Western University

London Canada

Department of Psychology

Winter 2024

Psychology 4195F      Section 001

SPECIAL TOPICS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 

Individual Differences in Cognitive Neuroscience

1     Calendar Description

This SPECIAL TOPICS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY course focuses on individual differences in cognitive neuroscience.

Antirequisites: Not Applicable

Prerequisites: Both Psychology 2801F/G and Psychology 2811A/B, or the former Psychology 2820E, or both the former Psychology 2800E and the former Psychology 2810, PLUS registration in fourth year Main Campus Honours Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Honours Specialization in Neuroscience, or Honours Specialization in Animal Behaviour. Fourth year Main Campus Psychology students and Main Campus Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course.  

Lecture Hours: 3h

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     Course Information

Instructor:                                        Dr. Stefan Köhler                       

Office and Phone Number:                   519-661-2111 ext. 86364

Office Hours:                                     by appointment          

Email:                                                stefank@uwo.ca        

Teaching Assistant:                                 TBA

Office:                                                             TBA     

Office Hours:                                               by appointment

Email:                                                             TBA

Time and Location of Classes:            see TimeTable on Student Centre

Delivery Method:                                      In-Person

For courses that include an online component, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer that are compatible with online learning system requirements.

3     Course Materials

There will be no textbook for this course. There will be approximately 3 - 5 published scientific papers assigned for each session (primary research papers and reviews). Assigned readings will be made available through links or pdfs on the course website in OWL Brightspace.

4     Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Course Objectives

The vast majority of what is currently known about the neural underpinnings of human cognition has come from experimental paradigms that involve averaging of data from multiple subjects, with the goal of deriving conclusions that generalize to a broader population. Yet, psychologists have recognized for a long time that individuals differ in cognitive abilities, cognitive biases, and the cognitive strategies they bring to bear on the kind of tasks employed to understand brain-behaviour relationships. Neuroscientists acknowledge that no two human brains are the same. Variability in brain anatomy and function arises from a mix of genetic and environmental factors, as well as from individuals’ unique past learning histories. With the growing appreciation of diversity in society at large, current research in cognitive neuroscience is increasingly considering the influence of demographic factors (e.g., sex, gender, and age), and scientists are increasingly turning to a targeted examination of interindividual differences in brain, mind, and behaviour. This trend is going hand in hand with the realization that combining an individual-differences approach with experimental paradigms also helps to improve mechanistic accounts and constrain theories of cognitive phenomena. The general goal of the present course is to review progress in this endeavor in the field of human cognitive neuroscience.

The specific goals are

1. to provide a research-oriented overview of methodology, findings, theories, and contentious issues in the study of interindividual differences in cognitive neuroscience
2. to encourage reading and writing about primary source material in cognitive neuroscience; to encourage critical thinking and to explore the limits of current scientific knowledge in the field
3. to provide training opportunities for public (in-class) presentations on specific research questions in cognitive neuroscience and their empirical study; to offer opportunities for participation in public (in-class) discussion of scientific issues.

Learning Outcomes

5     Evaluation

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives.

Students are expected (i) to attend all classes, (ii) to read all assigned course material, and (iii) to actively participate in class discussions. Students will be asked to select 2 research articles for a presentation (typically in groups of 2) and prepare questions for in-class discussion. Students will also be asked to write thought papers on a subset of the course readings. Some of this discussion will take place in break-out groups. A quiz exam will be administered to probe knowledge of foundations and methods early on in the term. An essay with a research proposal on one of the topics of the course will be required at the end of term. Evaluation will be based on five different course components.

Grade breakdown for course evaluation:

1. Quiz exam                                                     14%  of total grade
2. Course participation                                 6%  of total grade
3. Scholarly final essay (incl. outline)  35% of total grade
4. In-class presentations                            30% of total grade
5. Thought papers                                         15% of total grade

Quiz Exam

This exam will cover the materials from the lectures, videos, and readings of the first three classes (Introduction, Foundations, Methods). Mixed format: multiple choice and short answers.

Thought Papers

Students are required to write three thought papers (maximum 500 words each) on assigned readings over the course of the term. Thought papers are intended to be brief reflections on presented articles that are meant to increase students’ engagement with select research content. Due dates for these papers will be determined for each student in the first two weeks of the course. Thought papers must be uploaded to the course website by 12 noon on the due dates (i.e. typically Monday following the presentations on which they are based). These deadlines follow the new flexible assessment format with an added grace period of 48h (see implications for consideration and missing course work below).

Presentations

Students are required to give two presentations on assigned primary research papers (one presentation per paper) over the course of the term. Presentations must offer a full summary of the article and will typically be given in groups of 2 students. Presentations are expected to be 15 min in length and supported by visual aids (e.g., PowerPoint), followed by a Q & A. Students are encouraged to include questions and comments in their presentations so as to stimulate discussion in the Q & A period. They are also expected to be prepared to answer any questions about the articles they present in the Q & A. Presentation dates for each student will be determined in the first two weeks of the course.

Essay Proposal and Essay

Students are required to submit an essay on a topic covered in this course. The paper must be a proposal for a research project that would follow up on research covered in this course. Essays are expected to include (i) an introduction with a brief review of pertinent background, (ii) the specification of the critical research question and a justification why it is important, (iii) a description of research methods and the study design proposed to answer that question, (iv) a description of anticipated results, and (v) a summary of conclusions that can be drawn if the outcome is as expected.  The essay should not exceed a maximum of 8 double-spaced pages (i.e., between 1800 and 2300 words in 12 point font) excluding cover page and references. Prior to essay submission students are required to submit an essay proposal with their plans (maximum 400 words). The deadline of the essay proposal is Tuesday November 12 2024 at 1:30pm. The deadline for submitting essays is Tuesday December 3 2024 at 1:30pm. Essay proposals and essays must be submitted electronically (for essays with Turnitin) through the OWL Brightspace course website. These deadlines follow the new flexible assessment format with an added grace period of 48h (see implications for consideration and missing course work below).

