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Psychology 230 – Cognitive Psychology
Fall 2007
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: 10:30 – 11:20 & 11:30 – 12:20
Classroom: SSC 28
Professor:
Phone:
E-mail:
Office:
Patricia Costello, Ph.D.
(507) 933-7518
pcostell@gac.edu (best way to reach me)
SSC 24
Office hours:
Mondays 1:30 – 4:00pm
Thursdays 1:30 – 4:00pm and by appointment
Required Texts:
Smith, E.E. & Kosslyn, S.M. (2007). Cognitive Psychology: Mind & Brain.
Person Education.
Course Website:
Moodle.gac.edu (where discussion readings & announcements are)
Course Description:
Psychology 230 is an undergraduate survey course that considers research and theories
regarding cognitive processes and their underlying neural mechanisms in such areas as
perception and attention, as well as higher-level thinking processes such as decision-making,
language processing, knowledge representation, problem solving, reasoning, and judgment.
Emphasis will be on the study of laboratory research, with discussion of how the findings
relate to real-world cognition.
Course Goals:
 Gain knowledge of cognitive psychology concepts, principles, and theories
 Appreciate and understand cognitive psychology experimental design
 Understand the importance of cognitive psychology in our everyday lives
Course Objectives:
 Students should understand cognitive psychology terms and concepts
 Learn how to think critically about cognitive psychology
Attendance:
For the most part, lectures will be held two days a week, and discussion and activity sessions
will be held roughly once a week. Your attendance is encouraged for the lecture sessions and
is required for the discussion sessions. Attendance will be taken on discussion / quiz days.
Your attendance and participation will count towards 5% of your final grade in this course.
Make-up policy:
In fairness to everyone, no make-up exams will be scheduled. The dates for each exam are
given in the schedule of events. If you are unable to take an exam on the day scheduled, you
may make arrangements with the instructor to take the exam early. Make-up exams may be
allowed under extraordinary circumstances if: the instructor is notified before the day of the
exam, proper documentation is submitted (e.g., doctor's note, etc.), and the exam is made up
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as soon as possible. There are absolutely NO MAKE UP QUIZZES. Please do not ask. There
are only six quiz dates, and you are allowed to drop your lowest score (or miss one quiz).
On work submitted late: All work is expected to be handed in on time. Late work will lose
10% of the assignment's credit point value for each day that the assignment is past due. All
assignments are due IN CLASS. Assignments are considered to be late if they are handed in
or emailed after class ends.
Accommodating Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities are invited to see me as soon as possible to discuss
your needed accommodations. Students without documented disabilities who feel they may
have difficulty with this course also are invited to see me to discuss what we can do together
to help you succeed.
Course Methods:
Lectures - A substantial portion of class time will be used to present lecture material to
elaborate on the text.
Discussion - Students are strongly encouraged to be "active learners" in this course. This
means asking questions and contributing your own experiences and views to the class while
respecting those of your classmates. Discussion sessions will be held six times, with five of
these student-lead (more information below). This will include small group discussion and
discussion among the class as a whole. The class will also participate in activities related to
cognitive psychology.
Course Assignments:
Exams: There will be three exams during the semester. These exams will cover the material
in the assigned readings and lectures, and material covered in the discussion and activity
sessions. Exams will be worth 65% of your final total grade. The first two exams are worth
20% each. The third (final) exam is not cumulative, but is worth 25%. Exams will not be
curved. Exam material will be drawn from lectures, readings, and discussion. The exams will
consist of multiple choice, figure completions and short answer.
Quizzes: There will be a brief quiz before each discussion day (6 total) with questions based
on the discussion reading for that day. You can drop your lowest quiz score, so the top five
quiz scores will count toward your final grade. Quizzes are worth 5 points each. There are
absolutely NO MAKE UP QUIZZES. Please do not ask. There are only six quiz dates, and
you are allowed to drop your lowest score (or miss one quiz).
Article discussions: There are six student-lead discussion days. Five students will lead
each discussion. Each student will be in charge of presenting one section of the paper
(introduction, methods, results, and discussion - two). Each presenter will also provide a
discussion question for small group discussion. More details will be provided in class.
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Grading:
Your grade will be based on the following: exams (65%), quizzes (15%) discussion lead
(15%), and participation/attendance (5%).
