Cognitive Psychology
PSYC 4100: Cognitive Psychology (10919)
Spring 2016
Mondays & Wednesdays 12:00 – 1:15pm
Langdale Hall 615
I.
I.
Instructor
Sonia Singh, M.S.
Office:
Urban Life 725F
Office Hours: II.
Mondays & Wednesdays
III.
09:30-11:30 or by appointment
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (404)413-5083
The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.
II.
Prerequisites
Psyc 1101, Psyc 3510, and Psyc 3530 with grades of C or higher, or equivalents
NOTE: The GoSOLAR registration system will not allow students to register without having completed the
prerequisites. Waivers for prerequisites will not be considered for regular students. Only post-baccalaureate
and transient (visiting) students may request a prerequisite waiver through Tenagne Mulugeta in the main
office of the Department of Psychology. No other requests for waiver of prerequisites will be considered.
III.
Required Materials
I. Full Title: An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders
Author: David Groome
Publisher: Psychology Press; 3 Edition (February 21, 2014)
ISBN: Psychology Press; 3 Edition (February 21, 2014)
II. Full Title: CogLab, Instant Access Code, 5th Edition (ISBN: 1-285-46108-8)
(Purchase Textbook and CogLab Code: www.cengagebrain.com/micro/gsupsyc4100)
III. 4 X 6 attendance note cards: Please purchase a set of notecards and bring them to each class period.
When I pose attendance questions at the end of class, I will ask you to write an answer on the card that
you will turn in. No card, no credit.
IV.
•
•
Course Description
This course will cover key concepts in human cognition including (but not limited to) attention,
memory, reasoning, and language as well as recent developments in the field.
Additionally, students will be exposed to the Cognitive Science perspective regarding the study of
the brain and mental experience. The emphasis is to engage students in critical thinking by drawing
insights from the intersection of other disciplines such as philosophy, neuroscience, and computer
science.
Cognitive Psychology
V.
Course Objectives
Researchers within the field of cognitive psychology seek answers to questions by utilizing knowledge from a
plethora of allied disciplines. Such all inclusive information aids in making a more informed decision about the
way in which brain processes work.
• Rather than confining your understanding to a single way, you will be challenged to acquire an
integrated knowledge or set of tools with which you can approach future scientific issues.
• The broad aim of this course is to expose you to the empirical method. In connection, you will first
get acquainted with foundational knowledge. The basics will then be followed by critical thinking and
getting familiar with the interdisciplinary focus of cognitive psychology.
• The pattern of assignments in the class will have an ‘acquire-think-blend’ consistency. This means we
will tackle new aspects one at a time, critically evaluate them and then summarize our understanding.
• You will also learn to approach problem solving in an objective manner.
By the end of this course successful students will be adept at answering the following kinds of questions:
1. How do attention and perception influence the way we think?
2. What is the role of memory in thinking?
2. Can we think without language?
VI.
Attendance policy & Make-Ups
Class attendance is strongly encouraged and will contribute to the student’s grade. Attendance will be taken
on all 25 regular class days (assuming there are no snow days) at the end of class by submitting Attendance
Note-cards (see Attendance Questions section below). Exam attendance is mandatory. Make-up exams are
usually not offered but will only be granted in extremely rare circumstances (at the discretion of the coursecoordinator) and will require proof when applicable. Late submissions are not permitted.
VII.
Veteran’s attendance
Veterans’ Attendance. The Department of Veterans Affairs requires that institutions of higher learning
immediately report to them when a student discontinues attendance. Veterans who are receiving benefits to
fund their education will be reported to the DVA if they do not attend class for a period of two weeks or
more.
VIII.
•
•
Department Policy on Academic Dishonesty
For a full explanation of academic dishonesty, see the GSU student code of conduct at:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct.html
The most common types of academic dishonesty are plagiarism, cheating on assessments, and
unauthorized collaboration.
GSU Department of Psychology Definition of Plagiarism: If a student uses or relies on others’ work in
preparing any academic materials (e.g., written assignments, posters, presentations) the student must cite
the source correctly (including one’s own published work) according to the directions provided by the
instructor. Failure to do so is plagiarism. Copying and pasting even part of a sentence or phrase is
plagiarism, even when the source is cited correctly. Paraphrasing a source in a way that copies the phrase
or sentence structure of a source is also plagiarism. To avoid plagiarism, students are expected to properly
paraphrase others’ ideas. Quotes in scientific writing should only be used when the wording of the original
source is critical to the student’s argument. Whether quoting is appropriate in a given instance is at the
discretion of the instructor, not the student.
Cognitive Psychology
Multiple Submissions: It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work
for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty member(s) to whom the material is
submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge
in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, even required; however, the student is
responsible for indicating in writing, as a part of such use, that the current work submitted for credit is
cumulative in nature.
Cheating and Unauthorized Collaboration: Cheating includes the use or sharing of any unauthorized
materials and/or assistance before, during, or after an assessment (e.g. exams, tests, quizzes). Unless
otherwise specified by your instructor, you may not discuss an assessment or share materials or
information with any other student at any time. Unauthorized collaboration occurs under the same
circumstances as cheating, but involves assignments outside of the classroom (e.g. papers, projects,
presentations) rather than assessments.
*Note: Absolutely NO NOTES can be within plain sight while completing an exam. This includes but is not limited
to notes on paper, laptops, tablets, cell-phones, smart eye-ware, smart watches and other wearable/ nonwearable smart technology.
IX.
