PSCH 352: Cognition and Memory

Transcription

1 PSCH 352: Cognition and Memory Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 Burnham Hall 304 CRN 33328/3 credit hours Instructor: Kate Brill-Schuetz, ABD Office: BSB 1021 Office hours: Tu/Th About the course Course objective This course will provide an introduction to the study of cognitive psychology. This semester, we will learn about what cognitive psychology is, what aspects of human behavior cognitive psychologists study, what methods are used to study cognition, and the theories that have been developed to explain human thinking. This class will go beyond merely memorizing facts. Rather, the goal is for you to understand and evaluate cognitive research and to understand how cognition plays a role in our everyday lives. By the end of the course, you will have an informed understanding of human cognition as it is studied and how it functions in the real world. You will also develop the skills and knowledge to be able to critique claims about cognitive psychology and further develop your ability to write an effective argument based on scientific evidence. Contacting the instructor The best way to contact me is via . Because you are taking a 300-level course, I expect you to write in a professional and respectful manner. Please use a formal salutation and avoid abbreviations. You should expect that your future employers would not accept an or other communication from you using informal language. Furthermore, office hours are intended to help you! If you have questions or concerns about the class material or would like to talk about the possibility of going to graduate school for psychology, please stop by during office hours or write me an .

2 Prerequisites In order to take this course you MUST have taken PSCH 100 Introduction to Psychology and PSCH 242 Introduction to Research in Psychology. There are NO exceptions. Required text Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience E. Bruce Goldstein Third Edition (2011) ISBN-10: ISBN-13: If you can, purchase the book used. I have seen this book on Half.com and also on Amazon.com. For this course, we will NOT be using CogLab so you do not have to buy the bundle that includes the CogLab manual, CogLab CD or CogLab access card or PIN number. You only need the textbook. But, if you do end up getting the bundle that includes CogLab, it is not considered a waste. The CogLab online activities can be useful as an additional resource to understand and see what cognitive experiments are like. If you do purchase the textbook online cheaper than what the UIC Bookstore charges, I strongly suggest that you spend a bit of that savings on faster shipping to ensure that you have the textbook in your hand before the course starts so you can keep up with the assigned readings.

3 Format The format of the course will consist of lectures, reading assignments and in-class and outsideof-class activities. There may be concepts that I will discuss in lecture that will not be covered by the book and vice versa. Course assessments will cover ALL course materials. Lectures will be PowerPoint-based and these files will be posted to Blackboard (blackboard.uic.edu) before the lecture is given. This is done in order to give you a general outline of the concepts that will be covered and so you do not have to spend the entire lecture writing notes thus preventing you from actively listening and thinking about the lecture. The PowerPoint files do not replace going to class. Rather, they merely establish main points around which the lectures are organized. All course information and materials will be posted to Blackboard. It is your responsibility to check Blackboard for class announcements and to download course materials. I will also be contacting you by to keep you updated if anything changes in the schedule, to remind you about assignments, or to answer questions we did not get around to in class. It is your responsibility to check your UIC on a regular basis for updates. Attendance Grading Attendance is not mandatory, however, one component of your grade is participation that will be assessed with short in-class quizzes. These quizzes will assess your understanding of the material presented in class that day. Completion of these quizzes (not correctness) will count towards 6% of your grade. If you cannot make class, you will not be penalized you have the ability to drop 5 of these quizzes and if none are dropped they will be extra credit. Write Letters to Grandma You will write three (3) one-page, double-spaced letters to your grandmother (or, grandfather, aunt, whomever) and explain to them in a non-technical way one of the concepts that we have covered in class in a manner that he or she will understand. First, you will describe the concept then you will describe how it plays a role in your everyday life. More detailed information about this assignment can be found on Blackboard, as well as a grading rubric. The maximum word count for these assignments will be 500 words. Problem Sets For every two chapters, you will complete a problem set on Blackboard. These problem sets will be problems that require you to apply the concepts and definitions from various chapters as we discuss them in lecture. Think of these sets as a study guide or preparation for the exam. Each must be completed by the due date and you will receive feedback/grading once the problem set closes so that you can monitor your own understanding of the material and better prepare for the critical analysis papers. You can work with classmates in order to answer these

