Psychology 3130A 650 SU22

The 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.

 

Western     University

London             Canada

Department of Psychology

2021–2022

Psychology 3130A Section 650
The Psychology of Thinking

1.0  Calendar Description

Theoretical and empirical studies on problem solving, reasoning, concept formation, thinking and cross-cultural variations in thinking processes. 3 lecture/discussion hours. Course Weight: 0.50

1.1        Antirequisites

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. There are no antirequisites for this course.

1.2        Prerequisites

  • Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810
  • One of Psychology 2115A/B, Psychology 2134A/B, or Psychology 2135A/B.

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your dean to enrol 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. John Paul Minda, jpminda@uwo.ca

Office Hours: Tuesday 1:00pm­ – 2:30pm by Zoom

Time & Location of Lectures: Online, Asynchronous

2.1        Course Operation

This is an asynchronous online course. The lectures are viewable on OWL and you can watch them at your own pace. I will maintain an active presence on OWL with weekly Zoom office hours to answer questions and engage with students. I also post regular YouTube updates about the course.

The course runs on a weekly basis. Each week, there will be one lesson/topic assigned that corresponds to a chapter in the textbook. The topic will be unlocked and available at 12:00 am on the Monday of the week that it is assigned according to the schedule in Section 6.0. The topic will remain unlocked until the end of the term. You can find the topics on the left menu bar on OWL. Click on a topic, open the topic page and you will find:

  • The assigned readings in the text
  • Learning outcomes for the topic
  • Two or three video lectures that are 20-30 min each
  • PowerPoint slides without the audio
  • Links to additional readings and resources

There are also four quizzes and two exams that will be completed online. These will be released according to the schedule (Section 6.0 ) and will be timed, open book, open note. You should not work with others on the quizzes or the exams.

2.2        Office Hours and Email

I hold one-on-one student meetings on Tuesday from 1:00 pm–2:30 pm on Zoom. You must be logged into Western’s Zoom account to participate. The link is available on OWL. You can join the waiting room and I’ll meet with people first come first serve.

3.0  Reading and Notes

3.1        Textbook

Minda, J. P. (2020). The Psychology of Thinking: Reasoning, Decision-Making and Problem-Solving, Second Edition. SAGE, London: UK.

The text is available as softcover or e-book at the university bookstore, Amazon, and elsewhere.

3.2        Readings

There are some additional readings that accompany the lectures. These include scientific journal articles, blog posts, and popular articles. These additional readings are available on the course website for the topic in which they are relevant. Content from these readings will be on the quizzes and exams.

3.3        Course Notes

Notes and slides from each class will be available on the course website. These notes will be identical to the ones in the short videos but will be PowerPoint slides without the audio. These are included if you need your own slides for review or for taking. Students may share their own notes on the OWL site or other note sharing sites. Your notes are your intellectual property, you can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable.

4.0  Course Objectives

This course covers thought and knowledge. We will study how people think and how psychologists study thinking and reasoning. The course will be taught as a combination of online lecture and online discussion.

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. This outcome will be assessed though the four short quizzes, and the two exams.
  • Articulate the concepts and current states of knowledge in both the natural science and social science aspects of the psychology of thinking. This outcome will be assessed though the four short quizzes, and the two exams.
  • Engage in a critical scholarly discussion on a psychological topic using evidence to support claims. This outcome will be assessed though the four short quizzes, and the two exams.
  • Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media. This outcome will be assessed though the four short quizzes, and the two exams.
  • Apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems. This outcome will be assessed though the four short quizzes, and the two exams.

5.0  Evaluation

5.1        Quizzes

There are four online quizzes that will be released according to the schedule (Section 6.0 ) and will be timed, open book, open note, and not proctored. Each quiz will be available for 12 hours from 9:00am – 9:00 pm on the day it is scheduled. You can take the quiz any time during that period but once you begin, you will have 15 minutes to complete the quiz. Questions will be randomized and once you answer a question and advance you will not be able to go back to change your answer (linear format). If you require or receive accommodations for extra time on course work please connect with Services for Students with Disabilities as soon as possible and let me know so that I can make accommodations. Each quiz is worth 5% if the final grade and the four quizzes make up 20% of the final grade.

