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