Disruptive Behavior
Students are expected to be familiar with GSU’s policy on disruptive behavior found here:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwsen/minutes/2002-2003/disrupt2.html
X.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the Office of
Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services
of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all
classes in which accommodations are sought.
XI.
Student Evaluation of Instructor
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia
State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation.
XII.
Assignments & Grading
*Note: If you feel that an exam/ assignment was unfairly graded you have exactly one week from when the
grade was posted to dispute the grade.
Syllabus Quiz: The syllabus quiz is due by the 17th of January at 5pm. You have to obtain 80% on the quiz to
pass and you have to have passed the quizz in order to participate in any further graded assignments. The
quiz is worth 10 points.
CogLabs: Students will be asked to complete cognitive experiments online before the start of class on the
date assigned (i.e., before 12:00am). Each of the 10 CogLabs are worth 5 points, and students are expected
to complete each on time regardless of class attendance. Students must register their Access Code and
complete experiments at https://coglab.cengage.com/. Instructions are listed on the last two pages of the
syllabus.
Attendance Questions: Students will be asked to turn in an attendance notecard based on the class activity
for that day with their name on it at the end of each class. Questions may pertain to anything discussed in
Cognitive Psychology
class or the readings and may include questions to clarify or elaborate on content, the application of content
to real life situations, material directly or indirectly related to the content, etc. These questions will be used
to take attendance on non-exam class days. Each Attendance Question is worth 2 points (1 point for
attendance and 1 point for accuracy/ content).
Exams: 3 non-accumulative exams (and 1 cumulative) will be administered. Exams will consist of multiple
choice and short answer questions and will cover content discussed in class, the textbook, and the CogLabs.
Each exam will be worth 100 points. For the final calculated grade only the 3 highest exam grades will be
counted. Therfore you are allowed to skip the final exam if you are happy with your 3 previous exam
grades..
Reading Anotation (RA): Twelve reading annotations will be assigned throughout the semester and will be
designed to give students practice with key concepts. The RA should be no more than 1 page summarizing
key points of the respective chapter(s). In connection, instructions will be added to the assignment folder on
Brightspace which will help you complete the RA assignment. On completion you will submit the RA via
dropbox. Due dates are marked on the syllabus and are due on that day by 05:00 pm (see semester
layout below). Each RA will be worth 10 points. You have the freedom to choose and complete any 3 out
of the 12 RAs. Only 3/12 RAs are required and any extra will not be graded or counted towards course credit.
Extra Credit: You can earn upto 10 points by attending GSURC, which is on campus during the semester
(you need to upload a photo copy of your self with the corrresponding poster as background – as proof
that you were there). This should be accompanied by a descriptive report on the content of that poster.
More details on content will be presented later.
Grading Policy
Assignments
CogLabs (10 X 5)
Attendance Questions (25 X 2)
Exams (3 X 100)
RA (3 X 30)
Extra Credit (14 X 1)
Syllabus Quiz
XIII. Semester Layout
Week
Dates
M
09-Jan
1
W
11-Jan
XIV.
M
16-Jan
2
W
18-Jan
M
23-Jan
3
W
25-Jan
M
30- Jan
4
W
02 - Feb
5
M
W
06-Feb
08-Feb
Points
50
50
300
30
+10
10
Points
>405
360-404
315 - 359
270-314
<269
Grading Scale
Percentage
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
<60
Readings
Syllabus & Ch. 1 Intro to Cognitive Psychology
Ch. 2 Perception
Martin Luther King Day
--Ch. 3 Attention
--Ch.4 Disorders of Perception & Attention
Q1. How do attention and perception influence
the way we think? & Exam 1 Review
EXAM 1(Ch.1-4)
Ch. 5 Short term Memory
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Assignments
Syllabus Quiz (80%required)
CogLab1:Müller-Lyer Illusion
RA ch.1
CogLab2: Attentional Blink
RA ch.2
Coglab3: Change Detection
RA ch.3
CogLab4: Memory Span
Cognitive Psychology
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
13-Feb
15-Feb
20-Feb
22-Feb
27-Feb
01-Mar
06-Mar
08-Mar
13-Mar
15-Mar
20-Mar
22-Mar
27-Mar
29-Mar
03-Apr
05-Apr
10-Apr
12-Apr
17-Apr
19-Apr
24-Apr
26-Apr
--Ch. 6 Long Term Memory
--Ch. 7 Disorders of Memory
---Exam 2 Review
EXAM 2 (Ch. 5-7)
Ch. 8 Thinking & Problem Solving
---
RA ch.4
CogLab5: Operation Span
RA ch.5
RA ch.6
CogLab6: Wason Selection
RA ch.7
Spring Break (March 13th – 19th)
Ch. 9 Disorders of Thinking & Prob. Solving
Q2. What is the role of memory in thinking?
Ch. 10 Language
--Ch. 11 Disorders of Language
--Question 3. Can we think without language
EXAM 3 (Ch. 8 & 11)
Ch. 12 Cognition & Emotion
--EXAM 4 (Cumulative) -optional
CogLab7:Typical Reasoning
RA ch.8
CogLab8: Lexical Decision
RA ch.9
CogLab9: Word Superiority
RA ch.10
CogLab10:Statistical Learning
RA ch.11
RA ch.12
**Extra credit due**
*Instructions on how to use Coglab will be uploaded to Brightspace.
*Note: If you do bring a laptop/ tablet to class ONLY for note-taking, please sit at the back to avoid distractions. I
reserve the right to request to see your electronic notes at any point when you and the note-taking device (in the
event that you use it) are present. If it is found that you were using the device for purposes other than note-taking
you will forfeit points for that day’s attendance questions.