Psychology 392
Senior Seminar
Illinois State University
J. Cooper Cutting
Syllabus
Spring 2014
|
Instructor: J. Cooper Cutting |
| Office: |
De Garmo 435D |
| Phone: |
438-2999 |
| e-mail: |
jccutti@ilstu.edu |
| office hours: |
M 10-11, Th 1-2 & by appointment |
Where and When?
- Section 02: MW 2-3:15; FEL 112.
- Section 04: TuTh 6-7:15; WIH 21.
Course Description & Objective.
Catalog Copy. A capstone course
for PSY majors featuring in-depth study of selected topics.
Course description. A seminar is a group of
advanced students studying under a professor, with each student
contributing to class participation through active reading, doing
library research, presenting and discussing the material with one
another and the professor. The senior seminar course, the pinnacle
of one's undergraduate education, examines contemporary
psychological issues and problems of the future. Issues vary from
instructor to instructor. This section focuses on cognitive
psychology, including issues about perception, learning, memory,
and language.
Goal. My main goals for this semester is to
promote critical thinking in students and to connect the science
of psychology with our everyday lives. These goals
will be addressed through a number of different techniques,
including writing critical and reflection and review papers, and
giving presentations. The topics on which these techniques will be
developed will be drawn from readings selected by the instructor
(2 books) and the students (1 book each).
Objectives.
My teaching objectives are:
- to help students learn to think critically
- to help students learn the benefits of thinking critically
- to give students a number of different techniques to
promote critical thinking
- to give students an opportunity to think about some of the
current (and perhaps past and future) issues in cognitive
psychology and cognitive science
- to encourage an exchange of ideas/information among all
members of the class.
Departmental Objectives are posted here.
Evaluation (grading). Over the course of the
semester each of you will read 3 books, two that are read by
everyone, and one that each student will select for
themselves. The evaluation of the students' overall course
performance will be based on their participation and on the
quality of the participation on the assignments. The assignments
consist of a variety of different kinds of tasks (as mentioned
above in the Goal section). Roughly the breakdown will be as
follows:
- 12 chapter review and reflection papers (10 pts each, 120
total)
- Brief summaries of the week's chapters, thoughts about the
chapter, including at least one discussion question about
each chapter. These will be emailed to the instructor
by Noon of the day of class. Copies will be made and
distributed at the begining of class and these will serve as
the outlines for our discussions.
- 2 Article presentations (25 pts each, 50 total)
- Each student will find and present an empirical article
related to one of the chapter readings (for each of the two
common books). The presentations will be 15-20 mins.
Students must provide the instructor a copy of the article
in advance of the presentation (pdf prefered). The
presentations should include: a summary of the article
(issue, methods, results, conclusions), how it relates to
the chapter reading, why they picked it, their general
reflections about the article, and be prepared to lead a
brief discussion of the article (answer questions of the
other students, have discussion questions of their
own).
- Pick, read, and review a book of your own selection
- Each student will pick a book to read over the course of
the semester. The books need to be psychology related
(see the "starter list" below).
- For each chapter the student will write a brief
reflection. The student will write a brief (~3-8
pages) review of the book. The brief review and the
reflections will be turned in together. (55 pts)
- Students will also do a presentation to the class about
their book (35 pts)
- Active participation in class discussion is critical for
this course.
- The instructor will evaluate participation for each class
discussion, (5 pts each, 140 total)
400 pts total
A: 360-400 pts, B: 320-359, C: 280-319, D: 240-279, F: <239
Readings.
|
|
Foer (2011). Moonwalking with Einstein:
The art and science of remebering everything. (ME)
|
Chabris & Simons (2010). The invisible gorilla:
And other ways our intuitions deceive us. (IG)
|
Student selected readings. Here is a "starter list" of potential
books that you might find interesting.
- Deutscher (2010). Through the language glass: Why the world
looks different in other languages.
- Deutscher (2010). The unfolding of language: An evolutionary
tour of mankind’s greatest invention.
- Erard (2012). Babel no more: The search for the world’s most
extraordinary language learners.
- Erard (2007). Um…: Slips, stumbles, and verbal blunders and
what they mean.
- Gladwell (2007) Blink.
- Hallinan (2010). Why we make mistakes: How we look without
seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure we are
way above average.
- Harrison (2013). Think: why you should question everything.
- Kahneman (2011). Thinking, fast and slow.
- Levitt & Dubner (2006). Freakonomics: A rogue economist
explores the hidden side of everything.
- McRaney (2012). You are not so smart: Why you have too many
friends on facebook, why your memory is mostly fiction, and 46
other ways you’re deluding yourself.
