Psychology 3185F-001
Research in 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
Cognitive theorists face a unique problem: the understanding of mental structures and processes that
are not directly observable. A variety of methods used to address this problem will be surveyed, by
introducing research questions of enduring interest. Students will be expected to use the techniques
learned. Cognitive domains to be examined include attention, memory, problem-solving, and thinking.
Prerequisite(s): Psychology 2800E, Psychology 2810 and one of Psychology 2115A/B, Psychology
2134A/B, or Psychology 2135A/B, Psychology 2220A/B, Psychology 2221A/B, or Neuroscience 2000 plus
registration in third or fourth year Honors Specialization in Psychology, or Honors Specialization in
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience or Honors Specialization in Neuroscience. Third or fourth year
Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or
60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810), plus 60% or higher in one of Psychology
2115A/B, Psychology 2134A/B or Psychology 2135A/B also may enroll in this 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 lecture hours; 2 laboratory hours; Course Weight: 0.5
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Patrick Brown
Office and Phone Number: SSC 7328 / Ext. 84680
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30
Email: brown5@uwo.ca
(Note: I will not respond to emails seeking information that is contained in this course outline.)
Teaching Assistant: Haopei Yang
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: haozi078@gmail.com
Time and Location of Classes: Monday & Wednesday 4:30 – 6:30 / SSC 3120
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
In lieu of a textbook we’ll read recent papers from the cognitive psychology literature (see below). This
year, the theme for the readings is applications of cognitive psychology in the student’s life.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course students should have:• Knowledge of the fundamental concepts in human cognition.
• Extensive exposure to human cognition research paradigms.
• Hands-on experience in designing research projects (including one experiment), data collection and
analysis, and preparing research reports on human experimental research.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Outcome Evaluation
Articulate the concepts and current states of
knowledge in relevant natural and social science
aspects of cognitive psychology
Exam short answers and essay questions
Access, interpret, and critically evaluate
appropriate research in cognitive psychology
Lab assignments (literature review; proposal;
experiment report); Exam short answer and essay
questions based on weekly readings
Evaluate the appropriateness of different
methodological approaches to address a specific
question in cognitive psychology
Exam short answer and essay questions; lab
assignments, particularly experiment proposal
Formulate a research hypothesis to address a
psychological question and design a research
project to test that hypothesis
Lab assignments (literature review; research
proposal; poster presentation; written report)
Apply relevant quantitative skills to the analysis
and interpretation of psychological phenomena
Analysis of experiment project data, evaluated in
the form of Results section of final report paper
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion or debate
on a psychological topic
Lab assignments (research proposal; poster
presentation; final paper); final exam essay
questions
Apply ethical standards to the practice of their
own research
Research proposal and ethics review form are
graded
Communicate in writing accurately, clearly, and
logically, using the discourse of the discipline of
cognitive psychology
Lab assignments (research proposal and final
paper); Exam short answer and essay questions
Communicate orally accurately, clearly, and
logically, using the discourse of the discipline of
cognitive psychology
Lab assignment (poster presentation)
5.0 EVALUATION
Final course grades will be based on two major components – lab grades and exam grades. The lab
component, which is described in detail in the lab outline, will be worth 50% of the final course grade.
Note that the lab component counts as the essay component of the course. It is a formal policy of the
university that students must pass the essay component of a course to pass the course. That is, the
average mark for your written assignments in the lab must be at least 50% for you to pass the course.
The other 50% of the final course grade will be based on two exams, a midterm and a final exam, each
worth 25% of the final course grade. The midterm will feature a combination of short-answer and essay
questions and will cover readings and lectures up to and including Week 6. The final will be a take-home
exam containing only essay questions and will cover the whole term.
