PSY 3051: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology - University of ...

What, when, & whereInstructorPSY 3051: Introduction to Cognitive PsychologySection 001 LECFall 2011University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesInstructor: Prof. Yuhong Vanessa JiangCourse number: Psychology 3051: Introduction to Cognitive PsychologyWhen: Fall 2011, Tu & Th 9:45am-11:00am (09/06-12/14)Where:Smith Hall Room 100, on East BankPrerequisite: PSY 1001: Intro Psych, or its AP equivalentCredit:3 credits (9hr/wk)Professor:Office:Email:Office hours:Course web site:Yuhong V. Jiang, Associate Professor of PsychologyElliott Hall S251cogpsych.jiang@gmail.com;immediately after most classes, or by appointmenthttps://moodle.umn.eduTeaching assistantsAngela Qin: Office hours: Tue 12-1 PM Loc: S515 Elliott HallBo-Yeong Won: Office hours: Mon 5-6 PM Loc: S506 Elliott HallContact with the teaching staffEmail (cogpsych.jiang@gmail.com), specify the individual you wish to communicate with inthe title of the message (e.g., For TAs: Midterm1 question)Course descriptionWelcome! This course provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical approaches thatconstitute Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive psychologists explore the nature of cognitiveprocesses such as attention, memory, concept, reasoning, perception, emotion, and language.Our goals for this course are to understand how the mind works and how the brain works toproduce such a mind. Trying to understand our own minds is one of the most ambitious andexciting projects in all sciences. This course will introduce you to major tools, assumptions,and theories of cognitive psychology, and expose you to some of the more important resultsobtained thus far.Expected work1. (68%) Three examsFall 2011 PSY 3051 at umn.edu1Intro to Cognitive Psychology

Midterm 1 (16%) will be administered in-class on Thursday, October 20, which will test yourknowledge of materials covered from Sep 7 th to Oct 18 th . Midterm 2 (16%) will beadministered in-class on Tuesday, November 22, which will test your knowledge of materialscovered from Oct 25 th to November 17 th . The final exam (36%) will be administered in-class onThursday, December 22 from 8-10am and will cover materials from the entire course. Makeupexams will not be granted except with signed verification from the Office for StudentAffairs with legitimate excuse. You should not register in this course if you will be unavailablefor the exam dates listed above.2. (12%) Three lab reportsWe will conduct in-class labs three times during the semester. You will divide into subgroupsof 3 to conduct classical cognitive experiments. Data from the class will be averaged for you towrite a lab report. This will be short description of what you have found and what you think itmeans (word limit: 500 words, inclusive of all text). Lab reports are due at 9:45am one-weekafter the lab session. Each lab report will be graded on a 10-point scale and counts 4% towardyour final grade. Late submission will cost 1-point (out of the 10) per day.3. (20%) 22 Quiz and 4 attendanceWe will take class attendance four times: the first class and each of the 3 labs. In addition, therewill be one quiz for each of the other 22 lectures, which must be submitted in that lecture’sclass. Each attendance or each correct response to a quiz will give you 1%, for a maximum of20%. Perfect record (all 4 attendance and all 22 correct answers to the quiz) will earn you anextra 2% bonus toward your final score.TextbookLectures will be drawn from a wide array of materials, and consequently they do not significantlyoverlap with any existing textbooks. However, readings will be assigned from chapters in thefollowing textbook:Reisberg, Daniel (2009). Cognition: Exploring the science of the mind. (4 th edition). Note: 2 nd and 3 rdeditions are acceptable.In addition, for each class we will assign a related journal article for you to read. Readings are linkedto this syllabus! Exam materials may be drawn from the journal articles.Additional readingsSupplementary readings will be drawn from the scientific literature and linked to the course web site.The following book is a good reference for brain-related materials:Gazzaniga, M.S., Ivry R.B., Mangun G.R. (2008). Cognition Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind(3 rd edition; GIM). [2 nd edition is informative too].Both the Reisberg book and the GIM can be purchased at from the web. Used copies and older editionsare acceptable.Preliminary course outlinesFall 2011 PSY 3051 at umn.edu2Intro to Cognitive Psychology

