Skip to main content

ME Core Syllabus Fall 2020

Core Syllabus for Dr. Tomie’s

Motivation and Emotion (830:364:01) course

Fall 2020

 

http://sites.rutgers.edu/arthur-tomie/me-core-syllabus/

 

 

 

To My Students:

 

This Core Syllabus contains information relevant to all my Motivation and Emotion (830:364) courses.  Detailed information pertaining to specific Motivation and Emotion courses, including textbooks, office hours, reading assignments, and exam schedules, are described in the Course Syllabus for Motivation and Emotion provided each semester.  The purpose of this Core Syllabus is to inform students of the general goals of my Motivation and Emotion course, which may vary in specific content from semester to semester.

 

Dr. Tomie

 

 

 

 

Learning Goals:  The goals of this course are to improve your understanding of:

 

  • How is the motivation to perform an action, for example, taking a drug, connected to the emotional experience that is induced by the drug?

 

  • What is pleasure? What is the function of pleasure?  What is the survival value of pleasure?

 

  • What causes automatic, unintended, involuntary, reflexive drug-taking to develop? How is loss of self-control of drug-taking related to drug addiction?

 

  • Why do addicts complain that they were blindsided by addiction?

 

  • How are pre-existing states of depression, anxiety, and feelings of being stressed-out contribute to self-medication, which, in turn, leads to drug addiction?

 

  • Why are neuroscientists saying that “Addiction is a brain disease?”.

 

 

Overview of the Course:  The title of this course is Motivation and Emotion.  This course will introduce you to the scientific study of emotions and how emotions contribute to the expression of motivated goal-directed behaviors.  We will emphasize two recurring themes during the semester.  Neuroscientists believe that your emotions are derived from brain states … that neurobiological events determine our moment-to-moment state of awareness of how we feel.  For example, psychoactive drugs influence the activity of neurobiological substrates which coincide with changes in how we feel. Clearly, drug-induced changes in neurobiological events produce profound changes in our subjective emotional experiences, resulting in dramatic changes in the expression of our motivation to perform goal-directed activities.

 

Also, in this course, we will examine closely the process of becoming addicted.  This is a fascinating topic because no one sets out to become a drug addict; nevertheless, we are facing a full-blown out-of-control epidemic of drug addiction and drug overdose deaths.  Obviously, merely intending to not become addicted is not enough to steer the drug user clear of falling into addiction.

 

Drug addiction is an ideal vehicle to investigate the topics of motivation and emotion.  And this is because the drug user’s motivational goals and emotional states change dramatically during the process of becoming addicted.  It is particularly perplexing that addicts believe they can quit drugs anytime, even though they confess that they find themselves taking the drug even while trying to resist.  Then, after they have tried to quit for failed, they claim they were blind-sided.  They ask, “How did this happen to me?”  We are left to ask ourselves, “Why are addicts blind to their loss of self-control of their drug use, and what role does this play in their becoming addicted.

 

For lecture content, I use PowerPoint slides (posted at Sakai) and video materials uploaded through Kaltura (screen capture) and Zoom (video conferencing).  I chunk lecture materials into 20-30 min segments.  About halfway through the lecture period, we will break into Groups to work on project assignments, or to use Chat to review lecture materials, ask questions, request additional commentary on topics, etc.

 

Diversity:  I view the diversity that students bring to this class as a resource, strength, and asset.   In group situations, including Chat and online discussions and polls, students enrich the course by sharing their perspectives, particularly on intrinsically emotion-laden topics such as drug addiction and clinical depression, which we will cover this semester.  All students should, at all times, be respectful of the views of others.  This is, after all, a course on emotion, including how to adjust your emotional behavior to maximize the possibility of meaningful interactions with others, especially those who may be coming from a different point of view.

 

Attendance:  This is a Synchronous Remote Learning course, meaning there will be no in-class face-to-face lectures or in-class exams.  All lectures and exams will be given remotely, online, during the scheduled class period, MW 2:50-4:10 PM.  I will try to record each lecture and then post my videotaped lecture online about an hour after each class, at approximately 5 PM on each Monday and Wednesday.  You should attend every class.  Miss class at your peril.  I take no responsibility for any technical glitches that may serve to ruin or otherwise make unavailable the recorded videos. If you have a question about material covered in lecture, my preferred model of contact is via e-mail (tomie@psych.rutgers.edu).  Or, you can arrange to see me, preferably via ZOOM, during my regularly scheduled office hours (Wednesdays, 1:00 – 2:00 PM), or if you cannot make my office hours, then by arranging an appointment at another time.

 

 

Grading:  Your course grade will be based on your exam performance plus possible extra credit for contributing to group projects.  During the semester, there will be 4 exams.  Exam #1, #2, and #3 will be posted at Sakai at 2:50 PM on the day of the scheduled exam and will be available until 4:10 PM.  Each of the 4 exams will consist of 30 multiple choice questions.  All 4 exams will be open book, open notes.  All 4 exams will be administered, timed and graded through Sakai.  The Online Hourly exam will be given in accordance with the University’s Final Exam Schedule (TBD).  In determining your final course grade:

 

If your point total (sum of all exam scores plus extra credit) is 108 (or higher), then your average score is at least 108/120 = 90%, which is an “A”.

 

If your point total is 102-107, then your average score is 85%-89%, which is a “B+”.

 

If your point total is 96-101, then your average score is 80% – 84%, which is a “B”.

 

If your point total is 90- 95, then your average score is 75%-79%, which is a “C+”.

 

If your point total is 84- 89, then your average score is 70% – 74%, which is a “C”.

 

If your point total is 72- 83, then your average score is 60% – 69%, which is a “D”.

 

If your point total is 71 or lower, then your average score is 59% or lower, which is an “F”.

 

 

Absence from an Exam:  If you miss an exam, meaning you do not submit your exam within 24 hours of the time the exam is first made available to you, then you must contact me immediately via e-mail (tomie@psych.rutgers.edu).

 

 

Academic Integrity: 

 

Academic Integrity Violations include: cheating, fabrication, denying others access to information or material, and facilitating violations of academic integrity. You are expected to abide by the code of conduct pertaining to academic integrity.  I will not allow cheating on examinations, and I take special precautions to reduce the opportunity for cheating, while increasing the likelihood of successful prosecution of offenders.  I will vigorously enforce the University’s regulations on academic integrity.  The University’s regulations are appropriately strict, and if you plan to cheat, you should first read the regulations and potential consequences:

 

http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml