SYLLABUS Cognitive Psychology 0422 Fall 2016 Monday and Wednesday 3:00pm 4:15pm David Lawrence Hall 120 INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Instructor: Timothy J. Nokes-Malach, PhD Office: 713 LRDC E-mail: nokes@pitt.edu Office phone: 412-624-7789 Office Hours: Tues. 2:00pm-3:00pm & Wed. 1:30pm-2:30pm, Graduate TA: Ruizhe Liu Office: 560 LRDC Email: rul23@pitt.edu Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 10:00am-11:00am, Undergraduate TA: Chi Bui Email: cyb8@pitt.edu Office Hours: Fri. 11:00am-1:00pm, Undergraduate TA: Alessandra Karam Email: amk215@pitt.edu Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 1:00pm-2:00pm, Undergraduate TA: Christina Fasolas Email: csf18@pitt.edu Office Hours: Mon. 12:30pm-1:30pm, Fri. 1:30pm-2:30pm, Undergraduate TA: Victoria Scott Email: vms26@pitt.edu Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 11:30am-12:30pm, CLASS INFORMATION Course Prerequisite: Psy0010 or 0012 Required Text: Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications, 8 th Edition by John R. Anderson; Readings posted on blackboard WWW: http://courseweb.pitt.edu/ Text on reserve in Hillman Library COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course will introduce core issues, theories, and experimental findings in cognitive psychology. Topics to be covered include perception, attention, memory, imagery, language, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and expertise. The format will include lecture, class activities, and in-class discussion. The goal of the course is for you to develop a deep understanding of cognitive theories, concepts, and their applications. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Material covered: Lectures will largely coincide with topics covered in the text and readings. However, there will be material in the lectures not covered in the text and readings, and vice-versa. The readings provide the foundation for the lectures and you are expected to complete the readings before we cover those topics in lecture (see the tentative schedule below). Lecture outlines will be posted approximately 12 hours before class. Outlines give an overview of what will be covered that day. Lecture slides will be posted after class. All pdf documents posted on course web (e.g., outlines and slides) are best viewed when downloaded from courseweb and opened in a pdf reader application such as Adobe. The exams will primarily test your knowledge and understanding of the material covered in the lectures, but there may be a few questions related to material found only in the text and readings. In the exams you will be Cognitive Psychology 422 1
asked to interpret novel experiments and apply your knowledge to real world situations, based upon your understanding of the key concepts and experiments presented in the lectures; mere memorization of the "facts" presented in the course will not be sufficient to receive a high grade. Class activities: inquiry tasks, demonstrations, surveys, and end of lecture quizzes. Every class will have some set of individual and/or group inquiry tasks, demonstrations, or surveys, as well as an end of lecture quiz designed to increase your learning of the core concepts and ideas explored in the class. These activities are created to facilitate the acquisition of robust knowledge, increase long-term retention, transfer, and preparation for future learning. By participating in these activities you will earn credit towards the classroom activity grade. Each class period (besides exam days) will have an in-class activity handout that you will use to record your participation and then turn in at the end of class to receive credit. A few activities you will be asked to complete outside of class. Each activity is graded on a satisfactory / non-satisfactory basis. Activity sheets are available for the first 10 minutes of class. I encourage you to come to class even if you will be more than 10 minutes late; however, you will not be able to pick up an activity sheet and thus will not receive the point for that day. You can earn up to 28 total points (one for each non-exam class period and three additional homework activities). Your activity grade will be determined out of 26 (i.e., you can miss two activities and still receive 100% on the activity grade, after that your grade starts decreasing with the number of activities that you miss). There are no makeup activities if you miss a class*. * Except in cases of conflict with religious observances. Please contact us in the first week of class to notify us of any such conflicts. On-line quizzes and pre-lecture. There will be 8 on-line quizzes to complete. Each quiz will consist of the three parts. In the first part you will be asked 4 multiple choice questions about some main concept, result, or finding from the previous lectures. In part 2 you will watch a short 5-7 minute pre-lecture video introducing some of central ideas and approaches for the next topic. In part 3 you will be asked 3 multiple choice questions about the prelecture video you just watched. To perform well on these quizzes you will need to make sure to study and understand the previous lecture material. Your goal is to get each question correct on the first attempt. If you get a question incorrect you will get a second chance for that question. Quizzes will be completed in Qualtrics. Fortyeight hours before the quiz is due you will receive an email to begin the quiz. Do NOT click on the link until you are READY to take the quiz. Quizzes should take approximately 15-20 minutes with appropriate preparation. Exams: There will be 3 in-class exams. These exams will consist of multiple-choice questions. Each in-class exam will cover the materials since the previous exam. Makeup exams will only be given if there is an emergency (death of immediate family member, serious illness) and with