Cognitive Psychology

Final Project

For the Final Project in this course, you will write a 12-page research paper (not including title page and references) that demonstrates your mastery of the major concepts that the course covers as they relate to an issue or area of study in cognitive psychology.

Begin considering a topic this week by reviewing your syllabus for topic ideas and by looking for cognitive psychological research in areas of interest to you.

In the Week 4 Application, you are asked to decide on this issue or area of study to write about, to be approved by your instructor. You may write about your research area of interest (for example, the area you plan to study for your thesis or dissertation) and how cognitive psychological research informs, relates to, or expands this area of study. You alternately may write about a research area addressed in the text, such as creativity, eyewitness testimony, artificial intelligence, wisdom, etc. Although your research paper may cover a topic of interest to you, please regard it as a scholarly endeavor to which you are applying your research, statistical, and analytical skills, as well as your knowledge of cognitive psychology. The Week 4 Application also requires you to provide an annotated bibliography of five references that you intend to use in your paper, not including course material.

All papers must use a minimum of 10 references not including course material, though you may reference material from the course as well. Papers must follow correct APA style guidelines.

Here are the course objectives, etc from the syllabus Description of Course
The course has a basis in cognitive neuroscience and begins by providing students with an overview of the history of the field and approaches used to study the mind. Students continue with an examination of the fundamentals of cognition. They examine various domains of cognitive psychology, including how information is acquired (i.e., basic learning processes, perception, and attention); fundamental issues of memory and representations of knowledge; language and understanding; thinking (e.g., reasoning, problem solving, expertise and creativity, and judgment and decision making); and emotions. Additionally, students explore individual and cultural differences across domains. Students apply theories and concepts to analyze and report on the impact of cognitive psychological research on a contemporary issue of interest. Note: To register for this course, please contact the Academic Advising Team.

Learning Objectives Stated in Terms of Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Understand the major approaches used in the field of cognitive psychology

Explain the concept of cognition and how it impacts the human experience

Understand and apply the fundamentals of cognition

Use an understanding of the cognitive process to account for representations and distortions of memory

Explain higher order processes, including reasoning, problem solving, creativity, and decision making in the cognitive process

Analyze the impact of culture on cognition

Analyze the role of language acquisition, production, and comprehension in cognition

Explain how the study of cognitive psychology contributes to your being a scholar-practitioner who effects social change

Explain and apply theories of intelligence

Explain wisdom and its relationship to knowledge