Course Participation

Students are expected to participate regularly in class discussion, and they will be graded based on the extent of their participation. Attendance is necessary but not sufficient to obtain marks in course participation. Students should be prepared to be addressed directly by the course instructor in these discussions.

Policy on Missing Coursework

Essays and Essay Proposals. There will be a penalty for late submissions (10% per day) of the essay outline and the essay unless submitted within the 48h grace period specified as part of the flexible assessment format. Please note that because the submission deadline for these assessments already includes flexibility in the form of this grace period, the instructor reserves the right to deny academic consideration for assignments which are submitted following the end of the period of flexibility.

Thought Papers. Late submissions of the thought papers will not be accepted unless submitted within the 48h grace period specified as part of the flexible assessment format. Please note that because the submission deadline for these assessments already includes flexibility in the form of this grace period, the instructor reserves the right to deny academic consideration for thought papers which are submitted following the end of the period of flexibility.

Presentations will be rescheduled if missed due to medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances approved for academic consideration. If rescheduling is not feasible, students may be asked to upload a recorded version on OWL Brightspace instead (at a time determined by the course instructor). If only one of the presenters is available at the assigned presentation spot they will be encouraged to offer their presentation individually. Presentations missed without approved academic consideration will be assigned a 0 mark.

Participation in up to two classes missed due to medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances will be reweighted over participation in remaining classes provided the instructor is being informed about this absence prior to the class. If more than two classes are missed, there will be a loss of 0.5 participation marks (out of maximum of 6 marks) for each missed class. If students require a longer-term accommodation (lasting more than a week) for absences due to medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances, they are asked to seek formal academic consideration.

Quiz exams will be rescheduled as make-up exams if missed due to medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances approved for academic consideration. If make-up exams are missed, a mark of 0 will be assigned.

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 Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines:  https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf

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

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.

6     Assessment/Evaluation Schedule

Quiz Exam

There will be a 30 minute quiz exam on October 1 2024 at 1:30pm. This quiz will cover the materials from the lectures, videos, and readings of the first three classes (Introduction, Foundations, Methods). Mixed format: multiple choice and short answers.

Thought Papers

Due dates for thought papers will be determined for each student at the start of the course (within first 2 weeks). Thought papers must be uploaded to the course website by 12 noon on these due dates.  These deadlines follow the new flexible assessment format with an added grace period of 48h (see implications for consideration and missing course work above).

Presentations

Presentation dates will be determined for each student at the start of the course (within first 2 weeks).

Essay Proposal and Essay

The deadline of the proposal is Tuesday November 12 2024 at 1:30pm.

The deadline for submitting essays is Tuesday December 3 2024 at 1:30pm.

These Essay Proposal and Essay deadlines follow the new flexible assessment format with an added grace period of 48h (see implications for consideration and missing course work above).

Essay proposals and essays must be submitted electronically through the OWL Brightspace course website.

7     Class Schedule

Assigned readings for each session will be specified and made available on OWL (3 - 5 published scientific papers per session).

8     Academic Integrity

Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf.

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.

Statement on Use of Electronic Devices

Use of laptops or tablets is only allowed for note taking and display of readings during class. Use of cell phone is not permitted. During the quiz exam, no use of electronic devices is permitted.

Plagiarism Detection Software

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism.  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.

Use of AI

The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content.

9     Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education

View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link.

Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western. If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information.  Email: aew@uwo.ca  Phone: 519 661-2147

Students should review the policy for Accommodation for Religious Holidays.

https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_16

Where a student will be unable to write examinations and term tests due to a conflicting religious holiday, they should inform their instructors as soon as possible but not later than two weeks prior to writing the examination/term test. In the case of conflict with a midterm test, students should inform their instructor as soon as possible but not later than one week prior to the midterm.

10  Absence & Academic Consideration

University policy on academic considerations are described here:

https://uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/academic_consideration_Sep24.pdf

This policy requires that all requests for academic considerations must be accompanied by a self-attestation. Further information about academic considerations, and information about submitting this self-attestation with your academic consideration request may be found at the link.

Students must familiarize themselves with the Policy on Academic Consideration –

Undergraduate Students in First Entry Programs. Students missing course work for medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances can request academic consideration by completing a request at the central academic consideration portal. Students are permitted one academic consideration request per course per term without supporting

documentation. Note that supporting documentation is always required for academic consideration requests for examinations scheduled by the office of the registrar (e.g. December and April exams) and for practical laboratory and performance tests typically schedule during the last week of the term. Students should also note that the instructor may designate one assessment per course per term that requires supporting documentation. This designated assessment is described elsewhere in this document. Please note that any academic considerations granted in this course will be determined by the instructor of this course, in consultation with the academic advisors in your Faculty of Registration, in accordance with information presented in this course outline. Supporting documentation for academic considerations for absences due to illness should use the Student Medical Certificate or, where that is not possible, equivalent documentation by a health care practitioner.

11  Other Information

• Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
• Student Development Services: sdc.uwo.ca
• Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html

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.

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 in writing 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.

12  Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton. Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors of our society.