PSY 210 – Cognition
Winter 2012
Time:
MWF 11:30-12:50
Location:
CF 120
Class web page:
https://courses.wwu.edu (Blackboard)
Instructor:
TA’s:
Todd Haskell
Office: AIC 486
Office hours: M 1-2, Tu 10-11, F 10-11
Phone: 650-2720
e-mail: [email protected]
Jesamie Flynn
Kali Neumeister
Office hours: TBA
Office hours: TBA
Office hours location: TBA
Office hours location: TBA
e-mail: TBA
e-mail: TBA
Course Objectives
Generalizable Skills (broadly applicable)
 To take responsibility for your own learning, including setting goals, formulating a plan for
achieving those goals, and evaluating progress toward those goals
 To develop professional, time-management, and organizational skills
 To be able to work with others to understand material, solve a problem, or complete a task
Scientific Thinking (applicable to many situations)
 To have effective strategies for solving complex, multi-step problems
 To be able to use a theory to generate testable predictions
 To be able to use data to decide between different theories
Cognition (specific to this field)
 To have a general knowledge of some of the major theories and concepts in cognitive psychology,
 To be able to apply theories and principles from cognitive psychology to everyday situations
 To have a basic understanding of how cognitive psychologists design and conduct experiments to
answer particular questions
Readings
The textbook for the course is Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday
Experience (3rd Ed), by E. Bruce Goldstein, published by Cengage. Instructions for obtaining the
textbook are posted on Blackboard.
Activity and Lab Assignment Groups
To help create a learning community in the class, the class will be randomly divided into 10 different
“activity groups”. The students within an activity group will work together on the graded in-class
activities (described below). In addition, students will work in groups to complete the out-of-class lab
assignments. The goal is to ensure that everyone has a personal connection with at least a few other
students in the class, and that the students within each group are able to use each other as resources for
studying, questions, etc.
Course Requirements and Grading
Goals and self-assessment
Review questions
In-class activities
Take-home lab assignments
Reading questions
Three midterms
Final exam
Learning about research
3 points
2 points
10 points
8 points
15 points
15 points each
15 points
2 points
Goals and Self-Assessment
At the beginning of the quarter you will be asked to write a short statement describing your goals for
the class and how you hope to accomplish those goals. At the end of the quarter you will be asked to
write another statement in which you evaluate how well you have achieved those goals. Full details of
this assignment are provided in a separate document.
Review Questions
At the beginning of each class period, we will go over several review questions on material from the
book or earlier lectures. Each student is responsible for signing up for a specific day, and generating
three review questions for that day. The instructor will provide some examples of review questions
during the first couple class meetings.
In-class Activities
Throughout the quarter there will be a number of in-class activities, where students will work in groups
to understand a particular topic in cognition. Students will hand in their completed activity sheets; each
activity will be graded credit/no credit. Each activity will be worth the same amount.
Take-home Lab Assignments
In addition to the in-class activities, you will also need to complete four small lab assignments outside
of class. Like the in-class activities, you will complete these in groups, and hand in one copy of the
assignment for each group. The instructor will explain the process for forming groups in class. Each
lab assignment will be worth the same amount.
Reading Questions
For each week’s readings, there will be a set of several multiple-choice questions, which can be viewed
and answered on Blackboard. You must submit answers to these questions by the beginning of the first
class during which that reading will be discussed. Each set of questions counts the same amount
toward the reading questions portion of your grade. The main purpose of these questions is to make
sure you have done the readings and are prepared to participate in class.
Midterms and Final
There will be three midterms and a final exam. All exams will be multiple choice in format. Exams
will be cumulative but will emphasize the most recent material. Although doing well on the exams will
require knowing a certain number of terms and concepts from class, the questions will also focus on
problem-solving skills, i.e., how well can you apply the concepts we discussed in class to a new
situation.
Learning about research
All students are expected to participate in one hour of psychological research or to read and summarize
one journal article on a topic in cognition. Instructions on how to sign up for experiments are available
on the psychology department web page (http://www.wwu.edu/psychology/). Click on the link labeled
“Research Sign-Up” on the left-hand side. If you choose to summarize a journal article instead, note
that the instructor must approve your choice of article in advance. Summaries based on articles that
were not approved in advance may not be accepted.
Policy on Late Assignments
In-class activities and exams may only be completed on the scheduled day, unless one of the
circumstances described in the next paragraph applies. All other assignments are due at the beginning
of class on the date indicated on the syllabus, unless the instructor informs you otherwise. Assignments
that are submitted late but within one week of when they were due will receive half credit.
Assignments that are more than a week late will not be accepted.
If you know in advance that you will be unable to submit an assignment or take an exam at the
scheduled time, you may request an alternative arrangement from the instructor. If the instructor agrees
to your request, then the late penalty may be reduced or waived. If you are unable to submit an
assignment or take an exam at the scheduled time due to an unforeseeable emergency, and you are able
to document this emergency, the late penalty will be waived.
Academic Integrity
It is expected that all students will follow Western Washington University’s Academic Dishonesty
Policy and Procedure. For the in-class activities and lab assignments, you are expected to work
together with other students. All other assignments should be completed on your own, without
assistance from anyone else. Note that penalties for academic dishonesty can be very severe, including
a failing grade for the assignment or even the entire course.
Students with Disabilities
Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability should make their request through
disAbility Resources for Students (DRS). DRS is located in Old Main, room 120. They can be
contacted via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (360) 650-3083.
Class Schedule
WEEK
1
1
2
2
DATE
1/4
1/6
1/9
1/11
DAY
Wed
Fri
Mon
Wed
2
3
3
3
1/13
1/16
1/18
1/20
Fri
Mon
Wed
Fri
4
4
4
5
5
1/23
1/25
1/27
1/30
2/1
Mon
Wed
Fri
Mon
Wed
5
6
6
6
7
7
7
2/3
2/6
2/8
2/10
2/13
2/15
2/17
Fri
Mon
Wed
Fri
Mon
Wed
Fri
8
8
8
9
9
9
2/20
2/22
2/24
2/27
2/29
3/2
Mon
Wed
Fri
Mon
Wed
Fri
10
10
10
3/5
3/7
3/9
Mon
Wed
Fri
Finals
3/12
Mon
TOPIC
Overview
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Perception
Perception (cont.)
GOALS DUE BY START OF CLASS
Perception (cont.)
NO CLASS – MLK JR DAY
Attention
Attention (cont.)
LAB ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE
MIDTERM 1
Short-Term and Working Memory
Short-Term and Working Memory (cont.)
Long-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory (cont.)
LAB ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE
Long-Term Memory (cont.)
Everyday Memory and Memory Errors
MIDTERM 2
Concepts and Categories
Concepts and Categories (cont.)
Visual Imagery
Visual Imagery
LAB ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE
NO CLASS – PRESIDENTS DAY
Language
Language (cont.)
MIDTERM 3
Problem Solving
Problem Solving (cont.)
LAB ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE
Reasoning and Decision Making
Reasoning and Decision Making (cont.)
Summary and Review
SELF-ASSESSMENT DUE BY START OF
CLASS
FINAL EXAM 3:30-5:30
READING
Goldstein Chapter 1
Goldstein Chapter 3
Goldstein Chapter 4
Goldstein Chapter 5
Goldstein Chapter 6
Goldstein Chapter 7
Goldstein Chapter 8
Goldstein Chapter 9
Goldstein Chapter 10
Goldstein Chapter 11
Goldstein Chapter 12
Goldstein Chapter 13