Thinking & Decision-Making

PSYC-4030, section 1, Spring 2006

Professor

Dr. Kevin Grobman
229 Audubon Hall, 578-4142, grobman@lsu.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 3:00pm to 4:40pm

Class Description

Do we think about the world as it really is or do we somehow percieve things differently? Why do some people see the world with 'rose colored glasses' while others are curmudgeon? Why do we sometimes critically think about every side before maing a decision and other times make snap judgements? In this class, we will learn what science can tell us about cognition and how scientists figure these things out. Your efforts in this class will help you understand us in new ways and prepare you to study human behavior scientifically on a graduate-student level.

Expectations

It is my hope that your interest will be sparked in this course so that long after it is over you will continue to pursue answers to the questions that interest you most, whether in your careers as psychologists or other professionals, or in your own introspection about yourselves. It is my expectation that you will do your best to learn as much as you can. I am always happy to meet with you during office hours to discuss any course-related issues on your mind. I arrive to class 5-10 minutes early, and linger after class for another 5-10 minutes. Please feel free to use this time for quick questions or to schedule a time to meet with me. I have some minimum expectations; failing to meet this may lower your grade. You should attend every class. I understand that extenuating circumstances arise that can make this difficult, but please let me know before class if you cannot attend. If circumstances make you miss more than 3 classes during the semester, you may have over-extended yourself and you should consider dropping the class. Arrive to class on time. Class begins promptly and tardiness distracts other students and me. If you must leave early, please let me know before class begins. Be prepared for class. The content of class meetings will go beyond the textbook. I assume you have read it; if you have not read it, class discussion will be hard to follow. Focus your attention during class on our class; for example, do not attend our class while completing work for another class. In addition to the reduction in your grade, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty violate university policy. You will be referred to the dean, who will determine what actions are appropriate.

Grading

Exams are designed to assess your mastery of core concepts covered in lecture, discussion, and the assigned readings. You will take 2 exams, each weighted as one-third of your course grade. Exams take approximately 45 minutes to complete, but please take your time and remember that you have the full class meeting allotted. Exams will be comprised of different kinds of questions such as multiple-choice and short-essay. Though some questions will ask you for basic, factual information, most questions will ask you to integrate concepts or apply what you learned to a new situation. Make-up exams will only be given at the end of the semester during the six hours specified below. A small group project accounts for the remaining one-third of your course grades. Students will be assigned to groups of 5 students, who will design a study from proposing hypotheses to presenting the results. You may earn up to 2 extra credit percentage points on your final grade by participating in psychological studies through the department's research participant pool (up to 2 points). During the first 3 weeks of the semester, students who are reluctant to participate in research may ask for an alternative extra credit assignment. Graduate students enrolled in class will prepare a study independently and write a paper in lieu of a group project.

Readings

Rather than reading a typical textbook, which provides an overview of a topic, we will read peer-reviewed journal articles to emphasize how cognitive psychologists discovered something new about our thinking. In particular, reading primary sources also gives you the opportunity to learn more about the process of conducting research in psychology. The articles are available on the Blackboard course web-site.

Class Schedule

Tue Jan 17 Introduction to the Science of Psychology
(no assigned reading)

Thurs Jan 19 Memory & Meta-Cognition
Haden, C. A., Ornstein, P. A., Eckerman, C. O., & Didow, S. M. (2001). Mother-child conversational interactions as events unfold: linkages to subsequent remembering. Child Development, 72(4), 1016-1031.

Tue Jan 24 Learning by Conditioning & Observation
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582.

Thurs Jan 26 Problem Solving
Thornton, S. (1999). Creating the conditions for cognitive change: the interaction between task structures and specific strategies. Child Development, 70(3), 588-603.

Tue Jan 31 Language & Representations
DeLoache, J. S., Miller, K. F., & Rosengren, K. S. (1997). The credible shrinking room: very young children's performance with symbolic and nonsymbolic relations. Psychological Science, 8(4), 308-313.

