PSYC 401 Behavioral Systems

This course engages students directly in the empirical study of evolved, functionally integrated behavioral systems, using rats as a model mammalian species that shares with humans omnivory and sociality and their neural mechanisms. Modules will focus on such topics as eating, defensive behavior, locomotion, and exploration and their modulation by associative learning and emotion. Key emphases are: theorizing constructs in an ecologically valid way; inferring neurohormonal processes from behavior; measurement theory (quantitative relationships between constructs and data); experimental design; and the humane care and use of laboratory rodents.