| CODE | PSY1618 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Biological Psychology 2 | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Psychology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will provide students with a deeper understanding of the relationship between brain and behaviour. Various research studies shall be presented and case studies will be discussed. Tentative Study-unit Outline: - Research studies and empirical findings in biological psychology; - The biology of Emotional Behaviours - the function of emotion, brain areas associated with emotion; - Attack and Escape behaviours – heredity and environment in violence, brain abnormalities and violence, serotonin synapses and aggressive behaviour, fear, anxiety and the amygdala, damage to the human amygdala, anxiety-reducing drugs; - The biology of Stress – theories of stress, stress and the hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal cortex axis, stress and the immune system, post-traumatic stress disorder; - The biology of Learning and Memory – localized representations of memory, types of memory, the role of the hippocampus in memory and amnesia, other types of brain damage and amnesia, learning and the Hebbian synapse, habituation and sensitization in aplysia, long-term potentiation; - The biology of Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia – the role of genetics, brain anatomy, brain function and neurotransmitters. Treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder and schizophrenia.; - Attention and Lateralisation of Function – brain activity associated with consciousness and attention, inattentional blindness, the functions of the left and right hemispheres, cutting the corpus callosum, split-brain patients, spatial neglect. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Recognise the biological basis of behaviour through knowledge of brain anatomy, physiology, genes, hormones and evolution; - Appreciate the relationship and interaction between brain and behaviour; - Define and critically evaluate the key theories and scientific research in a number of specialized areas in biological psychology. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate the ability to apply the key theories in a number of specialized areas in biological psychology to real world situations; - Demonstrate the ability to reason scientifically. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Kalat, J.W. (2013). Biological Psychology. 11th Edition: USA: Wadsworth. - Kolb, B; Whishaw, I.Q., Teskey, G.C.(2019). An Introduction to brain and behaviour. 6th Edition: ISBN:9781319107376. |
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| RULES/CONDITIONS | Before TAKING THIS UNIT YOU MUST TAKE PSY1617 | ||||||||
| ADDITIONAL NOTES | This study-unit is only offered to students with Psychology as an area of study. | ||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Anna Grech |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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