Genetics for Individual Differences (P01592)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PPL-P-GID

The course will provide an advanced understanding of tools for understanding the relationships of genes, the environment, and behavioral phenotypes.
Students will learn about different research designs and related statistical methods. This will include coverage of the shortcomings of traditional research designs and how twin and family studies and related analyses techniques can be informative. Methods used to identify specific genes will also be covered.
Teaching is grounded in practical examples from prior research on the genetic bases of behavioral phenotypes such as language, general intelligence, personality, psychological disorders, and attitudes.

Finally, the course will include a project in which genetically informative data are analyzed with Mx, a freely available statistical package that is commonly used in behavioral genetic research.

? Keywords : genetics, Statistics, Modeling, Individual differences, Information processing, pharmacology, Epidemiology, Intelligence, Psychiatry

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Psychology, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1. Understand behavioral genetic research to the extent that they can read and understand papers in the field.
2. Critically evaluate papers in other areas for potential genetic confounds.
3. Conduct basic analyses of twins data using software packages such as Mx and Mplus.
4. Learn more advanced behavioral genetic analyses.