

Topics we will cover (Note: Each topic corresponds to one set of review questions):

1. Definitions and Concepts – what is this field and how does it relate to the rest of the world? (Lecture 1; Pinel chapter 1, Andreassi 1)
2. Credibility of Information – research techniques, recognizing bad science
(Lectures 2, 2.1, 2.2; Pinel chapters 1 and 5)
3. Evolution and Behavioral Genetics – evolution of behavior and communication, genetics of behavior (Lecture 2.6; Pinel chapter 2)
4. Anatomy and Physiology of the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems – stomach brain, plastic homunculus (Lectures 3, 3.1, 3.2; Pinel 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10, Andreassi 2 – 7)
5. Hormones and Behavior – pheromones, sex, nerve – hormone interactions
(Lecture 3.6; Pinel chapter 13)
6. Mechanisms of Sensation/Perception – vision, hearing, touch (pain, electrical), smell, taste, balance/location, etc. (Lectures 4, 4.1; Pinel chapters 6 & 7, Andreassi 9- 14)

7. Motor control systems – (Lecture 4.4; Pinel chapter 8, Andreassi 8 )
8. Eating and Drinking – balance and disorders (Lecture 4.6; Pinel chapter 12)
9. Biological Rhythms and Sleep (Lecture 4.8; Pinel chapter 14)
10. Drug Addiction (Lecture 5; Pinel chapter 15)
11. Learning, Language, and Memory (Lecture 5.4; Pinel chapters 11 & 16)
12. The Malfunctioning Brain (Lecture 5.6; Pinel chapters 10 & 18)
13. Emotions – stress, aggression, mental illness (Lecture 6; Pinel chapters 17 and 18)
14. Psychophysiological interventions (Lectures 9, 9.2, 9.4; Andreassi 15 – 17)

Methods of Evaluation:
Papers:
You will write two papers for this course. Papers are graded for style, originality, and factual content. They must be fully referenced. Only use professional references. Do not get your information from “popular” internet sites, lay magazines, etc. You will be docked one full grade for each week the paper is late. You can e-mail drafts of both papers to me a minimum of 48 hours in advance of their due dates for an initial look-over. I will make recommendations for strengthening the final result. It is simply too difficult for me to keep track of the comments I make on each paper. Thus, when you re-submit your paper, include my comments or I won’t re-look at it. I do use a computer program that checks for plagiarism.
1. Write a paper not less than three or more than six double-spaced pages long on a topic in physiological psychology you and I agree upon which is related to a potential area of professional or personal interest to you. You must get my agreement on the topic not later than the third week of the course and you must e-mail it to me by the sixth week of the course. The short paper is worth 10% of your grade.
2. Write a paper not less than six or more than twelve double-spaced pages long on any topic in physiological psychology you and I agree upon. You must get my agreement on the topic not later than the fifth week of the course. This paper must be e-mailed to me by the last date the course is scheduled for. The long paper is worth 20% of your grade.

End of unit essay questions:
These are the 14 sets of review questions described above which you will send me after watching each lecture and doing the course reading. The review questions file is on your CD. The review assignments are your “exams” and are graded as such. Before answering a set of review questions, insure that you have viewed the lecture associated with the questions (as detailed in the above list of topics) and have read the correct material in the text. When you e-mail me a set of review questions, label it with its topic number rather than the lecture number or book chapter number. You can either attach a file with your answers or put them in the body of the e-mail. There are a total of 103 short essay questions divided unevenly between the 14 sets of review questions. The review questions are worth a total of 70% of your grade. Thus, each short essay question is worth 0.68 points toward that 70%.