Main Content
Syllabus
PSYCH 256: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (3) Introduction to the study of such higher mental processes as thinking and reasoning, imagery, concept formation, problem solving, and skilled performance.
Overview
This course is designed as a survey of theories and research in human cognition—a subfield of psychology that includes the study of how we take in information through our senses, how we remember information and make decisions, and how we think and solve problems.
Objectives
On completion of this course you should be able to
- relate key research findings to cognitive theories,
- understand research methods in cognitive psychology as well as their strengths and weaknesses,
- describe current issues in cognitive psychology research, and
- explain some of the broader implications of findings from cognitive psychology.
Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Library Resources
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Technical Specifications
For this course, we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:
| Operating System | Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS), supports most recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac operating systems. To determine if your operating system is supported, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
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| Browser | Canvas supports the last two versions of every major browser release. It is highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Note: Cookies must be enabled, and pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. |
| Additional Canvas Requirements | For a list of software, hardware, and computer settings specifically required by the Canvas LMS, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
| Additional Software | All Penn State students have access to Microsoft Office 365, including Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. |
| Hardware | Monitor: Monitor capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
| Mobile Device (optional) | The Canvas mobile app is available for versions of iOS and Android. To determine if your device is capable of using the Canvas Mobile App, please review the Canvas Mobile App Requirements. |
Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ)
During the semester you will receive information for completing the Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ). Your participation is an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback on your learning experience. Your feedback is important because it allows us to understand your experience in this course and make changes to improve the learning experiences of future students. Please monitor email and course communications for links and availability dates.
Outreach Help Desk
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Requirements and Grading
Activities
- CogLabs: To complete the CogLab assignments, you will participate in an online experiment and answer questions based on the experience. The experiments are classic cognitive psychology experiments and will give you a chance to see how research is conducted in cognitive psychology and to practice interpreting results. The introductory lesson has specific details on the CogLab assignments.
- Blog posts: The blog posts will give you a chance to apply course theories and content to your everyday lives. You will chose an experience (something that happened to you, a news article, etc.) and write a post relating it to the course. The introductory lesson has specific details on the blog posts.
- Blog comments: To facilitate discussion, you will comment on others' blog posts. These comments will be relatively short and promote discussion as well as provide constructive feedback for the authors. The introductory lesson has specific details on the blog comments.
- Quizzes: Periodic quizzes will be given throughout the course. The goal is to make sure you are keeping up with the course readings. The quizzes will consist of 10 questions, and you will have 15 minutes to complete them. You will be able to review the quiz after the due date has passed, and the review will be available until the next exam.
- Exams: Exam 1 will cover material over the first half of the course, and Exam 2 will cover material over the second half (i.e., Exam 2 is not cumulative). The exams will consist of 60 questions, and you will have 75 minutes to complete them. Exams will not be available for open review. If you have questions about your performance on an exam, please contact the instructor.
Grading
Grades will be established based on your performance on various weekly activities, quizzes, and exams. See Table 1 below for the point distribution by assignment type. To calculate your grade at any point during the course, divide your points earned by the points possible at that time.
| Assignment Type | Quantity | Total Points | Percent of Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| CogLabs | 5 | 75 | ~23% |
| Blog Posts | 3 | 75 | ~23% |
| Blog Comments | 3 | 15 | ~4.6% |
| Quizzes | 4 | 40 | ~12.3% |
| Exams | 2 | 120 | ~37% |
| Total | 17 | 325 | 100% |
Grading Scale
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Percentage Of Total Points
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Letter Grade
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|---|---|
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93–100%
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A
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90–92%
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A-
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87–89%
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B+
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83–86%
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B
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80–82%
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B-
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75–79%
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C+
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70–74%
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C
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60–69%
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D
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below 60%
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F
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Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Undergraduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies.
Deferred Grades
Submission of Assignments
This is a semester-based course with deadlines. Students are expected to complete work by posted deadlines. Please check the Course Schedule for the times and dates that assignments are due in this course (times are listed in North American eastern time). Please contact your instructor to discuss legitimate and unavoidable situations that may cause lateness (such as illness, injury, or family emergency). If you know that you are going to miss a deadline, please contact your instructor in advance of that deadline to discuss an extension (or if you are not able to contact the instructor before the deadline, as soon as you are able to). Decisions regarding extensions will be made at the discretion of the instructor on a case-by-case basis.
In the absence of a legitimate and unavoidable situation, late work will be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and will be penalized up to 10% of the total assignment points for each day of lateness. Unless there is a legitimate and unavoidable situation that causes prolonged lateness, work more than one week late will not be accepted.
