Spring 2024 - Syllabus and Course Schedule

Psych. 220, Thinking, Memory & Problem Solving

Professor - Erik Nilsen

Olin 301 (Chemistry Auditorium)

T, Th 9:40 - 11:10 a.m.

Textbook - Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience, 5th Edition. E. Bruce Goldstein

Moodle page for turning in assignments and course resources.

The purpose of this course is to provide you with an overview of the basics of cognitive psychology through coverage of cognitive neuroscience, attention and consciousness, perception, memory, knowledge representation, language, problem solving and creativity, decision making and reasoning. An additional goal is to engage in experiential learning which will give you insight into the complexities, foibles and potential of human thought.

Course Expectations and Assignments
This course does not presuppose an extensive background in psychology.  It is expected that you will (thoughtfully) read the material before the class session.  I also expect active participation in all class activities.  Attendance is expected at all class sessions. If you have a known conflict with any of these dates, talk with me at least two weeks in advance and alternative arrangements (read more work ;^) can be made.

13 @ 18% cumulative. Chapter Quizzes

For each of the 13 chapters, take a multiple choice quiz on the class moodle page BEFORE class. You can retake the quiz until you get 100%, so this portion of the course you have complete control over! Taking these practice quizzes will also help you prepare for the exams so use them wisely and well. No credit will be given for late submissions.

3 @ 14% each.  Chapter Examinations

The exams in this class will consist of definitions and short essay questions taken from the textbook and lectures for the current section. Examinations are not cumulative. They will be open book, open note, and you will have 24 hours to complete them and turn them in electronically.

2 @ 6% each.  "Real Life" Projects

Find something in popular culture (e.g. song lyrics, news, cartoon, television, film, art) or your personal experience that relates to a textbook topic we discuss in class and write a two - three page paper linking "real life" to textbook concepts. Only one project per chapter is permitted. The "find" must be original, not something presented in class or taken from another student. You will be graded on creativity, coherence and insight into the topic area that you show beyond the regurgitation of facts found in the textbook. Due dates are marked on the daily schedule. You will be presenting your projects orally to each other in small groups and turning in the written paper. Your grade will be determined by the peer feedback that you give and the instructors evaluation of your written work.

4 @ 6% each.  Laboratories in Thinking

These are the days marked in BOLD in the daily schedule.  Each day will be different and the evaluation will vary accordingly. Some labs will require advance preparation and gathering of resources on your part, some will involve collecting data from yourself and others using the CogLab 2.0 Software that you will be loaned for the class. Each lab will have a writing assignment accompanying the day's activity. The common element is that experiential learning will be emphasized and active participation will be the order of the day. Your grade will depend on your engagement with the material, connections made to the textbook concepts and quality of your written reflection rather than performance on the "thinking tasks".

4%  Final Exam - Game Show Extravaganza

The final exam will be involve small groups working together to create a Psychology Themed Game Show using a portion of the textbooks. We will assign the groups during the last week of class and play the games online during the exam period. Your grade will be determined by your level of participation both in the preparation for and the playing of the games. Each person will write a short description of how they contributed to the groups preparation and will turn in a copy of the questions/activities which they developed for the project. You will not be graded on your "point total" in the games.

Up to 2% Extra Credit Coglabs

You may choose to do up to 2 of the Coglab 2.0 experiments and write-ups that are not assigned in class for 1% extra credit for each one. (1) Do the lab, (2) turn in your your data along with a short essay explaining how your results match up with the expected results, and (3) answer the Basic and Advanced Questions that are provided in the Coglab 2.0 student manual that you will find on the class moodle page in a file named <CogLabStudentManual.pdf>. These assignments must be completed by Monday, April 29th and be turned in electronically to the class moodle site as MSWord attachments using the following naming convention (yourlastnameECpagenumber lab is found on in booklet.doc)

For example, If I am turning in the implicit learning lab found on page 123, my file would be NilsenEC123.doc

http://webhost.lclark.edu/nilsen/220sp24.html

Online Resources

Anagram Generator

20 questions Artificial Intelligence

NASA Cognition Lab Memory Games

Brain Fingerprinting! Proceed with Caution 8^) 60 minutes video clip on Brain Fingerprinting

Nat. Acad. of Science Report on Lie Detection and Brain Activity

Brief Neuroimaging Primer

NeurImaging Links and examples

Pinky and the Brain sing Parts of the Brain Song!

Fascinating Discussion of Visual Neglect caused by Neurological Impairment

Online Demo of Stroop Effect

Online Tutorial on Monocular Depth Cues and Art

15Mindtools.com has some good information on using several Mnemonic techniques

Links to THE MIND, and THE BRAIN videos used in class (Rajan Mahadevan, Clive Wearing etc.)

Must join (free) to view videos

Amazing Demonstration of "Photographic" Memory by autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire and some people trying to explain it (but not very convincingly!)

McGurk 1 - McGurk 2

RiverIQ Game for the Masochistic

A gentle introduction to Bayes Reasoning to make better informed medical, scientific, and legal decisions.

Interesting Variations on Wason Selection Task

Fascinating studies on Mind Wandering impacts on Attention, Memory and Creativity and even Happiness!

Cell Phones and Driving Data