This course is a survey of the study of thought, memory, language, and decision-making from the point of view of cognitive psychology.  We will discuss related cognitive sciences, such as linguistics, neuroscience, and philosophy.  In the course of examining general principles of cognition, we will touch on the following topics:  neuroscience, mental imagery, discourse, monetary decision-making, language in apes, and eyewitness testimony.

Professor:   Dr. Bennett Schwartz
office:  DM 281A  phone:  348-4025     office hours:  Tuesdays and Thursday  12:30 p.m. - 1: 30 p.m.; Mondays, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
email:  schwartb@fiu.edu ; web site: www.fiu.edu/~schwartb/CP99.html

Class sessions:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Texts:  Cognition (2005, 6th edition)  by Margaret Matlin.

Exams:  There are four exams, each worth 1/4 of the final grade.  The dates for the exams are as follows:  September 20, October 13, November 3, and December 8.  The exams will cover material only from the most recent section.  There will be NO makeups whatsoever!   DO NOT ask me about make-ups.  I will not give them.
Exam policy:
1.  If you take all four exams, the best three will count.
2.  If you take the first three exams, and miss the fourth exam, your lowest exam grade on the first three exams will be counted double.
3.  If you take three exams, including the fourth exam, your grade with be the arithmetic mean (average) of those three exams.
4.  A grade of “F” will be given to anyone who misses 2 or more exams.
 

Class Conduct:  Conduct appropriate for a university classroom is expected. You are not to enter class once it has started.  Beepers or cellular phones must be turned off during class! Students will be penalized for cell phones or beepers making noise during class.   Refer to the “Class Policies” on the class website for specifics of this policy.

Organization:
Week 1  August 30, September 1
Introduction to cognitive processes
Cognitive neuroscience
Reading:  Chapter 1, Chapter 3, pp. 81 - 84

Week 2:  September 6, 8
Attention 1
Attention 2
Reading:  Chapter 3

Week 3 September 13, 15
Working Memory 1
Working Memory 2
Reading:  Chapter  4

Week 4 September 20, 22
Exam 1:  September 20
Principles of Long-term memory 1
Reading:  Chapter 5

Week 5 September 27, 29
Principles of Long-term memory 2
Memory Strategies
Reading:  Chapter 6

Week 6:   October 4, 6
Metacognition
Mental Imagery & Representation
Reading:  Chapter 6, 7

Week 7.  October 11, 13
Imagery 2
Exam 2:  October 13

Week 8.  October 18, 20
Introduction to language:  Psycholinguistics
Language Comprehension
Reading:  Chapter 9, chapter 2, pp. 58 - 63

Week 9 October 25, 27
Reading Processes
Neuropsychology of Language
Reading:  Chapters 9, 13, pp. 480 - 491

Week 10 November 1, 3
Language development
Exam 3: November 3  (Chapter 2, 6,7, 9, 13)

Week 11  November 8, 10
Problem-Solving
No class on November 10
Reading:  Chapter 11

Week  12  November 15, 17
Creativity
Reasoning
Reading:  Chapter  11,12

 Week 13 November 22, 24
Judgments and Decision-making 1
No class on November 24:  Thanksgiving

Week 14:  November 29, December 1
Judgments and Decision-making 2
Judgments and Decision-making 3
Reading:  Chapter 12

Week 15  December 6, 8
Evolutionary Psychology and its implications for cognition
Exam 4:   December 8