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Psychology 3139B-001 (Online for 2020-21)

Cognitive Science

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

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.

3 lecture/discussion hours; 0.5 course

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Marieke Mur 

Office and Phone Number: WIRB 4148  

Office Hours: the hour following Thursday class 

Email: mmur@uwo.ca 

Teaching Assistant: Anthony Cruz 

Office: WIRB 5th floor 

Office Hours: the hour following Thursday class 

Email: acruz27@uwo.ca 

Time and Location of Classes: Thursday, 3:30 – 6:30 pm, virtual synchronous

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western

http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

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 Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

This course will not use a textbook. Assigned readings will be journal articles, which will be posted on the course website.  

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

5.0     EVALUATION

Students will be evaluated in the following manner: 

In-class participation:  5% 

Independent paper:30%  

Midterm exam: 30% 

Final exam: 35% 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty. 

Final grades in this class reflect student achievement. Per Department policy, grades that are close to the next grade level (e.g., 79%, 89%) will not be rounded up. 

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  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE

Paper initial draft: Thursday, February 11, 2021  

Midterm exam: Thursday, February 25, 2021 

Paper final draft: Thursday, March 11, 2021  

Final exam: TBA (April 14 - 30, 2021) 

Independent paper (30% total: 10% initial draft, 20% final draft)  

The goal of this assignment is to practice and improve your critical thinking and writing skills. You will identify a research question in cognitive science and address this question using scientific literature. You are required to integrate evidence across several of the disciplines that contribute to cognitive science. An important part to writing is editing. You will therefore submit the same paper twice: an initial version before class on February 11, and a revised version before class on March 11. Feedback will be provided within two weeks of your initial submission. You should respond to our feedback in the final version of the paper.  

Midterm and final exams (30% and 35%, respectively) 

The midterm and final exams will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and short essay questions. Exam questions will be based on lecture materials and course readings. The final exam is cumulative, in that it will include questions about material from across the course. Exams will be open book/open internet.  

Students must work independently on exams and papers. The exams will use a linear format and you will not be able to return to an item once you complete it. You may take the exam only once. Evidence of working with others, sharing test items, etc., will be formally pursued as academic misconduct. Late papers will incur a penalty of 15% per day, including weekends. 

Because the final is cumulative, a make-up exam will not be offered for the midterm. A make-up will be offered for the final exam. It will take place after the originally scheduled exam and the exact time/date will be announced once the final exam schedule has been released. Please ensure that any travel plans you make during the semester allow you to complete the make-up final in the event that you need to miss the main exam time for one reason or another.  

Exams will be synchronous and proctored via Zoom (mic off, no headphones, bathroom breaks allowed). You will be required to keep your camera on for the entire session, hold up your student card for identification purposes, and share your screen with the invigilator if asked to do so at any time during the exam. The exam session will not be recorded.*   

More information about the use of Zoom for exam invigilation is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines at the following link:  

https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf  

Completion of this course will require you to have a reliable internet connection and a device that meets the system requirements for Zoom. Information about the system requirements are available at the following link:  

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us  

Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please discuss this with your instructor in advance of the test or examination. 

What to do if you need to miss an exam: You may opt to self-report or request that academic counseling excuse you from the midterm. Note, however, that if you decide to miss the midterm, the final exam will be worth 65% of the final course grade. Please think very carefully about whether you really must skip the midterm before you make your decision. If you miss the midterm and have an approved accommodation or self-reported absence, I will assign you a score based on your grade on the final exam questions that cover the same material as the midterm. In that case, your final exam grade will be based on the previously untested content from that exam. 

To excuse yourself from the registrar-scheduled final exam session, you must seek accommodation with academic counselling by providing the course details, exam date and adequate documentation of your excuse (please do not pass excuse documentation to the course staff). If your accommodation is approved, you should contact Dr. Mur via email. Importantly, the make-up exam will consist of a new set of questions, of similar difficulty and format as the original items.  

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Updates to the schedule and course readings will be announced in class and posted to the course website. 

8.0  STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence 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 offences. 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).

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0  POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

1. Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
2. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;

• For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form must be submitted before the exam/coursework deadline in order to be valid. It may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

• are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
• are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
• must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

10.0      Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence during the course that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online as determined by the course instructor.

11.0      STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:

• please “arrive” to class on time
• please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
• please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
• to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
• In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
• In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
• Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:

• If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
• Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
• Self-identify when speaking.
• Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).

General considerations of “netiquette”:

• Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
• Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
• Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
• Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.

12.0      OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar: http://registrar.uwo.ca 

Student Development Services: 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

- 2020-2021 Calendar References

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.