Biological Basis of Human and Animal Behaviour Course Descriptor

Course Overview

Emergence of disciplines within psychology such as the nature-nurture debate has provided insights into the nature of biological influences upon behaviour. Brain functioning underlies human and animal behaviour, and hence is critical to the understanding of psychological phenomena. This course provides understanding into the commonalities between humans and animals and the way how research with animals is informative for our understanding of human cognition and behaviour. Introducing neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and exploring the nature of biological influences on human and animal behaviour, students will also learn about the ethical and historical aspects of Biological Psychology.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars/labs/studios/workshops

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1: all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups.

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within office hours, interactive teaching sessions, and/or the VLE. Summative grades are typically provided through the VLE.

Summative Assessments

These set exercises will assess students in a variety of ways and can include class quizzes, presentations, posters, technology-assisted tasks, case study analyses, worksheets, short answer questions etc.

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Indicative content of the set exercises could include a 5 min recorded video and a case study analysis of 850 words.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments or through email or the VLE) and oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).    

Feedback on summative examinations is typically provided through generic internal examiners’ reports which are made available on the VLE. Feedback on all summative assessments is made available to the student through the VLE or another appropriate method. 

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

• Martin, G. N. (2015). Essential biological psychology. Routledge.
• Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, 2017, by Robert Sapolsky
• Incognito The Secret Life of the Brain, 2011, by David Eagleman

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as part of the approval/modification process only.

• Ethology
• Neuroscience