4195F-001
Psychology 4195F-001
Special Topics in Cognitive Psychology
"Autobiographical Memory"
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
Selected topics of current interest in Cognitive Psychology. Autobiographical Memory
Course Description: We will review the recent developments in the study of autobiographical memories. Topics to be covered include considerations of how autobiographical memory differs from, and how it is similar, to memories studied in the assessing autobiographical memory. There will be broad coverage of specific topics which will, as much as possible, be directed by the interests of the students in the class.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E, or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, or Honours Specialization in Neuroscience.
Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course
3 seminar hours, 0.5 course
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. Albert Katz
Office and Phone Number: Rm. 7322 SSC
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: katz@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Giacomo Spinelli
Office: Rm. 7236 SSC
Office Hours: 1-2 Wednesdays, by appointment
Email: gspinel@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Wednesdays, 2:30-5:30 pm, SH 3355
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
There is no textbook but there is a set of required readings. All of these readings are available in our library or can be found through a search mechanism used by our library (such as Scholars Portal). To facilitate matters I have downloaded a copy of each paper in OWL Resources for this course.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, I hope (and expect) students will understand the basic concepts, methodologies employed, research findings and controversies in the study of autobiographical memory, and will be able to critically assess – and propose an empirical test of- an unresolved issue in the field. The objective of the critical analyses and research proposal is intended to provide you with a skillset (or hone the skillset you have already developed) that you can apply going forward into other courses and, beyond university, in evaluating claims made in everyday contexts. You can see the learning outcomes associated with this course in section 4.1.
To meet these outcomes the course is scheduled around two types of knowledge transfer (and work on your part). “Fact” knowledge will be assessed by two tests, a midterm and a final exam; both will consist of short-answer or multiple choice questions. These tests will cover material presented in lecture and in the assigned readings and together comprise 30% of your final grade. I encourage you to keep up with the readings and come prepared to class to talk about them or have questions you might have addressed.
In-depth creative thinking on a topic will be assessed by a set of tasks that are meant to build on one another. First, working with Prof. Katz, each student will identify an area studied in autobiographical memory and a seminal or early paper on that topic will be selected, as will a later more recent paper on that same topic. You will be asked to write a critique of each paper (each worth 10% of your final grade”). At this point you are already becoming an “expert” in that aspect of the study. Using those two studies, and other readings on the topic, you will be asked to prepare an annotated bibliography on the topic (worth 10%), and present a talk in class. on the topic (10%). Finally, using the knowledge gained in doing these literature reviews, you will be asked to write a research proposal on a topic that has arisen from all your consideration of the topic (30%),
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Learning Outcome: By the end of course, the successful student should be able to |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
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demonstrate basic understanding by accurately defining and discriminating between major term, theories and concepts used in the study of autobiographical memory |
- Reading and Discussing assigned papers - preparing class presentation
|
- Mid-term test (multiple choice/ short answer) - Final (multiple choice/short answer)
|
|
demonstrate in-depth knowledge on select topics in Autobiographical Memory by accurately summarizing and critiquing two assigned readings - and by identifying, accurately summarizing, and critically analyzing a set of papers on specific topic in autobiographical memory |
- Critiquing assigned papers - creating (writing) an annotated bibliography on a topic chosen by the student, in consultation with course instructor |
- two short written papers critiquing a journal article r - grading of annotated bibliography on the following dimensions: how comprehensive in terms of number of studies reported, comprehensiveness of the summaries of the studies , insightfulness of strengths and weaknesses of the studies |
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deliver a well-organized oral presentation in a clear and engaging manner.
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Reading an assigned paper, organizing, preparing and giving a 30-minute oral presentation to the class on an assigned paper |
-clarity and organization of presentation, adequacy of powerpoint slides, ability to engage audience and answer questions |
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demonstrate mastery on a specific topic by reading, integrating findings from a set of papers, generating a testable research hypothesis and writing a research proposal on a specific issue in autobiographical memory
|
Integrating papers on a select topic in Autobiographical Memory
identifying a researchable question
writing a research proposal within a defined word limit |
Criteria used in grading the proposal -cohesiveness and grammaticality of writing style - comprehensiveness of literature review - argument for why the study adds to knowledge - adequacy of experimental design - description of how the data would be gathered, nature of dataset expected and how analyzed - |
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/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
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
The dates for each component can be found with the course schedule, in sequential order of due date.
Mid-Term (short answer) October 26 15%
Presentation in class November 16-23 10%
Written critique two papers (2 x 350-650 words; 10% apiece) 20%
Critique 1 Oct. 5
Critique 2 Oct 19
Annotated Bibliography November 9 10%
Written grant proposal (2000-3000 words) Dec 7 30%
Final (short answer) Exam Period 15 %
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Sept 14 intro/history/ interests
papers: Bartlett
Galton,
Greenwald
Sept 21 methodology: survey, cue-technique, diary,
Crovitz
Brown & Sinclair,
Wagenaar
Sept 28 autobiographical and other memories
Tulving,
Radvansky et al
Oct 5 PREP TIME FOR PRESENTATIONS ,
Critique 1 due
Oct 12 basic findings : childhood amnesia, reminiscence bump, across the life-span,
Rubin & Schulkind,
Thompson,
Usher & Neisser
Oct 19 Development of autobiographical memory; life stories
-Reese
Critique 2 due
-
Oct 26 MID-TERM :
work on presentation; consultations with Dr. Katz
Nov 2 a case study: “flashbulb” memories
- Brown & Kulik ,
- Karylowski
- Harvey et al
Nov 9 The development of Autobiographical memory: evolution; early influences; neural factors
Howe & Courage,
Addis,
Cabeza & St. Jacques
Bibliography Due
Nov 16 PRESENTATION
Nov 23 PRESENTATION
Nov 30 models of autobiographical memory
-Conway & Playdell-Pearce,
- Rubin
- Brown & Schopfocker,
Dec 7 New avenues for research?
RESEARCH PROPOSALS DUE
FINAL EXAM: December exam period (December 10-21)
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://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/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
- 2016 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
Please note that while some Professors ban the use of electronic devices (including cell phones or lap top computers) during lectures I do not do so. However, I would remind you that using your computer for non-lecture related purposes can be very disruptive to fellow students sitting near you. I would ask you to be mindful of your fellow students and only use your computers for class related activities. As noted above electronic devices are never permitted during tests or exams.
