Psychology 3130A-650 (online)
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 the thinking process.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, and one of Psychology
2115A/B, 2134A/B, 2135A/B.
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.
0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. John Paul Minda, jpminda@uwo.ca
Office & Phone: WIRB 5158, x84689
Office Hours: Wednesday 1-3 in ssc 7236 or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Toka Zhu, tzhu9@uwo.ca
TA Office Hours:
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.
The text is available at the Western bookstore and at Amazon.ca. There are used copies available.
Some additional readings will be assigned and are available on the course website
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course covers thought and knowledge. We will study how people think and how psychologistsstudy thinking and reasoning. The course will be taught as a combination of lecture and on-line
class 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 discussion questions, short quizzes, and the final exam.
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 discussion
questions, short quizzes, and the final exam.
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion on a psychological topic using evidence to support claims.
This outcome will be assessed though discussion questions.
Critically evaluate the presentation of scientific ideas and research in the popular media. This
outcome will be assessed though discussion questions.
Apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems. This outcome will be
assessed though discussion questions.
5.0 EVALUATION
5.1 On-line Discussion Questions
Each topic in the course will have an accompanying discussion question. The intention of these
questions is to foster debate and discussion on-line. There are 10 discussion topics from Class 2-11;
the discussion question for the first week on the Introductory material will not count towards the
final mark. Each discussion question is worth 2 points. In order to earn the full 2 points for each
question, you must post at least two thoughtful comments on the topic, or post two replies to other
comments. If you post at least 2 thoughtful comments, you will receive 2 points. If you post only
one thoughtful comment, you will receive 1 point. If you do not post any thoughtful comments, you
will receive no points. The definition of a thoughtful comment is subjective, but a good comment
is one that relates to the topic or relates to another post. You do not need to write more than
a few sentences. Your post should be more than a tweet, less than a whole paragraph. Overall,
your performance on the 10 discussion questions will make up 20% of the final grade in the course.
The discussion topic will be available at 6:00 am Monday of each week, and will close the following
Monday at about 11:55 pm.
5.2 Quizzes
There are four short quizzes that you will complete on line. The quizzes are shown on the schedule
below and can be taken during that week. Each quiz is timed so that you have only a few minutes to
complete it and will be graded automatically and checked by the TA. The score from the automatic
marking may change after the TA checks the grade. Each of these quizzes will cover material from
the week of the quiz and from the weeks that precedes the quiz. Each quiz is worth 10 of the final
grade and the quizzes together will constitute 40% of the mark.
5.3 Final Exam
There is also a written final exam in this class. The day and time of the final will be scheduled
by Distance Studies and we will announce it on the OWL site. The final exam will be a mix of
multiple choice, short answer, and some longer essay questions. The exam duration is three hours.
The final is worth 40% of the final mark.
5.4 Final Grade
Your final grade in this class will be a combination of your performance on the ten discussion
questions (20%), the four quizzes (40%), and the one final exam (40%).
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
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
The primary delivery of course content will be through the assigned readings and the accompanyingon-line audio lectures. The lectures are slides accompanied by my 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, PDF
copies of the lecture slides will be available for download. Each lecture will be available at 6:00 am
on the Monday of the week listed and will remain available for the duration of the class.
3
Class Date Topic Reading Quizzes
1 Sep 9 Introduction Psych of Thinking, Ch 1
2 Sep 16 Similarity Psych of Thinking, Ch 2
3 Sep 23 Knowledge, Memory, & Concepts Psych of Thinking, Ch 3,4 Quiz 1
4 Sep 30 Language and Thought Psych of Thinking, Ch 5
- Oct 7 Break Week - - -
5 Oct 14 Inference and Induction Psych of Thinking, Ch 6 Quiz 2
6 Oct 21 Deductive Reasoning Psych of Thinking, Ch 7
7 Oct 28 Causal Reasoning Cambridge Handbook Ch 7
8 Nov 4 Decision Making Psych of Thinking, Ch 9 Quiz 3
9 Nov 11 Problem Solving Psych of Thinking, Ch 10
10 Nov 18 Creativity Psych of Thinking, Ch 10
11 Nov 25 Expertise Psych of Thinking, Ch 11 Quiz 4
12 Dec 2 Prepare for the Final
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
Students should be familiar with all Psychology Department academic and scholastic policies. 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.