Course Schedule
Note: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).
- Course length: 16 weeks
| Lesson 01: | History and Research Methods |
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| Lesson 02: | Cognitive Neuroscience |
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| Lesson 03: | Perception |
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| Lesson 04: | Attention |
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| Lesson 05: | Short Term & Working Memory |
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| Lesson 06: | Long Term Memory: Structure |
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| Lesson 07: | Mid-term Exam |
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| Lesson 08: | Long-term Memory: Encoding & Retrieval |
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| Lesson 09: | Everyday Memory and Memory Errors |
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| Lesson 10: | Knowledge |
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| Lesson 11: | Language |
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| Lesson 12: | Visual Imagery |
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| Lesson 13: | Problem Solving |
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| Lesson 14: | Reasoning & Decision Making |
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| Lesson 15 | Final Exam |
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Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Graduation
Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please go to the Graduation Information on the My Penn State Online Student Portal.Academic Integrity
Academic integrity—scholarship free of fraud and deception—is an important educational objective of Penn State. Academic dishonesty can lead to a failing grade or referral to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to
- cheating,
- plagiarism,
- fabrication of information or citations,
- facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others,
- unauthorized prior possession of examinations,
- submitting the work of another person or work previously used without, informing the instructor and securing written approval, and
- tampering with the academic work of other students.
Students are responsible for maintaining academic integrity. Violations include cheating on exams or quizzes, talking to others during an exam or quiz, getting help from others on exams or quizzes, having notes accessible during exams or quizzes, looking at another student's answers during an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and dishonesty in any aspect of course participation. Also, you may not share any information from this course (including assignments and papers) with others, nor post such information electronically without the permission of the instructor. Violations of academic integrity including charges of plagiarism) and may result in a grade of F for the course as well as other penalties (see Faculty Senate Policy 49-20).
Heads up – several note-taking/note-sharing companies approach students about “jobs” (including Nittany Notes and those that appear to be connected to PSU). If this is something that you want to do, you MUST talk with your instructor first. Unless you have permission, you risk academic sanctions related to charges of plagiarism and disciplinary sanctions.
How to avoid plagiarism in this course
- Always place copied information within quotation marks, cite the source, and include information about the source in a bibliography.
- Always cite paraphrased information and include information about the source in a bibliography.
- When in doubt, cite and include the source in a bibliography.
Please make sure you submit the correct version of your paper. Whatever you hand in will be considered your final version and will be graded, even if you submit a blank document. Please note, claiming that you submitted the wrong file is NOT an acceptable excuse for work containing plagiarism.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, procedure requires an instructor to notify a student of suspected dishonesty before filing a charge and recommended sanction with the college. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If a disciplinary sanction also is recommended, the case will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us.
Additionally, World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and others, as well as a civil community.
For More Information on Academic Integrity at Penn State
Please see the Academic Integrity Chart for specific college contact information or visit one of the following URLs:
- Penn State Senate Policy on Academic Integrity
- Turnitin (a web-based plagiarism detection and prevention system)
Accommodating Disabilities
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Additional Course Policies
The purpose of course communication tools is to provide students with a quick method for contacting faculty, teaching assistants, and other students of the class, in regards to course related questions, comments, and concerns. Please note that, according to University policy AD95/AD96, course communication tools may not be used as a method for emailing unauthorized content including but not limited to: solicitation for businesses, advertisements, selling or distributing personal or class materials, transmitting offensive, obscene, or harassing materials, chain letters, news posts, or other forms of “spam” email. Doing so will be considered a violation of course and/or University policies, and might also violate the student code of conduct and the expectations expressed in the Penn State Principles. Resulting penalties might include the suspension or termination of system access, as well as disciplinary or academic sanctions. When appropriate, information about violators will be passed on to University Police Services. If you have any questions in regards to whether or not a particular email you wish to send would violate University policies, please check with your instructor before sending messages to others through the University system.
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
Counseling and Psychological ServicesIf you have a crisis or safety concern, mental health services are available to you as a Penn State student. Crisis and emergency contacts are available, no matter where you are located:
- Anywhere in the United States: Call the Penn State Crisis Line at 1-877-229-6400 or text LIONS to 741741. You can also contact your local crisis services or hospital for emergencies.
- Outside the United States: Please contact emergency services in your current location. You can also use the International Crisis and Emergency Services listings.
- At University Park: Assistance is available at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) locations on campus.
- At a Penn State branch campus: You can search for counseling information at your campus.
The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.