Psychology 3130B-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
3 lecture/discussion hours, 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: Dr. Mark HoldenOffice and Phone Number: SSC 9242B
Office Hours: By appointment or via google chat
Email: mholde3@uwo.ca
Course Website: http://owl.uwo.ca/portal
***Here you will find audio lectures, lecture notes, assignments, and important announcements. Please check it often.
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
Minda, J.P. (2015). The Psychology of Thinking: Reasoning, Decision-Making, and Problem Solving. London, UK: SAGE Publications, Ltd.**Note: This book is available at the Western bookstore, as well as on Amazon.ca for ~$72.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course covers thought and knowledge. We will study how people think and how psychologists study thinking and reasoning. We will also investigate thinking and reasoning in applied settings. The course will be taught as a combination of virtual lectures and online discussion.The primary delivery of course content will be through the assigned readings and the accompanying 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, copies of the lecture slides will be available for download.
5.0 EVALUATION
Your grade in this course will comprise of a midterm exam, a final exam, and a series of short assignments. The midterm exam will count for 35% of your final grade, while the final exam will count for 45% of your final grade. The final exam will be non-cumulative. Four short, written assignments will make up the remaining 20%. Details about the assignments & exams are below.5.1 Exams and Exam Schedule:
There will be one midterm exam during the semester, and a non-cumulative final exam in April. The exams will test material covered in the assigned readings, as well as in lecture. Although there is substantial overlap between lecture and textbook material, it is not complete overlap. Some material is not in the textbook, and some will not be covered in lecture. Students are responsible for all material.
Midterm Exam (35%) Saturday, February 6
Chapters 1-5 Time: TBA
Short Answer Questions (60 points) Location: TBA
Final Exam (45%) Date: TBA (April 9th-30th)
Chapters 6-11 Time: TBA
Short Answer Questions (60 points) Location: TBA
5.2 Assignments:
The assignments will consist of four short papers, assigned during the term. The topic for the papers will be announced one week before the assignment is due. Each paper should be 1-2 pages in length, and will be uploaded to turnitin.com, which is the plagiarism detection service used by the University of Western Ontario. Each assignment will be graded on a scale of 0 to 10, and will be worth 5% of the final grade – meaning that the assignments collectively account for 20% of the final grade. The topic for each paper will be available at 6:00am on the Monday of the week when it is assigned, and will be due the following Monday at 11:59pm, unless otherwise noted in the schedule. Late papers are penalized by 2 points for each day they are late.
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
See above.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
During this semester, topics will be covered in the order outlined below. All Supplementary lecture material will be delivered through OWL. On each Monday of each week of the term, audio lectures and lecture slides will be posted on our class website, in the topic order outlined below. The online lectures are intended to highlight certain areas of each topic – there is not enough time available to cover all of the material in a single lecture. However, you are responsible for all of the material in the assigned chapters (dates for readings are outlined below). Please note that there is a fairly heavy reading load in this course – we will cover one chapter each week. Thus, it is very important for you to try to keep up with the readings.
In addition to keeping up with the course readings, you are expected to log in to Owl each week for supplementary materials. You are also asked to use the forums to post your own questions, or respond to those of your classmates (I will have more on Forum Use and Conduct on the OWL course page). As would be expected for an in-person class, you are expected to keep your posts professional.
I will be monitoring the class forums, and responding to student e-mails within 48 hours during regular business hours.
|
Topic |
Chapter |
Date |
|
Course Introduction |
Chapter 1 |
Jan. 4 |
|
Similarity |
Chapter 2 |
Jan. 11 |
|
Knowledge & Memory |
Chapter 3 |
Jan. 18 |
|
Concepts & Categories |
Chapter 4 |
Jan. 25 |
|
Language & Thought |
Chapter 5 |
Feb. 1 |
|
FEBRUARY MIDTERM EXAM (35%) |
Ch. 1-5 |
February 6 |
|
No lecture immediately following Midterm exam |
--- |
--- |
|
Reading Week – No Classes |
--- |
Feb. 15 – 19 |
|
Inference and Induction |
Chapter 6 |
Feb. 22 |
|
Deductive Reasoning |
Chapter 7 |
Feb. 29 |
|
Context, Motivation & Mood |
Chapter 8 |
March 7 |
|
No lecture this week |
--- |
--- |
|
Decision-Making |
Chapter 9 |
March 14 |
|
Problem Solving |
Chapter 10 |
March 21 |
|
Expertise and Expert Thinking |
Chapter 11 |
April 4 |
|
FINAL EXAM (45%) |
Ch. 6-11 |
TBA |
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
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/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
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