documentation. Crib notes (aka, the cheat sheet): For each exam you will be allowed to bring a class issued note card (3 x 5) with your handwritten notes on one side. We will issue the card in the class before the exam. You will have only a limited amount of space so choose wisely when putting the information on your card. If you forget or lose your card the day of the exam you have to take the exam without it. Cards will be approved by student helpers upon walking into the class. The cards must be turned in with the exam. No magnifying glasses. (Further rules will be discussed before each exam). EXPECTATIONS: What you can expect from me: I take teaching seriously and devote a significant amount of time to teaching this course. You can expect me to foster a climate conducive to learning and intellectual growth. I encourage you to see me if you would like to talk about the course material, study strategies, or anything else related to the course. What I expect from you: I expect you to take primary responsibility for your own learning and adopt a constructive approach to learning the material in the course. This means I expect you to come to class on time and be prepared to participate actively and productively. You are encouraged to ask questions in class, answer questions that I pose during lectures, and offer your own perspective and insight. I expect you to help me set a productive tone for class by working hard and showing respect for other students. I also expect you to turn off/silence your cell phones (no texting), keep conversations with other students limited to before or after class, and file away other work or reading materials. I also expect you to monitor your overall learning and performance in the course (I will give feedback, Cognitive Psychology 422 2
e.g., with quizzes) and see me if you feel like you are falling behind. Ultimately, you are responsible for your grades. GRADING: Your overall grade will be based on the following: Class activities 10% On-line quizzes 15% In-class exams 75% (each exam weighted equally) Final grades in the course will be computed as indicated in the table on the right. There is no rounding. Grade Mean % A+ > 96.6% A > 93.3% A- > 90.0% B+ > 86.6% B > 83.3% B- > 80.0% C+ > 76.6% C > 73.3% C- > 70.0% D+ > 66.6% D > 63.3% D- > 60.0% ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Policy on make-ups: Missed in-class exams will be given 0. If there is a documented medical illness or family emergency, special arrangements may be made. Policy on cheating and plagiarism: Students who cheat or plagiarize will receive a failing grade for the course. Students suspected of cheating may be asked to answer additional questions or to re-take all or part of an exam. The final grade for an exam may be based on this additional testing. Statement on Classroom Recording: To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures, discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student s own private use. Disability policy: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 140 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890 / (412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and will determine reasonable accommodations for this course. CLASS SCHEDULE (tentative) Dates Reading Assignments Topics, Activities, and Due Dates Mon., 8/29 Introduction to the class Activities: intro demonstrations Wed., 8/31 Chapter 1 History and Foundations Activities: introspectionism demo; Mon. 9/5 NO CLASS Labor Day Approaches and Methods Wed., 9/7 Chapter 1 Activities: experiments HW 1 DUE by 2:30pm Perception Mon., 9/12 Chapter 2 Activities: demos illusions; feature model Quiz 1 due by 2:30pm Wed., 9/14 Chapter 2 Perception Activities: demos RBC; context effects Attention Mon., 9/19 Chapters 3 Activities: demos sensory store Quiz 2 due by 2:30pm Wed., 9/21 Chapter 3 Attention Cognitive Psychology 422 3
Activities: demos - type of search and applications Mon., 9/26 REVIEW Chapters 1-3 Attention and brief review Wed., 9/28 EXAM 1: Chapters 1 3 Mon., 10/03 Chapter 4 Visual imagery Activities: demos mental rotation Memory: STM / WM Wed., 10/05 Chapter 6 Activities: demos free recall, duration, capacity Quiz 3 due by 2:30pm Mon., 10/10 Chapter 6 Memory: STM / WM Activities: demos chunking, phonological loop Memory: LTM Wed., 10/12 Chapter 7 Activities: demos elaboration Quiz 4 due by 2:30pm Tues*., 10/18 Chapter 7 Memory: LTM Activities: demos encoding/retrieval interactions Chapter 5 Memory: Schemas, types of memory Wed., 10/19 (pp.97-106; 112-114) Activities: demos schemas Chapter 7 Quiz 5 due by 2:30pm Chapter 5 Memory: Schemas, types of memory Mon., 10/24 (pp.97-106; 112-114) Chapter 7 Activities: demos schemas; applications Wed., 10/26 REVIEW Chapters 4-7 Types of memory and brief review Mon., 10/31 EXAM 2: Chapters 4-7 Wed., 11/02 Chapters 12 and 13 Mon., 11/07 Chapters 12 and 13 Wed., 11/09 Mon., 11/14 Wed., 11/16 Chapter 8 Mon., 11/21 Chapter 8 Wed., 11/23 Reading - Chapter on Concepts posted on courseweb Reading - Chapter on Concepts posted on courseweb NO CLASS Thanksgiving Mon., 11/28 Chapter 9 Language Activities: demos memory effects on production; speech errors Language Activities: demos segmentation; ambiguity predictions Concepts Activities: demos typicality; exemplar view; theory view Quiz 6 due by 2:30pm Concepts 2 Activities: demos theory view; basic level; conceptual organizations Problem solving Activities: problem representation Quiz 7 due by 2:30pm Problem solving 2 Activities: demos analogy Expertise Activities: demos memory Quiz 8 due by 2:30 Wed., 11/30 Chapter 9 Expertise bridging to Creativity Activities: demos creativity Cognitive Psychology 422 4
Wed., 12/05 Creativity and brief review Chapters 8, 9, concepts chapter, 12, 13 Homework Activity DUE, 2:30pm Wed., 12/07 EXAM 3: Chapters 8, 9, concepts chapter, 12, 13 Cognitive Psychology 422 5