Syllabus

Psychology 404L (68091R)

Psychophysiology of Emotion

Fall, 2002

MW: 4-6 PM; VKC150

 

Instructor: Jonathan K. Wynn, Ph.D.

Office: SGM 911

Office Hours: MW 6-7 PM

E-mail (best way to reach me): wynn@rcf.usc.edu, when e-mailing, you must put “PSYC404” as the subject (without the quotes) or else your e-mail will not be read.

Mail: SGM 501

 

Course Materials

Class lectures will be your primary source of information for this course. The textbook and supplemental material will provide further information and will serve as bases of discussion for many lectures. It is highly recommended that you prepare yourself adequately before you come to class by reading all of the material for that session.

 

Required Texts/Materials

Textbook: Andreassi, J. L. (2000). Psychophysiology: Human Behavior and Physiological Response (4th Ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

 

Selected readings that will be on reserve at the library.

 

Other recommended, but not required, texts:

Cacioppo, J. T., Tassinary, L., & Bernston, G. G. (2000). Handbook of Psychophysiology (2nd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Hugdahl, K. (1995). Psychophysiology: The Mind-Body Perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

 

Stern, R. M., Ray, W. J., & Quigley, K. S. (2001). Psychophysiological Recording (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

 

Overview and Aims of Course

Psychophysiology is not only a tool used in psychology but is a field of study as well. While the title of this course is “Psychophysiology of Emotion” that title is a misnomer. Psychophysiology is used in all areas of psychology: cognitive, social, clinical, experimental, developmental, etc. As such, this course will attempt to show how psychophysiology is used in these areas. We will focus on many other psychological states other than emotion.

This course is designed to give you an overview of the nervous system, its functions, and how it relates to behavior. As such, we’ll cover the nervous system and its organization and discuss its three major divisions: the central nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the somatic nervous system. We’ll next cover the basics of psychophysiology, such as its history and foundations and discuss its constructs and what can be inferred from psychophysiological studies. We will then move on to specific psychophysiological recordings and how those recordings index a specific part of the nervous system. We’ll cover measures related to the central nervous system (e.g., EEG, MEG, ERP, MRI, fMRI, PET), the autonomic nervous system (e.g., skin conductance, heart rate, etc.), and the somatic nervous system (e.g., startle eyeblink, facial EMG, etc.).

We will not only discuss the basics of recording these measures but how they give us insight into normal and abnormal functioning.

 

Attendance

Attendance is not recorded or graded. However, it is highly recommended that you attend all lectures as much of the material given to you and contained in the exams will be from in-class sources, not just reading. Attendance for lab days, however, is mandatory.

 

Exams

Exams will be given in class. Make-up exams WILL NOT be given.

 

Extra Credit

You may earn up to 50 points maximum (or 5% of your final grade) of extra credit in the following ways:

 

1)      You may participate in experiments through the psychology department subject pool (see posted guidelines where you sign up for experiments). You will received five points of credit for each hour of participation.

2)      If you participate in an experiment where one of the measures is psychophysiological (e.g., eyeblink, heart, facial EMG, brain activity, etc.) you may write up a three page paper on the experiment and the measure. This means you must find some information from the experimenter AFTER they have finished testing you. I will look for posted experiments where one of the main measures is psychophysiological and will let you know which experiments are eligible. Participation in one experiment and write-up of the paper will count for 50 points.

 

Accommodations for Disabilities

Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to Dr. Wynn as early in the semester as possible, and no later than two weeks after the start of the semester. DSP is open Mon-Fri 8:30-5:00 and is located in the Student Union, 301, x00776.

 

Academic Honesty

All students should be familiar with university policies regarding academic honesty printed in SCampus. These policies will be strictly enforced in this course. For example, you must write out all of your own assignments, you cannot turn in work completed for another class, and you cannot cheat on exams. Unless otherwise noted, ALL work is individual and you may not collaborate with another student. Failure to adhere to academic honesty policies will result in an F for the course and will the matter will be forwarded to Academic Review for possible further action. Please consult with Dr. Wynn if you are at all unclear about these policies. When in doubt, ask me!

 

Paper assignment

            You will write a paper in the form of a research proposal that will use any psychophysiological measure as the primary dependent variable. Your task is to come up with an interesting question that you think can be answered using psychophysiology. You will write an introduction that will include discussion on the problem, how the psychophysiology measure(s) you choose have been used to study similar problems, and your specific hypotheses you think the psychophysiology measure will show. You will include a methods section that will address study participants, equipment to be used, scoring and analyzing of data, and the research design. You will give a section on expected results (be creative: use tables and figures). You will give a discussion on why this is important, what your expected findings will indicate, and how you would explain the possibility of your results not supporting your hypotheses. A reference section must be included. At the end of the semester you will give a short presentation on your paper to the class. This presentation will be part of your paper grade. That means you’ll have to have your paper done by this time.