Here is a preliminary outline of the materials that we will cover in this course. The exact timing of thelectures is subject to change: we may end up spending more time than is listed here on topics thatstrike you as especially interesting or difficult.Date Day Quiz Topic Readings9/6 Tu attendance Introduction 1: CognitivePsychologyPotter (1975). Meaning in visualsearch; Reisberg Chapter 1.9/8 Th Q1 Introduction II: Themes Bloom (2001): Word learning9/13 Tu Q2 Attention 1: Consequence ofattentionLavie (2005). Selective attentionunder load. Reisberg Chapter 4.9/15 Th Q3 Attention 2: Object-based attention Scholl (2001): Objects & attention9/20 Tu attendance Lab 1: Visual search Report due: 9/27 at 9:45am9/22 Th Q4 Attention 3: Visual search(provides background for Lab 1)Wolfe (1998). 1,000,000 trials ofvisual search.9/27 Tu Q5 Attention 4: Divided attention Pashler et al. (2001). Attention andperformance.9/29 Th Q6 Memory 1: Amnesia, memory bytimeLuck & Vogel (1997). Capacity ofvisual working memory. ReisbergChapter 5.10/4 Tu attendance Lab 2: Serial position curve Report due: 10/11 at 9:45am10/6 Th Q7 Memory 2: Amnesia, memory bytypeNYTimes (08): HM’s Obituary.Reisberg Chapter 6.10/11 Tu Q8 Memory 3: Declarative memory Karpicke & Roediger (08).Retrieval for learning. ReisbergChapter 7.10/13 Th Q9 Memory 4: Memory asreconstructionLoftus (03): make-believememories. Reisberg Chapter 8.10/18 Tu Q10 Emotion & Cognition Susskind & Anderson (2008).Facial expression form & function.10/20 Th Midterm Exam 110/25 Tu Q11 Knowledge 1: Concept &CategorizationLombrozo (2009). Explanation andcategorization. Reisberg Chapter 9.10/27 Th Q12 Knowledge 2: Number Feigenson (04): Number system.11/1 Tu Q13 Knowledge 3: Reasoning & Reisberg Chapters 12, 13, 14.Decision11/3 Th Q14 Knowledge 4: Theory of Mind 1: Saxe (04): Reading your mindBasics11/8 Tu Q15 Vision 1: Introduction Reisberg Chapter 3.11/10 Th attendance Lab 3: Face perception Report due 11/17 at 9:45am11/15 Tu Q16 Vision 2: Face perception Moscovitch et al. (1997). What isspecial about face recognition?11/17 Th Q17 Vision 3: What, where, and how Goodale (04): duplex vision11/22 Tu Midterm Exam 211/24 Th Thanksgiving, no class11/29 Tu Q18 Research Methods Kosslyn et al. (2003). Mentalimagery. Reisberg Chapter 2.12/1 Th Q19 Language 1: Language acquisition Johnson & Newport (1989).Critical period in L2 learning.Fall 2011 PSY 3051 at umn.edu3Intro to Cognitive Psychology

12/6 Tu Q20 Language 2: Language & the brain Hickok (02): Sign language inbrain. Reisberg Chapter 10.12/8 Th Q21 Language 3: Language & thought Dehaene (06): Core knowledge ofgeometry in an Amazonian group12/13 Tu Q22 Finale: Consciousness & Wrap-up Tong et al. (1998). Binocularrivalry & visual awareness.Reisberg Chapter 15.12/22 Final Exam (in our classroom) 8-10am. A Q&Areview section will be arranged.Have a good winter break!Policies1. Make-up exam policyThere are no makeup exams. In case of signed verification from the dean’s office withlegitimate excuse for a missed exam, see Instructor.2. Score dispute policyDispute about grading on an exam or lab report should be brought to Prof. Jiang, rather than toany of the TAs. Your entire exam or lab report will be re-graded, including parts where you donot have disputes. The corrected score could be lower than the original you received, becauseyou may lose points on some questions that gain points on others.3. Materials responsibleLecture materials, plus readings that overlap with lecture materials. Exams questions are drawnfrom lecture materials.4. Lab report gradingEach lab report will be graded on a 10-point scale. Lab report turned in after the deadline, evenif passed, will not receive the maximum. Each late day means 1-point lower in the maximum.Each exceptionally good lab report may earn a bonus of 1-point.5. Communication policyStudents are encouraged to discuss among themselves the results and interpretation of labresults during the in-class lab. However, once the class is dismissed, students should NOTdiscuss lab reports with other students. Each person must independently work on the labreports. You can consult with the TAs or the instructor, but not with other students. Do notcopy or paraphrase other students’ lab reports.6. AttendanceAttendance on the first day of class and on each of the three labs is mandatory. Those who donot show up on the first day of class may forfeit their seat to other students waiting to registerfor the class. In-class quizzes will be given on days when attendance is not taken. Exams willbe based on lecture materials. In previous years, students who missed lectures tended to dopoorly on exams.7. Grades *Final exam: 36%; midterm 1: 16%; midterm 2: 16%; three lab reports: 12% (each 4%); Quizand attendance: 20%.Fall 2011 PSY 3051 at umn.edu4Intro to Cognitive Psychology

We will not normalize (or, “curve”) the grades across the 100+ students. Final grades will begiven based a fixed criterion:88+ is A; 84+ is A-; 80+ is B+; 75+ is B; 70+ is B-; 65+ is C+; 60+ is C; 55+ is C-; 50+ is D;50- is F. For SAT/UNSAT grades: SAT must be 55+.8. Lab reports contentLab reports should include: (1) Results: Describe the results in common English. For example,you might say “accuracy in condition 1 is higher than in condition 2: mean for condition 1 is95% and for condition 2 is 60%”. There is no need to provide statistical analysis. (2)Discussion: Discuss what the results mean and their theoretical implications. The entire labreport should not exceed 500 words, including all text (title, main text, footnote, figure or tablecaption).9. MisconductAcademic dishonesty in any portion of the academic work for this course shall be grounds forawarding a grade of F or N for the entire course. For more information about student conductand integrity, see http://www.d.umn.edu/assl/conduct/integrity/student.html.10. MiscellaneousStudents are responsible for all information disseminated in class and all course requirements,including deadlines and examinations. A student is not permitted to submit extra work in anattempt to raise his or her grade, including REP points. Students with disabilities that affecttheir ability to participate fully in class are encouraged to bring this to the attention of theinstructor so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged. Further information is availablefrom Disabilities Services.* The official University grading standards are as follows: A: achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meetcourse requirements; B: achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements; C: achievement thatmeets the course requirements in every respect; D: achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the courserequirements; S: achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better; F (or N): represents failure (or no credit) andsignifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed andthere was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I; I (incomplete): assigned at thediscretion of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, e.g., hospitalization, a student is prevented from completing thework of the course on time; requires a written agreement between instructor and student.Fall 2011 PSY 3051 at umn.edu5Intro to Cognitive Psychology