Psychology 2135A-001

Cognitive Psychology

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

An introduction to empirical, computational, and theoretical approaches to the study of human cognitive processes. The topics surveyed will include: perception, attention, memory, concepts, language and problem-solving. The course will show how these diverse psychological processes are related to and influence one another.

Anti-requisites: Psychology 2010A/B, 2180E

Anti-requisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an anti-requisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

Prerequisite: At least 60% in a 1000 level Psychology course
4 lecture hours, 0.5 course

Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. Patrick Brown
Office and Phone Number: SSC 7328 / ext. 84680
Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30 – 3:30
Email: brown5@uwo.ca

Teaching Assistant: Nicholas Anderegg
Office:  BA Office Hours:  TBA
Email: nandereg@uwo.ca

Time and Location of Lectures: Tuesday & Thursday, 3:30 – 5:30 / UCC 56

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.  You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Reed, S.K. (2013). Cognition Theories and Applications, 9th Edition. (ISBN: 1-111-83454-7). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth (required).

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The main goal for this course is to help the student begin to think like a cognitive psychologist. This entails learning about the issues that cognitive psychologists are interested in as well as the methods they use to ask questions and test theories. Much of what we study involves processes
that appear on introspection to be trivial – e.g., how difficult is it to retrieve from memory your best
friend’s name? To counter that appearance, we’ll begin by reviewing the history of ideas about cognition to show that understanding of how the mind produces behavior – even to the extent that we currently do so – is the outcome of many centuries of exploration.

Students should note that lectures are complements for text chapters, not substitutes. Some material appearing in the text will not be covered in lectures. Equally, some material covered in lectures will not be found in the text.

5.0     EVALUATION


Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%    1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):

A+    90-100    One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail

Grades in this course will be based on 3 multiple-choice exams: 2 midterms and a final exam. The first midterm will be worth 25% of the final grade. The second midterm will be worth 35%. The final exam will be worth 40%. All material covered in the course is fair game for an exam question,
 
whether presented in class or assigned as a reading in the text. Lectures will generally include material not in the text, and may not cover some material in the text.


6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Midterm #1    Thursday October 8 (in class) Midterm #2    Thursday November 12 (in class)
Final exam    Scheduled by Registrar’s office – during mid-year exam period (December 11–22)

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Class    Date    Topic    Reed chapter

1    Sept 10    Introduction    
2    Sept 15    Origins of Cognitive Psychology    1
3    Sept 17    Pattern recognition    2
4    Sept 22    Attention    3
5    Sept 24    Attention    3
6    Sept 29    Short-term memory    4
7    Oct 1    Short-term memory    4
8    Oct 6    Long-term memory    5*

9    Oct 8    MIDTERM #1 – Chapters 1 – 4 & lectures for classes 1 – 7

10    Oct 13    Long-term memory    5
11    Oct 15    Memory codes    6
12    Oct 20    Memory codes    6
13    Oct 22    Visual images    7
14    Oct 27    Categorization    8
15    Oct 29    FALL STUDY BREAK – no lecture    
16    Nov 3    Categorization    8
17    Nov 5    Semantic organization    9
18    Nov 12    Language – basic concepts    10**

19    Nov 12 MIDTERM #2 – Chapters 5 – 9 & lectures for classes 8, 10 – 17

20    Nov 17    Language    10
21    Nov 19    Comprehension    11
22    Nov 24    Comprehension    11
23    Nov 26    Problem solving    12
24    Dec 1    Expertise and creativity    13
25    Dec 3    Decision making    14
26    Dec 8    Decision making    14

Final exam – Scheduled by Registrar’s Office for a time during mid-year exam period, December 11–
22. Chapters 10 – 14 & lectures for classes 18 – 26
*Chapter 5 and the corresponding lectures will be tested on Midterm #2
**Chapter 10 and the corresponding lectures will be tested on the Final Exam

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences

- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.