Høst 2021

PSY-1004 Biological psychology - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for psykologi

Type of course

The course is compulsory in the bachelor program in psychology. The course can be taken as a single course.

Course contents

The purpose of the course is to familiarize the student with the biological perspective of behavior, thinking and emotion. It focuses on the regulation of human biological structures and functions, how the brain regulates behavior, thinking and emotion. Examples of topics that will be addressed are perception, learning, emotion, motivation and cognition.

Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June for the autumn semester and 1 December for the spring semester. Exchange students and Fulbright students: 1 October for the spring semester and 15 April for the autumn semester.

Admission requirements

Local admission, application code 9199 - - singular course.

This course has academic prerequisites. PSY-1001 and PSY-1012 are recommended prior knowledge requirements.

Objective of the course

At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to: Knowledge:

Explain what characterizes the biological perspective in psychology and different traditions within this perspective.
Describe and recognize basic concepts of the neuroanatomy (the central and peripheral nervous systems), and neurodevelopment.
Explain fundamental concepts within neurophysiology and psychopharmacology.
Explain transduction, transmission and perception in sensory systems
Explain the fundamental concepts of movement and control
Describe central facts and explain key principles of the biological basis for important psychological topics (for example language and intelligence, emotion, motivation and reward, learning and memory, stress, sleep and alertness).
Explain how knowledge of biological processes contributes to the understanding of mental disorders and their treatment.
Describe basic research methods in biological psychology

Skills:

Perform literature searches and critically evaluate sources in biological psychology
Recognize and being able to name anatomical structures of the nervous system
Evaluate the core aspects of biological psychology

General competence:

Explain and being able to critically address the selected aspects of biological psychology
Recognize and being able to point out the principles of the selected aspects of biological psychology

Language of instruction

The teaching will be in English.

Teaching methods

The teaching is given in the form of lectures, seminars and laboratory exercises. Students are expected to work independently with the substance and prepare for lectures, seminars and lab exercises.

Assessment

5 hour written exam. Grade scale A-F, F equals not passed.

In case of grade F, re-exams will be given early in the subsequent semester.

The course has a work requirement in which the students have to write an essay (2000-3000 words) based on a topic in biological psychology. The students are expected to integrate knowledge from recent research articles in this essay. The essay will be evaluated with approved/not approved. An approval is required before the final exam can be taken.

Date for examination

Take-home exam hand out date 07.12.2021 hand in date 07.12.2021

The date for the exam can be changed. The final date will be announced at your faculty early in May and early in November.