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Psychology 3185G 001

Research in 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.

 

WESTERN UNIVERSITY

LONDON               CANADA

Department of Psychology

2022-2023

 

Psychology 3185G Section 001

Research in Cognitive Psychology

(Revised Dec 2022)

 

• CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

 

Cognitive theorists face a unique problem: the understanding of mental structures and processes that are not directly observable. A variety of methods used to address this problem will be surveyed, by introducing research questions of enduring interest. Students will be expected to use the techniques learned. Cognitive domains to be examined include attention, memory, problem-solving, and thinking. Extra Information: 2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours. 

 

Prerequisite(s):Psychology 2800E, Psychology 2810 and one of Psychology 2115A/B, Psychology 2134A/B, or Psychology 2135A/B, Psychology 2220A/B, Psychology 2221A/B, or Neuroscience 2000 plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology, or Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience or Honours Specialization in Neuroscience. Third or fourth year Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810), plus 60% or higher in one of Psychology 2115A/B, Psychology 2134A/B, Psychology 2135A/B, Psychology 2220A/B, Psychology 2221A/B, or Neuroscience 2000 also may enrol in this course. 

https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/academics/timetables.html

 

2.0  COURSE INFORMATION

 

Instructor: Dr. Roberto Limongi                                     

Office and Phone Number:  Robarts Research Institute 1232C

Office Hours: Online (via Zoom) by appointment on OWL            

Email: rlimongi@uwo.ca                                                           

 

Teaching Assistant: TBA

Office: TBA

Office Hours: TBA

Email:   TBA     

 

Time and Location of Classes: SH-3305 Monday and Wednesday (4:30 pm – 6:30 pm).

Delivery Method: In person.

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

 

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 contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca  or 519-661-2147.

 

3.0  TEXTBOOK AND SOFTWARE

 

There is no textbook for this course. Reading materials will consist of research articles/tutorials as specified in the Class Schedule. For laboratory sessions and assignments, we will use three software:

1. PsychoPy Home — PsychoPy®
2. HDDD GitHub - hddm-devs/hddm: HDDM is a python module that implements Hierarchical Bayesian parameter estimation of Drift Diffusion Models (via PyMC).
3. BEESTS OSF | BEESTS

 

For laboratory sessions, you are supposed to bring your own electronic device (e.g., laptop) that allows to run the specified software. Alternatively, you can team up with a classmate (no more than two students per team). Download, system requirements, and installation instructions are available on the software website and on OWL. Note that it is your responsibility that your electronic device meets the installation requirements of the software. All software must be installed and tested by the first laboratory session of the course. Installation and testing guidelines are available on OWL.

 

 

4.0  COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

Course objective. The objective of this course is to provide students with a set of basic skills and operational knowledge to understand and implement the core experimental paradigms and computational models of cognitive processes currently used in cognitive-psychology research. Any experimental research project in cognitive psychology comprises (1) an experimental task, usually run via human-computer interactions (e.g., a subject performing a task on a laptop) aiming to elicit some behaviour of interest and (2) a set of either theoretical concepts or computational models to infer the unobserved cognitive processes underlying the elicited behaviours. Learning outcomes. At the end of this course, the student will be able to (1) independently create a simple yet robust experimental task for cognitive psychology research, (2) independently model a simple cognitive process underlying the data collected via an experimental task, (3) write a succinct yet precise and accurate research report supported by relevant literature. It is expected that a student fulfilling these main goals will be technically and conceptually qualified to smoothly onboard a research team in a cognitive psychology laboratory.

•  

Learning Outcome	Learning Activity	Assessment
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	Mid-term paper Laboratory report, In-class participation Final project
Knowledge of Methodologies. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	Mid-term, laboratory report, in-class participation, final project
Application of Knowledge. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	Mid-term, laboratory report, in-class participation, final project
Communication Skills. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	Mid-term, laboratory report, in-class participation, final project
Awareness of Limits of Knowledge. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	Mid-term, laboratory report, in-class participation, final project
Autonomy and Professional Capacity. Learning Outcome 1 Learning Outcome 2 Learning Outcome 3	Lectures Laboratory tasks Writing and reading assignments	·         Mid-term, laboratory report, in-class participation, final project

 

 

5.0  EVALUATION

 

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.

Students will demonstrate their achievements via the following activities: 1) Class participation via iClicker (10%), 2) biweekly laboratory reports uploaded via OWL (25%), 3) mid-term paper comprising a literature review on any topic relevant to experimental research in cognitive psychology (Nov. 7, 30 %) 4) creation and presentation (Nov. 28, 30; Dec. 5, 7) of a final project to the class comprising a simple yet technically robust experiment and computational model relevant to cognitive psychology (35%).

 

5.1      POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK

 

If you miss an assignment and have an excuse documented accommodation approved by the academic counselling office in your home faculty, you will be offered a make-up assignment. In arranging academic consideration, medical documentation will be required for any absences, late assignments or essays, laboratory experiments or tutorials, laboratory reports, mid term papers, and final projects. Such documentation must be submitted by the student directly to the appropriate Faculty Dean’s office, and it will be the Dean’s office that will make the determination whether academic consideration is warranted. Given the University’s Official Student Record Information Privacy Policy, instructors may not collect medical documentation.

