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Human Cognition

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Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Foundation Elective SUS1PS702 4

Semester and Year Offered: 2nd Semester

Course Coordinator and Team: Gangmumei Kamei

Email of course coordinator: gangmumei[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in

Pre-requisites: None

Aim: The main aim of the course are:

  • To understand the basic concepts of Cognitive Psychology, its roots and its subject matter of study.
  • To study and understand the concept of cognition and human behaviour.
  • To appreciate the use of various models, theories and methods in understanding cognitive processes.
  • To apply the concepts of Cognitive Psychology in everyday life.

Course Outcomes: Students are expected-

  1. To learn the conceptual framework on the study of Cognitive Psychology and the study of mind and cognitive processes.
  2. To learn and understand the link between human cognition and behaviour both in terms of covert and overt behaviour.
  3. To deeply understand and appreciate how psychological theories, models and methods help in understanding and assessing cognitive processes.
  4. To learn and apply the concepts of Cognitive Psychology in our life and in the study of other disciplines.

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

  1. Cognition and Psychology: History, domain, and concept of Cognitive Psychology, information processing model, cognitive models, parallel distributed processing model, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human cognition, neurocognitive techniques, evolutionary cognitive psychology.
  2. Theories of Cognitive Development: Piaget’s stage theory, Vigotsky’s sociocultural theory, Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.
  3. Attention: Concept of attention, bottleneck theories of attention - Broadbent’s filter model, Treisman’s attenuation model, Deutsch-Norman’s memory selection model, capacity theory, automatic processing, neurocognition of attention.
  4. Memory: Definition of memory, Atkinson and Shiffrin model, neural network models, short term memory and working memory, long term memory and its types, forgetting, memory disorders, techniques to improve memory.
  5. Intelligence and Creativity: Theories of intelligence – Gardner’s theory, Sternberg’s theory, Cattell’s theory, measurement of intelligence, role of heredity and environment in intelligence, emotional intelligence, creativity and intelligence.
  6. Language: Language and thought, Chomsky’s theory, linguistic-relativity hypothesis, bilingualism and dialect, slips of the tongue, metaphorical language, language in social context, conversational postulates, gender and language, neuropsychology of language – aphasia, autism etc.
  7. Culture and Cognition: Concept of culture, cultural psychology, cross-cultural psychology, influence of culture on human behavior and mental processes, concept of self and identity in culture, contemporary ideas on the role of culture in cognition.

Assessment Details with weights: Take home assignment (10%), Class Test (20%), Mid Term Exam (30%) and End Semester Exam (40%).

Reading List:

  • Baron-Cohen, S, (2002) The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 248-254.
  • Boroditsky, L. (2003). Linguistic Relativity. In Nadel, L. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. MacMillan Press: London, UK, pages 917-921.
  • Braisby N. & Gellatly A. (2005), ‘Foundations of Cognitive Psychology’, Cognitive Psychology, OUP, (p. 1-32)
  • Goswami U. (2008), ‘Theories of cognitive development,’ Cognitive Development: The Learning Brain, Psypress: NY.
  • Matsumoto D. & Juang L. (2017), ‘Culture and Psychology’, Cengage Learning, USA, Sixth edition, (p. 1-31).
  • Nisbett R. & Norenzayan A (2002), ‘Culture and Cognition’ D. L. Medin (Ed.) Stevens’ Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Third Edition
  • Peter Carruthers (2008). Language in Cognition. In E. Margolis, R. Samuels & S. Stich (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science. Oxford University Press.
  • Solso R.L. (2001), ‘Introduction and the Neural basis of Cognition’, Cognitive Psychology (Sixth ed.), Pearson: Delhi, (p. 1-33)

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:

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