Biological psychology
Dr Dianne Wuillemin
6 points * Second semester * One 2-hour lecture and one 2-hour laboratory per week per week * Gippsland/Distance * Prerequisites: GAS2504 * GAS1185 and/or GAS1186 highly recommended
Objectives On the completion of this subject students will be able to understand the techniques by which information about brain chemistry, structure and function is obtained; describe the workings of the brain and nervous system at both the physiological and biochemical levels; explain the components of the nervous system as a set in integrated subsystems; evaluate the extent to which current knowledge of brain function provides explanations of human behaviour.
Synopsis The subject focuses on the organisation of the brain and nervous system and its electrical and chemical processes as the fundamental basis of behaviour. It highlights the biological mechanisms of selected aspects of human behaviour including sensory and motor processing, eating and drinking, regulation of body temperature, sexual behaviour, emotions, sleep and arousal, and more complex mental processes such as language, cognition, learning, memory, and disorders of the nervous system. Distance education students are required to attend a one-day weekend or residential school program.
Assessment Laboratory reports: 40% * Examination: 60% * A pass on the examination is a requirement for the successful completion of this subject.
Prescribed texts
Hull E M Study guide (to accompany J W Kalat's Biological psychology 5th edn) Brooks-Cole, 1995
Kalat J W Biological psychology 5th edn, Brooks-Cole, 1995
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