PSYC 3761 - Cognition
Fall 2026 Syllabus, Section 01, CRN 40399,
Credit hours: 3
Course Meeting Times
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Instructor
James Juergensen
Email: jejuergensen@ysu.edu
Course Description
Professor’s Additional Course Description:
Cognitive Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes. We will explore how the mind works (and how it often times doesn’t work). We will study how perceptual information enters the mind, how attention is used to select from the array of available incoming sensory information, how knowledge is organized in memory, how new information is added to memory, how information is retrieved from memory, how information is conveyed to others via language, and how current knowledge is transformed and expanded by inductive and deductive reasoning. We will also discuss how mental processes are carried out in the living brain. Throughout the course we will discuss theories of mind in which simple ideas are built into powerful psychological theories. We will discuss how cognitive psychologists build theories (or models) of mental processes, and how these models are used to understand and predict behavior. We will also explore the idea within Cognitive Psychology that our minds often interpret information in ways that, although may be more efficient, can lead to systematic errors in judgment and reasoning.
Course Readings
| Group | Title | Author | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required | Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman | 9780374533557 |
| Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience - Enhanced MindTap | Bruce Goldstein | 8220127943703 |
The course readings are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, research developments, current events, and/or to ensure better learning.
Assignments/Assessments
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Schedule of Topics and Assignments
| Day | Date | Reading(s) | Proposed Topic | Due/To Prepare for Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue | 8/25 | Course Introduction | ||
| Thu | 8/27 | Goldstein Ch 1 Introduction | ||
| Tue | 9/1 | Goldstein Ch 3 Perception | ||
| Thu | 9/3 | Kahneman Ch 1 & 2 | Two systems; cognitive effort | Kahneman Key Concept #1 |
| Tue | 9/8 | Goldstein Ch 4 Attention | Simple Detection & Muller-Lyer Labs | |
| Thu | 9/10 | Kahneman Ch 3 & 4 | Associative Machine; Lazy Thinking | Kahneman Key Concept #2 |
| Tue | 9/15 | Emotion Lecture; Cognitive Ease | Stroop & Attentional Blink Labs | |
| Thu | 9/17 | Kahneman Ch 5 & 7 | Finish Emotion; Brief Review | Kahneman Key Concept #3 |
| Tue | 9/22 | Exam #1 | Partial Report and Brown Peterson Labs | |
| Thu | 9/24 | Kahneman Ch 9 & 10 | Substitution; Law of Small Numbers | Kahneman Key Concept #4 |
| Tue | 9/29 | Goldstein Ch 5 STM & WMC | ||
| Thu | 10/1 | Kahneman Ch 11 & 12 | Goldstein Ch 6 LTM: Structure; Anchoring; Availability | Kahneman Key Concept #5 |
| Tue | 10/6 | Goldstein Ch 7 LTM | Operation Span and Mental Rotation Labs | |
| Thu | 10/8 | Kahneman Ch 13 & 14 | Availability; Tom W | Kahneman Key Concept #6 |
| Tue | 10/13 | Exam #2 | ||
| Thu | 10/15 | Kahneman Ch 15 & 17 | Linda; Regression to the Mean | Kahneman Key Concept #7 |
| Tue | 10/20 | Goldstein Ch 8 LTM extended | Encoding Specificity and Levels of Processing Labs | |
| Thu | 10/22 | Kahneman Ch 19 & 20 | Illusions of Skill and Validity | Kahneman Key Concept #8 |
| Tue | 10/27 | Cognitive Control of Emotions Lecture | ||
| Thu | 10/29 | Kahneman Ch 21 & 22 | Formulas and Expert Intuition | Kahneman Key Concept #9 |
| Tue | 11/3 | Time Perception Lecture | ||
| Thu | 11/5 | Kahneman Ch 23 & 25 | Outside View; Bernoulli’s Error | Kahneman Key Concept #10 |
| Tue | 11/10 | Exam #3 | ||
| Thu | 11/12 | Kahneman Ch 26 & 27 | Prospect Theory; Endowment Effect | Kahneman Key Concept #11 |
| Tue | 11/17 | Motivation Lecture | ||
| Thu | 11/19 | Kahneman Ch 29 & 34 | Fourfold Pattern; Framing | Kahneman Key Concept #12 |
| Tue | 11/24 | Goldstein Ch 11 Language | Word Superiority and Lexical Decision-Making Labs | |
| Thu | 11/26 | Happy Thanksgiving! | ||
| Tue | 12/1 | Goldstein Ch 12 Problem Solving | Risky Decisions and Monty Hall Labs | |
| Thu | 12/3 | Kahneman Ch 35 & 36 | Two Selves; Life as a Story Final Exam Review; Wrap up | Kahneman Key Concept #13 |
| Tue | 12/8 | Finals week, no class on this day | ||
| Thu | 12/10 | Final Exam Thursday December 10th 8:00-10:00 AM |
The course schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, and/or to ensure better learning.