SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS
Discipline: Psychology
Fall 2013
PSYC 2150: Introduction to Cognition
Lower Division
Faculty Name: John Mueller
Pre-requisites: Introductory Psychology (or permission)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides a general introduction to cognitive psychology as the study of human
learning, memory, and thinking, in particular the mental representations and processes
involved in the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of knowledge. The course will begin
with an overview of how these issues were addressed in the past, in terms of instincts and
reflexes, then basic behavioristic learning principles, such as reinforcement. With this
foundation the course will explore how developments in a variety of fields (e.g., linguistics,
philosophy of mind, computer science, biology, medical technology, and psychology) have
produced a "cognitive revolution." To a limited extent, we examine how the study of failures
in cognition for specific populations (e.g., individuals with amnesia or dementia, normal
elderly individuals) can enhance our understanding of normal cognitive functioning. There
will be some opportunity to discuss how research and theory in cognitive psychology can be
applied to real-world problems (e.g., study skills, ergonomics, teaching). There will be a
consideration of how modern man functions in a complex world with a cognitive architecture
developed by evolutionary pressures in simpler ancient settings.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will learn to appreciate the logic of research methods and the interpretation of
research findings associated with various theories of learning and cognition. The goals of this
course are to, from a scientific perspective, educate students about some of the major
paradigms, theoretical issues, and methodological approaches in cognitive psychology, and
provide the student with the foundation to identify the practical relevance of research findings
from cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychologists seek to understand processes that we
cannot directly observe, thus students will engage in careful consideration of methodologies
and achieve insights into the interplay between phenomena and theory. Student should also
be able to extrapolate research findings to the everyday world, and to evaluate the efforts of
others trying to do the same (e.g., educators and policy makers).
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
The anticipated schedule of topics, arranged by phase of voyage, with chapters in the
WILLINGHAM text indicated as W#. (Some rescheduling may be required as port
opportunities arise, if our itinerary changes, or if cross-course conflicts become apparent.)
Depart
Date
Class Day
Southampton
Aug **
1
Overview, orientation
2
Antecedents to Cognitive Psychology: Wm. James, plus
3
Cognitive Theoretical Approaches (W1)
4
Research Methods in Cognition (W2)
5
Visual Perception (W3)
6
Attentional Processes & Theories (W4)
7
Sensory Memory (W5)
8
Primary Memory (W5)
9
Memory: Encoding (W6)
10
Memory: Retrieval (W7)
11
Review, integration
12
Exam 1: W1-7
13
Memory: Storage (W8)
14
Visual Imagery (W9)
15
Motor Control (W10)
16
Decision Making and Reasoning (W11)
17
Heuristics, plus
18
Problem Solving (W12)
19
Language: Structure (W13)
20
Language: Processing (W14)
21
Culture and Cognition
22
Memory: Loss (Schacter, Seven Sins)
23
Cognition and Education (Willingham: Schools & Trust)
24
Review, reflection, and integration
Final
Assignment
Destination
St. Petersburg
Exam: W1-14, emphasis 8-14
Publisher's Student Companion resource web page:
<http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_willingham_cognition_3/>
This is a web site that includes many study aids (e.g., flashcards, Tutorial Quizzes,
crossword puzzles, and more) which can help you gauge how well you understand the
material. I encourage you to take advantage of the free materials at this site, and perhaps
download some things before boarding (on-ship Internet is slow and expensive). There
will also be materials placed in the course folder on the ship's server system.
Note: There is not enough time in class to cover everything discussed in the book; classes
will be used to highlight important topics and go into more depth on difficult concepts, as
well as having discussions. Classes will also cover some material not covered directly in
the book. The exams will have questions from all course material, which includes the
assigned textbook and all class activities. You are responsible for all class content and
announcements whether you are present or not. It is important that you complete reading
assignments before coming to class because class activities assume you are already
familiar with the material. Some rescheduling may be required as port opportunities arise,
or as cross-course conflicts become apparent.
