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PY344 -- Cognition:
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS
The
process of knowing is explored from an empirical perspective.
Topics include remembering, thinking, categorizing, meaning,
representing, problem solving, imaging, sensing, perceiving and acting.
The course has a significant laboratory component of original
research using human subjects. Prerequisites: 100 or 101, 201. This is a core course in the biobehavioral sequence
of the Psychology major. Its
emphasis is on questions of epistemology as explored from an empirical
perspective. In order to
fully understand the readings and assignments in the course, you will
need grounding in research design and statistics.
Therefore, Research Design in Psychology (PY 201) is a required
prerequisite for the course. The material for this course is highly conceptual.
Cognition is not like other fields of science; its object of
study, the mind, is unobservable. Therefore,
the field of cognition requires that we give its literature a careful
and critical reading. In
doing so, we hope not only to understand its substance, but also its
methodology, and so too perhaps, its limitations. Classes begin daily at 9:00am and should end by noon.
Morning sessions will involve lecture and discussion.
Students will be expected to complete all readings in a timely
way (before the class for which discussion is scheduled) and participate
actively in class discussions. Part
of your grade will depend upon your thoughtful contribution to the
class. There will be
frequent afternoon sessions for either laboratory experiences or
discussion of research. These
sessions will begin at either 1:00 or 1:30pm and run no later than
3:00pm. If you cannot
attend any class meeting, you should inform me beforehand so that
arrangements can be made. In
addition to scheduled class meetings, you will be responsible for
running a number of self-paced experiments.
These are marked below on the syllabus and should be completed no
later than the next morning class.
Lab. This
course has a significant laboratory component.
As part of your grade, you will be required to participate in a
number of traditional cognitive experiments (MEL labs) and to run other
students in at least one cognitive experiment.
You and your fellow students will use data from one of these
self-paced experiments to write an APA style paper and present the
results in class. Therefore,
your participation in these experiments is mandatory; in other words,
you should take your responsibilities as a subject as seriously as your
responsibilities as a researcher. Web Syllabus. The
web assigned labs are computer based and will require access to a
computer with a connection to the Internet.
There will be a web initiation session for this course on the
first day of class. The Web
syllabus for this course can be found at:
http://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~jhorner/cog Grade. Evaluation of your overall performance is based upon two
exams, a written research paper, and class participation in the following proportions:
Mid-Block Exam
30%
Final Exam
30%
Research Paper
30%
Class Participation
10% Each exam will consist of identify, short answer, and
essay. The dates are noted
on the syllabus. Grades in
the course are assigned on a 10% break (i.e., A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C:
79-70, D: 69-65, NC: <65). Pluses
and minuses are assigned at the end of the course.
Please remember that you cannot use a D grade in a core
course to count toward a requirement in the major.
COMMON
READINGS The
following required books are available for purchase in the Colorado
College Bookstore: Sternberg,
R. (2003). Cognitive psychology, 3nd Ed. Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth. Komatsu,
L. (1994). Experimenting with the Mind:
Reading in Cognitive Psychology.
New York: Brooks/Cole. The
following readings may be purchased in photocopied form from The
bookstore: Searle,
J. R. (1990). Is the
brain’s mind a computer program?
Chase,
W. G. & Simon, H. A. (1973). Perception
in chess. [Excerpt] Hunter,
I. M. L. (1977). An
exceptional memory. [Excerpt] Neisser,
U. (1981).
John Dean’s memory: A case study. Linton,
M. (1982). Transformations
of memory in everyday life. Nickerson,
R. S. & Adams, M. J. (1979). Long-term
memory for a common object. Kintsch,
W. & Bates, E. (1977). Recognition
memory for statements from a classroom lecture. Posner,
M. I. & Keele, S. W. (1970). Retention of abstract ideas. Langlois,
J. H. & Roggman, L. A. (1990). Attractive faces are only average. Gilovich,
R., Vallone, R. & Tversky, A. (1985). The hot hand in basketball…
[Excerpt] Sigmund,
K., Fehr, E. & Nowak, M. A. (2002).
The economics of fair play.
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