4 problems. Each problem set (PS) will be worth 25 points and you will complete 3 sets of problems. Exams There will be two exams over the course of the semester and an optional final exam. Therefore, I will take the best two scores or if you miss an exam, you have the opportunity to make up that exam with another. You will have an in-class multiple choice exam as well and a take-home essay component. The MC exam will be standard format. The essay component will be posted to Blackboard and will be open for 5 days. In those 5 days, you should work on composing a thoughtful response to the question that is posed. You only need to use class materials (lecture, textbook, notes) you do not need any outside sources. You may discuss the question with classmates, however, you cannot submit the same essay as another student. Any evidence of copying from another student will result in a zero. These essays will be due on a day of or after the exam (see schedule) and should be submitted through SafeAssign on Blackboard. Each essay response will be limited to 2 pages (double-spaced, 12pt font) and if you do not submit 9pm on the due date, you will receive a zero. There will be no make-ups or late submissions for these. Your essay grade will be based on your logic, application of knowledge, and quality of writing. *Please note that the final exam will not contain an essay component and is merely a substitution for the in-class multiple-choice exam. Overall grades The grading system is simple: You earn points for every activity you participate in and the sum of your points at the end of the semester determines your final grade. The course as a whole is worth a total of 350 points. Table 1. The point values for the various course activities Activity Amount of points Total points Letter to Grandma 10 (x3) 30 Exams (MC) 50 (x3) 150 Take-home Exam 25 (x3) 75 Problem Sets 25 (x3) 75 Participation 1 20 Total 350 Table 2. The grading scale Score interval Grade A

5 B C D F These cutoffs are absolute, and therefore I will not change grades for any reason and your grade is solely based on your performance. There are NO exceptions to this rule. Doing so would not be fair to you or your classmates. I do not grade on a curve because doing so would put you and your classmates in competition with one another. I want this class to learn cooperatively, not competitively. Furthermore, you will know everything that is required of you in order to get the grade you would like; rubrics and explanations will be provided so that you can adequately prepare for upcoming assignments/assessments. Late assignments policy No late work is accepted. The due dates for all assignments are listed in the schedule so there is no exception to the late policy. If you have to submit an assignment late due to an emergency, then you must contact Kate immediately and provide appropriate documentation of the emergency.

6 Schedule of lectures/readings and assignments Note: All reading assignments are based on the Third Edition. Schedule subject to change. Week Date Topic Reading to do Assignments due 1 Jan 14 Intro to Cog Psy Ch. 1 1 Jan 16 Cognitive neuroscience Ch. 2 2 Jan 21 Perception Ch. 3 (p ) 2 Jan 23 Attention Ch. 4 (p ) 3 Jan 28 Short-term memory/ Working memory Ch. 5 (p ) 3 Jan 30 Long-term memory Ch. 5 (p , ) 4 Feb 4 LTM Ch. 6 4 Feb 6 LTM Ch. 7 5 Feb 11 Memory Errors Ch. 8 5 Feb 13 Finish LTM; Memory Review Letter to Grandma errors 6 Feb 18 Memory Lab PS1 6 Feb 20 Exam 1 7 Feb 25 Knowledge Ch. 9 (p , ) 7 Feb 27 Knowledge See above Exam essay due 8 Mar 4 Visual imagery Ch. 10 (p , ) 8 Mar 6 Visual imagery See above 9 Mar 11 Language Ch Mar 13 Language Ch. 11 Letter to Grandma 10 Mar 18 Bilingualism/SLA PS2 In-class activity 10 Mar 20 Exam 2 Exam essay due Mar 25 Spring Break Mar 27 Spring Break Have fun! Ch Apr 1 Problem solving

7 11 Apr 3 Deductive reasoning Ch. 13 (p ) 12 Apr 8 Inductive reasoning Ch. 13 (p ) 12 Apr 10 Decision making Ch. 13 (p , 384) 13 Apr 15 Intelligence Lecture notes only 13 Apr 17 Creativity Lecture notes only 14 Apr 22 Creativity and IQ Lab Review Letter to Grandma 14 Apr 24 Cognitive/developmental disorders Finals Week Lecture notes/supplemental readings Lecture notes 15 Apr 29 Review/wrap-up Prepare for exam PS3 15 May 1 Exam 3 Exam Essay due May 5 Final Exam Final grades (from Yay! You re done Kate) with 352

8 Other issues Academic dishonesty No form of cheating will be allowed in this course. If you are caught cheating on any assignment, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment and possibly the course and judicial charges may also be filed (see UIC Student Disciplinary Handbook for details). In this class, this mostly involves submitting work that is not completely your own. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism that includes copying the words of another student or any other author in your papers, copying short phrases from written work that you are using as a reference (even if you cite it properly), handing in work that you have handed in for another class, and handing in papers you have obtained from the internet or other students, etc. All assignments must be submitted to SafeAssign and it WILL detect any plagiarism that is present in your assignments so do your own work! Excused absences for emergencies, religious observances, or official University business If you experience a documented emergency (e.g., illness, injury, death in the family), that causes you to miss substantial class time (i.e., more than one class period), me immediately to work out a way to complete the course requirements. Please examine your schedule now for any official University business (such as athletic events) or formal religious observances that conflict with class periods or assignment due dates. As per university policy, you must notify me of these conflicts by the tenth (10 th ) day of the semester. Every effort will be made to accommodate these absences in a fair manner. Incompletes will not be given unless under extreme circumstances as laid out in the undergraduate catalog. Academic accommodations for students with disabilities Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course must be registered with the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Please contact ODS at (312) (voice) or (312) (TTY) and contact me during the first two weeks of class to discuss accommodations, which I am happy to make.