PSYC
317
Cognitive
Psychology
Spring 2008
last updated
1/7/08
Section
002: 10:30- 11:45pm Tuesday
& Thursday
Location: Innovation 208
Instructor: Dr. Matt
Peterson
Office: 2058 David King
Hall
Ph: 993-4255
email:
(please put PYSC
317 in the subject header)
Office Hours:
11-11:50 Wednesdays (tentative) or by appointment.
I fully encourage you to contact me by email if you
have any questions about the class.
Text: Cognitive Psychology (2nd
edition),
Goldstein
Web Page:
archlab.gmu.edu/~mpeters2/Courses/PSY317/psy317.html
warning: url is case sensitive!
Prerequisites: 6 hours of psychology or consent of
instructor.
What is Cognitive Psychology? Cognitive Psychology is the study of how people
think. It is the study of how your visual system recognizes patterns as text,
how your brain interprets those patterns as words, and how your mind combines
those words into sentences and extracts their meaning from memory, all the while
you ignore the mp3 playing in the background. It is the study of decision
making, whether the task is to decide whether a blip on a radar screen is
friend-or-foe, or how best to defeat an opponent at chess. In short, Cognitive Psychology attempts
to understand the underlying computations that produce
thinking.
Cognitive Psychology is a subset of Cognitive
Science. The Cognitive Sciences
include such disciplines as Psychology, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics,
Philosophy, Neuroscience and Anthropology. For this course, we will be focusing
on human cognition. Since cognition is ultimately a function of the underlying
neurological architecture, we will also discuss relevant findings in
neuroscience.
The course as a “LEARNING
COMMUNITY”
This course is an opportunity for us to establish a
genuine learning community where both faculty and students learn from each
other’s knowledge and experience. Such communities imply a “social contract”
between faculty and students. My view of this contract is as
follows:
WHAT I OWE THE
CLASS
• I promise to treat you with respect, carefully
listening to your questions and comments
• I promise to come to class prepared, provide
structure to the course and convey a willingness to work with you in helping you
master the material
• I promise to develop tests that are fair (not
necessarily “easy”!) and that reflect the material covered in
class.
• I promise to try to relate the material to your own
experience
WHAT THE CLASS OWES EACH OTHER AND
THEMSELVES
• To treat the instructor and each other with
respect
•
To come to
class prepared to discuss/reflect on the
material
• Stay current in the
readings
• To extend reasonable effort to learn the
material
• Turn in assignments on
time
• Regularly access the courses web page (but don’t
let downloading the slides substitute for attending
class!)
Objectives: This course is designed to give you a thorough
understanding of contemporary theories of human cognition. The format of this
course is primarily lecture, with discussion as time permits. Questions are encouraged throughout the
lecture.
Attendance Policy: Although I do not grade on attendance, I expect
(barring unforeseen circumstances) to see you in class each week. Keep in mind
that many of the topics discussed in class are not discussed (or at least not in
as much detail) in your textbook.
Although I do put the lecture notes on the web, they will not be complete
and will not match the presentation given in class. If you miss a class, it is
up to you to learn the missed information. At times of low attendance, I may
give extra credit to those that attended that day. NO CELL PHONES OR
PAGERS.
GMU Honor Code: George Mason University has a code of Honor that
each of you accepts by enrolling as a student. My expectation is that all of the
work you do for me in this class will be the work of one individual.
Plagiarism or any other violation of the honor code will be taken very
seriously and reported to the Honor Committee. Having said that, I fully encourage you to discuss
the readings and topics raised in this class with your fellow students.
Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and you need
academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Disability Resource
Center (DRC) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged
through that office."
