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PSCYH 376 - COGNITION SYLLABUS

"But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.”  

-Doctrine & Covenants 9:8

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” 

-Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Course Description

This course is an introduction to theories and research in cognitive psychology including such topics as perception and sensation, attention and consciousness, memory, language, problem-solving and decision-making. Cognitive psychology investigates how people obtain information from their environment, how they transform this information into useful knowledge, and then use this knowledge to solve problems. We will also evaluate this discipline in light of the restored gospel, thus enhancing our understanding of cognition and its true application in our lives. 

Prerequisites

  1. Course PSYCH 111.

Course Outcomes

  1. Develop an understanding of cognitive principles in daily life.
  2. Gain an ability to account for differences in cognitive behavior of individuals using concepts and theories.
  3. Become a learner-teacher who is able to critically evaluate and teach others about human cognition.
  4. Develop and cultivate written and oral communication skills in psychology, enabling collaboration with peers and critical evaluation of others’ research work.
  5. Gain improved metacognition skills, empowering a clear evaluation of personal thought processes and outcomes in a variety of life circumstances.
  6. Become one who can draw connections between cognitive psychology concepts and gospel principles. Be able to answer this question for yourself:
  1. How are cognitive psychology and the gospel related to one another?

Required Materials

Goldstein, E. B., (2014). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience (4th Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 978-1285763880

The textbook is required—it is available as an eBook through the bookstore with out the CogLab . You are not required to purchase CogLab, which is often bundled with a new book from other sources.

Course Guidelines

  1. Comments and questions are always encouraged; everyone has a right to participate and learn.
  2. You are encouraged to use the resources available to you, such as the BYU-I tutoring center.

Learning Model Architecture

For this class, we will be following the Learning Model: 1) Prepare, 2) Teach One Another, and 3) Ponder & Prove. As such, it is essential you come prepared by completing the preparatory readings prior to each lesson. As recorded in the 9th and 11th sections of the Doctrine and Covenants: “You must study it out in your mind” and “first seek to obtain my word,” thus you must prepare by reviewing the reading materials prior to class.

Grading and Course Requirements

Grading: There will be 13 exams (group and individual), one final comprehensive exam, an annotated bibliography assignment and presentation, 4 cognitive project activities, 12 weekly readings, a weekly report, participation in your study group, and Week 01 activities.

The following grading percent scale will be used for all assignments, exams, and your final grade: 

A93–100B-80–82D+67–69
A-90–93C+77–79D63–66
B+87–89C73–76D-60–62
B83–86C-70–72F0–59

Course Assignments

Chapter Reading and Slides

Each week, students will be assigned a chapter reading that will be crucial to their learning in this class. Once you have read the assigned reading for the week, then you will annotate PowerPoint slides in Perusall. Completing these readings are key to learning and applying the knowledge in this course.

Exam Format

Each chapter exam will cover one chapter, will be comprised of 30 questions, and have a time limit of 25 minutes. Exams are to be taken on I-Learn. Individual exams are open book and open note (NOT open neighbor!). The group exams will be taken together. The Final Exam is comprehensive over everything covered in the semester, is only taken once individually, and has 90 questions with a time limit of 70 minutes. All materials presented as class material, in additional readings, and in the textbook may be on the exams.

Annotated Bibliography Paper & Presentation

Students will be organized into groups of 4 or 5 to select a broad topic of interest in cognitive psychology.

Then, each student will select a peer-reviewed journal article, published within the last 5 years, to summarize and critique using APA style format.

Next, the group of students will then integrate all these studies and give a 15-minute presentation during Week 13 of the semester on what they found.

Lastly, students will also watch other classmates’ presentations and submit their own suggested grades.

Additional resources for this assignment are in the course including annotated bibliography examples, detailed requirements for the bibliography and presentation, and some instruction on giving an effective presentation.

Cognitive Project Activities

Each student will complete four cognitive project activities (You will choose 4 out of a list of 10 options), which are designed to illustrate how cognitive psychology principles and processes affect us every day. Additional details for each project are in a separate document on I-Learn.

Class Behavior

Late Policy

All of the assignments will be due by 11:00 PM on the dates identified in the class schedule. Late assignments will NOT be accepted unless you have a documented illness or you have talked to your instructor before the day the assignment is due. 

Student Conduct

All aspects of this course are bound by the University’s Honor Code. Your instructor will rigorously enforce this policy and expect honest, respectful, and attentive behavior from every class member. Cheating or plagiarism on written assignments and/or tests will lead to immediate and serious academic consequences. Here are a couple of helpful links regarding Academic Integrity:

Disabilities and Special Needs: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, all qualified students enrolled in this course are entitled to “reasonable accommodation.” It is the student’s responsibility to disclose to the instructor any special need he/she may have before the end of the first week of class. Please do not wait until a problem arises to speak to the instructor. All such conversations will remain confidential and consistent with Disability Services policy. It is very important that you consult with Disability Services (Mckay Library, 208-496-9210). Please also note that the Student Health Center provides a wealth of resources to students.

Final Note

The instructor reserves the right to change any part of this syllabus at any time during the semester in order to adapt to changing course needs. You will be notified prior to any changes that may take place.