In all cases where academic consideration is being sought for work totalling 10% or more of the final grade in a course, students will be directed to the appropriate Faculty Dean’s office. Students who have been denied academic consideration by the instructor may appeal this decision to the appropriate Faculty Dean’s office but will be required to present appropriate documentation. A student may appeal a decision on academic consideration made by the Dean’s Office of the student’s Home Faculty to the Senate Review Board Academic (SRBA) as set out in the Undergraduate Student Academic Appeals policy.

Grades will be rounded only to the nearest whole number, that is, marks ending in a 4 or a 9 (e.g., 74 and 79) will not be rounded up a mark. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade, nor will any requests be considered for additional marks because they are needed for a grad/law/med school application, etc. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every component during the course.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:

 

70%      1000-level to 2099-level courses

72%      2100-2999-level courses

75%      3000-level courses

80%      4000-level courses

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/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

 

Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.

 

Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.

 

6.0  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE

 

Activity	% of final grade	Date
Participation	10%	Every session starting Jan. 11
Biweekly laboratory report	25% (5% each)	Jan. 25, Feb. 08, Mar.01, 15, Apr. 05
Midterm paper	30%	Feb 27.
Final project	35%	Mar. 27, 29, Apr. 3, 5.

 

 

 

7.0  CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING LIST

 

Dates	Lecture	Lab	Topic	Reading
Jan. 09, 11	1	1	Introduction: What is research in cognitive psychology? What will we achieve in this course?	Course syllabus, Software installation (Your First Experiment)
Jan. 16, 18	2	2	The components of a cognitive psychology experiment in the context of perception and reaction time	PsychoPy Documentation https://www.psychopy.org/PsychoPyManual.pdf
Jan. 23, 25	3	3	Attention	(Posner, 1980)
Jan. 30, Feb. 01.	4	4	Cognitive Control Part I, Response Inhibition)	(Verbruggen & Logan, 2008)
Feb.06, 08	5	5	Cognitive Control Part II (Cognitive Conflict/Interference)	(Stroop, 1935)  (Limongi et al., 2020)
Feb. 13, 15	6	6	Memory (Part I, short-term memory) Memory (Part II, Long term Memory)	(Sternberg, 1966) (Silva & Limongi, 2019)
Feb. 20, 22			Reading Week
Mar. 01*		7	Computational models of cognition	Software documentation
Mar. 06, 08	8	7	Drift diffusion model of decision making	(Evans & Wagenmakers, 2020)  (Wiecki et al., 2013)
Mar. 13, 15	9	8	Independent horse race model of cognitive control (response inhibition)	(Matzke et al., 2013)
Mar. 27, 29			Final Project Presentations
Apr. 03, 05			Final Project Presentations

 

*Feb 27. No in-person class midterm paper due date.

 

Reading List

 

Evans, N. J., & Wagenmakers, E.-J. (2020). Evidence Accumulation Models: Current Limitations and Future Directions. The Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 16(2), 73-90. https://doi.org/10.20982/tqmp.16.2.p073 (IN FILE)

Limongi, R., Jeon, P., Mackinley, M., Das, T., Dempster, K., Théberge, J., Bartha, R., Wong, D., & Palaniyappan, L. (2020). Glutamate and Dysconnection in the Salience Network: Neurochemical, Effective-connectivity, and Computational Evidence in Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.01.021

Matzke, D., Love, J., Wiecki, T., Brown, S., Logan, G., & Wagenmakers, E.-J. (2013). Release the BEESTS: Bayesian Estimation of Ex-Gaussian STop-Signal Reaction Time Distributions [Methods]. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00918

Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of Attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335558008248231

Silva, A. M., & Limongi, R. (2019). Writing to Learn Increases Long-term Memory Consolidation: A Mental-chronometry and Computational-modeling Study of “Epistemic Writing”. Journal of Writing Research, 11(vol. 11 issue 1), 211-243. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2019.11.01.07

Sternberg, S. (1966). High-Speed Scanning in Human Memory. Science, 153, 652-654. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.153.3736.652

Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054651

Verbruggen, F., & Logan, G. D. (2008). Response inhibition in the stop-signal paradigm. Trends Cogn Sci, 12(11), 418-424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.005

Wiecki, T. V., Sofer, I., & Frank, M. J. (2013). HDDM: Hierarchical Bayesian estimation of the Drift-Diffusion Model in Python. Front Neuroinform, 7, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2013.00014

 

 

8.0  Land Acknowledgement

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.

 

With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.

 

 

9.0  STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

 

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://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 offences. 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).

 

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

 

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

 

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

 

10.0      POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE

 

If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf

 

* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us  

 

11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES

 

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

 

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

1. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
2. For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.

 

https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html

 

Students seeking academic consideration:

• are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
• must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.

 

12.0      Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes

 

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.

 

13.0      STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE

 

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:

• please “arrive” to class on time
• please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
• please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
• to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
• In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
• In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
• Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting

 

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:

• If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
• Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
• Self-identify when speaking.
• Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).

 

General considerations of “netiquette”:

• Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
• Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
• Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
• Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.

 

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.

 

14.0 OTHER INFORMATION

 

Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca 

 

Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca

 

Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html

 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf

Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).

 

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.

 

Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.