WESTERN UNIVERSITY

LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2017-2018
Psychology 3185F Section 001
Research in Cognitive Psychology

1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

Cognitive theorists face a unique problem: the understanding of mental structures and processes
that are not directly observable. A variety of methods used to address this problem will be
surveyed, by introducing research questions of enduring interest. Students will be expected to use
the techniques learned. Cognitive domains to be examined include attention, memory, problem-
solving, and thinking.

Prerequisites: Psychology 2800E, 2810 and one of Psychology 2115A/B, 2134A/B or 2135A/B,
2220A/B, 2221A/B, or Neuroscience 2000 plus registration in third or fourth year Honours
Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
or Honours Specialization in Neuroscience.

Third or fourth year Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% or
higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and 2810), plus 60% or
higher in one of Psychology 2115A/B, 2134A/B or 2135A/B also may enrol in this course.
2 lecture hours and 2 laboratory hours, 0.5 course.

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your
Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record.
This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you
are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

2.0 COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: Dr. Patrick Brown

Office and Phone Number: SSC 7328 / Ext. 84680
Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30 3:30
Email: brown5@uwo.ca

Teaching Assistant: Hamad Alazary

Office: Announced in first lab meeting
Office Hours: Announced in first lab meeting
Email: halazary@uwo.ca

Time and Location of Classes: Monday & Wednesday 4:30 6:30, SSC 3120

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist
you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and
on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any
other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for
Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for questions regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK

In lieu of a textbook well read recent papers from the cognitive psychology literature (see below). This
year, the readings focus on applications of cognitive psychology research in the students life.

4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course students should have:

Knowledge of the fundamental concepts in human cognition.
Extensive exposure to human cognition research paradigms.
Hands-on experience in designing research projects (including one experiment), data collection and
analysis, and preparing research reports on human experimental research.

4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Outcome
Articulate the concepts and current states of
knowledge in relevant natural and social science
aspects of cognitive psychology
Access, interpret, and critically evaluate
appropriate research in cognitive psychology
Evaluate the appropriateness of different
methodological approaches to address a specific
question in cognitive psychology
Formulate a research hypothesis to address a
psychological question and design a research
project to test that hypothesis
Apply relevant quantitative skills to the analysis
and interpretation of psychological phenomena
Engage in a critical scholarly discussion or debate
on a psychological topic
Apply ethical standards to the practice of their
own research
Communicate in writing accurately, clearly, and
logically, using the discourse of the discipline of
cognitive psychology
Communicate orally accurately, clearly, and
logically, using the discourse of the discipline of
cognitive psychology
Evaluation
Exam short answers and essay questions
Lab assignments (literature review; proposal;
experiment report); Exam short answer and essay
questions based on weekly readings
Exam short answer and essay questions; lab
assignments, particularly experiment proposal
Lab assignments (literature review; research
proposal; poster presentation; written report)
Analysis of experiment project data, evaluated in
the form of Results section of final report paper
Lab assignments (research proposal; poster
presentation; final paper); final exam essay
questions
Research proposal and ethics review form are
graded
Lab assignments (research proposal and final
paper); Exam short answer and essay questions
Lab assignment (poster presentation)

5.0 EVALUATION

Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform
to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:

70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses 72% 2100-2990 level courses

75% 3000-level courses 80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western grading guidelines, which are as follows (see
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf)

A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail

Final course grades will be based on two major components lab grades and exam grades. The lab
component, which is described in detail in the lab outline, will be worth 50% of the final course
grade. Note that the lab component counts as the essay component of the course. It is a formal policy
of the university that students must pass the essay component of a course to pass the course. That is,
the average mark for your written assignments in the lab must be at least 50% for you to pass the
course.

The other 50% of the final course grade will be based on two exams, a midterm and a final exam,
each worth 25% of the final course grade. The midterm will be a multiple-choice exam. The final
exam will be a take-home exam featuring essay questions. Final exam questions will cover the whole
term, but students will be required to answer only one question of their choice, in essay style. Final
exam papers should be provided in printed form for grading. Please use a header containing just your
last name and a page number. Final exam papers must also be uploaded to the course OWL site for
Turnitin.com analysis.

6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Midterm test November 1, 2017 (in class)

Final exam Questions will be posted on 6 December 2017. Exam papers will be due no later
than 21 December 2017 at 5 pm.

7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE

Week 1 Laptops and lectures

Mueller, P.A. & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of
longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25 (6), 1159 1168. DOI:
10.1177/0956797614524581

Ravizza, S.M., Uitvlugt, M.G., & Fenn, K.M. (2017). Logged in and zoned out: How laptop internet
use relates to classroom learning. Psychological Science, 28 (2),171-180. doi:
10.1177/0956797616677314

Week 2 Mind wandering during lectures

Farley, J., Risko, E., & Kingstone, A. (2013). Everyday attention and lecture retention: the effects of
time, fidgeting, and mind wandering. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article 619. DOI:
10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00619
Szpunar, K.K., Khan, Y.N., & Schacter, D.L. (2013). Interpolated memory tests reduce mind
wandering and improve learning of online lectures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America. 110. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221764110.
Week 3 Reducing exam anxiety

Brooks, A.W. (2014). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, 143 (3), 11441158. DOI: 10.1037/a0035325

Ramirez, G., & Beilock, S. L. (2011). Writing about testing worries boosts exam performance in the
classroom. Science, 331, 211-213.

