Cognitive Psychology Psych. 272 Block 2,1996 Bill Dragon
Class Hours: 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM (Monday-Friday)
Office Hours: 1:00 PM - 12:00 PM Daily
or by appointment (895-4281) (Dragon@cornellcollege.edu)
Text: Benjafield, J.G. (1996). Cognition (2nd edition). Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Reading Assignments:
Date Chapter
Sept. 30 (M) Introduction (1)
Oct. 01 (T) Approaches to Cognition (2)
02 (W) Attention (3)
03 (Th) Concepts (4)
04 (F) Memory Traces and Memory Schemas (5)
07 (M) Memory Systems (6)
08 (T) Imagery and Cognitive Maps (7)
09 (W) Exam 1 (Chapters 1-7)
10 (Th) Problem Solving (8)
11 (F) Reasoning (9)
14 (M) Judgment and Choice (10)
15 (T) Language (11)
16 (W) Intelligence and Creativity (12)
17 (TH) Personal Cognition (13)
18 (F) Applied Cognitive Psychology (14)
21 (M) Exam 2 (Chapters 8-14)
22 (T) Writing day
23 (W) Group Presentations
General Goals of the Course:
Cognitive Psychology is one of the oldest areas of psychological study.
It began with Wundt's laboratory in Leipzig and James' ruminations about
a stream of consciousness in the United States. Cognitive Psychology continues
today as the theoretical center of many other areas of psychology, such
as social psychology, personality, and industrial/organizational psychology.
Our goals in this course are to understand cognitive psychology's historical
significance, how the field changed over time, and what current cognitive
psychologists define as the important issues in the study of thought and
memory.
Reading Assignments: We will accomplish these broad goals by reading
one of the best integrative works in cognitive psychology. The book is Cognition
and is written by John G. Benjafield. This is a unique text in that it give
a balanced presentation of competing theories (i.e., ACT* and PDP), points
out potential cultural bias in our interpretations of research, and provides
links from each area of cognition to our daily lives. This is not to say
it material will be easy to understand, if anything, it may be the most
complex and abstract reading you will encounter in the field of psychology.
Reading Load: The reading load for this course is heavy and theoretical
in nature. Therefore, you must stay on top of your reading assignments.
Use your weekends wisely and get ahead in your reading for the coming week.
You should plan on spending three to four hours a day reading for the this
course.
Examinations: There will be two examinations. Exams will be all day
affairs. You will pick up your essay questions in the morning and work on
them throughout the day. You must turn them in by 4:00 PM typed, double
spaced, and completely referenced. You may use your text and class notes
to write your answers but may not work with others in the class. These are
solo exams. Exams will cover information presented in class and the text.
Make-up exams will be given to students who have missed a scheduled exam
and will consist of all essay questions. They must be made up within two
days of the actual exam date.
Group Project: Each class member will participate in a group research
project. The projects have several goals. First, they will enable you to
become intimately acquainted with a particular content area of cognitive
psychology. Second, they will give you first hand experience at conducting
a research project. This experience will enable you to not only become critical
consumers of science but also skilled producers of science.
The group projects will be run in the following manner:
1. Groups will be selected by Thursday of the second week. 2. Topics will be selected by Monday of the third week. 3. A typed outline of the topic and method of testing the topic will be turned in by Tuesday of the third week and the group will turn in two research articles on the topic (should be within the last 10 years). 4. All materials needed to conduct the experiments must be organized and run off by Wednesday of the third week. 5. Collect data by Friday of the third week. 6. Data analysis complete by Monday, of the fourth week. 7. Group presentations will be on the last day of class from 9:00 am to 11:00 AM. All group members must participate and each class member must be present for all group presentations. 8. Individual papers turned in by 12:00 noon Wednesday, the last day of class.
Grading: The Exams will account for 66% of your course grade. Each
exam is worth 33% of your final grade. The Final Paper will account for
30% of your course grade. A Final Paper that is not turned in on time will
be reduced by one letter grade for each hour it is late. The Final Paper
is late if turned in after 12:00 Noon on the last day of class. The class
presentation will account for the final 4% of your course grade. Final course
grades will be assigned on a percentage basis using:
A 94% C 74% A- 90% C- 70% B+ 87% D+ 67% B 84% D 64% B- 80% D- 60% C+ 77% F 59%
Academic Honesty: Any violation of academic honesty is a serious
breach of the student- teacher relationship and the values of Cornell College.
Therefore, violations of academic honesty will be treated accordingly. Any
individual who cheats on an exam or turns in work that is not their own
on any assignment (e.g., Final Paper) will receive a course grade of "F".
Class Attendance: It is obviously very important that you attend
every class period. Material covered on the exams will come from the text
and information presented only in class. It is especially important that
you attend all the group presentations. The presentations fulfill several
of the educational goals of this course. Therefore, individuals missing
any of any presentation (including their own) will have their final course
grade reduced by 1/3 of a full letter grade.
Please be prompt: Latecomers are very disruptive to everyone and may force
us to continue beyond normal ending time. In addition, there are two behaviors
that will absolutely not be tolerated in class; SMOKING and EATING.