Thurs Feb 2 Emotion & Motivation
Danner, F. W. & Lonky, E. (1981). A cognitive-developmental approach to the effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation, Child Development, 52, 1043-1052.

Tue Feb 7 Social Cognition
Bigler, R. S. & Liben, L. S. (1992). Cognitive mechanisms in children's gender stereotyping: theoretical and educational implications of a cognitive-based intervention, Child Development, 63, 1351-1363.

Thurs Feb 9 Concepts & Categories
Baillargeon, RenŽe (1987). Object Permanence in 3- and 4-Month-Old Infants. Developmental Psychology, 23(5), 655-664.

Tue Feb 14 Decision Making
McAllister, H. A. (1996). Self-serving bias in the classroom: who shows it? Who knows it? Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 121-131.

Thurs Feb 16 Exam One
covering previous 8 primary source journal articles and the preceding 9 classes

Tue Feb 21 Neuroscience & Psychological Processes / Hypothesis Generation
Held, R. & Hein, A. (1963) Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behavior. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 56(5), 872-876.

Thurs Feb 23 Perception / Hypothesis Refinement
Gibson, E. J. & Walk, R. D. (1960). The 'visual cliff'. Scientific American, 202(4), 64-71.

Tue Feb 28 Mardi Gras Holiday (no class)

Thurs Mar 2 Intelligence / Operational Defintions for Theoretical Constructs in Hypotheses
Pellegrini, D. S. (1985). Social cognition and competence in middle childhood. Child Development, 56, 253-264.

Tue Mar 7 Abstract Thinking / Design of Measures, ask friends to try after class
selected excerpts from Piaget

Thurs Mar 9 Moral Reasoning / Design of Measures, ask more friends to try after class
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (selected excerpts)

Tue Mar 14 Personality, Self-Concept, & Identity / Refinement of Measures
Langer, E. J. & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: a field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(2), 191-198.

Thurs Mar 16 Attitude Change & Persuasion / Final Measurements due to Dr. Grobman by E-mail
Liberman, A. & Chaiken, S. (1992) Defensive processing of personally relevant health messages. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(6), 669-679

Tue Mar 21 Critical Thinking / Data Collection
Linn, M. C., de Benedictis, T., & Delucchi, K. (1982). Adolescent reasoning about advertisements: preliminary investigations, Child Development, 53, 1599-1613.

Thurs Mar 23 Creativity / Data Collection
Ruscio, A. M. & Amabile, T. M. (1999). Effects of instructional style on problem-solving creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 12(4), 251-266.

Tue Mar 28 Planning & Executive Function / Data Collection
Karylowski, J. J. (2002) "In what font color is Bill Cosby's name written?": automatic racial categorization in a stroop task. North American Journal of Psychology, 4(1), 1-12.

Thurs Mar 30 Exam Two
covering previous 10 primary source journal articles and the preceding 10 classes

Tue April 4 Data Entry

Thurs April 6 Data Analysis
In lieu of class, 1.5 hour meeting for each small group with Dr. Grobman

Tue April 11 Spring Break (no class)

Thurs April 13 Spring Break (no class)

Tue April 18 Data Analysis
In lieu of class, 1.5 hour meeting for each small group with Dr. Grobman

Thurs April 20 Preparation for Presentations

Tue April 25 Presentations
four groups with 15 minute presentations and 5 minutes for questions

Thurs April 27 Presentations (4 groups - 15 minutes each & 5 minutes of questions)
four groups with 15 minute presentations and 5 minutes for questions

Tue May 2 Presentations (4 groups - 15 minutes each & 5 minutes of questions)
four groups with 15 minute presentations and 5 minutes for questions

Thurs May 4 Review of the Psychology of Thinking, Decision Making, & Cognition

Mon May 8 Exam Make-up (5:30pm to 7:30pm in 104 Audubon Hall)
Time-slot reserved for make-up exam.

Tue May 9 Exam Make-up (8:00pm to 10:00pm in 112 Audubon Hall)
Turn in retrospective on study by 8:30pm. Time-slot reserved for make-up exams.