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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: Cognitive Psychology

Course Title: Department: Instructor: Fax:

Cognitive Psychology Social and Behavioral Sciences / Social Work William Flood, M.Ed. E-mail - Vita (707) 982-2852

Textbook: Online Bookstore
Sternberg, R.L. (1999). Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace. ISBN #: 0155083546

Course Description
Cognitive psychology explains mental processes, including decision making, language, and thinking, primarily in terms of information processing. This course will introduce students to the major concepts and theories of cognitive psychology as well as to the research and experimental methods used in the discipline.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course the student should be able to...
1. Understand the experimental methods used to study cognition
2. Recognize and be able to apply the theories related to cognitive psychology
3. Critically analyze cognitive theories and concepts
4. Utilize and critique cognitive psychology literature
5. Apply cognitive research findings to everyday applications

Methods: The course will include:
1. Assigned readings
2. Email correspondence with the instructor
3. Message board participation with the instructor and other students. Message board dialogue will include instructor-generated questions and student-to-student interaction
4. Midterm and proficiency examination
5. Review and critique of journal articles
6. Research project proposal

Evaluation
1. Midterm examination (cumulative) 30%
2. Research analysis of journal articles (2) 10% each
3. Research project proposal 20%
4. Proficiency examination (cumulative) 30%

A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 0-59
I = Incomplete work

Student Biography
Once you start the class, send me an informal (this is not graded) biography about yourself, your background, career, etc. Make sure to include your contact information including phone number and email address so that I can contact you if necessary.

Midterm Examination
The midterm examination will be given after lesson 5, and will consist of short answers focusing on the terminology of cognitive psychology. Important note: do not postpone learning the terms supplied. Although the midterm is not a test of your ability to memorize, it will be a test of whether you understand the terms or not. The examination will be in multiple choice format, and will be offered online. If your Internet browser does not have forms capability, the exam can be emailed to you.

Review and Critique of Journal Articles
During the course, you will be required to read and review two (2) journal articles on different topics, of your choosing, within the field of cognitive psychology. Your goal in writing these reviews is to analyze and assess what the author is stating. Take the opportunity to think very critically about the implications of the findings. The completed analyses should be in a one or two page (double-spaced) report submitted according to the procedures detailed in the section on submitting assignments. The first proposal should be submitted after lesson 3 (attention), the second should be submitted after lesson 6 (representation of knowledge). You can get limited access to some online journals from the links provided below. However, very few psychological journals have online, free access. You can use the links to look up citations and abstracts, then locate the journal in a public or academic library near you. Please let me know if this poses a problem for you.

Research Proposal
Before you complete lesson 8 (problem solving) submit a research proposal detailing a cognitive principle you would like to study. Although you will not be performing the actual experiment, draft the proposal as if you were intending to do so. The proposal should contain the following elements:
1. A brief introduction to the rationale behind the experimental research (i.e. what you are attempting to study, why you are studying it).
2. Hypothesis (would you expect to find, or not find).
3. Experimental design (detail how many subjects, subjects' demographics, methodology, control group, length of study, etc.)
4. Implications (what implications to the field of psychology, or society at large would the results have if the hypothesis was proved? Disproved?)

Proficiency examination (final)
The proficiency exam will be a cumulative test of your knowledge of the concepts of cognitive psychology. Ten (10) questions will be presented, from which you may select any six (6) to answer. The answers should be short essays of up to one (1) page (double spaced) each. In each question you will be presented with a case study. Answer each question by applying as many cognitive concepts that seem appropriate to the situation. After you request the examination it will be sent to you either by email, email attachment, or FAX (you may choose the format). See the section below on submitting assignments for the procedures to return the completed examination.

Submission of Assignments
Because this is a graduate level course in psychology, all written material should be submitted and documented according to APA style. If you do not have a copy of the Publishers Manual of the American Psychological Association (which I recommend you getting), you can visit the Psychweb site listed in the links section for a crib sheet on APA style. Written assignments can be submitted either by email (you can send it as an MS-Word97, ASCII text, or RTF attachment), or by FAX.

Course Outline

Lesson 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Subject Subject Research and experimentation in cognition Attention Perception Models of memory Short and long-term memory Representation of knowledge and skill acquisition Language and comprehension Problem solving and reasoning

Chapters 1, 2 3 4 5 6 7, 8 9, 10 11, 12

Assignment Email brief biography to instrutor Journal review #1 Midterm Journal review #2 Research proposal due/Proficiency exam

Course Related Links
American Psychological Association
American Psychological Society
Cognitive and Psychological Sciences on the Internet (Stanford University)
Psychweb
University of Alberta's Cognitive Science Dictionary