PSY 241 Cognitive Psychology MO Tom Stafford t
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PSY 241 ‘Cognitive Psychology’ MO: Tom Stafford t. stafford@shef. ac. uk
Cognition • Definition: mental processes • Cognition is invisible – So what is the aim of cognitive psychology? • Methods and concepts central to whole of psychology
Structure of the course • • Lectures Lab classes Study groups Wiki
Structure of the course: Lectures Nikki Hunkin Jim Stone Rod Nicolson Maria Panagiotidi Tom Stafford Megan Freeth Yan Jing Wu Stuart Wilson
Study groups • Thursday of week 2, psychology computer lab • 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 12 am (see wiki for your group) • Self-structured, topics etc on wiki • Discuss in preparation for individual contributions to the wiki
• Wiki • Information (groups, tasks, FAQ) • Topic content (user created!) Everyone has the task of adding to the wiki every week http: //psy 241. group. shef. ac. uk/psy 241 wiki/index. php
• Wiki Uses markup: ` ` fantastic `` fantastic == heading == heading
How to learn Rate Pleasantness Check Letters 69% 68% 39% Incidental learning 43% Intentional learning Hyde, T. S. , & Jenkins, J. J. (1973). Recall for words as a function of semantic, graphic, and syntactic orienting tasks. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12(5), 471– 480.
Use of wiki statistically shown to improve your grade on 241!
Stafford, Elgueta & Cameron (under review) ‘Wiki users get higher exam grades’
How to learn 2 • Spaced vs blocked practice Bad Better Easier Dempster, F. N. (1989). Spacing effects and their implications for theory and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 1, 309 -330. doi: 10. 1007/BF 01320097
How cognitive psychology works – Experiments – Theory building – Paradigms/frameworks • Vital to distinguish evidence (data) and theory (claims about what data means) • Theories: abstract, predict
Kinds of questions • Mechanism • Computation • Evolution
How to get a first • Organise, not memorise • Practice writing • Answer a specific questions… …. by making a specific argument … …. about psychological theories… …. supported by evidence • Read: for background, and for extra information • Critical perspective on question
Web resources • Resources: http: //tomstafford. staff. shef. ac. uk/teaching/psy 241/ • Wiki – http: //psy 241. group. shef. ac. uk/psy 241 wiki – Username: (e. g. ) pca 10 aa, Password: 01/01/1993 – Contact me if your logon doesn’t work • T. stafford@shef. ac. uk
Questions? t. stafford@shef. ac. uk
