Download cognitive psychology - Indiana University Bloomington

cognitive psychology
p335 section 15851
“[Arthur’s brain] could always be replaced,” said Benji reasonably,
“if you think it's important.”
“Yes, an electronic brain,” said Frankie, “a simple one would suffice.”
“A simple one!” wailed Arthur.
“Yeah,” said Zaphod with a sudden evil grin, “You'd just have to program
it to say ‘What?’ and ‘I don't understand’ and ‘Where's the tea?’ —
who'd know the difference?”
Douglas Adams
course overview
Taking P335, you’ll become equipped to answer “How” questions of the human mind, such
as How do we recognize objects?, How do we remember?, and How do we make
decisions? In addressing these questions (through the lens of experimental psychology),
mental phenomena are demystified, and you’ll begin considering the human mind as a
complex (but not impossibly complex) information processor.
This section will take an untraditional approach to Cognitive Psychology. Rather than
directly discussing disembodied abstract cognitive facilities (e.g., Attention), you’ll be
presented with applied challenges (How do you concentrate on something?). We’ll puzzle
through these challenges, reviewing primary source material and using active exploration,
hopefully fostering a more relevant and vivid perspective on cognition.
section details
section 15851, fall 2010
monday august 30th thru friday december 10th
meets mondays, wednesdays, and fridays
1:25 to 2:15pm in room PY101
instructors
Lead Instructor
Ben Motz (please call me Ben)
Office: PY A200B
[email protected]
(812)855-0318 (office phone)
Teaching Assistant
Ke Sang
[email protected]
Page 1/8
office hours
Ben (in Psych Bldg room A200B)
TUESDAY: 2pm – 3:30pm
WEDNESDAY: 9am – 10am
FRIDAY: 9am – 11am
Ke Sang
office hours by appointment
(or just send him an email—he’ll help!)
required materials
There will be no textbook in P335. All readings will be provided electronically as PDF files
on our Oncourse site.
For the priming experiment poster session, your group will be required
to produce a poster that describes your project. Your poster may not be
more than 5 feet high and/or 4 feet wide. You may use the large format
printer in the Wells Library Information Commons ($10 per poster), or
you may acquire a sheet of poster paper, and adorn it as you wish.
For the public service announcement project, your group will be required to produce (plan,
script, film, and edit) a 60-second video. If you have a suitable digital camcorder, or a digital
camera that can record video, you are strongly encouraged to use your own equipment for
this project. If you do not have a digital video camera, consider purchasing one (or having
your parents purchase one for you); they’re really cheap nowadays, and you’ll have much
more flexibility in producing your project.
If you don’t have a digital video camera, and you can’t purchase one, a very
small number of Flip Ultra Camcorders will be available for P335 students to
check-out for one-day periods directly from Ben Motz. If you check-out the
camcorder, please plan to provide 2 AA batteries (preferably rechargeable) to
operate the camcorder. Consumer- and professional-quality video editing
software is available on iuware.indiana.edu, and at STC computer labs.
Instructional time in P335 will be devoted to video production.
grading
In-class exams (Units 1, 2, and 4). At the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th units, we will hold inclass exams, which will mainly assess your understanding of the readings, what the
readings suggest about cognitive phenomena, and how the experiments described apply to
everyday cognition. These exams will take place during normal class meeting times (9/20,
10/6, and 11/12), and each are worth 18% of your P335 grade.
Unit 3 assignment: Group Priming Experiment. You understand what a “chair” is
because you have a lot of direct experience with a chair. You know what they look like and
how to use them; you might have a favorite chair, etc. But what about concepts that are
difficult to directly objectively observe, like time, love, electricity, etc.? In this group project,
you’ll investigate the cognitive tools people use to understand these abstract concepts, and
you’ll see if you can manipulate people’s understanding of the concept using a research
method called “priming.” Your group will report your results on a poster during an in-class
poster session, and you will be quizzed individually on the relevant concepts, which are
worth a combined 15% of your P335 grade. You will not be evaluated on the “success” of
your experiment. See the “Group Work” section below for more information.
Unit 5 assignment: Group Public Service Announcement. People aren’t rational. When
someone makes a decision, they usually go with a “gut instinct” or some type of intuition.