GRADING SUMMARY
Discussion:
Exams (3):
Quizzes (best 5)
Participation/attendance
15%
65% (first two, 20% each, final exam 25%)
15%
5%
Grand Total
100%
BASIC GRADING SCALE (%)
Grade Cutoffs: A 93 – 100%, A- 90 - 92%, B+ 87 - 89%, B 83 - 86%, B- 80 - 82%, C+ 77 - 79%, C 73 - 76%, C70 – 72%, D, 60 – 69%, F <60
All papers and exams scores are converted to the percentages discussed above.
Student Academic Conduct:
Every student is expected to act responsibly and honestly. Misconduct is considered
sufficient grounds for the designation of a failing grade in the course. Examples of
misconduct include but are not strictly limited to the following:
 Copying answers from another student’s exam paper during an examination.
 Permitting another student to copy your answers.
 Consulting notes of any sort during a closed book examination.
 Copying another student’s paper assignment, or allowing another student to copy your
assignment
 Plagiarizing – if you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, please consult:
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/usemplagiarism.html - you are responsible for
following the rules
 You will receive a “0” on the paper or exam if you are caught cheating / plagiarizing
 You should be familiar with and abide by the Gustavus Adolphus College Honor Code
(see http://www.gustavus.edu/academics/general_catalog/current/index.cfm?pr=acainfo)
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Course Schedule
(Topics subject to change, exams dates are fixed)
Date
Wed Sept 5th
Topic
Readings/Assignments Due
Introduction to the course
Fri Sept 7th
The brain and the mind
Chapter 1
Mon Sept 10th
The brain and the mind
Chapter 1
Wed Sept 12th
Perception
Chapter 2
Fri Sept 14th
Perception
Chapter 2
Mon Sept 17th
Attention
Chapter 3
Wed Sept 19th
Attention
Chapter 3
Face perception
Video
Mon Sept 24th
Attention
Wed Sept 26th
Representation & Knowledge
in LTM
Representation & Knowledge
in LTM
Representation & Knowledge
in LTM
No class - Nobel
conference
EXAM 1
Article Discussion 1 (Strayer &
Johnston, ‘01) & quiz
Chapter 4
Fri Sept 21st
Fri Sept 28th
Mon Oct 1st
Wed Oct 3rd
Fri Oct 5th
Chapter 4
Quiz show
EXAM 1
Mon Oct 8th
Encoding & retrieval in LTM
Chapter 5
Wed Oct 10th
Encoding & retrieval in LTM
Chapter 5
Fri Oct 12th
Encoding & retrieval in LTM
Mon Oct 15th
Working memory
Article Discussion 2 (Roediger
& McDermott, ‘95) & quiz
Chapter 6
Wed Oct 17th
Working memory
Chapter 6
Fri Oct 19th
Working memory
Activity
Mon Oct 22nd
Reading Day – no class
Wed Oct 24th
Executive processes
Chapter 7
Fri Oct 26th
Executive processes
Chapter 7
Mon Oct 29th
Executive processes
Wed Nov 31st
Emotion
Article Discussion 3 (Casey et
al, ’97) & quiz
Chapter 8
Fri Nov 2nd
Emotion
Chapter 8
5
Mon Nov 5th
Wed Nov 7th
Quiz show
EXAM 2
EXAM 2
Fri Nov 9th
Decision making
Chapter 9
Mon Nov 12th
Decision making
Chapter 9
Wed Nov 14th
Decision making
Article Discussion 4
(Dijksterhuis et al, ’06) & quiz
Fri Nov 16th
Problem solving & reasoning
Chapter 10
Mon Nov 19th
Problem solving & reasoning
Chapter 10
Wed Nov 21st
No class - Thanksgiving
Fri Nov 23rd
No class - Thanksgiving
Mon Nov 26th
Problem solving & reasoning
Wed Nov 38th
Motor cognition
Article Discussion 5 (Tversky
& Kahneman, ’74) & quiz
Chapter 11
Fri Nov 30th
Motor cognition
Chapter 11
Mon Dec 3rd
Motor cognition
Wed Dec 5th
Language
Article Discussion 6 (Ruby &
Decety, ’01) & quiz
Chapter 12
Fri Dec 7th
Language
Chapter 12
Mon Dec 10th
Language
Activity
Wed Dec 12th
Fri Dec 14th
Quiz show
Class Wrap-up
FINAL - EXAM 3