1. PS200: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Unit1: Introduction
Prof. Abby Ngwako, M.Ed.

2. Objectives Introductions Highlights of course expectations & policies
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Brain Structures
Senses
Perception
Cognitive Processes
Reminders for Unit 1 Assignments

3. Introductions: A little bit about me
Born and raised in Chicago
Teaching for Kaplan for about 4 years
Background in Communication, Political Science and Educational Psychology
Worked in Special Education, both as an instructor and School Psychologist
I have posted a little about myself already under the “Introduce” link in your unit 1 but a little bit about myself. I am currently in Chicago, IL. I have been teaching with Kaplan for about 4 years now and do enjoy it very much. I get to meet so many different students from around the world and feel that I learn more each session that I teach.
Psychology is such an interesting subject there is always new research being done because humans are such complex beings. I think my educational background and experience will help bring a new perspective to the topics we discuss and hopefully make it easier for you to understand them. Working with Special Education and other Human Service professionals has really given me an honest look at our differences but also how those differences can make us all unique individuals.
I look forward to working with you all this session and learning more about how we develop our personalities and essentially “who we are”. 
Contact Information:
AIM login: angwako (available by appointment)

4. Introductions: Let’s get to know each other…
You will have a chance to introduce yourself in more detail under the “Introductions” link located in Unit 1 with your class, but let’s do some brief introductions…
If everyone can tell me…
Where you are from?
What interests you about cognitive psychology?
Why did you choose to go into the field of Psychology?

5. Flex seminars PS200-01 Prof. Abby Ngwako Tuesday 8PM ET 2. PS200-03
Prof. Kathryn Hartnett
Monday 9PM ET
3. PS200-04
Prof. Erin Hunt-Carter
Wednesday 8PM ET
4. PS200-16
Prof. Lani Gilbert
Thursday 7PM ET
4 seminars offered weekly
Can choose which seminar you want to attend
All seminars are recorded so can review at any time
Attendance is graded for this class, but you only have to attend 1 seminar or do option 2 for credit
Further info on flex seminars included in “Flexible Seminar Student User Guide” located in Doc Sharing

6. Late Policy
I do understand life happens but it is also important to follow due dates since they are set for a reason. However if something comes up please let me know and I will work with you the best I can. Depending on the extenuating circumstance late penalties may apply.
Late projects 1 letter grade/week that it is late (Units 1-5 not accepted more than 3 wks late and Units 6-8 late projects not accepted after Unit 8)
Late Discussion boards 1 letter grade/week that it is late (max. 3 weeks) Units 1-4 will not be accepted after Midnight on Tuesday of Unit 5 and Units 5-8 will not be accepted after Midnight on Tuesday of Unit 9
Late Seminar Option points /week late (max. 2 pts.)
Late postings for units will not be accepted after midnight Tuesday of Unit 5. Postings for units will not be accepted after midnight Tuesday of unit 9.
Please me once you have submitted any late assignments. The should include what type of task you submitted late for which unit. (i.e. Discussion for Unit 1)

7. Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is an offense that is taken seriously at Kaplan. If it is determined that you are plagiarizing it can not only earn a 0 for the assignment, fail the class or even permanent dismissal from the University.
Students are expected to be the sole authors of their work. Use of another person’s work or ideas must be accompanied by specific citations and references (see details in syllabus)
APA is required for this course, so please make sure to cite your sources in correct format (if you need help check out the resources on APA available in KU Writing Center)
Kaplan University subscribes to a third-party plagiarism detection service, and reserves the right to check all student work to verify that it meets the guidelines of this policy.

8. Grade Breakdown Assessments Number Points each Total Points Seminars 95 45
Discussions 50
450
Projects 1
175
Exam
150
Final Project
180
1000 Points

9. Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
What is cognition?
Why would we need to study cognitive processes?
Cognition refers to creation of thought, awareness of thought, being able to reason and use our judgment. Whether consciously or unconsciously these processes drive our daily actions.
Psychologists study cognitive processes in order to better understand the mysteries of the mind, perception, memories, emotion and why we think the way we do.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to human cognition and our ways of understanding the world and each other. This course will concentrate on the classic topics in adult cognition: memory; attention; decision-making; problem-solving; and critical thinking. The course also will examine the cognitive processes underlying perception, mental imagery, and short- and long-term memory.
1. Explain the basic cognitive processes of perception, attention, and memory
2. Describe different thought processes
3. Examine widely-held beliefs about memory
4. Apply knowledge of cognitive processes to real-world situations

10. Brain structures (Caswell, 2007)
So let’s look at the brain since this is where cognition occurs. Here are the major lobes of the brain.
What do the frontal lobes do?
The frontal lobes, at the front of each hemisphere behind the forehead, are responsible for cognitive thought processes (knowing, thinking, learning and judging). They also regulate voluntary movements. The prefrontal areas of these lobes are involved with intelligence and personality.
What do the parietal lobes do?
The parietal lobes, located above the occipital lobes, are mainly associated with our sense of touch and balance and are important in interpreting sensory information from various parts of the body, and in the manipulation of objects.
What do the temporal lobes do?
The temporal lobes, located on the skull side of each hemisphere (near the ears), deal with hearing.
What do the occipital lobes do?
The occipital lobes are pyramid-shaped structures located at the back of the brain that receive and analyze visual information.
Where is the Cerebellum?
The cerebellum is a cauliflower-shaped structure, located just above the brain stem, beneath the occipital lobes at the base of the skull.
What does the Cerebellum do?
Regulates muscle tone, coordinates movement and helps maintain posture and balance. It does not initiate movements, but is responsible for their smooth and balanced execution, for maintaining muscle tension and making movements work together in complex action such as walking. 

