Psychology 4990G-001
Event Knowledge
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
Revised Jan 5, 2022
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2021 - 2022
Psychology 4990G Section 1
Event Knowledge
- CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
In this course, we will investigate how people learn, understand, and use their knowledge of common events such as going grocery shopping, attending a wedding, and going on a picnic. Event knowledge is central to virtually all aspects of human life, including perception, action, understanding and producing language, predicting what might happen next, thinking about your future, and social functioning. We will take a cognitive science perspective so that students will learn about cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience studies with healthy individuals, computational (neural network and graph theory) modeling, and studies with patient populations.
Antirequisite: None
Prerequisite: Psychology 2820E, or both of Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810, plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology or Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course.
3 Lecture Hours
Course Weight: 0.5
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.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Ken McRae
Office and Phone Number: WIRB 5148. 519-661-2111 x84688
Office Hours: Monday, 11:30 - 1:30
Email: kenm@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Wednesday, 12:30 - 3:30; WIRB 1130
Delivery Method: In-Person
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ 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
There is no textbook for this course. Instead, a list of required readings will be available through OWL. Each reading will be available through the library either as a physical copy or digitally accessible through OWL. Weekly assigned readings, specified below, are to be completed before each class meeting.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives: By the end of the course, students will have an integrative understanding of how people slice up the continuous stream of activities in the world into events, and how people's rich and complex knowledge of events plays a key role in so many things that humans do in their everyday lives.
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
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Depth and Breadth of Knowledge.
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Participate in class discussions of assigned readings. Generate and answer questions. Develop and write research proposal. |
Quality of participation in class discussions, quality of submitted questions, as well as written work. |
|
Knowledge of Methodologies.
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Participate in weekly class discussions of assigned readings. Generate and answer questions. Develop and write research proposal. |
Quality of participation in class discussions, quality of submitted questions, as well as written work. |
|
Application of Knowledge.
|
Class participation and research proposal. |
Quality of class participation and research proposal. Innovation of research proposal. |
|
Communication Skills.
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Oral and written work. |
Quality of oral participation and written work. |
|
Awareness of Limits of Knowledge.
|
Class discussions and written work. |
Quality of class participation and written work. |
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Autonomy and Professional Capacity.
|
Class discussions and written work. |
Quality of class participation and written work. |
5.0 EVALUATION
Participation in class discussions: 30%
This is a seminar style course that relies on students to participate enthusiastically in class discussions. To facilitate discussions, students are expected to come to class prepared with comments and questions about the readings that caught their interest, and be prepared to respond to other students’ comments and questions. Participation should reflect deep and critical engagement with the weekly readings. Class participation will be evaluated on the basis of the quality of contributions to the discussions.
Weekly discussion questions: 20%
Every week, students will be asked to submit two discussion questions to the discussion board located under “Forum” on OWL by Monday before 5:00 pm for that week’s corresponding class. All students in the class will have access to the weekly submitted discussion questions. In addition, all students are responsible for reviewing the questions posted to OWL prior to Wednesday's class to ensure that there is a collective understanding of the viewpoints and questions elicited by the readings. Excellent questions will demonstrate critical thought in relation to the assigned reading and should serve to stimulate a thoughtful and productive exchange of ideas.
Summary of research proposal: 10%
Students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned by formulating a novel research idea and proposing a study to address it. The research project you propose must address a research question directly related to human event knowledge. For the research proposal summary, you will prepare a concise document outlining the theoretical background and motivation for the proposed research question, the objective(s) and method of the proposed work, and the anticipated findings and implications. There is a strict two-page limit for the proposal summary (double spaced, 1-inch margins on all sides, APA formatting), with a third page allotted for a reference list. The summary of your research proposal is due on Friday, March 18, 2022, at 5:00 pm EDT. There will be a 10% (out of 100%) per day penalty for late submissions.
Research proposal: 40%
Students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned by formulating a research question and proposing a study to answer it. The research proposal should [1] provide a brief literature review that situates and motivates your study, [2] outline a hypothesis (or hypotheses) you intend to test, [3] specify a method for investigating your proposed question, [4] describe your expected results, and [5] discuss implications and plausible alternative accounts of the potential results. The final research proposal must be 2,000-2,500 words, not including references and title page (double-spaced, formatted with 12-point Times New Roman; 1-inch margins on all sides; written in accordance with APA guidelines), and is due on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 5:00 pm EDT. There will be a 10% (out of 100%) per day penalty for late submissions. As a rough guide, the literature review and the description of the hypothesis/hypotheses should be about 4 pages in length, the method should be about 1-2 pages in length, the expected results should be about 1-2 pages in length, and the implications/alternative accounts should be about 2 pages.
5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
The Summary of the Research Proposal is due at the beginning of class on Friday, March 18, 2022 at 5:00 EDT.
The Research Proposal is due on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 5:00 EDT.
