WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology
2014-2015
Psychology 2010A Section 001
Mind Matters: Thought, Memory and Language
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
A survey of recent findings, theories and applications concerning information-processing
approaches to human cognition. A selection of topics from areas such as memory, thinking and
language will be considered.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2135A/B
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for
credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose
credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. John Campbell
Office and Phone Number:
Office Hours: By Appointment/TBA
Email:
jcampb7@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Time and Location of Lectures:
Wednesdays 2:30pm – 5:30pm, NCB 113
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to
assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these
resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any
other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services
for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an
accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Smilek, D., Sinnett, S., and Kingstone, A. (2013) Cognition, 3rd Edition. Belmont, Don Mills ON.
Oxford University Press
Note: The book you need to purchase comes with an access key for OUP web resources. Do NOT
lose this access key as you will need it for access to the experiment participation portion of the
course.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed, using both lectures and participatory hands on applications, to give
participants a basic introduction to the stages involved in information processing such as how we
recognize patterns and use attention to select information as well as providing an understanding of
how knowledge is organized and represented in the mind to be used in the performance of complex
cognitive activities such as language and problem solving. The Discovery Lab experiments are
designed to give you a hands-on aspect of experimental designs and tasks used to make inferences
about information processing in the Human Mind. These labs will count for 10% of your final grade.
In the lecture outline I have suggested what I feel is a relevant experiment for you to do in the area of
investigation relevant to that lecture. You should bring a copy of the results of your performance to
class to hand in.
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to
conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following
averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2100-2990-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as
follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf)):
A+
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
below 50
One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
Superior work that is clearly above average
Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
Competent work, meeting requirements
Fair work, minimally acceptable
Fail
In this course evaluation will consist of three multiple choice tests. Tests 1 and 2 are each worth 20% of
the final grade, the final exam is worth 30% of the final grade. There will also be one small written
assignment, Discovery Labs and in class participation. The written assignment will be approximately 5
typed double spaced pages and is worth 10% of the final grade. Discovery, Labs are worth 10% of the
final grade. For each Discovery Lab there will be a question posted on the course Web site. You should
submit a copy of your lab results (with the typical results included) along with the answer to the question.
In class participation is also worth 10% of the final grade.
Evaluation Summary
Item
Value
Test 1
Test 2
Final Exam
Assign 1
Discovery Labs
In-class Participation
Total
20%
20%
30%
10%
10%
10%
100%
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Midterm Test 1: Chapters 1 through 5 – October 8
Assignment on Serial Position Curve – DUE October 22 (see NOTE below)
Midterm Test 2: Chapters 6 through 9 – November 19
Assignment on Flow chart Problem solution – Due December 3 (see NOTE below)
Final Exam: Chapters 10 through 12 – To be set buy Registrar in Exam period Dec 4-21.
NOTE: All items to be handed in will have a late penalty applied of 10% of the value of the item for each
day they are past due.
7.0 LECTURE SCHEDULE
Date:
Topic
Readings
Discovery Lab
Part I: Information Processing
Sept., 10
Introduction to the course & Pattern Recognition
Chp. 1, 3
Sept., 17
Perception & Attention
Chp. 3,
Chp. 4
Sept., 24
Oct., 1
Short Term Memory
Long Term Memory
Ponzo Illusion
Change Blindness
Chp. 5
Brown-Peterson
pp 128,
130-142, 151-160
Chp 6 pp 182-186
Chp. 6
Serial Position
pp 176-177,
188-197
Assignment – Explaining the Serial Position Curve
Oct., 8
Midterm Test 1 All Lecture material and readings to date
Part II: Representing and Organizing Knowledge
Oct., 15
Oct., 22
Levels of Processing & Encoding Specificity
Dual Coding and the use of images in cognition
Chp. 5 Encoding Specificity
pp 148-151
Chp 6 pp 165-175
Chp. 7
Oct., 22
Assignment 1 DUE – Explaining the Serial Position Curve
Oct., 29
Organizing Knowledge in Categories
Chp. 8
Mental Rotation
Nov., 05
Nov., 12
Networks and Schemas in
Knowledge organization and Recall
Chp. 5
Lexical Decision
pp 129, 142-147
Chp. 6 pp 178-182
Chp. 8
Midterm Test 2 All Lectures and readings assigned since Midterm 1
Part III: Complex Cognitive Skills
Nov., 19
Problem Solving
Chp. 10, 11
Nov.,26
Language / Discourse processing
Chp 2 pp 30-33,
Chp5 pp 145-147
Chp. 9 Word Frequency
Dec., 3
Discourse processing / Intelligence
Chp. 9
Chp 12
Word Superiority
Final Exam will be scheduled by the Registrar’s Office to be held during the December examination
period from Dec., 6 through Dec., 17.
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and
other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they
undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are
described at the following link:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic
offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses
using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All
written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by
comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s
databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference
database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of
the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario
and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course,
suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergradresponsibilities.htm
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2014 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.