11. How does the Brain know what to do?
Involves 5 senses
Information from all senses are received by thalamus (except for sense of smell) and sent to cerebral cortex (analyze data like a main processing unit of computer)
Sensory Adaptation
Reflection:
Why is it important for your senses to work properly?
What happens when you lose one or more senses?
Involves 5 senses
1. Sight 2. Smell 3. Touch 4. Taste 5. Hearing
Information from all senses are received by thalamus (except for sense of smell) and sent to cerebral cortex (analyze data like a main processing unit of computer)
Sensory Adaptation-change in response by senses based on surrounding stimulations, brain gets used to the stimulation no longer responds to it (i.e. adapting to cold water in pool)
Reflection:
Why is it important for your senses to work properly?
Without the use of your senses your brain can not make sense of the sensations and can affect your cognition.
i.e. not being able to see the board (vision) can affect learning
What happens when you lose one or more senses?
One sense could take over to compensate for the lost sense
i.e. sense of smell may become stronger to adapt to the loss of sight

12. What is perception? Perception-Making sense of information from senses
Relate past knowledge & past experiences to choose what action you take
Can be affected by attention, environment, emotions
What examples can you think of where perceptions affect how we learn?
My example would be…Jumping off a 50 ft. pole “blindfolded”
Sense of vision affected, perception of height no longer there, easier to jump off the pole even if scared of heights
Lesson learned-fear is within how you perceive situation

13. Consider the following examples…
Radio station has a lot of static, but you can still understand song despite static .Why is this the case?
1. Vision-can see candle flame from 30 miles away (dark & clear night)
2. Hearing-can hear ticking clock 20ft. away (quiet conditions)
3. Smell- can smell1 drop perfume diffused in 3 rooms
4. Taste- can taste 1 tsp. Sugar in 2 gallons of water
5. Touch-can feel wing of fly falling on cheek from 1cm
(Santrock, 2004, p.127) Why is this the case?
We can hear the song despite the static because we are concentrating and focusing our attention to hear the song.
Without the distractions of environment, noise and motivations we are able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch the examples listed above. How we sense the different aspects of environment, affects how we make sense of it. Depending on senses and distractions it can start to distort how we perceive it. How we sense and perceive our environment will affect how we think and behave. By developing patterns from prior knowledge and experiences we are able to guide our behavior through our perceptions.
All humans have something called, Absolute Threshold, minimum amount of energy a person can detect (can detect 50% of the time). Sometimes even below the absolute threshold can be detectable. Subliminal Perception- Able to recognize stimuli fainter than conscience level. Although not proven to a certainty some researchers would say that subliminal perception does influence our behavior.

14. How much control do we have over our cognition
How much control do we have over our cognition? 1----2– –  5 mostly unconscious mostly conscious
Perception
Working Memory
Problem Solving
Attention
Looking at the different cognitive processes can we rate how much of them are unconscious vs. conscious thought processes? You may realize that many cognitive processes occur outside of our conscious awareness.
Perception-How we make sense of information from our senses. Can we sometimes misperceive the information from our senses?
Attention- the ability for us to focus on incoming information. Can we get distracted at times? Can our attention get diverted by something else?
Working Memory- composed of short term memory and emotion. Controls the amount of information to Long Term memory.
Long Term Memory-Sometimes we consciously repeat information. If in our long term we are able to apply that information.
Problem Solving-does require conscious efforts to think through to come to a logical and reasonable solution.
Decision Making-have to weigh out the outcomes to arrive to the right decision. Involves attention, memory and knowledge retrieval.
Language-knowledge and use of it allows us to communicate. Allows us to use cognitive processes. Once the language is understood almost automatic use of it.
Long-Term Memory
Language
Decision Making

15. Reminders for Unit 1 Assignments
Please take some time to post your introduction on the Discussion Board (under “Introductions” in Unit 1). 
Please respond to both Unit 1 Discussions
The Basics of Thinking
The Curious Case of Phineas Gage
Respond to at least 2 peers to advance and further the discussion.
Seminar Option 2 if you did not attend
any of the seminars live

16. References
Caswell, J. (2007). A Tour of the Brain: A user- friendly guide to the components of the Human Brain and how they function. Stroke Connection, July/August,
Kaplan University. (2008). Chapter One Introduction To Cognition.
Robinson-Riegler, G. & Robinson-Riegler, B. (2008). Cognitive Psychology: Applying the Science of the Mind, Second Edition. Boston: Pearson Education.
Santrock, J. (2004). Psychology Essentials (Updated 2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Co.