Fall 2007
830:305 – Cognition
Section 06: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:40 – 8:00 PM, ARC 103
Section 07: Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:10 – 9:30 PM, ARC 103

Instructor	Teaching Assistant, Section 06	Teaching Assistant, Section 07
Dr. John Ackroff	Corey Grassl	Sarah Kowal
ackroff@rci.rutgers.edu	cgrassl@hotmail.com	skowal@eden.rutgers.edu
Tillett 609		Psychology 221 (Busch)
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1:15 - 2:30,	Office Hours: By Appointment	Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00 - 4:00
and by appointment		and by appointment

Web Page:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ackroff/Cognition PowerPoint presentations for each lecture will be available here before each lecture. Other information may also be found here.

Textbook:

Medin, D. L., Ross, B. H., and Markham, A. B. (2005). Cognitive Psychology, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ISBN 0-471-45820-1.

Available at New Jersey Books, 108 Somerset St., and the Rutgers Bookstore in Ferren Mall, 1 Penn Plaza, both in New Brunswick.

About Cognition:

Most people think that cognition is about thinking and learning. In this course, we will take a much broader approach, and look at how our brain and mental processes are involved in almost every aspect of our lives. We will also see how we can apply the information discussed in the course to situations outside the classroom.

Exams and Grading:

There will be three non-cumulative multiple choice exams based on the text and other materials presented in class. You are responsible for bringing pencils with erasers to each exam. Exam scores will be posted in the SAS Gradebook; a link will be available on the course web page. If you have questions about your score on an exam, you must discuss it with your Teaching Assistant before the next exam.

If you have a schedule conflict with an exam, you may be allowed to take the exam before the scheduled date at the discretion of the instructor. If you miss an exam, you will be allowed to take a make-up exam only if you present a note from your Dean's office verifying that you missed the exam due to an excused absence. This note should also indicate a reasonable time frame in which you will be able to make up the exam. You should give this note to the instructor within 1 week of the scheduled date of the exam.

Exams are often given in a different location in order to allow for more room between students. Room changes will be posted on the class web page. If an exam is cancelled or postponed on the day of the exam, there will be a member of the Psychology Department in the room at the scheduled time to make the announement. Notices posted on doors or the blackboard are likely to be hoaxes.

Final grades will be determined by the total number of questions you answer correctly on the exams. Extra credit points (see below) are added to the total number of questions you answer correctly. The following grades are "guaranteed":

A: 90% - 100%
B+: 88% - 89.99%
B: 80% - 87.99%
C+: 78% - 79.99%
C: 70% - 77.99%
D: 60% - 69.99%

I reserve the right to lower any of these cutoffs at my sole discretion.

Practice Exams

will be made available at www.rutgersonline.net. You will need a Rutgers NetID to log in; your password is your date of birth in YYYYMMDD format.

Extra Credit:

You will have an opportunity to earn extra credit points by taking special forms of the practice exams. This will be explained when the first Practice Exam is made available.

Supplementary Instruction:

Eugene Ruby (eruby@eden.rutgers.edu) will hold Supplementary Instruction sessions weekly on Mondays at 9:10 PM in Scott 216 and Tuesdays at 5:00 in LSH B123. (Note: B123, not A123.)

Attendance and Correspondence Policies:

Attendance: You should attend all meetings of all of your classes. My lectures are based on the material in the assigned readings, but may also cover material not discussed in the readings. You are responsible for all of this material.

If you arrive late or must leave before class is over, please sit near a door and try to be as inconspicuous as possible. It is distracting to everyong to have people walking in and out of the classroom during class.

Classes are held according to the schedule below as long as the University is open. If the weather appears to be threatening, you can check the Campus Operating Status here.
Classroom Etiquette: Please turn off all cell phones, etc., before class begins.

If you wish to use a laptop computer to take notes, that is fine. If you wish to use a laptop computer to surf the web, play games, IM your friends, etc., I would suggest you go to the nearest Student Center. This advice also applies to having side discussions with your classmates, reading newspapers, doing puzzles, etc.
Questions: I encourage you to ask questions during class. If something is unclear, or if you have a question related to the material being discussed, please ask your question then. Chances are that some of your classmates would also like some additional discussion of the topic.

Because of schedule-related issues, I prefer not to answer questions before or after class.
Email: I try to answer email promptly. Having said that,
- Please use a Subject that gives me some idea what you are writing about. This is especially important if you send mail from an account other than eden. Mail from sexgoddess@aol.com with a subject of "hello" is likely to be considered spam and deleted unread.
- If you ask me a question whose answer is on the course web page or Syllabus, my reply is likely to say that.
- If you ask me a question about your standing in the course, please include your name and which course and section you are enrolled in.
- Please re-read the section on "Questions" above. I realize that there are times when you are reviewing notes after class and/or before an exam when you will discover that you have a question. But it is in everyone's best interest for you to ask your questions in class, rather than after the fact, if you have a question while class is in session.
- As stated on the course web page, you are responsible for any announcements, etc., I send to the class via email. Emails are sent to the address that appears when your name is entered into "Search People" on the "Search Rutgers" page. There is a link on the course web page that allows you to update this address.

Schedule

Date	Topic	Reading
Wednesday Sep 5	Course Introduction; Course Overview
Monday Sep 10	History of Cognition; Basic Scientific Principles	Chapter 1
Wednesday Sep 12	(No Class)
Monday Sep 17	Learning	Chapter 2
Wednesday Sep 19	Perception	Chapter 3
Monday, Sep 24	Attention	Chapter 4
Wednesday Sep 26	Attention, cont'd
Monday, Oct 1	Review for Exam 1	Chapters 1 - 4
Wednesday, Oct 3	Exam 1	Chapters 1 - 4
Monday, Oct 8	Memory	Chapter 5
Wednesday, Oct 10	Memory	Chapter 6
Monday, Oct 15	Memory	Chapter 7
Wednesday Oct 17	Imagery	Chapter 8
Monday Oct 22	Language	Chapter 9
Wednesday Oct 24	Language, cont'd
Monday Oct 29	Review for Exam 2	Chapters 5 - 9
Wednesday Oct 31	Exam 2	Chapters 5 - 9
Monday, Nov 5	Concepts and Categories	Chapter 10
Wednesday, Nov 7	Reasoning	Chapter 11
Monday Nov 12	Reasoning, cont'd
Wednesday, Nov 14	Problem Solving	Chapter 12
Monday Nov 19	Problem Solving, cont'd
Wednesday Nov 21	No Class	(Friday schedule)
Monday, Nov 26	Expertise and Creativity	Chapter 13
Wednesday Nov 28	Expertise and Creativity, cont'd
Monday Dec 3	Judgment of Uncertainty and Decision Making	Chapter 14
Wednesday Dec 5	Judgment of Uncertainty and Decision Making, cont'd
Monday Dec 10	Intelligence
Wednesday Dec 12	Review for Exam 3	Chapters 10 - 14 and Intelligence
Monday Dec 17	Section 06 Exam 3, 8:00 PM	Chapters 10 - 14 and Intelligence
Wednesday Dec 19	Section 07 Exam 3, 8:00 PM	Chapters 10 - 14 and Intelligence

I consider the course materials used for lecture content and the course web page to be my personal intellectual property or the intellectual property of other parties, as identified. I view the sale or purchase of these materials as a violation of copyright laws.

Fall 2007 830:305 – Cognition Section 06: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:40 – 8:00 PM, ARC 103 Section 07: Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:10 – 9:30 PM, ARC 103