Psychology 3130A-650
Psychology of Thinking
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
Theoretical and empirical studies on problem solving, reasoning, concept formation, thinking and cross-cultural variations in thinking processes.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, and one of Psychology 2115A/B, 2134A/B or 2135A
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: Emily G. Nielsen
Office: SSC 7323
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: enielse6@uwo.caIf 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
Minda, J. P. (2015). The Psychology of Thinking: Reasoning, Decision-Making, and Problem-Solving.
London, UK: SAGE Publications, Ltd.
The text is available at the Western bookstore and through Amazon.ca. Any additional readings will be provided on the course website.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course covers thought and knowledge. We will study how people think and how psychologists study thinking and reasoning.4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes relevant to the psychology of thinking.
Articulate the concepts and current states of knowledge in both the natural science and social science aspects of the psychology of thinking.
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion on a psychological topic using evidence to support claims.
Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media.
Apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems.
These learning outcomes will be assessed through discussion questions, quizzes, and a final
exam.
5.0 EVALUATION
Your evaluation in this class consists of three components: online discussion posts, quizzes, and a final exam.
5.1 ONLINE DISCUSSION POSTS
Each topic in the course will have an accompanying discussion question. The purpose of these questions is to foster debate and conversation online. There are 10 topics and each discussion question will be worth 2% of the final grade. Each discussion question will be marked out of 2. To earn the full 2 points for each question, you must post at least two times on the topic. This may involve posting two original posts, two responses to other posts, or one original post and one response to other posts. Remember, the goal of these questions is to promote discussion, so it would be ideal if at least one of your posts was in reply to another post. You will not, however, lose marks if both of your posts are original posts, so long as they are thoughtful. If you post at least two thoughtful posts, you will receive 2 points. If you post only one thoughtful post, you will receive 1 point. If you do not post any thoughtful posts, you will receive no points. The definition of a thoughtful post is subjective, but a good post is one that relates to the topic or relates to another post. An example of a comment that is not thoughtful would be something like “yeah, me too”. Your performance on the discussions will make up 20% of your final grade in the course. The discussion topic for each week will be available at 6:00 AM Monday of the week the topic is assigned and will close the following Sunday at 11:55 PM.
5.2 QUIZZES
There will be five quizzes throughout the term. The quizzes will be non-cumulative, meaning that each quiz will cover the content that has been discussed since the most recent quiz that was given (i.e. Quiz 1 will cover the content from the beginning of the course until the date of Quiz 1, Quiz 2 will cover the content from the date of Quiz 1 until the date of Quiz 2, etc.). All quizzes will be completed on OWL. They will consist of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions. You will have 15 minutes to complete each quiz and each quiz may only be attempted once. Each quiz will be worth 8% of the final grade, meaning that the quizzes collectively account for 40% of the final grade. Each quiz will be available at 6:00 AM on the Monday of the week when it is assigned and will close the following Sunday at 11:55 PM.
5.3 FINAL EXAM
There will be a written final exam in this class. The date, time, and location of the exam will be scheduled by Distance Studies and will be announced on the course website. It will cover material from Weeks 1 – 11/Chapters 1 – 11. The exam will consist primarily of fill in the blank and short answer questions. No notes, aids, or electronic devices will be allowed during the exam. The exam duration will be three hours. The exam will be worth 40% of the final grade.
5.4 FINAL GRADE
The final grade in this class will be a combination of your grade on the ten discussion questions (20%), the five quizzes (40%), and the final exam (40%).
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 Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://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
5.5 EXAM REVIEW
Grades will be released on OWL. The instructor will not re-grade questions or award points after the grades have been released unless there has been a clerical error.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Quiz 1: May 14 – May 20. Covers material from Weeks 1 and 2.
Quiz 2: May 28 – June 3. Covers material from Weeks 3 and 4.
Quiz 3: June 11 – June 17. Covers material from Weeks 5 and 6.
Quiz 4: June 25 – July 1. Covers material from Weeks 7 and 8.
Quiz 5: June 16 – July 22. Covers material from Weeks 9, 10, and 11.
Please note that the dates of the five quizzes are tentative. In the event of a schedule change, an announcement will be made via OWL and an updated syllabus will be provided.
Final Exam: July 30 – August 2. Covers material from Weeks 1 – 11, inclusive.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
The primary delivery of course content will be through the assigned readings and online audio lectures. The lectures will be slides accompanied by audio commentary that go into depth on the topic. The intention is that students enrolled in the distance version will have an experience that is comparable (though not exactly) to a traditional lecture. In addition, PDF copies of the lecture slides will be available for download. Each lecture will be available at 6:00 AM on the Monday of the week listed and will remain available for the duration of the course.
Please note that the dates listed below are tentative. In the event of a schedule change, an announcement will be made via OWL and an updated syllabus will be provided.
Week 1: May 7 – Introduction. We will go over the course, the course outline, and expectations, as well as an introduction to the topic. Please read Chapter 1 in The Psychology of Thinking and please respond to the discussion question. Note: there will be no grade for the first discussion, it is just a chance to make sure that everyone can access the forum.
Week 2: May 14 – Similarity. This class covers the topic of similarity, a psychological construct that underlies many of the other topics in this course. Please read Chapter 2 in The Psychology of Thinking and please respond to the discussion question. Also, the first quiz will be made available and is due by May 20, 11:55 PM. The quiz will cover the material from Weeks 1 and 2.
Week 3: May 21 – Knowledge, Memory, Concepts, and Categories. This class covers theories of short and long term memory, category learning, and the organization of knowledge and concepts. Please read Chapters 3 and 4 in The Psychology of Thinking and please respond to the discussion question.
Week 4: May 28 – Language and Thought. This class covers the relationship between thought and language and the linguistic determinism theory. Please read Chapter 5 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question. Also, the second quiz will be made available and is due by June 3, 11:55 PM. The quiz will cover the material from Weeks 3 and 4.
Week 5: June 4 – Inference and Induction. This class covers inductive reasoning, categorical induction, and drawing conclusions from evidence. Please read Chapter 6 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question.
Week 6: June 11 – Deductive Reasoning. This class covers deductive reasoning and logic. Please read Chapter 7 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question. Also, the third quiz will be made available and is due by June 17, 11:55 PM. The quiz will cover the material from Weeks 5 and 6.
Week 7: June 18 – Context, Motivation, and Mood. This class covers the effects of context and mood on thinking, reasoning, and decision making. Please read Chapter 8 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question.
Week 8: June 25 – Decision Making. This class covers how decisions are made, probability, and common decision-making errors and biases. Please read Chapter 9 in The Psychology of Thinking and
respond to the discussion question. Also, the fourth quiz will be made available and is due by July 1, 11:55 PM. The quiz will cover the material from Weeks 7 and 8.
Week 9: July 2 – Problem Solving. This class covers the psychology of problem solving and heuristics. Please read Chapter 10 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question.
Week 10: July 9 – Creativity. This class covers the psychology of creativity and insight. Please read Chapter 10 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question.
Week 11: July 16 – Expertise and Expert Thinking. This class covers the psychology of expertise. Please read Chapter 11 in The Psychology of Thinking and respond to the discussion question. Also, the fifth quiz will be made available and is due by July 22, 11:55 PM. The quiz will cover the material from Weeks 9, 10 and 11.
Week 12: July 23 – Review. There will be no formal class this week. Please use this as an opportunity to prepare for the final exam. A study guide will be posted on the course website.
Week 13: July 30 – Finals. The final exam will be scheduled by the registrar. It will cover the material from Weeks 1–11.
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
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
