Psychology 2135A-001

Cognitive Psychology

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

An introduction to empirical, computational, and theoretical approaches to the study of human cognitive
processes. The topics surveyed will include: perception, attention, memory, concepts, language and problemsolving.


The course will show how these diverse psychological processes are related to and influence one
another. 


1.1 Antirequisites
Psychology 2010A/B, 2180E. Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can
be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose
credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course


1.2 Prerequisites
At least 60% in a 1000 level Psychology course. Unless you have either the requisites 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.

4 lecture hours, 0.5 course

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. John Paul Minda, jpminda@uwo.ca
Office & Phone: WIRB 5158, x84689
Office Hours: Wednesday 1pm - 3pm, or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Joshua Hatherley, jhatherl@uwo.ca
TA Office & Hours: SSC 7301, Monday, Wednesday 11am - 1pm
Time & Location of Lectures: T/Th, 9:30 - 11:30, HSB 240
Time & Location of Exams 1 and 2 T/Th, 9:30 - 11:30, EC 2168 A/B

2.1 Office Hours and Email
My set office hours are Wednesdays from 1-3 in my primary office, room 5158 in the new Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB). The common areas of the building are open, but my floor is card access only. If you are planning to come to my office hours to discuss course material, exams, or even for general advice about psychology and graduate school, please come to the 5th floor and let me know when you arrive, and I can let you in. I can be reached by email and will try to respond within a 48-hour window.
For all questions relating to the course content, preparing for exams, or for any scheduling questions, please
contact the TA, Joshua Hatherley. Josh also has weekly office hours and email, and he should be your first
option for reviewing course material.                                                                                  

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

3.1 Text Book
There is one recommended textbook for this course. Cognitive Psychology and its Implications, 8th edition,
by John Anderson is available at the University bookstore, Amazon, and elsewhere. The purchase of this
text is not required but I encourage you to have access to a textbook. You may use other texts or earlier
editions for the same purpose. A short list of alternative texts is available on the course website.
3.2 Readings
There are additional readings for some of the lectures. These include scientific journal articles, blog posts,
and popular articles. These additional readings will be available on the course website.
3.3 Course Notes
Notes and slides from each class will be available before each lecture on the course website. These notes are
a guideline and are not a substitute for attending the lecture. I cannot guarantee that these notes cover
exactly what happened in a lecture. Students may share their own notes on the OWL site or other note
sharing sites like CouseHero. Your notes are your intellectual property, you can share as much or as little as
you feel comfortable.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

The course is an introduction to empirical, computational, and theoretical approaches to the study of human
cognitive processes. The topics surveyed will include: perception, attention, memory, concepts, language
and problem-solving. The course will show how these diverse psychological processes are related to and
influence one another. The primary mode of instruction is lecture and discussion and assessment will consist
of multiple choice exams.

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes relevant to cognitive psychology. This outcome
will be assessed via multiple choice exams.
Identify concepts and current states of knowledge in both the natural science and social science aspects of
cognitive psychology. This outcome will be assessed via multiple choice exams.
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion on a psychological topic using evidence to support claims. This
outcome will be encouraged and developed via class discussion.
Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media. This outcome
will be encouraged and developed via class discussion.
Apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems. This outcome will be encouraged
and developed via class discussion. 

5.0     EVALUATION

5.1 Exams
There are three multiple-choice/short answer exams in this class. Exams 1 and 2 will take place as scheduled
during the class period (9:30-12:30) in the exam rooms in Elborn (EC 2168A/B) Exam 3 (the final exam)
will be scheduled for finals week. Exams 1 and 2 are each worth 30% of the final mark. This final exam
is worth 40% of your final grade but is not cumulative. All material presented in class is fair game for an
exam.
5.2 Final Grade
Your final grade in this class will be a combination of your performance on all three exams. Exams 1 and 2 are each worth 30% of the final grade and Exam 3 is worth 40% of the final grade.

5.3 Exam Review
Grades will be released on OWL. Exams may be reviewed by making an appointment with the TA. Neither
the TA nor the instructor will re-grade questions or award points after the grades have been released 

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


6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Exams 1 and 2 will take place during the class period but are in a different location. Exams will be given
in Elborn College 2168A/B. Please arrive at the Exam Centre prior to 9:30 and the doors will open at 9:30
exactly. Exam 3 will be scheduled during Final Week.
Exam Date Material Location
1 October 4 EXAM 1: Material from Classes 1-8 EC 2168A/B
2 November 8 EXAM 2: Material from Classes 9-14 EC 2168A/B
3 December - EXAM 3: Material from Classes 16-23 -

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

7.1 The Brain, the Mind and Basic Information Processing
The first unit of the course covers the history of cognitive psychology, how and why cognitive psychology
developed from the earlier study of psychology, and in what direction the study of cognition is headed. We
will learn about the brain, perceptual systems, and basic object recognition.
Class Date Topic Chapter
1 September 6 The Study of Cognition Anderson Chapter 1
2 September 11 Brain Science I Anderson Chapter 1
3 September 13 Brain Science II Anderson Chapter 1
4 September 18 Perception Anderson Chapter 2
5 September 20 Object Recognition Anderson Chapter 3
6 September 25 Attention Anderson Chapter 3
7 September 27 Mental Imagery Anderson Chapter 4
8 October 2 The Big Picture / Review
- October 4 EXAM 1: Classes 1-8. EC 2168A/B


7.2 Memory, Knowledge, and Concepts
The second unit of the course covers memory and the idea of internal representations of the external world.
What are some of the theories for how memory works? What are some of the ways in which memory is studied?
Well also talk about more complex kinds of mental representations like concepts and categories.
Class Date Topic Chapter
- October 8 Fall Break
- October 12 Fall Break
9 October 16 Concepts & Categories Anderson Chapter 5
10 October 18 Knowledge Structures & Schema Anderson Chapter 5
11 October 23 Memory: Theories & Systems Anderson Chapter 6
12 October 25 Working Memory Anderson Chapter 6
13 October 30 Memory: Encoding & Storage Anderson Chapter 6
14 November 1 Memory: Retention & Retrieval Anderson Chapter 7
15 November 6 The Big Picture / Review
- November 8 EXAM 2: Classes 9-14, EC 2168A/B

7.3 Language and Thinking
The final unit covers complex cognitive processes, such as language use and reasoning and other forms of
higher order thinking. We will need to rely on some of the ideas from earlier classes, such as memory and
attention.
Class Date Topic Chapter
16 November 13 Language Structure Anderson Chapter 12
17 November 15 Language Comprehension (on-line) Anderson Chapter 13
18 November 20 Problem Solving Anderson Chapter 8
19 November 22 Expertise Anderson Chapter 9
20 November 27 Reasoning & Thinking I Anderson Chapter 10
21 November 29 Reasoning & Thinking II Anderson Chapter 10
22 December 4 Decision Making Anderson Chapter 11
23 December 6 The Big Picture / Review
- December - EXAM 3: Classes 16-23

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.