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At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Summarize the historical development of cognitive psychology.
2. Describe the organization of basic cognitive functions from an information
processing perspective.
3. Explain the relevance of higher cognitive processes for understanding people's
behavior in selected areas such as risk assessment, environmental behavior, clinical
dysfunction, or therapeutic intervention.
4. Discuss methodologies used in the study of cognition.
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I. The Science of the Mind
A. Historical Research in Cognitive Psychology
B. The Diversity of Methods
C. Applying Cognitive Psychology
II. The Neural Basis for Cognition
A. The Study of the Brain
B. The Cerebral Cortex
C. Brain Cells
III. Visual Perception
A. Form Perception
B. Constancy
C. The Perception of Depth
IV. Recognizing Objects
A. Word Recognition
B. Recognition by Components
C. Holistic Recognition
V. Attention and Consciousness
A. Selective Auditory and Visual Attention
B. Disorders of Visual Attention
C. Multitasking
VI. The Acquisition of Memories and the Working-Memory System
A. Acquisition, Storage, and Retrieval
B. Short-term and Long-term Memory
C. Maintenance and Intentional Learning
VII. Interconnections Between Acquisition and Retrieval
A. Encoding Specificity
B. Different Forms of Memory Testing
C. Implicit Memory and Theoretical Treatments
VIII. Remembering Complex Events
A. Avoiding Memory Errors
B. Forgetting
C. Autobiographical Memory
IX. Concepts and Generic Knowledge
A. Concept Organization in Semantic Memory
B. Organization of Concepts
C. Schemas
X. Language Production
A. Speech Production: Communication
B. Syntax and Sentence Parsing
C. Language and Thought
XI. Visual Knowledge
A. Visual Imagery and the Brain
B. Long-Term Visual Memory
XII. Judgment, Decision Making, and Reasoning
A. Judgment
B. Complex Decision Making
C. Deductive Reasoning
XIII. Problem Solving and Intelligence
A. General Problem-Solving Methods
B. Creativity
C. The Roots of Intelligence
XIV. Conscious Thought, Unconscious Thought
A. Cognitive Unconscious
B. Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness
C. Role of Phenomenal Experience
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Cognition. 9th ed. Matlin, Margaret and Farmer, Thomas. Wiley. 2015
Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind. 6th ed, Reisberg, Daniel. W.W. Norton & Company. 2015
Fundamentals of Cognition. 2nd ed. Eysenck, Michael. Taylor & Francis Group. 2012 (classic)