PSYC 355 introduces students to research and theory in human cognition. Topics covered include an historical review of developments that led to the emergence of cognitive psychology, an overview of perception and attention, a review of basic memory research, practical aspects of memory, and semantic memory, and a survey of the major research issues in psycholinguistics (language comprehension and language production) and thinking (problem solving and decision making).
Outline
Unit 1: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Unit 2: Perception and Attention
Unit 3: Memory
Unit 4: Spatial Cognition and General Knowledge
Unit 5: Psycholinguistics
Unit 6: Thinking
Evaluation
To receive credit for PSYC 355, you must complete six unit quizzes, write and submit an empirical research paper, and write a final exam. You must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the examination. The weighting of assignments is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Unit Quizzes (6 quizzes)
30%
Research Paper
35%
Final Exam
35%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Farmer, T., & Matlin, M. (2019). Cognition (10th ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons (eText)
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
The challenge requirement for PSYC 355 is a written invigilated examination and research paper. To receive credit for the PSYC 355 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 per cent) on the examination and obtain a composite mark of at least D (50 percent).
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.