For each of these, late papers will receive a penalty of 10% (out of 100%) per day that they are late.
Weekly discussion questions are due by Monday before 5:00 pm for that week’s corresponding class. Both the quality of these questions, and of course, the number of times that a question is submitted on time, form part of your class participation grade.
Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
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.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-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
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
Weekly discussion questions: due each Monday at 5:00 pm Eastern time
Summary of Research Proposal: due Friday, March 18, 2022 at 5:00 EDT
Research Proposal: due Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 5:00 EDT
TESTS/EXAMINATIONS: none
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Class Topic
January 12 Introduction to the course and to events
January 19 Introduction to research on event knowledge
January 26 Event segmentation
February 2 Events and memory
February 9 & 16 Event knowledge and language understanding
February 23 Reading Week: No Class
March 2 & 9 Computational modeling of event knowledge
March 16 Disorders of event and action knowledge
March 23 Event knowledge and Autism Spectrum Disorder
March 30 & April 6 How people think about future events
Week Readings
Jan. 12 none
Jan. 19 Radvansky, G. A., & Zacks, J. M. (2014). Event cognition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Chapter 1.
Zacks, J. M. (2020). Event perception and memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 165-191.
Jan. 26 Cutting, J. E. (2014). Event segmentation and seven types of narrative discontinuity in popular movies. Acta Psychologica, 149, 69-77.
Cutting, J. E. (2019). Sequences in popular cinema generate inconsistent event segmentation. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81, 2014-2025.
Feb. 2 Radvansky, G. A., & Copeland, D. E. (2006). Walking through doorways causes forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 34, 1150-1156.
Pettijohn, K. A., Thompson, A. N., Tamplin, A. K., Kraweitz, S. A., and Radvansky, G. A. (2016). Event boundaries and memory improvement. Cognition, 148, 136-144.
Conway, M. A., Loveday, C., & Cole, S. N. (2016). The remembering-imagining system. Memory Studies, 9, 256-265.
Feb. 9 McRae, K., & Matsuki, K. (2009). People use their knowledge of common events to understand language, and do so as quickly as possible. Language & Linguistics Compass, 3, 1417-1429.
Edmonds, L. A., Nadeau, S. E., & Kiran, S. (2009). Effect of Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) on lexical retrieval of content words in sentences in persons with aphasia. Aphasiology, 23, 402-424.
Feb. 16 Coll-Florit, M., & Gennari, S. P. (2011). Time in language: Event duration in language comprehension. Cognitive Psychology, 62, 41-79.
Troyer, M. & Kutas, M. (2020). To catch a Snitch: Brain potentials reveal variability in the functional organization of (fictional) world knowledge during reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 113, 104111, 1-22
Feb. 23 Reading Week: no class
March 2 McRae, K., Brown, K. S., & Elman, J. L. (2021). Prediction-based learning and processing of event knowledge. Topics in Cognitive Science, 13, 206-223.
Brown, K. S., Hannah, K. E., Christidis, N., Hall-Bruce, M., Stevenson, R. A., Elman, J. L., & McRae, K. (2022). Using network science to provide insights into the structure of event knowledge in memory.
March 9 Elman, J. L., & McRae, K. (2019). A model of event knowledge. Psychological Review, 126, 252-291.
March 16 Schwartz, M. F. (2006). The cognitive neuropsychology of everyday action and planning. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 23, 202-221.
Dresang, H. C., Dickey, M. W., & Warren, T. C. (2019). Semantic memory for object, actions, and events: A novel test of event-related conceptual semantic knowledge. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 36, 313-335.
March 23 Zalla, T., Labruyère, N., Clément, A., & Georgieff, N. (2010). Predicting ensuing actions in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Experimental Brain Research, 201, 809–819.
Dennis, M., Lazenby, A. L., & Lockyer, L. (2001). Inferential language in high-function children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 47–54.
March 30 Schacter, D. L., & Addis, D. R. (2007). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: Remembering the past and imagining the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 362, 773-786.
Cole, S. & Kvavilashvili, L. (2021). Spontaneous and deliberate future thinking: A dual process account. Psychological Research, 85, 464-479.
April 6 none
8.0 Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 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.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
There are no exams for this course.
11.0 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:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- 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
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event 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.
13.0 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.
14.0 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
- 2021-2022 Calendar References
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
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.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
Course delivery with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic
Although the intent is for this course to be delivered in-person, the changing COVID-19 landscape may necessitate some or all of the course to be delivered 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 assessments affected will be conducted online as determined by the course instructor.
When deemed necessary, tests and examinations in this course will be conducted using a remote proctoring service. By taking this course, you are consenting to the use of this software and acknowledge that you will be required to provide personal information (including some biometric data) and the session will be recorded. Completion of this course will require you to have a reliable internet connection and a device that meets the technical requirements for this service. More information about this remote proctoring service, including technical requirements, is available on Western’s Remote Proctoring website at: https://remoteproctoring.uwo.ca
