Rissman_Psych120A_Syllabus_Fall2013 - Psychology 120A...

Psychology 120A
I
NTRODUCTION TO
C
OGNITIVE
P
SYCHOLOGY
Fall Quarter, 2013
Instructor: Dr. Jesse Rissman ([email protected]), Franz Hall 6639, Thur 3-4pm
TAs: Adam Blake ( [email protected] ), FH 6578, Mon 10am-12pm
Michael Garcia ( [email protected] ), FH 6437C , Thur 1-2pm, 4-5pm
Emma Geller ( [email protected] ), FH 2352, Thur 1-3pm
Chela Willey ( [email protected] ), FH 6451, Tues 1-3pm
Class Time and Location: Tue & Thur, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Humanities A51
Course Website: https://ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/13F-PSYCH120A-1
Course Overview:
This course is intended to present a broad introduction to the field of Cognitive Psychology.
Unfortunately, this 10-week course cannot be a comprehensive survey of this vast field; rather, we will
aim to provide a reasonably deep introduction to several of the key topics and research approaches.
Our emphases will include visual perception, attention, memory, language, categorization, mental
imagery, decision-making, reasoning, problem solving, and creativity. Since many insights into the
workings of the mind have been derived from neuroscientific studies, the course will also cover
cognitive neuroscience methods and experimental findings where applicable.
Textbook: Reisberg, D. (2012). Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind (5 th Edition). Norton.
This textbook will be the main source of readings for this course. The included Cognition Workbook
and ZAPS lab module are NOT required, but you may find these resources interesting and helpful. At
least one copy of the textbook will be placed on reserve in the College Library. For those who prefer e-
books, the UCLA Bookstore will be offering a digital version of this textbook at a substantially
reduced price. However, please note that the e-book version cannot be resold at the end of the term.
Grading:
Breakdown of your grade:
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 35%
Term Paper 15%
Clicker Quizzes 10%
Clicker Participation 5%
Section Attendance 5%
By default, the following scale will be used to assign your grade for this course. If necessary, grades
will be curved up, but they will not be curved down. In other words, you are certain to get at least the
grade corresponding to the points listed below.
Percentage: Grade:
90..100 A-..A+
80..89 B-..B+
70..79 C-..C+
60..69 D..D+
Plus (+) grades will only be assigned for the top two percentage points in any grade range (e.g., B+ =
88-89), and minus (-) grades for the bottom two percentage points (e.g., A- = 90-91).

Extra Credit:
You have the opportunity to earn up to 2 extra credit percentage points by participating in an
experiment through the Psychology Department Subject Pool. By participating in experiments, you
will have the opportunity to contribute to on-going research at UCLA while getting an inside glimpse
of how research studies are conducted. Half a point of extra credit will be given for every hour of