Cognitive psychologists have learned a great deal about these intuitions (called heuristics),
and the situations when these intuitions might lead us astray. Applying what you learn
Page 2/8
about these heuristics, your group will create a 60-second video public service
announcement (PSA) with the following goal: help people avoid making bad decisions.
Additionally, you will be quizzed on the relevant concepts. Together, the quiz and PSA are
worth 15% of your grade in P335. You will be taught how to film and edit your PSA. See
the “Group Work” section below for more information.
Thought Exercises. Four times during the semester, students will be prompted to write a
brief summary/analysis of a given topic in Cognitive Psychology. These “thought exercises”
will be announced in class, will be submitted electronically via Oncourse within three days of
the announcement. They may reflect topics from readings and/or lectures— you will be
evaluated on your demonstrated knowledge of relevant material. Each thought exercise is
worth 4%, for a combined 16% of your P335 grade.
Thought Exercises
16.0%
Unit 1 Exam
18.0%
There will
be no extra
credit in
P335.
Unit 5 Quiz
7.5%
Unit 2 Exam
18.0%
Unit 5 PSA
7.5%
Unit 4 Exam
18.0%
Unit 3 Quiz
7.5%
Unit 3 Experiment
Project
7.5%
group work
There will be two collaborative (group) activities in P335: the priming experiment (unit 3) and
the PSA (unit 5). At the instructors’ discretion, students will be assigned to 4-person groups
during the 6th week of the course, based (in part) on responses to an online survey.
Attendance in P335 is required during the units when groups will be developing their
projects: October 8th - October 27th and November 15th - December 10th (see course
schedule on page 7). If you are absent during these dates, your individual grade on the
group project will be reduced by 2% for each recorded unexcused absence (you are allowed
one absence without penalty for each unit).
For each of these two group projects, students will be asked to candidly grade the work of
the other groups, the work of their fellow individual group members, and their own work. In
this way, grades will be based on the following factors: (1) the quality of your work as
assessed by instructors; (2) the quality of your group’s work as assessed by fellow
classmates; (3) your individual attendance during the project; (4) your own self-assessment;
and (5) your fellow group members’ assessments of your individual contribution. Instructors
may take all these factors into account when assigning grades for these projects.
Page 3/8
If you have a serious concern or issue regarding the contribution of a fellow group member,
or if scheduling issues with your group are preventing you from contributing, please bring it
to Ben’s attention (but only after you’ve attempted to settle the issue on your own).
letter grade assignment
Final letter grades will be assigned according to the table to the right.
Plusses, not minuses, will be assigned.
“Percent” is calculated by a weighted average of the percent correct
on attendance, quizzes, and assignments, adjusting for the percent
that each counts toward your final grade. Decimals will be rounded
to the nearest percent score.
If fewer than 70% of students receive a total percent score of 80% or
higher, the instructor reserves the right to proportionately increase all
students’ grades (upward curve) to meet this criterion. No student’s
grade will be decreased in this situation. This is not a guarantee,
and will depend on the shape of the distribution of total percent
scores.
grade
percent
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D+
D
F
97-100
90-96
87-89
80-86
77-79
70-76
67-69
60-66
<=59
academic misconduct
You may not use notes, readings, or other aids during P335 exams or quizzes. You may
study with other students in preparation for an exam, but your answers on a quiz or exam
must be your own. Students are expected to adhere to the Code of Student Rights,
Responsibilities, and Conduct (http://dsa.indiana.edu/Code/index.html). According to this
code, cheating is an “attempt to use or provide unauthorized assistance, materials,
information, or study aids in any form and in any academic exercise or environment,” (p7)
and it is academic misconduct.
Another form of academic misconduct is plagiarism, or using someone else’s ideas and
words without appropriate citation on a written assignment. The advent of the web makes it
very easy to plagiarize or copy text from other sources. However, it takes effort to create a
sentence, and when you use the construction of others you are plagiarizing. Your thought
exercises will be processed through TurnItIn.com, a system for assessing the originality of
your submitted papers. It will ensure that your writings (in part or in full) haven’t been copied
from Wikipedia, other college students’ papers, scholarly articles, websites, and a host of
other sources. Do not attempt plagiarism, because you will be caught. Plagiarism is
academic misconduct, and cases of plagiarism will be treated as such. Under university
policy, all alleged cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the Dean of Students.
