Courses

Jeremy Caplan's teaching for 2023/2024:


Winter, 2024, PSYCH 375: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience

(open to people from all departments)

Description: Brain basis of human cognition studied using a diverse range of techniques, with a focus on measures of brain activity such as functional neuroimaging and electrophysiology and on experimental findings in neurologically intact participants.

Format: This course involves group work, oral presentations and written assignments, as well as a heavy emphasis on graphs, statistics, original research-journal articles, a deep understanding of experimental design, and in-class quizzes. In addition to some lectures given by the instructor, a substantial portion of the content will be contributed by the students through oral presentations conducted in small groups. There will also be a final paper writing a formal research proposal for a high-quality, original experiment in the area.

Pre-requisites: Knowledge of cognitive psychology and basic neuroscience (neuroanatomy, action potentials, Nernst Equation, synaptic transmission, etc.) and skill and comfort reading and critiquing original research articles. Have a look at recent articles in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and try out this self-quiz to assess your preparedness for this course or identify areas to read up on (if most of these are not "easy," the course will be more challenging than necessary):

  • Sketch a graph (fully labelled) of your favourite experimental result from cognitive psychology, and explain how the plot supports the researchers' conclusions.
  • Explain what a hypothesis is, and how it differs from a topic, an expectation or a research question.
  • Draw an action potential and explain how it is generated
  • What is voltage and why is there a voltage difference between the inside and outside of a neuron?
  • What does a t test actually test?
  • When do you need to use an ANOVA?
  • What is a Pearson correlation? What does it mean if a correlation is positive, zero or negative?
  • What is a p value and how does it relate to false positives and false negatives?
  • What is the difference between these units: V, mV and uV? s and ms? ms and mS?





Winter, 2024, PSYCH 403 B1 and 505: Replication Crisis

(open to people from all departments)

Description: The Replication Crisis is a hot-button term that has gotten some people riled up and other people defensive. It has been used to hold people to account and to dismiss swaths of research. The goal of this seminar is to have thoughtful, considered discussions based on readings from multiple perspectives to develop a balanced view of the various phenomena the term evokes. This includes file-drawer problems, selective reporting, publication bias, replication attempts, pre-registration and data-sharing, as well as social and cultural factors that inform these topics. We will discuss the statistics and mathematical methods for identifying publication bias in a field. If all goes well, we will end up with a nuanced understanding of both real and exaggerated problems and a repertoire of practices we can draw upon and adapt to our own research values and style.

Format: We will read articles and discuss them, led by students. A term project includes oral presentations and a final short paper based on a related practical activity.

Pre-requisites: Because the course is about research, *** experience conducting research and collecting data is required *** (but any topic or field of research is fine). Otherwise the concepts are way too abstract and needlessly difficult. Graduate students, honours students and people doing research via independent studies in any department are enthusiastically welcomed. Have a look at the articles on the reading list and try out this self-quiz to assess your preparedness for this course or identify areas to read up on:

  • What does a t test actually test?
  • When do you need to use an ANOVA?
  • What is a Pearson correlation? What does it mean if a correlation is positive, zero or negative?
  • What is a p value and how does it relate to false positives and false negatives?
  • What is a Bayes Factor?
  • Sketch and explain your favourite result experimental psychology result
  • What do EEG and fMRI measure? How does that relate to neuronal activity?
  • What are the spatial and temporal resolution of EEG and fMRI?
  • What is the difference between MRI and fMRI?
  • What is an ERP, and how does that relate to EEG?
  • Sketch your favourite EEG or fMRI result, and explain what we learn from it









Check out the Alberta Cognitive Neuroscience group