This project will equip a computerized physiological psychology laboratory. The equipment will provide laboratory experiences for undergraduate students in physiological psychology by allowing them to learn human and non-human animal neuroscience methodology in a "hands-on" environment. It will allow the Psychology Department to incorporate laboratory demonstrations and exercises in the existing undergraduate physiological lecture course and to develop a research laboratory course in physiological psychology. Through a structured sequence of exercises, students in the laboratory course will become familiar with the research literature, learn how to design and conduct ethical research in the physiological area, and learn how to write professional reports about their research. The laboratory will also allow students the opportunity to conduct supervised independent research on physiological topics. Instruction in other courses in the psychology curriculum will be improved as faculty begin to take advantage of this opportunity to incorporate demonstrations of physiological phenomena in their courses, and by allowing development of physiological instructional materials designed for use in these courses. Faculty in Biology and Kinesiology will also begin to use this facility for improving undergraduate learning in their disciplines. The design of the laboratory also allows for production of video instructional material that may be disseminated to interested faculty at other institutions.
