Teaching Biological Psychology: A Spoonful of Sugar….

1. Teaching Biological Psychology: A Spoonful of Sugar…. Laura Freberg California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

2. What is the problem? • Biological Psychology may be perceived as “too hard” by many students. • Questionable preparation in science • “Phobias” for math and science • Biological Psychology may seem disconnected from other material in the psychology major. • “To know psychology, therefore, is absolutely no guarantee that we shall be good teachers.” –William James

3. What are the solutions? • We do not need to or want to “dummy down” our content. • Many faculty do not see themselves as “entertainers.” • So, how do we engage students?

4. Use Examples! • Examples “anchor” concepts to students’ existing databases, enhancing retention. • Examples remind students of how much they already know, building confidence. • Examples are fun, building motivation. • “Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.” --Albert Einstein

5. Einstein Practiced What He Preached • “You see, wire telegraph is a kind of very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles….And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there…. • The only difference is that there is no cat.” • “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours…. • That’s relativity.”

6. Example 1: Does catharsis really happen?

7. The Dry Stuff: • Freud, Lorenz, and others believed that unexpressed emotions built up in a reservoir. • Expressing the emotion reduces the feeling. • Contrasting views: Izard, Ekman.

8. The Memorable Stuff: • The traditional Maori “haka” prepares warriors for battle. • The New Zealand national rugby team, the All Blacks, prepare for competition with a haka (which also seems to intimidate the English side!)

9. Example 2: What are the biological and cultural contributions to disordered eating?

10. The Dry Stuff: • Twin studies suggest a genetic vulnerability to eating disorders (Hsu, Chesler, & Santhouse, 1990). • Once established, eating disorders may be maintained by biological factors, such as elevated CART (Stanley et al., 2003). • Media and other cultural influences also participate in the development of eating disorders.

11. The Memorable Stuff: • Prior to the introduction of American TV programs in 1996, Fijians preferred a “well-muscled, robust body.” • Following exposure to American programming, eating disorders quickly reached American levels (Becker et al., 2002).

12. Example 3 Which ions participate in the generation and propagation of action potentials?

13. The Dry Stuff: • Diffusion, electrical force, and the selective permeability of the neural membrane influence the relative concentrations of ions in the intracellular and extracellular fluids. • The movement of sodium ions into the neuron is especially critical to electrical signaling.

14. The Memorable Stuff: • Tetrodotoxin (produced by puffer fish) blocks voltage-dependent sodium channels in the neural membrane. • Several hundred people are poisoned each year by eating puffer fish sushi (fugu). • “I want to eat fugu, but I don’t want to die.” –Japanese folk song

15. Example 4: Why do we need inhibition?

16. The Dry Stuff: • “…the amount of neural inhibition to which the cortex is subjected may play a major role in human intelligence.” –Kircher & Glendenning, 2002 • Inhibition is essential to fine sensory discrimination and control of fine motor movements.

17. The Memorable Stuff: • Tetanospasmin, which can’t cross the blood-brain barrier, “hitchhikes” from a wound to the spinal cord, where it attacks inhibitory neurons. • Extreme muscle spasms (lockjaw) result due to loss of inhibitory input. • This example also works in discussions of retrograde transport.

18. Example 5: What is the effect of age on recovery from brain damage?

19. The Dry Stuff: • The assumption that young brains reorganize more effectively than adult brains was articulated by Margaret Kennard (1936, 1942). • Subsequent research shows that some cognitive functions (e.g. language) show this effect more than others (e.g. spatial processing).

20. The Memorable Stuff • Hemispherectomy is a common treatment for Rasmussen’s syndrome. • This 7-year-old had her right hemisphere removed at age 3. • She retains her bilingual abilities, and has only slight motor problems on her left side.

21. Example 6: How does the body maintain fluid levels?

22. The Dry Stuff: • Sodium is essential to the maintenance of extracellular fluid levels. • When sodium levels are low, water moves into cells. • With too much sodium, water release from the cells into the blood may contribute to high blood pressure.

23. The Memorable Stuff: • During endurance activities, low sodium and low fluid levels may coexist, leading to hyponatremia. • Low volume promotes ADH release, leading to water retention. • Low sodium leads to movement of water into cells. • Resulting hypovolemic thirst leads athlete to “overdrink.” • Hyponatremia may be prevented by adequate sodium intake.

24. Example 7: How do organisms maintain body temperature?

25. The Dry Stuff: • Heat loss is a function of the body’s surface area. • Heat generation is a function of the body’s volume. • Heat loss occurs as a function of surface-to-volume ratio, so smaller animals work harder to maintain core temperature. • Some sample surface-to-volume ratios: • Rat 1: 6.67 • Human 1: 35.3 • Elephant: 1: 150

26. The Memorable Stuff: • Heat stroke is the second leading cause of death among athletes, following head and spinal cord injuries. • At 6’4”, 335 lbs., Vikings lineman Corey Stringer could not deal with heat, humidity, heavy exercise, layers of clothing, and lack of water.

27. Example 8: How do biological and environmental factors interact in the development of gender identity?

28. The Dry Stuff: • The topic of sex is never boring for students….but we can make it better.

29. The Memorable Stuff: • David Reimer (John/Joan) • “Guevedoces” or 5-alpha-reductase deficiency (Imperato-McGinley et al., 1979)

30. Example 9: Why do we electrically stimulate the brain?

31. The Dry Stuff: • The topic of research methods is ALWAYS potentially dry….

32. The Memorable Stuff: • José Delgado and his fighting bulls. • Ratbots • This is also a good time to introduce ethics of animal research….

33. Example 10: How do some infections circumvent the formidable protections enjoyed by the nervous system?

34. The Dry Stuff • The brain enjoys the protection of the blood-brain barrier, but certain infectious agents do manage to invade it anyway. • We promised you brainworms, so here they are!

35. The Fun Stuff: • The route to our current understanding of TSEs, including “mad cow,” reads like a good mystery novel. • Neurocysticercosis (brainworms) is guaranteed to get your students’ attention.

36. What makes a good example? The 3 F’s (with apologies to Frank Lloyd Wright): • Form: Good examples have visual impact. • Function: Good examples promote controversy and discussion, yet relate directly to the curriculum. • Fun: Good examples are novel and engaging. Students report discussing these issues with friends and family.

37. Where can we find good examples? • You have to become a generalist. • Read sources from fields outside of psychology. Think about how a psychologist would explain a phenomenon. • Scan the daily news, such as Yahoo’s “Most Popular.” • Listen to your students. Learn about their interests.

38. Next Steps: If you like examples, you’ll love Problem-Based Learning • PBL “cases” are scenarios that are relevant, but just outside the learner’s experience (Neild, 2004). • Groups discuss the case and decide: • What is and is not understood • Who will learn what is needed to solve the case • How to share and compare what has been learned • How to present what has been learned

39. Stages of a PBL Case • Brainstorm hypotheses • Evaluate data included in problem • Identify additional data needed to solve the problem • Actions required to complete the problem • Evaluation—has the problem been solved or are additional steps needed?

40. Examples of PBL Casesfrom the University of Buffalo • The Mozart Effect: A Psychological Research Methods Case • A Case Study of Memory Loss in Mice • A Search for the Right Answer: Fetal Tissue Research and Parkinson’s Disease • Selecting the Perfect Baby: The Ethics of “Embryo Design”

41. Additional information is posted on www.laurafreberg.com: • This PowerPoint® • Additional resources for PBL • A biological psychology discussion board. Students are posting and responding to current events. You and your students are welcome to join in or lurk. • Email me: laura@laurafreberg.com

42. Thank you for your time and attention!