In this course we examine the foundations of Cognitive Psychology including methods, analysis techniques and psychological theories involved in perception, attention, memory, problem solving, decision making, and language.
Course Goals: After successfully completing this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the basic processes underlying a variety of cognitive phenomena, including perception, learning & memory, knowledge, and decision-making.
- Demonstrate familiarity with major concepts in cognitive psychology, including theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends.
- Be able to discuss the ways that environmental and biological processes contribute to cognitive abilities.
- Apply psychological concepts to general descriptions of human behavior as well as your own experiences and attitudes.
Cognitive Psychology, 4th edition
Bruce Goldstein
Cengage
There will be three exams. The format will include a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. Brief quizzes will be given most weeks, covering recent class/reading topics. Your grade in the class will be based on test performance (85%) and quizzes (15%). Quiz dates will not be announced, but because we all have emergencies and bad days from time to time, the lowest two quiz grades will be dropped when calculating your final grade.
Grades will be determined based on the following scale:
90% – 100% = A
80 %– 89% = B
70% – 79% = C
60% – 69% = D
Attendance will not be monitored. However, research indicates that you will learn more, retain more, and do better in class if you attend each lecture and take notes. In general, the more you can actively engage (e.g., ask questions, take notes, translate notes into your own words, draw diagrams), the better you will learn.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Social Sciences area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help students master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I understand human experiences and connections, particularly in how we think, evaluate, decide, and understand?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:
- Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human cognition, and how historical, economic, political, social, or geographic relationships develop, persist, or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Critical thinking
- Information Literacy
- Perspective-Taking
- Persuasion
- Problem Solving