2022-2023 Yavapai College Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Yavapai College Catalog [PREVIOUS CATALOG YEAR]

AJS 278 - Neuroscience and the Law


Description: A multi-disciplinary look at how new discoveries in neuroscience and our understanding of the brain are having a direct impact on the criminal justice system.

Credits: 3
Lecture: 3
Course Content:
  1. Existence of free will 
  2. Neuroscience of decision-making 
  3. Punishment, blameworthiness and rehabilitation 
  4. Adolescent brains and juvenile justice 
  5. Mental Illness/insanity defense 
  6. Memory and eyewitness identification 
     

Learning Outcomes:
  1. Discuss the key neuroscience and consciousness theories concerning whether humans have free will. (1) 
  2. Discuss the implications of brain scans on our understanding of decision-making. (2) 
  3. Evaluate different theories of punishment and rehabilitation in light of latest neurological findings. (3) 
  4. Explain the differences in adult and adolescent brains and the effects on juvenile justice. (4) 
  5. Discuss the implications of latest neurological findings on legal concepts of mental illness and insanity. (5) 
  6. Discuss the implications of latest neurological findings on memory and their impact on eyewitness identification. (6)