MWF: 11:35 - 12:25; Stirn Lecture Hall

Dr. Matthew Schulkind
Office: SCCE D213      Phone: 542-2790
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00-4:00; Friday 1:00-3:00 or by appointment
Email:  mdschulkind@amherst.edu

“[People] will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time [they]
will pick [themselves] up and continue on” ~ Winston Churchill

"Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, temperature,
volume, humidity, and other variables, the organism will do as it darn well pleases"
~ Unknown

Overview and Goals: This course will cover the basics of human cognition, a field of study that includes sensation, perception, learning and memory.  In short, cognition is the study of how we take in information about the world, make sense of it, store it for later use, and then (try to) retrieve it when we think it will come in handy.  The diversity of the information we encounter and situations in which we immerse ourselves ensures that we will have much to discuss this semester.  The course is basically going to follow the path I have just laid out.  We will start talking about sensation, how our eyes, ears, nose and mouth have developed to see, hear, smell and taste.  We will then trace the path of environmental inputs through perception (making sense of what we see) and learning and memory.  Along the way, we will talk about and participate in lots of experiments so that we can see firsthand how cognitive science has progressed. 

Attendance:  You must come to every scheduled class.  This is not a joke.  10% of your grade will be based on class participation and you cannot participate if you are not present.

Required Readings:  There is not a required text book for this course. Text books are designed to prepare you for the class by providing a broad overiew of topics that we will discuss in more depth in class. For those of you who find that kind of broad overview beneficial, I have put a good book on reserve: Cognitive Psychology in and out of the Laboratory by Kathleen M. Galotti. 
The required readings for the course are a set of online readings available via the course web page.  The readings were designed to fulfill two purposes.  Some readings describe classic experiments in the literature that from the 'backbone' of the field. Other readings describe more modern work to show directions that the field is headed.  In either the case, these readings are meant to highlight the connection between the theoretical and empirical aspects of psychology. Due dates for readings are listed in the course schedule.  You should come to class prepared to discuss the online readings on the date listed on the schedule.To help insure that happens, you will complete a Reading Response for every reading.  These responses are REQUIRED and will be factored into your course participation grade.

CogLab: CogLab is a web-based computer program that will allow you to experience a variety of experiments first-hand.  Rather than simply read about an experiment, you will have an opportunity to participate as a subject.  I will compile the data for the class and we can compare the actual results with the results predicted by various theories.  You will pick up an access code for CogLab from the textbook store.  Instructions for how to enroll in the course groups are located here. You must complete every CogLab assignment by 9:00 pm on the day prior to the class listed on the syllabus.  The Cog/Lab assignments will factor into your class participation grade, so missed/late assignments will lower your final course average.

Website: The course website provides links to just about everything you will need for class.  Most of the overheads that I use in class will be available at the site.  Downloading these overheads prior to class will help you follow the lectures.  You also will use the website to access e-reserves for the course and to complete reading responses assignments.  Links to the CogLab experiments will be posted, as will links to the guidelines for the written assignments.

Exams: There will be two exams during the semester as well as a final exam. The midterm exams will each be worth 20% of your grade; the final exam will be worth 10% of your grade. Exams will consist of a combination of short-answer and essay questions. I will give you a list of questions a week before the exam is due. You may use the week between the receipt of the questions and the exam to prepare answers to those questions.  On the day of the exam, you will be required to answer a subset of those questions; note that you will not be allowed to bring any notes to the exam. Extensions will be granted only for documented emergencies/illnesses. Missing an exam for any other reason will result in a grade of 0 for that exam.

Written Assignments:  You will be responsible for two written assignments during the semester.  The two papers will each be worth 20% of your final grade. Due dates for each assignment are included in the class schedule and on the web site.  Late papers will be penalized at the discretion of the instructor. 

Office Hours: My office hours are listed at the top of the syllabus.  If these times are not convenient, please come see me after class and we can schedule an appointment.  You can also email me to set up an appointment.  One of my favorite parts of this job is meeting with students so please stop by even if you don't have a major problem.  