FIELD WORK
The Field Lab is planned to consist of one of two projects, involving an 8-hour exercise in
a port. The exercise will culminate in a short paper (about 5 pages), due roughly 2 weeks
after departing that port, worth 20% of the course. At this stage the two projects being
considered are as follows:
(1) A visit to and tour of St. Petersburg State University, Petersburg, Russia, particularly
the Psychology Department. This will start with an hour of breakfast orientation on ship,
travel to campus, tour facilities and talk with staff and students, lunch on campus, travel
back, and an hour of debriefing on ship. This institution is relevant, for one thing, as the
university where Ivan Pavlov earned his degree. Pavlov was a preeminent early leader in
learning psychology, and there are connections with other Russian psychologists who
helped form early psychology (e.g., Bekhterev, Luria, Vygotsky).
(2) A visit to and tour of the University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, particularly the
Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab. This will start with an hour of breakfast orientation on
ship, travel to Brussels and on to the Leuven campus, tour facilities and talk with staff and
students, lunch on campus or in town, travel back, and an hour of debriefing on ship.
There are other aspects of the international ports that will be blended into class meetings,
actually "themes" in that the question extends across ports, and the differences become
more apparent as more ports are experienced. For example, different cultures have
different strategies for educating children, values attached to credentials from universities,
attitudes about vocational training relative to formal education, implementation of
educational technology, influence of laboratory research on classroom practices, and other
practices. These discussions will be incorporated into the day-to-day class meetings.
METHODS OF EVALUATION
30% - Exam 1: Willingham chapters 1-7, as in the table above. Mixed format: short essay
(with choice, e.g., pick 2 of 3), compare and contrast, define, probably some true/false and/or
multiple choice and/or completion, etc. Roughly mid-voyage (TBA)
30% - Exam 2: Comprehensive final, with emphasis on remaining chapters in Willingham ,
similar format to first exam.
20% - Field Activity: Students will do one field work exercise of 8 hours duration in a port,
and write a short paper (5-6 pages) worth 20%, tentatively due about two weeks after
departing that port.
20% Media analysis: Short paper (5-6 pages) comparing an everyday "news report" re
learning, memory, education, or cognitive psychology research to the text (or journal), as to
whether the popular press report is an accurate representation or not. A variant of this would
make it a media report published locally in one of the ports on the trip. Further details on this
assignment will be provided. The tentative due date for this would be (about 3 weeks from
end of voyage, TBA).
Letter grades will correspond to the SEA Registrar's standards for percent achievement. See
grading note below. Participation per se is not graded, but attendance is expected.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK (1)
AUTHOR: Willingham, Daniel T.
TITLE: Cognition: The Thinking Animal
PUBLISHER: Pearson
ISBN-10: 0131736884
ISBN-13: 9780131736887
DATE/EDITION: 2007 (3rd edition)
COST: $170 (about)
Publisher web page: <http://tinyurl.com/b5nvr7j>
RESERVE LIBRARY LIST (in order)
1- Schacter, D. L. (2012). The Seven Sins of Memory. Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt.
ISBN-13/ EAN: 9780618219193
ISBN-10: 0618219196
2- Willingham, D. T. (2010). Why Don't Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist
Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom.
Jossey-Bass/Wiley
ISBN: 978-0-470-59196-3
3- Willingham, D. T. (2012). When Can You Trust the Experts?: How to Tell Good Science
from Bad in Education. Jossey-Bass/Wiley
ISBN: 978-1-1181-3027-8
GRADING
Borderline grades will not be rounded up. I prefer to work with a mastery grading scheme,
where there is no curve; that is, there is no upper limit on the number of As, Bs, there do not
have to be any Cs, Ds, or Fs.
Percent
96-100
90-95
85-89
Letter
A
AB+
Percent
80-84
76-79
72-75
Letter
B
BC+
Percent
67-71
63-66
59-62
Letter
C+
C
C-
Percent
54-58
50-53
49-0
Letter
D+
D
F
If there is an official Semester at Sea grading scale, that will be used instead.
HONOR CODE
Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of
Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University's honor code. The code prohibits all acts
of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager's Handbook for further
explanation of what constitutes an honor offense.
Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: “On my
honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.”
The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed “[signed].”