This document outlines the syllabus for a 400-level Cognitive Psychology course. The 3-credit course will be taught by Dr. Valentina Bazzarin and explore core topics in cognitive psychology, including language, memory, attention, problem solving, and comprehension. Students will study both traditional topics and the most recent international research innovations. Assessment will include individual and group projects, tests, and a final exam. The goal is for students to understand cognitive processes and their interrelations with the brain, body, and mind, as well as cognitive psychology's influence on other fields.

1. Cognitive Psychology
PSY 416 - 400 level
3 credits
Instructor: Valentina Bazzarin, PhD
Mail: valentina.bazzarin@gmail.com

2. Concept
Cognitive Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes. This course will explore core
Cognitive Psychology topics, including language, memory, attention, action planning, problem
solving, imagery and comprehension. Particular attention will be given to innovation and the
most up to date information in Cognitive Psychology international research.
"cognition is an area within psychology that
describes how we acquire, store, transform, and
use knowledge"
Matlin (2009)

3. The class, the scene
Let’s play!
In pairs:
- Profile
- Background
- Expectations
Source: https://youtu.be/6Z0XS-QLDWM

4. Traditional
topics
Perception, language,
memory, motor control,
embodied cognition,
attention, problem solving,
abstraction and
comprehension.

5. Agenda setting
Students will cooperate in the
definition of the teaching agenda both
by highlighting their needs in the
theories explanations and by
suggesting the specific knowledge
domains or the topics they would like
to explore.

6. Cognitive Sciences
Research
Theory
Behavioral and clinical methods
Applications
Domain of cognitive science
Influenced by research in cognitive neuroscience
and artificial intelligence

7. Teaching philosophy
Design thinking/Hands on
The course will experiment
- in a permanent laboratorial setting -
several teaching methodologies, to immediately put in place some
of the theories about perception, attention and learning
processes.

8. Self assessment
In the first 10 minutes of each lesson the students will be
required to complete a short self-assessment test and will be
asked to comment the methodology we used in the previous
lesson

9. Self-assessment [example 1]
Explain in max 150 words:
1) What is the “mind-body problem and what frameworks have been put forward to
solve it?
2) Is cognitive neuroscience the new phrenology?
3) Does cognitive psychology need the brain? Does neuroscience need cognitive
psychology?

10. Self assessment [example 2]
Find or complete the definition
Dualism is the belief that _______ and ______ are made up of different kind of
substance
Word cloud:
Emotions, nerves, brain, dreams, mind, processes, mechanisms, synapses,
atoms.

11. Textbooks and readings
Videos, podcasts, table
games, canvas and apps
Ward, Jamie, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience. Psychology Press.
Margaret W. Matlin, Cognitive Psychology, 8th
Edition International student
Version
Additional readings/materials will be distributed or assigned by the
instructor.

12. Papers, tests and final exam
Road to
11/05/2020
Individual project: 10/02/2020
Test 1: 02/03/2020
Test 2: 06/04/2020
Paper: 27/04/2020

13. Grades
Scale

14. Assignment 1:
Abstract for your individual
project
Team-work is possible and welcome
Deadline: Friday 31/01/2020

15. Individual
project
Choose one of multiple
Cognitive Psychology topics
provided by the professor
and in a short research paper
(1000 +/- 10% words)
discuss how the research in
that area impacts the real
world.
https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/cog
nitive-bias-codex?jwsource=cl
Be curious!
Be creative!

16. Sources and
hints are
everywhere

18. Let’s play in teams of 4
2 minutes to list…
… linked to mental health and
cognitive skills
Movies
Fiction books
Songs
Serials

19. Class discussion
Individual project
The oral presentation in class will be at least 20 minutes long and provide
detailed insight into the topic. Students are also required to create an
informative hand-out for the class on the relevant topics. Further details
will be given in class.

20. A short history of
cognitive
psychology
Source: https://youtu.be/6pw_lir3oc8
Video Basic Principles of Cognitive Psychology

21. Objectives
● To understand brain, body and mind working principles and their interrelation
● To understand the working principles of the structures underlying mental processes
● To understand how perceptual information enters the mind and how the information is
processed
● To understand how attention selects between available sensory information
● To understand how memory works in keeping the information for short or long periods, how
the information is stored and how it is retrieved
● To understand the role of language and mental processes under it
● To understand how our knowledge is used for inductive and deductive reasoning
● To understand the meaning and the principles of brain plasticity
● To understand the influence of cognitive psychology on other areas of psychology (such as
clinical psychology, educational psychology and social psychology) as well as on other
interdisciplinary areas (for example political sciences, marketing, computer science and
artificial intelligence).

22. Chapter 1 - introducing “cognitive
neurosciences”
The historical perspective
Does cognitive psychology need the brain?
Does cognitive neurosciences need cognitive psychology?

23. A timeline and some examples
Source:
https://www.slideshare.net/DukeDigitalScholarship/a
ppelbaum-beam-talklibrarydigitalscholarshipfinal
Source:
https://youtu.be/eOaDhCjm5I8

24. Contacts
Mailto: valentina.bazzarin@gmail.com
Twitter: @vbazzarin
The materials are available here
https://www.slideshare.net/LaValeShare