 

Points:

1 Midterm:                               200

1 Final (1/3 old, 2/3 new):            200

3 Labs:                                     100 each

2 Journal Critiques:                      50 each

1 Paper:                                   200

WWW Assignment                   50

Extra Credit:                             50 max

Point distribution:

There will be no curve in this class:

94-100 A

90-93 A-

87-89 B+

83-86 B

80-82 B-

77-79 C+

73-76 C

70-72 C-

67-69 D+

60-66 D

60 and below F

 

Date

Topic

Readings

Due Dates

Section 1: Introduction

M 8/26

Basics and Introduction

 

 

W 8/28

Neurons, muscles, psychophys recording; brain and nervous system

Ch. 1, Ch. 2 (pp. 12-25, 35-39)

 

M 9/2

NO CLASS

NO CLASS

NO CLASS

W 9/4

Psychophysiological concepts/constructs, inference

Ch. 18

 

M 9/9

Research Considerations

Appendix A

 

Section 2: Central Nervous System

W 9/11

EEG measurement & level of awareness

Ch. 2 (pp. 25-35 )

Ch. 3, 4

 

M 9/16

EEG response to events

Reading Pack 1

 

W 9/18

LAB #1: EEG

 

 

M 9/23

EEG/ERP

Ch. 5-7

 

W 9/25

Applications of EEG/ERP

Reading Pack 2

Lab #1 Due

Section 3: Autonomic Nervous System

M 9/30

Guest Lecture: Ed Vessel

fMRI

 

W 10/2

ANS, EDA, some HR

Ch. 9

 

M 10/7

LAB #2: EDA & HR

 

 

W 10/9

TEST #1

 

 

M 10/14

Guest Lecture:

Michael Dawson, Ph.D.

Reading Pack 3

 

W 10/16

Applications of EDA

Reading Pack 4

Lab #2 Due

M 10/21

Cardiovascular

Ch. 12-14

Paper Critique #1 Due

W 10/23

Applications of cardiovascular

Reading Pack 5

 

Section 4: Somatic Nervous System

M 10/28

Somatic Nervous System

 

 

W 10/30

Emotion, Cognition

 

 

M 11/4

Facial EMG, startle, applications

Ch. 8

Reading Pack 6

 

W 11/6

LAB #3: Facial EMG

 

 

Section 5: Miscellaneous Issues

M 11/11

Pupillography, eye tracking

Ch. 10-11

Reading Pack 7

 

W 11/13

Guest Lecutre: David Mains

Lie Detection

Lab #3 Due

M 11/18

Conditioning, biofeedback, lie detection

Ch. 15-17

Reading Pack 8

 

W 11/20

Psychopathology

 

 

M 11/25

Individual Differences

 

Paper Critique #2 Due

W 11/27

Paper presentations 1

 

 

M 12/2

Paper presentations 2

 

 

W 12/4

Review

 

Final Paper Due

W 12/11

FINAL: 4:30-6:30 PM

VKC 150

FINAL

FINAL

 

Paper Critique Guidelines

 

These articles are on reserve at the library and will be available two weeks before the date we’ll discuss them.

 

You will complete critiques on two of the papers of your choice. The first will be due on Monday, October 21 and the second will be due on Monday, November 25. Papers should be about 3 pages long, typed, double-spaced, 10-12 font (no fancy fonts; Arial or Times New Roman will suffice).

 

Each critique will summarize the major hypothesis, methods, and findings of the study (this should take about one page); however, DO NOT summarize the abstract! You will also critique the paper’s strengths and weaknesses (and this should take about two pages). Your paper will include a cover page which includes the title and source information of the article, the date, and your name.

 

Here are several tips to help you along:

1)      State the hypothesis(es), even if the author doesn’t explicitly state.

2)      Address the adequacy of the psychophysiological measure(s).

3)      Address issues of sample size.

4)      Point out the strengths (e.g., control groups, electrode placement, innovation, etc.).

5)      Do more than point out if something was good or bad; explain why it was good or bad.

6)      The main portion of the paper is critique, not summary.

7)      Limit your discussion to whether or not the findings support the hypothesis, not whether it proves it.

Reading List

 

Reading Pack 1: EEG

1)      Osaka, M. (1984). Peak alpha frequency of EEG during a mental task: Task difficulty and hemispheric differences. Psychophysiology, 21, 101-105.

2)      Nowlis, D. P., & Kamiya, J. (1970). The control of electroencephalographic alpha rhythms through auditory feedback and the associated mental activity. Psychophysiology, 6, 476-484.

