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BCSC 278: Syllabus

Spring 2025

Time

Monday & Wednesday, 10:25AM-11:40AM

Personnel

Instructor: David Dodell-Feder, Ph.D. (he/him)
Office: Meliora 453
Office Hours: Wednesday, 11:40AM-12:40PM

Meeting Outside of Class: I welcome, encourage, and enjoy opportunities to meet outside of class. Meeting with me provides an opportunity for us to connect, a chance for you to ask clarifying questions about content, explore what you may want to do after you graduate, and find support. You are welcome to stop by my office anytime or email me to set up a time to meet in person or via Zoom.

Course Description

Human beings are fundamentally social animals equipped with a brilliant piece of social machinery: the brain. Through the workings of this elegant electrical and biological machine we’re able to reason about other people’s unobservable thoughts, emotions, and intentions, make moral judgments, and communicate with others. How does the brain develop the ability to accomplish these tasks? What regions of the brain are involved and what computations do they perform? How is this neural machinery affected by the social environment and psychiatric illness? Only recently have we developed the tools to address these questions and others.

In this course, we will explore research in the field of social neuroscience towards understanding (a) how our brains allow us to navigate the social world and (b) how neuroscientific methods can help us adjudicate psychological theory. Social neuroscience is an inherently interdisciplinary field of study blending social psychology and cognitive neuroscience. As such, we will cover a range of topics including basic neuroanatomy, neuroscientific methods, and psychological theory. Class will involve a blend of lecture, discussion, debate, and other activities.

Course Objectives

  • Develop an understanding of basic neuroanatomy, neurobiology, and the methods of social neuroscience.
  • Develop an understanding of the functional neuroanatomy of social processes.
  • Develop an understanding of psychological processes through neuroscientific theories and methods.
  • Become an informed consumer of social neuroscience by developing the ability to critically evaluate original research in this field.

Guiding Principles

Inclusivity and Diversity

In describing the nature of scientific thinking, Cromer (1993) notes, “All non-scientific systems of thought accept intuition, or personal insight, as a valid source of ultimate knowledge… Science, on the other hand, is the rejection of this belief, and its replacement with the idea that knowledge of the external world can come only from objective investigation” (p. 21). Stated otherwise, science is objective. However, we live in a world where science is built upon a small number of privileged voices that reflect the very personal and biased intuitions and insights admonished by Cromer. The field of social neuroscience research is no different.

These considerations in mind, it is my goal to create a safe learning environment that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, and experiences, which, ultimately, is good for science. It is also my goal to create a learning environment that honors your identities as learners, which I see as a resource, strength, and benefit to the course. To help accomplish this goal:

  • I ask that you help me foster a respectful classroom environment in which classroom activities and discussion are conducted in a way that shows honor, respect, and dignity to all members of the class.
  • If you have a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official UR record, please let me know.
  • Whenever possible, I have included material throughout the course that incorporate diverse viewpoints from a diverse group of scientists. Note however, that in a single-semester course, it is impossible for us to cover all viewpoints on an issue and all research that bears on a particular question. I welcome and encourage the sharing of these other viewpoints and research during our discussions.
  • I am continually learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class by me or someone else that you made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it.

Student Wellness

We all encounter setbacks from time to time whether its due to our mental health, physical health, or something else. Your wellness is important to me. I am committed to creating and supporting a classroom community that is sensitive to the specific, unique, and unpredictable challenges we will each and all encounter this semester. To this end, if you encounter difficulties—whatever they may be— and need assistance, please reach out.

You can learn about wellness promotion resources at the UR Health Promotion website. If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis, please call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or contact Public Safety on-campus at 585-275-3333. Learn about other crisis services at the UR.

Course Assignments and Grading

#comment #question Assignments (20 points)

Being an informed consumer of the scientific literature involves thinking deeply about the science we read. Towards the goal of becoming an informed consumer of social neuroscience literature, you will critically analyze non-background research articles in social neuroscience and submit a comment and/or question (hereafter, #comment #question) about the readings for that class. Ten will be counted towards your grade; you can submit up to 12 and we will count your 10 highest scores. These are due 9:00AM the day of class and should be uploaded to the course website. Each #comment #question should take the form of a social media post that you might find on X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, Instagram, etc., consisting of up to 100 words max that may incorporate relevant hashtags, mentions, and/or images (you’ll be asked to include the word count when submitting the assignment so don’t go over!). Unlike real social media posts, make sure your #comment #question submissions are grammatically correct and respectful. Imagine as though you were tweeting your thoughts about the article to the scientific community or a question you would want to pose to the authors. These will be assigned a grade of 2, 1, or 0 according to the following criteria:

  • 2: Integrates multiple readings and concepts into a comment/question; connects the comment/question to other concepts/questions discussed in other portions of the course; demonstrates thoughtful consideration of the rationale behind the study, the hypotheses, the methods, and/or inferences drawn; draws implications relevant to public health, clinical practice, education, or policy; suggests a future direction for research; makes appropriate, relevant, and/or witty use of hashtags, mentions, and/or pictures; grammatically sound.
  • 1: Comment/question focuses on only one article (if there is more than 1 non-background article), is overly narrow in its focus, or discusses a non-specific, general issue related to research (e.g., small sample size); contains little original thought; not grammatically sound and/or respectful; makes solid points, but goes over the word count.
  • 0: Comment/question is specifically about the background article and does not article the non-background article; is plagiarized or is patently false/inaccurate based on information provided in the readings.

