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The course has six modules. Students study one module per week. Each module teaches students about a different aspect of cognition. The six modules are:

• Module 1: Approaches to studying cognition
• Module 2: Visual perception
• Module 3: Attention
• Module 4: Everyday memory and memory errors
• Module 5: Language comprehension
• Module 6: Problem solving and creativity

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge of the major topics, research, and theories in Cognitive Psychology.
2. critically evaluate and appraise different approaches to studying cognition.
3. identify the applications that psychological principles within Cognitive Psychology have to everyday life and society.
4. communicate key theories and findings from Cognitive Psychological research to a non-specialist audience.

Course Text

Required readings for this course will be taken from:

• Goldstein, E.B. (2018). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience (5th Ed.). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

The Goldstein textook is accessible via the University library as an e-book. The University library has a limited number of licences for the online version of the textbook used in this course. We advise that students purchase their own copy of this textbook to ensure uninterrupted access to the resource when needed.

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This is a fully online offering. MyUni will be used for all course materials, communications, links to curated resources, online tutorial support and assessments - including submission, grading and feedback.

Engagement with course content is facilitated by online presentations, interactive online activities, curated readings and resources, and self directed research and study supported by weekly online tutorial sessions. There are six weekly modules with learning scaffolded across the modules to ensure that students develop deep discipline knowledge as well as the academic literacy, research skills and capacity to apply and communicate their understanding as specified for an AQF8 level offering.

This course is a six week intensive, accelerated learning offering. Students should expect to approximately 25 hours per week engaging with the online content, in private study, attending online tutorials, and completing the coursework assignments.

Indicative hours per week:

• 1.5 hours - Tutorial
• 1 hour - Tutorial Preparation
• 9 hours - Assessment related tasks
• 10 hours - Engaging with online content (e.g, video presentations, podcasts, directed research activities, discussions, interactive tasks)
• 3.5 hours - Readings

The six weekly modules focus on different aspects of cognition. The module titles, and indicative topics, are below:

Module 1: Approaches to studying cognition

• Overview of what cognition is
• Overview of three major approaches to studying cognition (cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience), including their history, strengths, and limitations

Module 2: Visual perception

• Explanation of the difference between sensation and perception
• Explanation of the difference between bottom-up processing and top-down processing
• Overview of how we make immediate sense of visual scenes using factors such as Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organisation, environmental regularities, and inferences
• Brief overview of the brain areas involved in visual perception

Module 3: Attention

• Explanation of the difference between focused attention and divided attention
• Overview of classic focused auditory attention models
• Overview of issues related to focused visual attention, including spotlight/zoom-lens/object-based attention theories, and perceptual load/ignoring visual distractions
• Overview of attentional failures (inattentional blindness and change blindness)
• Overview of divided attention research methods and factors impacting divided attention abilities

Module 4: Everyday memory and memory errors

• Explanation of the constructive nature of memory
• Overview of internal and external causes of false memories (e.g., schemas, misinformation)
• Overview of false memories of childhood events and the repressed memory controversy
• Overview of eyewitness lineup identification research, including factors impacting lineup performance and research on best practice when administering lineups

Module 5: Language comprehension

• Explanation of how language is ingrained in humans
• Overview of how we make sense of speech, focusing on (1) how we identify individual words in speech, (2) how we correctly recognise words, even when they have multiple meanings, (3) how we understand entire sentences using parsing, (4) how we make sense of discourse using inferences, (5) how we create situation models (mental representations) of discourse.
• Brief overview of the brain areas involved in language processing according to the classic Wernicke-Geschwind Model and more contemporary models

Module 6: Problem solving and creativity

• Explanation of what counts as a problem in cognitive psychology
• Overview of how problem solving occurs according to three different approaches (Behaviourism, Gestalt Psychology, Cognitive Psychology), and some of the problem-solving barriers they identified (e.g., functional fixedness, mental set)
• Overview of analogical problem solving
• Explanation as to how experts and novices differ when solving the same problems in their field
• An overview of what creativity is, how it is measured, and factors that inhibit it (e.g., exemplars, brainstorming).

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Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Course Learning Outcomes
Assessment 1: Multiple-choice quizzes	Summative	Sunday Weeks 1 - 6 11:59pm	20%	1
Assessment 2: Essay	Summative	Sunday Week 4 11:59pm	40%	1, 2
Assessment 3: Science communication article	Summative	Sunday Week 6 11:59pm	40%	1, 3, 4

Submission via Turnitin. All assignments are due by 11:59pm on the Sunday at the end of the week in which they are due. A penalty of 5% per day applies for late submissions.

Extensions are granted on medical, compassionate or other special circumstances recognised under the University’s Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy. The completed extension application form and any documentation (such as a medical or counsellor's certification) should be emailed to the course coordinator and submitted before the due date. The course coordinator will consider the request in the light of the case made and University deadlines, and may grant an extension of up to three days.

Assessment 1: Weekly MCQ Quizzes (20% due weeks 1 - 6)
Students will complete 6 x 10-item multiple choice quizzes that assess their understanding of each week’s content. In Week 1, the quiz will be formative (i.e., for practice only). In Weeks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the quizzes will be summative. The quizzes will allow students to demonstrate whether or not they have achieved Learning Outcome 1.

Assessment 2: Essay (40%, 1500 words, due week 4)
This essay has two components. In the first component (700 words), students will be required to give an overview and critique of two of three main methods of studying cognition (cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience). In the second component (800 words), students will explain how those two methods have been used in combination to advance our understanding of one aspect of visual perception. This assessment will allow students to demonstrate whether or not they have achieved Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.

Assessment 3: Science Communication Article (40%, 1200 words, due week 6)
Students will write a 1200-word Science Communication article, modelled on those that appear on the Psychology Today website. The article will help a non-expert audience understand how cognitive psychological research in the area of attention, memory, or language have contributed to our understanding of a real-world issue. For example, students may explain how attention research has helped us understand the impact of mobile phone usage whilst driving on road safety, how memory research has helped us understand how accurate eyewitnesses are when recalling crimes, or how language research has helped us understand language disorders. This assessment will allow students to demonstrate whether or not they have achieved Learning Outcomes 1, 3, and 4.

Online submission using Turnitin

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