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
Midterm test: October 31, 2018 (in class)
Final exam: Questions will be posted on the course OWL site on 6 December 2018. Exam papers will be due no later than 21 December 2017 at 5 pm.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1 – Introduction to course
Week 2 – Notetaking as a complex cognitive function
• Mueller, P.A. & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages
of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25 (6), 1159 – 1168. DOI:
10.1177/0956797614524581
• Mangen, A. & Balsvik, L. (2016). Pen or keyboard in beginning writing instruction? Some
perspectives from embodied cognition. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 5 (3), 99-106.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2016.06.003
Week 3 – Attention I – mind-wandering
• Risko, E. F., Anderson, N., Sarwal, A., Engelhardt, M., & Kingstone, A. (2012). Everyday attention:
Variation in mind wandering and memory in a lecture. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(2), 234-
242. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1814
• Robison, M. K., & Unsworth, N. (2015). Working memory capacity offers resistance to
mind‐wandering and external distraction in a context‐specific manner. Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 29(5), 680-690. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3150
Week 4 – Attention II – technology in the classroom as distraction
• Risko, E. F., Buchanan, D., Medimorec, S., & Kingstone, A. (2013). Everyday attention: Mind
wandering and computer use during lectures. Computers & Education, 68, 275-283.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.05.001
• Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N.J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for
both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education, 62 (24 – 31).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003
Week 5 – Fall Reading Week – no classes
Week 6 – Mental imagery and future self continuity
• Blouin-Hudon, E.-M. C. & Pychyl, T.A. (2015). Experiencing the temporally extended self: Initial
support for the role of affective states, vivid mental imagery, and future self-continuity in the
prediction of academic procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 86, 50–56.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.06.003
• Hershfield, H. E., Cohen, T. R., & Thompson, L. (2012). Short horizons and tempting situations:
Lack of continuity to our future selves leads to unethical decision making and behavior.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 117(2), 298-310.
Week 7 – Narrative and test anxiety
• Ramirez, G., & Beilock, S. L. (2011). Writing about testing worries boosts exam performance in
the classroom. Science, 331, 211-213.
• Park, D., Ramirez, G., & Beilock, S. L. (2014). The role of expressive writing in math anxiety.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 20 (2), 103-111.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xap0000013.
• Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(10), 1243-1254.
Week 8 – Midterm exam in class – covers all readings and lectures to this point
Week 9 – Judgments of learning
• Knoll, A.R., Otani, H., Skeel, R.L., & Van Horn, K.R. (2017). Learning style, judgements of learning,
and learning of verbal and visual information. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), 544 – 563.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12214.
• Pashler H., McDaniel M., Rohrer D., & Bjork R. (2009). Learning styles: concepts and evidence.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9 (3), 105–19.
• Howard-Jones, P. A. (2014). Neuroscience and education: myths and messages. Nature Reviews
Neuroscience, 15(12), 817.
Week 10 – Cognitive enhancement
• Stojanoski, B., Lyons, K. M., Pearce, A. A., & Owen, A. M. (2018). Targeted training: Converging
evidence against the transferable benefits of online brain training on cognitive function.
Neuropsychologia, 117, 541-550.
Week 11 – Retrieval practice improves memory
• Smith, M.A. & Karpicke, J.D. (2014). Retrieval practice with short-answer, multiple-choice, and
hybrid tests. Memory, 22 (7), 784 – 802. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2013.831454
• Benjamin, A.S. & Pashler, H. (2015). The value of standardized testing: A perspective from
cognitive psychology. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2 (1), 13 – 23. DOI:
10.1177/2372732215601116.
• Roediger, H.L. & Pyc, M.A. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying
cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory
and Cognition, 1, 4, 242-248, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.09.002.
Week 12 – Metacognition I – Metacomprehension
• Ikeda, K. & Kitagami, S. (2013). The interactive effect of working memory and text difficulty on
metacomprehension accuracy. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25, 94-106.
10.1080/20445911.2012.748028.
• Wiley, J., Griffin, T.D., Jaeger, A.J., Jarosz, A.F., Cushen, P.J. & W. Thiede, K.W. (2016). Improving
metacomprehension accuracy in an undergraduate course context. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Applied, 22, 393-405. 10.1037/xap0000096.
Week 13 – Metacognition II – What do students know about what they know?
• Serra, M. J., & DeMarree, K. G. (2016). Unskilled and unaware in the classroom: College students’
desired grades predict their biased grade predictions. Memory & cognition, 44(7), 1127-1137.
• Miller, T. M., & Geraci, L. (2011, January 24). Unskilled but aware: Reinterpreting overconfidence
in low-performing students. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and
Cognition. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0021802
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.