Week 4 Procrastination

Hershfield, H. (2011). Future self-continuity: How conceptions of the future self transform
intertemporal choice. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1235. 30-43. 10.1111/j.1749-
6632.2011.06201.x.

Rebetez, M.M.L., Barsics, C., Rochat, L., DArgembeau, A., & Van der Linden, M. Procrastination,
consideration of future consequences, and episodic future thinking, Consciousness and Cognition,
42, 286-292, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.04.003.

Week 5 Fall Reading Week no classes

Week 6 Enhanced cognition

Farah, M.J., Smith M.E., Ilieva, I., & Hamilton R.H.. (2014). Cognitive enhancement. Wiley
Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 5, 95-103. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1250

Madan, C.R. (2014). Augmented memory: A survey of the approaches to remembering more.
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 8, Article 30. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00030.

Whetstine, L.M. (2015). Cognitive enhancement: Treating or cheating? Seminars in Pediatric

Neurology, 22 (3), 172-176, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.spen.2015.05.003.

Week 7 Do you have a learning style or do you just think you have one?

Knoll, A.R., Otani, H., Skeel, R.L., & Van Horn, K.R. (2017). Learning style, judgements of
learning, and learning of verbal and visual information. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), 544
563. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12214.

Pashler H., McDaniel M., Rohrer D., & Bjork R. (2009). Learning styles: concepts and evidence.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9 (3), 10519.

Willingham, D.T., Hughes, E.M. & Dobolyi, D.G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles
theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42 (3), 266-271. DOI: 10.1177/0098628315589505

Week 8 Midterm exam (in class)

Week 9 Training working memory

Ang, S.Y., Lee, K., Cheam, F., Poon, K., & Koh, J. (2015). Updating and working memory training:
Immediate improvement, long-term maintenance, and generalizability to non-trained tasks. Journal
of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 4, 121 128.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2015.03.001.

von Bastian, C.C. & Oberauer, K. (2013). Distinct transfer effects of training different facets of
working memory capacity, Journal of Memory and Language, 69 (1),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2013.02.002.

Week 10 Effects of working memory training on emotion regulation

Schweizer, S., Grahn, J., Hampshire, A., Mobbs, D., & Dalgleish, T. (2013). Training the emotional
brain: improving affective control through emotional working memory training. Journal of
Neuroscience, 33 (12), 5301-5311. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2593-12.2013

Xiu, L., Zhou, R., & Yihan, J. (2016). Working memory training improves emotion regulation
ability: Evidence from HRV. Physiology & Behavior. 155. 25-29. 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.12.004.

Week 11 Cognitive control

Amer, T., Campbell, K.L., Hasher, L. (2016). Cognitive control as a double-edged sword. Trends in
Cognitive Sciences, 20 (12), 905-915. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.10.002.

Cohen, A.O., Breiner ,K., Steinberg, L., Bonnie, R.J., Scott, E.S., Taylor-Thompson, K.A., et al.
(2016). When is an adolescent an adult? Assessing cognitive control in emotional and nonemotional
contexts. Psychological Science, 27 (4), 549 -562. DOI: 10.1177/0956797615627625

Week 12 The testing effect

Benjamin, A.S. & Pashler, H. (2015). The value of standardized testing: A perspective from
cognitive psychology. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2 (1), 13 23. DOI:
10.1177/2372732215601116.

Roediger, H.L. & Pyc, M.A. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying
cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and
Cognition, 1, 4, 242-248, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.09.002.

Smith, M.A. & Karpicke, J.D. (2014). Retrieval practice with short-answer, multiple-choice, and
hybrid tests. Memory, 22 (7), 784 802. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2013.831454
Week 13 Metacomprehension

Ikeda, K. & Kitagami, S. (2013). The interactive effect of working memory and text difficulty on
metacomprehension accuracy. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25, 94-106.
10.1080/20445911.2012.748028.

Wiley, J., Griffin, T.D., Jaeger, A.J., Jarosz, A.F., Cushen, P.J. & W. Thiede, K.W. (2016).
Improving metacomprehension accuracy in an undergraduate course context. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Applied, 22, 393-405. 10.1037/xap0000096.

8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other
scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine
the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the
following link:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic
offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses
using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All
written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by
comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIns
databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference
database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of
the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com
(http://www.turnitin.com).

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course,
suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Westerns policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:

http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2017/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be
approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

10.0 OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2017 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.