Psychology 490

Advanced Topics in Psychology:  Evolution's Impact on Human (and animal) Behavior, Cognition, Social Structure and Sexuality
	Time:	Thursday,  1:00pm-4:00pm
	Office Hours:	Thursday directly after class. Other times by arrangement.
	Professors:	Kevin Volkan, PhD Rm 206 Professional Bld. 805-437-8867 kevin.volkan@csuci.edu	Beatrice de Oca, PhD Rm 225 Professional Bld. 805-437-8992 beatrice.deoca@csuci.edu
	Course Website:	http://psych.csuci.edu/psy490
	Prerequisites:	Consent of Instructor: One psychology course and one biology course are suggested. Familiarity with basic evolutionary theory and psychological concepts would be helpful. This is an advanced course so it is expected that students will be responsible for completing the assignments.

Description

This course examines the evolution of behavior, emotions, sex and their neurophysiological and psychological correlates in humans and animals. Using insights from Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theory, sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, genetics, and ethology we will examine questions such as:

Why is there sex and why is it fun? What is the biochemistry of fidelity? Where did humans come from and where did they go? Why are fishermen darker than hunters? Why are uncles important? When did humans really begin to think? Does mental illness evolve for a reason? And many other questions!

Course Requirements

This is a seminar course and as such it will be a student-facilitated course. What this means is that a student will guide the discussion on each week's topic. Therefore it is necessary for students to do all the readings and come to class prepared. Students will be graded on their facilitation and participation in class discussions and a weekly in-class writing assignment. This is the only work for the course so it is NECESSARY for students to attend class!

Schedule (subject to change):

• Week 1: August 28, 2003 & Week 2: September 4, 2003 Darwinian Evolution - basic theories. The scientific evidence for evolution. Fossil record and genetic markers
• Week 3: September 11, 2003 Specifics of evolutionary theory. Punctuated Equilibrium & Macroevolution
• Week 4: September 18, 2003 Sexual reproduction advantages and disadvantages
• Week 5: September 25, 2003 Evolution of social organization & behavior in lower animals - ants
• Week 6:  October 2, 2003 Evolution of violence and aggression - cichlids
• Week 7: October 9, 2003 Precursors to humans: Primate behavior; chimps & bonobos\
• Week 8: October 16, 2003 Overview of Human Evolution
• Week 9: October 23, 2003 - Week 9: October 30, 2003 Film - Journey of Man & Discussion of human differences
• Week 10: November 6, 2003 The evolution of language
• Week 11: November 13 - Week 12: November 20, 2003 Why is sex fun? Evolution & human sexual behavior
• Week 13: November 27, 2003 The neurophysiology of dependence and fidelity in humans
• Week 14: December 4, 2003 Evolution & mental illness: fight or flight and personality disorders, depression
• Week 15: December 10, 2003 Guns, Germs, & Steel Human evolution and civilization

Guests

From time to time, we will invite guest discussants to to join us. These guests will have particular expertise or a viewpoint related to the topic at hand.

Readings and Reaction Papers

There is a growing amount of literature on evolution and psychology. Since this is a seminar course one of the primary tasks students will have is reading. We cannot reiterate enough how very important it will be for students to attend class and to do the reading. There is a lot to cover in this subject – far more than we will be able to get to in a semester. Rather than rush through the material, we will pace ourselves so that we can enjoy what we are studying. In this spirit, we will begin each class period with a very short writing assignment. We will pose a question based on the readings and ask for you to spend 15-20 minutes writing your reaction. you will be required to keep a portfolio of these papers to be turned in at the end of the semester as part of your grade.

Office Hours

We invite you to come to our office hours and talk about the course material. In addition to the evolutionary theory we will be talking about a lot of fairly sophisticated psychology and neurophysiology. We don’t expect you to know everything, BUT we do expect you to ask when you don’t know something!

Content Warning - Please Read!

This is an upper division college-level course for adults. As such the course deals frankly with sexuality and violence, and may include overtly sexual/violent imagery. This can be disturbing to some people, especially when taken out of context. If you find such material objectionable for whatever reason, then you might want to consider whether taking this  elective course is what you really want to do. Some of this material is not suitable for children so please consider this before bringing them to class.

This course assumes the scientific factuality of Darwinian evolution. While we will present scientific evidence for Darwinian evolution we DO NOT intend to spend class time debating or discussing creationist and other religious views of human origins. We hope to have courses in the future where we can discuss the interesting intersection of Western religious views with psychology.

Likewise the presentation of evolutionary theory is not meant  to ‘convert’ anyone to from any particular belief to any other. However, to participate in this course an open mind will be extremely helpful.

Method for Student Evaluation/Assessment of Learning:

Students will be assessed through written weekly reaction papers and facilitation of one or more topical (depending on the size of the class) discussions.

1. Weekly Reaction Papers - 50 points
2. Discussion facilitation - 50 points

Total = 100 points

• 90 -100 points = A
• 79-89 points = B
• 69-78 points = C
• 59-68 points = D
• <59 points = F
• After one absence, 10 points will be deducted for each additional absence

Readings

Currently being determined - Check back soon.

Student Outcomes as Stated in Objective Format:

1. Students will gain the ability to summarize the main points of Darwinian evolutionary theory
2. Students will learn to apply evolutionary principles to human behavior
3. Students will learn how and why human beings dispersed across the planet.
4. Students will understand the relationship of neurophysiology and human evolution.

Statement on Academic Dishonesty

Here is the official text on this:

“All work that students submit as their own work must, in fact, be their own work.  For example, if a paper presents ideas of others, it must clearly indicate the source.  Word-for-word language taken from other sources - books, papers, web sites, people, etc. - must be placed in quotation marks and the source identified. Likewise, work on tests and exams must be the student’s own work, not copied or taken from other students’ work, and students must comply with instructions regarding use of books, notes, and other materials. In accordance with the CSU Channel Islands policy on academic dishonesty, students in this course who submit the work of others as their own (plagiarize), cheat on tests and examinations, help other students cheat or plagiarize, or commit other acts of academic dishonesty will receive appropriate academic penalties, up to and including failing the course. 

Papers with plagiarized ideas or language will be graded “F” and must be rewritten with proper use of quotations and referencing.  The grade of “F” will remain the recorded grade on that assignment. Plagiarism or cheating on tests and exams will result in an “F” on the test or exam, very likely resulting in a lower or possibly a failing final grade in the course. 

To complete course requirements, students must retake the test or exam during the instructor’s scheduled office hours. In cases where the cheating or plagiarism was premeditated or planned, students may receive an “F” for the course.  Students are encouraged to consult with the instructor on when and how to document sources if they have questions about what might constitute an act of plagiarism or cheating. “

We are including this information for completeness. Since the writing for this course will be done in-class we would hope that there will not be much chance for plagiarism. However, if you are caught cheating or plagiarizing you will an F for the course and this will be reported to the Dean who may apply other penalties. We will read your weekly  reaction papers carefully. Please don’t cheat! It is not worth it!