A+ | 97+ | |||||
A | 93-96 | Grading | Paper |
16 |
||
A- | 90-92 | Exams (4) |
84 |
|||
B+ | 87-89 |
100 |
points total | |||
B | 83-86 | |||||
B- | 80-82 | |||||
C+ | 77-79 | |||||
C | 73-76 | |||||
C- | 70-72 | |||||
D | 60-69 | |||||
F | 0-59 |
Paper (16%): Your
grade will be determined in part by a short paper to be due at the semester’s
end. Your task in writing the paper
will be to summarize and critique a journal article from the recent [i.e. 2003+] cognitive psychology literature. Two
suggestions are Psychological Science and Psychonomic Bulletin and
Review, both of which feature
shorter articles written for the broader scientific community. The papers should
be no less than 5 pages in length (double spaced, and excluding title and
references). Approximately half the assignment should consist of a summary in
which you (a) identify the research question, (b) identify the independent and
dependent variables, (c) summarize the results, and (d) summarize the
researcher(s)’ conclusions. The
rest of the assignment should include your evaluation of the method,
conclusions, etc., and a paragraph on why this study is important in the
cognitive psychology literature.
You must clear each article with me before you submit it, and you must
turn in a copy of the article with your critique (including figures).
You will need to give me a copy of the article (email
or hardcopy), which I will review and approve. The paper is due on or
before April 24th, 2008.
Exams (84%): There will be 4 exams, consisting of multiple-choice,
fill-in-the-blank, and/or short answers. Your exam with the lowest score will be
dropped, and your overall test grade will be calculated based on the remaining
3. That is, your top 3 exams will
be worth 28% points each (3 x 28% = 84%) and your worst will be worth 0%.
Exam Make-up Policy: You may take an exam after (or before) the scheduled date only if you receive my permission before the day of the test. If you miss an exam, your grade will be based on the remaining 3 exams. Keep in mind that the 4th exam is mandatory. If you miss more than one exam (or the 4th exam), then the exam can only be made up if you receive my permission before the day of the exam or (b) have a valid excuse (note from a doctor, judge, sergeant, etc.). Papers will not be accepted beyond the due date.
Extra Credit: You may earn up to an extra 2 % on your final
grade by participating in extra credit experiments. Each hour of participation
is worth 0.5%. Opportunities for participation can be found at
'http://www.experimetrix.com/gmu'. NO
EXTRA CREDIT FOR ONLINE SURVEYS.
Calendar:
Note: The schedule
below is tentative, and though I will try to follow it as closely as possible
changes may occasionally be necessary.
In the event that an exam date is changed, you will be notified at least
one week in advance.
Note that February 5th is the last day to add this class and February 22rd is the last day to drop this class.
Date |
Day |
Chapter |
Topic | |
22-Jan |
Tues |
1 |
intro+
neuro | |
24-Jan |
Thurs |
2 |
cogneuro | |
29-Jan |
Tues |
3 |
Perception | |
31-Jan |
Thurs |
3 |
Perception | |
5-Feb |
Tues |
- |
review | |
7-Feb |
Thurs |
Exam
1 |
| |
12-Feb |
Tues |
4 |
Attention | |
14-Feb |
Thurs |
4 |
Attention | |
19-Feb |
Tues |
5 |
Working
Memory | |
21-Feb |
Thurs |
5 |
Working
Memory | |
26-Feb |
Tues |
6 |
Long-Term
Memory | |
28-Feb |
Thurs |
6 |
Long-Term
Memory | |
4-Mar |
Tues |
- |
review | |
6-Mar |
Thurs |
Exam
2 |
| |
11-Mar |
Tues |
SPRING
BREAK |
| |
13-Mar |
Thurs |
SPRING
BREAK |
| |
18-Mar |
Tues |
7 |
Everyday
memory | |
20-Mar |
Thurs |
7 |
Everyday
memory | |
25-Mar |
Tues |
8 |
Knowledge | |
27-Mar |
Thurs |
8 |
Knowledge | |
1-Apr |
Tues |
9 |
Language | |
3-Apr |
Thurs |
9 |
Language | |
8-Apr |
Tues |
- |
review - paper
approval due | |
10-Apr |
Thurs |
Exam
3 |
| |
15-Apr |
Tues |
|
Statistics and Design
Discussion | |
17-Apr |
Thurs |
11 |
Problem
Solving | |
22-Apr |
Tues |
11 |
Problem
Solving | |
24-Apr |
Thurs |
12 |
Decision Making –
PAPER DUE | |
29-Apr |
Tues |
12 |
Decision
Making | |
1-May |
Thurs |
- |
review | |
8-May |
Thurs |
Exam
4 |
| |