Because you can decide when to submit a #comment #question, and because they are not due every week, no late and/or make-up #comment #question assignments will be accepted. The most excellent comments and questions will be shared with the class during lecture towards generating discussion (which I will remember when assigning your final grade!). Try to have fun with this, folks!

Exams (80 points)

There will be a total of 3 exams which will consist of multiple-choice questions. All material—from lectures, from readings, etc.—is fair game. No-make up exams will be scheduled except for extenuating circumstances that can be confirmed with a University official or your physician. For each exam, you are permitted to bring with you one standard sheet of paper (8.5 x 11”) with as many hand-written or typed notes as you like. You will not be permitted to use electronic devices or any other notes. Failure to follow this policy will result in a score of 0 for that exam. Because we all have days where we’re unable to bring our “A” game, exams will be weighted according to your performance such that your best score will be given the highest weight, and your worst score will be given the lowest weight when calculating your final grade.

Additional Extra Credit

Students can earn extra credit in the course through two primary routes: (1) research participation through SONA (see the course website for more information) or (2) additional QALMRIs—narrative only—on new social neuroscience articles. To increase your grade by one grade step (e.g., B to B+), you must complete all 8 research credits or perform 8 QALMRIs on new social neuroscience articles not already covered in class and published between 2020-2025. Partial credit can be earned (i.e., 1 point = 1 research credits OR 1 QALMRI), but these points will be added to your lowest test grade, and not your final grade. Additional information regarding SONA can be found on the course website.

Grading Scale

  • A 93-100
  • A- 90-92
  • B+ 87-89
  • B 83-86
  • B- 80-82
  • C+ 77-79
  • C 73-76
  • C- 70-72
  • D+ 67-69
  • D 63-66
  • D- 60-62
  • E <60

Standard rounding rules will apply when generating your final grade.

If you have a question with your grade on an assignment, you will have exactly one week after your grade is posted to approach me with your question. Note that if you ask for something to be regraded, there is possibility that upon re-evaluation, you may actually lose points.

Course Policies

Course Materials and Blackboard

All course materials will be made available on the course website (Blackboard; learn.rochester.edu). Blackboard will also be used to upload all course assignments. There are no required texts; all readings will consist of electronically-available articles. Please see the course website for important resources related to writing and library services.

Attendance and Participation

Attendance will not be recorded, but it is strongly encouraged and may be necessary to thoroughly understand the issues covered in the course and to receive a good grade. The readings are meant to be illustrative of the work being done on that day’s topic, and are in no way exhaustive in terms of coverage of that day’s topic. As such, the readings will cover only a fraction of the material that I will cover in class. Further, my slides, which I will post the course website, are by no means exhaustive. All material, including things discussed in class that may not be in the readings or on your slides, is fair game for exams. There is simply no substitute for not coming to class, listening attentively, and taking notes. Plus, I’d like to see you! Participation is not a graded component of the course. However, our meetings will be highly interactive—we will engage in group discussions, debates, and other activities— and the more you participate, the more you’ll get out of the class.

Late Assignments and Missed Exams

No late assignments will be accepted, and there will be no alternative dates to take the exam. When absences can be anticipated (e.g., University sponsored activities, religious observations), you must inform me in advance, and with as much notice as possible to make alternative arrangements. For anticipated events, requests made after the due date will be denied. For unanticipated events, you should notify me as soon as possible. Accommodations for extensions due to extenuating circumstances will be made based on my discretion.

Communication

Any changes to the course schedule, reading list, or any other update will be communicated through Blackboard and email so check the course website and your email daily. When emailing me, please include, “PSYC 248” in your subject line. I will do my best to get back to you ASAP (usually within several hours), but make sure to time your communications appropriately (e.g., if you email me 30 min before an assignment is due, I can’t guarantee that I’ll get back to you in time).

Academic Honesty

All assignments and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy. More information is available at: www.rochester.edu/college/honesty. You are encouraged to discuss course readings and assignments with your fellow students. However, all written work (#comment #question assignments) must be done independently and not in collaboration with another unless otherwise noted.

Inclusion and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The University of Rochester, this course, and I are committed to inclusion, and welcome students of all backgrounds and abilities. Services and reasonable accommodations are available to students with temporary and permanent disabilities, to students with DACA or undocumented status, to students facing mental health issues, other personal situations, and to students with other kinds of learning needs. Please feel free to let me know if there are circumstances affecting your ability to participate in class or your full participation in this course. Some resources that might be of use include:

Credit Hour Policy

This course follows the College credit hour policy for four-credit courses. This course meets twice weekly for 2.5 academic hours per week. The course also includes out-of-class assignments for an average of 1.5 academic hours per week.