Disciplinary action in response to these or other forms of academic misconduct may include
a grade reduction or “zero” on any quizzes, exams, exercises, or assignments, or in the
course, or other actions as determined by the instructor and/or the Dean of Students.
missed classes / missed exams / late thought exercises
If, during the poster session or PSA showcase, you miss class due to a medical, family, or
personal emergency, a brief make-up activity will be assigned to account for missed P335
points. If this is the case, you must provide documentation of the emergency.
Page 4/8
If, during a regular class meeting when attendance is required, you miss class due to a
medical, family, or personal emergency, no points will be deducted if you provide
documentation. You are allowed one unexcused absence without penalty per unit.
If you anticipate that you will miss an exam or quiz, tell us about it ahead of time.
Reasonable efforts will be made to provide an alternative date/time when you might take the
exam.
If you miss an exam or quiz for unforeseen reasons, it is your responsibility to tell Ben
immediately and make arrangements to account for the missed P335 points. No make-up
exams will be provided after the rest of the class has taken the exam.
Thought exercises will be graded on a 4-point scale. If you submit a thought exercise late,
your grade on the exercise will be reduced by 1 point for each day that it is late. Thus, on
the fourth day after the due date, you will not receive credit for your thought exercise.
disclaimer
This syllabus is an outline of the course and its policies, which may be changed for
reasonable purposes during the semester at the instructor’s discretion. You will be notified
in class and/or via email if any changes are made to this syllabus, and an updated syllabus
will be provided on Oncourse.
Page 5/8
course schedule
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
37
38
39
40
41
42
How do you read?
How do you make a decision?
3
Unit
How do you
concentrate on
something?
2
Day
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
How do you know what
love is?
1
Date
Mon, 8/30
Wed, 9/1
Fri, 9/3
Mon, 9/6
Wed, 9/8
Fri, 9/10
Mon, 9/13
Wed, 9/15
Fri, 9/17
Mon, 9/20
Wed, 9/22
Fri, 9/24
Mon, 9/27
Wed, 9/29
Fri, 10/1
Mon, 10/4
Wed, 10/6
Fri, 10/8
Mon, 10/11
Wed, 10/13
Fri, 10/15
Mon, 10/18
Wed, 10/20
Fri, 10/22
Mon, 10/25
Wed, 10/27
Fri, 10/29
Mon, 11/1
Wed, 11/3
Fri, 11/5
Mon, 11/8
Wed, 11/10
Fri, 11/12
Mon, 11/15
Wed, 11/17
Fri, 11/19
Mon, 11/22
Wed, 11/24
Fri, 11/26
Mon, 11/29
Wed, 12/1
Fri, 12/3
Mon, 12/6
Wed, 12/8
Fri, 12/10
How do you recall a
person's face?
Week
Content / Topic
Syllabus, Outline, Policies
History of Cognitive Psychology
Visual Cognition
Eye Movements, Saccades, Fixations
Recognizing Letters & Words
Garden Path & Word Comprehension
Speech Recoding and Reading
Context While Reading & N400
Semantics and the Mental Lexicon
Exam
Setting-Up the Scene: Selective Attention
Metaphors and Selection Theories
Attention & Consciousness
Interest and Attention
Automatic Processing, ADHD, and Drugs
Curiosities of Concentration
Exam
Team Building
What's a concept?
Abstract concepts
Priming Experiments
Conceptual Metaphors
Embodiment
Gesture
Concept Learning and Quiz
Poster Session (in IMU Georgian Room)
Objects and Faces
Perceiving and Learning Faces
The Working Memory Model
Mental Imagery
FFA and Domain Specificity
Grandmother Cells and Adaptation
Exam
Humans are not Rational
Decision Making Heuristics 1
Decision Making Heuristics 2
Video Editing and the PSA
Attendance
Required
Required
Thanksgiving Break
Problem Solving
Intuition, Fear, and Risk
Morality
Creativity
Expertise and Quiz
PSA Showcase
Required
There is no final exam in this section of P335.
Page 6/8