3)      Raine, A., Venables, P. H., & Williams, M. (1990). Relationships between central and autonomic measures of arousal at age 15 years and criminality at age 24 years. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 1003-1007.

4)      Sponheim, S. R., Clementz, B. A., Iacono, W. G., & Beiser, M. (1994). Resting EEG in first-episode and chronic schizophrenia. Psychophysiology, 31, 37-43.

 

Reading Pack 2: ERP

1)      Satterfield, J. H., Schell, A. M., & Nicholas, T. (1994). Preferential neural processing of attended stimuli in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and normal boys. Psychophysiology, 31, 1-10.

2)      Duncan, C. C. (1988). A window on information processing in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 14, 526-531.

3)      Light, G. A., Geyer, M. A., Clementz, B. A., Cadenhead, K. S., & Braff, D. L. (2000). Normal P50 suppression in schizophrenia patients treated with atypical antipsychotic medications. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 767-771.

4)      Oray, S., Lu, Z.-L., & Dawson, M. E. (2002). Modification of sudden onset auditory ERP by involuntary attention to visual stimuli. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 43, 213-224.

 

Reading Pack 3: Guest Lecturer Michael Dawson, Ph.D.

1)      Dawson, M. E., & Schell, A. M. (2002). What does electrodermal activity tell us about prognosis in the schizophrenia spectrum? Schizophrenia Research, 54, 87-93.

2)      Hazlett, H., Dawson, M. E., Schell, A. M., & Nuechterlein, K. H. (1997). Electrodermal activity as a prodromal sign in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 41, 111-113.

 

Reading Pack 4: Electrodermal Activity

1)      Dawson, M. E., Nuechterlein, K. H., & Schell, A. M. (1992). Electrodermal anomalies in recent-onset schizophrenia: Relationships to symptoms and prognosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 18, 295-311.

2)      Hare, R. D. (1965). Temporal gradient of fear arousal in psychopaths. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 70, 442-445.

 

Reading Pack 5: Cardiovascular

1)      Manuck, S. B., Proietti, J. M., Rader, S. J., & Polefrone, J. M. (1985). Parental hypertension, affect, and cardiovascular response to cognitive challenge. Psychosomatic Medicine, 47, 189-200.

2)      McCann, B. S., & Matthews, K. A. (1988). Influences of potential for hostility, Type A behavior, and parental history of hypertension on adolescents’ cardiovascular responses during stress. Psychophysiology, 25, 503-511.

3)      Glass, D. C., Krakoff, L. R., Contrada, R. Hilton, W. F., Kehoe, K., Mannucci, E. G., Collins, C., Snow, B, & Elting, E. (1980). Effect of harassment and competition upon cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses in Type A and Type B individuals. Psychophysiology, 17, 453-462.

 

Reading Pack 6: Facial EMG/Startle

1)      Filion, D. L., Dawson, M. E., & Schell, A. M. (1993). Modification of the acoustic startle-reflex eyeblink: A tool for investigating early and late attentional processes. Biological Psychology, 35, 185-200.

2)      Vrana, S. R., Spence, E. L., & Lang, P. J. (1988). The startle probe response: A new measure of emotion? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 487-491.

3)      Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., Losch, M. E., & Kim, H. S. (1986). Electromyographic activity over facial muscle regions can differentiate the valence and intensity of affective reactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 260-268.

4)      Patrick, C. J., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (1993). Emotion in the criminal psychopath: Startle reflex modulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 82-92.

 

Reading Pack 7: Eye Measurements, Biofeedback, and Conditioning

1)      Canter, A., Kondo, C. Y., & Knott, J. R. (1975). A comparison of EMG feedback and progressive muscle relaxation training in anxiety neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 470-477.

2)      Kahneman, D., & Beatty, J. (1967). Pupillary responses in a pitch discrimination task. Perception and Psychophysics, 2, 101-105.

3)      Farber, R. H., Clementz, B. A., & Swerdlow, N. R. (1997). Characteristics of open- and closed-loop smooth pursuit responses among obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and nonpsychiatric individuals. Psychophysiology, 34, 157-162.

 

Reading Pack 8: Lie Detection

1)      ***Grings, W., & Dawson, M. E. (1978). The detection of deception. In W. Grings & M. E. Dawson, Emotions and Bodily Responses: A Psychophysiological Approach, pp. 153-167. New York: Academic Press.

2)      Lykken, D. T. (1959). The GSR in the detection of guilt. Journal of Applied Psychology, 43, 385-388.

3)      Raskin, D. C., & Hare, R. D. (1978). Psychopathy and detection of deception in a prison population. Psychophysiology, 15, 126-136.

4)      Patrick, C. J., & Iacono, W. G. (1989). Psychopathy, threat, and polygraph test accuracy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 347-355.

 

 

***Not eligible for critique as this is a review.