Thought Paper Topic: Seminar 2 on Tuesday 1 March

The topic for the first thought paper is as follows:

Briefly explain what Cosmides and Tooby (1997) mean when they claim that "our circuits weren't designed to solve just any old kind of problem[; they] were designed to solve adaptive problems."

A thought paper should be a brief, focussed one (max. two) page response to the question or topic posed each week. It should preferably be typed, and will be collected at the start of the relevant seminar.

Handing in thought papers, and the quality of the thought papers, contributes towards the 5% portion of your overall mark relating to thought papers, preparation and participation.

Readings for Seminar 3 - Tuesday 8 March

In Seminar 3, we will be examining sex and evolved sexual strategies from the point of view of Evolutionary Psychology (EP).

The four readings for Seminar 3 is as follows:

1. Buss (1989) from Behavioral and Brain Sciences. The article can be accessed by following the link below:

http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Group/BussLAB/pdffiles/SexDifferencesinHuman.PDF

2. Buller (2005) Chapter 5

3. Fausto-Sterling (2000) Beyond Difference - reading will be provided in class.

4. Schmitt et al. (2001) The Effects of Sex and Temporal Context on Feelings of Romantic Desire. This article can be accessed via the eJournal portal by following the link below:

http://0-psp.sagepub.com.innopac.wits.ac.za/content/27/7/833.full.pdf+html

Readings - Seminar 2 on Tuesday 1 March

Our second seminar will be the first of three to focus on Evolutionary Psychology (EP).

The reading for Seminar 2 is as follows:

1. Cosmides & Tooby (1997) - Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer
You should read up to the section heading 'Reasoning Instincts: An Example'

The primer can be accessed at the following address:
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/primer.html

2. The Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2 from Buller (2005) Adapting Minds


It is recommended that you read Chapter 3 from Buller (2005) at some point during the EP part of the course.

Readings - Seminar 1 on Tuesday 22 February

Readings for our first seminar are now available. One reading - a chapter from Hergenhahn (1997) - is available for collection from the Main Office (U211). Please ask for one of the readings from the box labelled 'Mind, Brain and Behaviour'.

Our second reading (apologies for prescribing something written by me) is Pitman (2002), and can be downloaded by following the link below:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1CW4LT2aWMtNDc5MjQ1ZTEtODNjMi00NGM4LTg3MzYtMWVhMDhmZWZlMDRj&hl=en

The third reading is Miresco and Kirmayer (2006), which you should be able to connect to by following the link below:
http://0-ajp.psychiatryonline.org.innopac.wits.ac.za/cgi/reprint/163/5/913

Unless you are on the Wits network, this link should take you via the Library login page, for which you will require your Library PIN. If you have any difficulty obtaining the article via this link, please search for the article via the Library eJournal Portal, using the reference below:

Miresco, M.J. & Kirmayer, L.J. (2006). The Persistence of Mind-Brain Dualism in Psychiatric Reasoning About Clinical Scenarios. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 913-918.

Additional Prescribed Text - Evolutionary Psychology

After many years of searching for a text to use in the Evolutionary Psychology part of the course, Mike and I have finally found one:

Source: Amazon.com

I have sent out an email with the details and various buying options. If you did not receive that email, please check the email address you submitted with your Honours application last year.

Otherwise, send me an email (michael.pitman@wits.ac.za) from your preferred email address for the year, and I'll both forward you the book and buying details, and add your address to the distribution list.

I specifically don't have an address for:

Chiba	Urvashi
Kruger	Charmaine
Padi	Tidimalo Dorah

This book will be used for Seminar 2-4 (as well as later in the course), so needs to be ordered soon.

There are copies in the Library - Michael P currently has one, and the other one is being placed on Overnight Loan.

Prescribed Books for Mind, Brain and Behaviour 2011

The prescribed books for Mind, Brain and Behaviour in 2011 are as follows:

Damasio, Antonio (1994). Descartes’ Error. London: Vintage or New York: Penguin*

Deacon, Terence (1997). The Symbolic Species. New York: Norton

Searle, John (1997). The Mystery of Consciousness. New York: New York Review of Books.

(*Available in electronic formats, such as Kindle Editions, ePub and PDF)

It is probably easiest and cheapest to order the books online now (i.e. January/ early February) so that they arrive in time for use a little later in the course. The first book we need is the Damasio text - we'll need to read chapters in preparation for seminar 5 on 22 March. So that leaves plenty of time if you order the books now.

My personal recommendation for purchasing the books is www.take2.co.za. Delivery is by courier to your door at a flat rate of R35. As of Tuesday 18 January, all three books together plus delivery will come to about R380. Follow the links below to see the prices and availability of each text on Take2:

http://www.take2.co.za/books-the-mystery-of-consciousness-paperback-732372.html

http://www.take2.co.za/books-descartes-error-paperback-1601118.html

http://www.take2.co.za/books-the-symbolic-species-paperback-759673.html

Introduction & Overview

Welcome to the Mind, Brain & Behaviour 2011 website.

This module explores a range of contemporary theories and debates at the intersection between psychology, philosophy and interdisciplinary neuroscience, within the broader context of exploring and debating the nature of the mind-brain relationship, and the future of a more neuroscientific psychology. Topics of interest have typically included various contemporary perspectives on consciousness, reasoning, emotion, pathology, embodiment, language, and evolution. The continued contribution of psychology to our understanding of the mind-brain is critically interrogated.


This module sets out to integrate a more theoretical and philosophical interest in the mind and brain with a grounding in contemporary interdisciplinary neuroscience. Theorists from a range of disciplines and backgrounds are increasingly putting forward 'grand theories' to account for the nature and evolution of consciousness, emotion, language, and other human features and capacities. Such theories and their underlying claims about the nature of the mind, the mind-brain complex, human evolution, and human development, all make for fascinating and challenging targets of exploration and critique. This module is important and highly relevant in a context where psychology is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary and integrated with other brain sciences.

The module is especially recommended for those with an interest in cognition, consciousness, language, neuropsychology, neuroscience, evolution and evolutionary psychology, and theoretical and philosophical issues in psychology.

The course will be taught in Term 1 of 2011.

Further details about the content of the course in 2011 will be forthcoming in January.

For an idea of some of the content, readings and thought paper topics for previous editions of the course, please feel free to visit the blog site from last year's course at:
http://mindbrainbehaviour2010.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to email Michael Pitman and Michael Greyling if you have any further questions about the course (subject to leave and availability over the December/January holiday season).