- Mlodinow (2009). The drunkard’s walk: How randomness rules our
lives.
- Pennebaker (2011). The secret life of pronouns: What our words say
about us.
- Sacks (2011). The mind’s eye.
- Schacter (2002). The seven sins of memory: How the mind
forgets and remembers.
- Silver (2012). The signal and the noise: Why so many
predictions fail – but some don’tPinker (2010). The language
instinct: How the mind creates language.
- Susana, Macknik, & Blakeeslee (2011) Sleights of mind:
What the neuroscience of magic reveals about our everyday
deceptions.
- Tavris & Aronson (2008). Mistakes were made (but not by
me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful
acts.
Course Ground Rules.
Active participation is the central requirement for the class.
Students will be expected to participate in a variety of ways,
including several written and oral presentations and discussions.
If you are going to miss a class, then you will miss an
opportunity for participation. So it is critically important that
you notify me AS SOON AS YOU KNOW that you'll be absent and WHY.
Call, e-mail, or talk to me in person. Opportunity to make-up the
missed work requires prior notification of the absence and an
excused absence (that is one that you instructor accepts as
reasonable and legitimate). How and when the work will be made up
will be determined by the instructor.
To ensure a smooth flow of discussions, the following policies
are established: Students are encouraged to listen with an open
mind, respect the contributions of others, and avoid personal
attacks. Students will often be faced with alternative viewpoints
from the professor or their peers. Thus, students should be
prepared to defend their own positions with empirical data,
obtained from the assigned readings, and reasoned argument.
You are expected to do your own work. Plagiarism and cheating
of any sort will not be tolerated. Either behavior will result in
a grade of 'F'. Note that plagiarism includes situations where you
meet with other students for group discussions and are asked write
a summary. Unless otherwise instructed, this means that each
participant in the group must write their own summary. Making up
false excuses for absences will also be considered cheating and
may result in a grade of 'F' for missed work.
And finally, if you have any questions regarding anything in
the syllabus and or the course in general, please feel free to
ask. Talk to me in class, via phone, or e-mail. Don't just assume
that you know (or should know) the answer, I may not have been
clear enough or may have forgotten to mention something.
The Office of Disability Concerns
Illinois State University is an institution and a faculty concerned
with helping all of our students feel welcome, and with helping all
students learn and develop to their full potential. Any student
needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented
disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall,
438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TDD).
Note: This topic calendar is an approximation and is meant to allow
for some flexibility over the course of the semester.
| Week |
Days |
Topic |
| WK1 |
Mon & Tues |
Organization & Introduction
|
| WK1 |
Wed & Thurs
|
ME Chpt 1: the smartest man is hard to find
ME Chpt 2: the man who remembered too much
|
| WK2 |
Mon & Tues |
MLK on Monday. No class on Mon or Tues this week |
| WK2 |
Wed & Thurs
|
Research article presentation (Dr. Cutting) |
| WK3 |
Mon & Tues |
ME Chpt 3: The expert expert
ME Chpt 4: The most forgetful man in the world |
| WK3 |
Wed & Thurs
|
3-4 student Research article presentations |
| WK4 |
Mon & Tues |
ME Chpt 5: The memory palace
ME Chpt 6: How to memorize a poem |
| WK4 |
Wed & Thurs
|
3-4 student Research article presentations |
| WK5 |
Mon & Tues |
ME Chpt 7: The end of remembering
ME Chpt 8: The OK plateau |
| WK5 |
Wed & Thurs
|
3-4 student Research article presentations |
| WK6 |
Mon & Tues |
ME Chpt 9: The talented tenth
ME Chpt 10: The little rain man in all of us
ME Chpt 11: The USA memory championship (read for fun) |
| WK6 |
Wed & Thurs
|
3-4 student Research article presentations |
| WK7 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 1: I think I would have seen that |
| WK7 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
| WK8 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 2: The coach who choked |
| WK8 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
|
SPRING BREAK
|
| WK10 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 3: What smart chess players and stupid
criminals have in common |
| WK10 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
| WK11 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 4: Should you be more like a weather forecaster
or a hedge fund manager |
| WK11 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
| WK12 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 5: Jumping to conclusions |
| WK12 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
| WK13 |
Mon & Tues |
IG Chpt 6: Get smart quick |
| WK13 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 student Research article presentations |
| WK14 |
Mon & Tues |
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| WK14 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| WK15 |
Mon & Tues |
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| WK15 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| WK16 |
Mon & Tues |
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| WK16 |
Wed & Thurs
|
2-3 Student Book Review Presentations |
| Finals Week |
Book review and
reflections are due:
TBA (the day of our final), no later than 4:30 PM. |
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jccutti@ilstu.edu.