Teaching
(Administrative course reduction 2009-2012.)
Fall 2011:
Physiological Psychology (50:830:475)
This course examines the relationship between biology and
behavior.
By studying the workings of animal brains, the functional
deficits of
brain damaged humans, and the genetics
of behavior, scientists have identified some of the
biological
mechanisms that underlie language, addiction, anxiety,
depression,
learning, aggression and other aspects of human psychology.
Spring 2012:
Animal Behavior (50:830:486) A male
praying mantis will continue to mate even after the female
mantis has
eaten his head. How does he do that? That's a proximal
question that
can be answered by understanding the nervous system of the
mantis. Why
does he do that? That's an ultimate question that can be
answered by
understanding natural selection. In this course, we will
examine a
number of interesting animal behaviors in terms of their
proximal and
ultimate causes. At the end of the semester, we will apply
this same
analysis to human behavior.