5.2        Quiz Make-Up Policy

If you miss a quiz you may have an opportunity to make up the quiz during the final week of the course, on Wednesday July 27, 2022. Make up quizzes will be online multiple-choice format. See Section 8.0 for the policy on accommodations. Any quiz not taken or made up will be scored as “0”.

5.3        Exams

There are two exams according to the schedule (Section 6.0 ). Each exam includes short answer questions, short essay questions, problems, and multiple-choice questions. Each exam will be available for 12 hours from 9:00am – 9:00 pm on the day it is scheduled.  Each exam will be timed, open book, and open note and will not be remote proctored. You can take the exam any time during that period but once you begin, you will have 180 minutes (three hours) to complete the exam. If you require or receive accommodation for extra time on course work please connect with Services for Students with Disabilities as soon as possible and let me know so that I can make accommodations. Each exam is worth 40% of the final grade, the exams together are worth 80% of the final grade.

5.4        Exam Make-Up Policy

If you are unable to take an exam as scheduled, you must obtain permission from your academic dean via your counsellor order to make up the exam. See Section 8.0 for information on seeking accommodations. Please note the Western policy that instructors are not permitted to receive documentation directly from a student, whether in support of an application for medical grounds, or for other reasons. All documentation required for absences that are not covered by the absence reporting policy must be submitted to the Academic Counselling Office of a student’s home faculty. The current policy on student absences is available here. Information on accommodation appeals and medical certificates is available here.

Once I receive the verification of your eligibility for a makeup exam (Exam 1 or Exam 2), a make-up exam will be scheduled two weeks after the after the final exam. Any exam not taken or made up will be scored as “0”.  

5.5        Final Grade

The final grade will be calculated according to the four components shown in the breakdown. No grades will be rounded.

Component

Breakdown

Quizzes (4)

20% of final grade

Exam 1

40% of final grade

Exam 2

40% of final grade

 

 

5.6        Senate Policy

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:

Grade

Description

70%

1000–level and 2000–level courses

72%

2100–2990 level courses

75%

3000–level courses

80%

4000–level courses

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines (see the policy here.)

Grade

Range

Description

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.

5.7        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.

5.8        Exam Review

Grades will be released on OWL. If you wish to review an exam, you must make an appointment with me during my office hours. I do not re-grade questions or award points after the grades have been released.

6.0  Exam and Topic Schedule

Unit

Week/Date

Topic

Readings

1

May 9

Introduction

Minda Ch. 1

2

May 16

Similarity

Minda Ch. 2

-

May 18

Quiz 1 (Unit 1–2)

Minda Chs.1–2

3

May 23

Knowledge and Memory

Minda Ch. 3

4

May 30

Concepts and Categories

Minda Ch. 4

-

June 1

Quiz 2 (Units 3–4)

Minda Ch.3–4

5

June 6

Language and Thought

Minda Ch. 5

-

June 15

Exam 1 (Units 1–5)

Minda Ch. 1–5

6

June 20

Inference and Induction

Minda Ch. 6

7

June 27

Deductive Reasoning

Minda Ch. 7

-

June 29

Quiz 3 (Units 6–7)

Minda Ch. 6–7

8

July 4

Context, Motivation, and Mood

Minda Ch. 8

9

July 11

Decision Making

Minda Ch. 9

-

June 29

Quiz 3 (Units 6–7)

Minda Ch.6–7

10

July 18

Problem Solving and Creativity

Minda Ch. 10

11

July 25

Expertise and Expert Thinking

Minda Ch. 11

-

July 28

Make Up Quiz Day

 

-

TBA

Exam 1 (Units 6–11)

Minda Ch. 6–11

 

Aug 10

Make Up Exams

 

 

 

 

 

7.0  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.

8.0  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.

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.

9.0  Policy on Accommodation for Illness or Other Absences

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found HERE :

The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed HERE

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:

  • Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
  • 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;
  • 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. The self-reported absence form must be submitted before the exam/coursework deadline in order to be valid. It may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

  • are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
  • are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
  • must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

10.0      Other Information

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

Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca

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

  • 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 Absence
  • Documentation
  • Academic Concerns
  • 2021-2022 Calendar References

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western 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 wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.

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.