Cognitive Psychology  

In this introductory course we investigate the mechanisms of human thinking. Particularly we will explore the basic mental processes such as how our brains let us "view" and "understand" the world, how our perceptions depend on our current state of attention, and how our memories and perceptions can change over time with our own experiences. In this process of better understanding the human mind, we'll discuss language abilities and the mental representation of concepts and schemas. We'll also look at various actions that people take in different situations-from simple visual illusions, to strategic higher order decisions to grave mistakes in higher-level decision-making. In this context we will discuss how these "successes" and "failures" provide unique insights into the mechanisms of human thinking.

1. Students will understand the historical development of the field of cognitive psychology
2. Students will be able to recognize several theories, and compare and contrast these theories in terms of their underlying processes and their performance predictions
3. Students will be able to generate and explain examples that demonstrate or test theories or concepts within various cognitive psychology domains.
4. Students will be able to apply principles and theories to real world contexts and problems
5. Students will be able to explain the various neuroscience measures (CT scans, PET scans, FMRI's) and how they are used to provide evidence for cognitive theories.