Course Grades:Your final grade will be determined as follows:

Grading Philosophy: My primary goal in this class is to make each of you better readers, writers, and thinkers. Grades are a tool that I use in service of that goal. They are an evaluation of the work that has been submitted; they are not assessments of the individual who submitted the work. Nor are they an assessment of the effort used to produce an assignment; that is, working hard on an assignment or coming to office hours does not ensure a high grade.

Because Amherst College is a highly competitive academic institution, expectations are high. I will do my best to communicate my expectations for each assignment across the semester. Meeting the expectations for an assignment will not ensure a high grade; my expectations for an assignment define sufficiency rather than excellence. Excellence implies a level of novelty or sophistication that is hard to achieve.

I adopt a growth mindset when evaluating work; I encourage you to adopt a growth mindset when evaluating your grades. Falling short of a particular grade on an assignment is not an indication of failure. It represents an opportunity for reflection and growth. Part of my job is to help you reflect on your work and realize opportunities for growth, no matter what grade you have received on an assignment. That does not imply that I have a responsibility to help you achieve a particular grade. It is also worth noting that the higher up the grade scale you rise, the harder it is to achieve growth. In other words, rising from a C+ to a B+ is much easier than rising from a B+ to an A-, which is much easier than rising from an A- to an A.

Similarly, falling short of a particular grade for the semester is also not an indication of failure, for either you or me. Progress is not a steady straight line and education is decidedly inefficient. If you do not progress to a certain grade by the end of the semester, it does not mean that you did not work hard enough, nor does it mean that I have not provided you with appropriate feedback. I believe that the work that you do this semester will pay dividends for you down the road, but I cannot predict when you will cash those dividends. It may be by the end of the semester; it may be in future semesters. The benefits may not be realized until after graduation. Again, it is not my goal to get you to a certain grade by the end of the semester. My primary goal in this class is to make each of you better readers, writers, and thinkers. The grades you earn are nothing more or less than a tool that I use in service of that goal.

Pacing:  The course schedule appears on the pages below.  Because it is difficult to predict exactly how long each section/chapter will take, the day on which a given chapter will be discussed might vary by a class or two from what is presented in the schedule.  We will cover the material in the order described below and I will give you frequent updates regarding where we are and when I anticipate moving to the next topic.  I am very reluctant, however, to change the dates of scheduled exams unless there is a really good reason to do so.  During the class before each exam, I will let you know exactly what material will be covered. 

Generative AI Policy: You may not use generative AI for any purpose at any time in this class. There are two reasons for this policy. First, my values actively conflict with those of generative AI. I design assignments with the goal of helping you become better readers, writers, and thinkers. Along the path to those goals, my core values include independence, novelty, and depth of analysis. Generative AI has a different set of values. The technology seems to value efficiency (how quickly can it generate a response to a prompt) and probability (what is most likely to come next). Efficiency undermines independence and depth of analysis; probability undermines all three.

Second, research indicates that if you want a group to follow a policy or law, it is best to make that policy or law as simple to follow. I have tried more 'common sense' approaches to generative AI but was forced to abandon them because students could not easily determine what was and was not permissible; students also failed to disclose their use of generative AI tools.

Any suspected use of AI will be referred to the Student Affairs Office. Depending on the context and type of use, the penalty for violation of this policy may include a failing grade or a grade of zero on the assignment in question. Failure in the course is also a possibility, again, depending on the nature of the offense. Given the shifting nature of the AI space, I cannot provide a list of all possible programs and/or activities that might be considered a violation of this policy but given that the College has purchased and distributed Grammarly to the student body, I do want to comment on the use of this product. You are allowed to use the version of Grammarly covered by the College's license, but you may not use GrammarlyGo (which is not included in the College's license) for any work submitted for this class.

Accomodations: If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to register with Accessibility Services for coordination of your academic accommodations. You can reach them via email at accessibility@amherst.edu, or via phone at 413-542-2337. Once you have your accommodations in place, I will be glad to meet with you privately during my office hours or at another agreed upon time to discuss the best implementation of your accommodations.

Audio/Video Recording: You may not record ANY part of this course in any way for any purpose without written consent of the professor.  Recording any part of this course without the consent of the professor is a violation of Massachusetts law.