BCS 183: Syllabus

Fall 2011

Time & Location

Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:00 - 3:15 PM, Hoyt Auditorium

Personnel

Dr. Jessica Cantlon (Instructor)
Office: Meliora 319
E-mail:
Office Hours: by appointment

Kelly Hughes (Instructor)
Office: TBA
E-mail:
Office Hours: TBA

Cory Bonn (TA)
Office: Meliora 323G (cubicles)
Email:
Office hours: Tuesdays, 2-3 pm

About the Course

With intricate cultures, impressive technology, and layered social lives, humans seem to stand apart from their animal kin. However, humans and non-human animals share many aspects of their mental lives, and, upon closer inspection, some animals even reveal cognitive abilities far beyond the capacities of humans. Through comparing and contrasting human and non-human cognition, we can learn about human psychological uniqueness and its evolutionary origins, and fundamental properties of cognitive processes in general. The study of animal minds has long and fruitful history for the fields of psychology and cognition.

This course uses this perspective to introduce fundamental domains of inquiry within the field of cognitive science. This includes attention, perception, memory, and reasoning about the physical and social world. This course is introductory level and should be accessible to anyone; there are no prerequisites. By the end of this course, students will:

possess a foundational knowledge of key concepts in cognitive science
be able to articulate, with examples, what evolution is and how we can understand human and animal minds as a product of this process
develop an appreciation for the scientific process and how knowledge evolves over time
be exposed to cognitive experimental designs and be able to relate how researchers have deduced new information from existing experiments
compare and contrast the many conclusions researchers have come to regarding the level of complexity of animal cognition

Course Materials

Text: Animal Cognition: The Mental Lives of Animals. Clive D.L. Wynne. 2002. Palgrave MacMillian

Clicker Technology: iclicker, bought at the university bookstore or online outlets like Amazon.com. "Clickers", or personal responding devices, are small electronic gadgets that allow each student to respond to questions posed during class time, with the results immediately reported to the instructor who possesses the responder. Please bring your clicker to every class. In some cases these will be used to conduct quizzes, in others we will use them to demonstrate small in-class experiments, and in others we will use them to gain students' feedback about the quality of the course. There are many types of clickers on the market, but you must choose the iclicker.

Other Readings: All other readings indicated on the syllabus will be provided on the class blackboard site.

Grading and Course Components

Attendance and Participation:

Required.
This will be monitored through clicker session participation. Most days, but not everyday, will contain clicker questions. Most clicker sessions will comprise of short quizzes, but others will be interactive questions to illustrate concepts, and we also use this forum to monitor the quality of the course. There will be between 2 to 5 questions for each clicker session and they will be in simple format (T/F, multiple choice, etc.).
You can miss 2 clicker sessions with no cost during the semester.
All clicker sessions will comprise 20% of your grade:
Clicker sessions that are NOT quizzes will comprise 5% of your grade.
Quiz clicker sessions will comprise 15% of your final grade.
Lectures will be posted to the blackboard system, however, slides serve to aid lecture and are not a replacement for them.

Readings:

Reading is due the day it is indicated on the syllabus. For example, if the syllabus cites Wynne Ch 5 on Oct 3rd, this means you should have competed this reading before this date.

Quizzes:

12 quizzes, together equaling 15% of your grade (see above under participation).
All quizzes will be "pop" quizzes, occurring on or after Sept 12th. Questions will be taken direction from the most recently assigned reading or from the day's lecture. If you keep up with the reading assignments you should have no trouble acing the quizzes. These quizzes with be composed of 3 to 5 questions in a simple format (T/F, multiple choice, etc.).

Exams:

4 exams, each worth 20% of your grade, non-cumulative
Mostly simple format (T/F, multiple choice, etc.), with some short written answers

Study Group

Learning Assistance Services (LAS) will hold a study group for BCS 183. The study group leader, time, and location, will be announced at the LAS website: (http://www.rochester.edu/College/las/). This is highly recommended, especially for students experiencing difficulties with the course.

Academic Honesty

We expect that all the work which you claim is your own. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty are not accepted at the University of Rochester or in the "real world". However, we recognize that in some situations the answer to what academic honesty means may not be obvious; if you have questions about a particular behavior, ask the instructors or TA, or consult the University of Rochester page on academic honesty at http://www.rochester.edu/college/honesty/index

BCS Major and Research Opportunities

Learn more Brain and Cognitive Science through the undergraduate programs coordinator for BCS: )

The department offers research opportunities in neuroscience and cognitive science, and B.A. and B.S. degrees. To understand what sorts of career opportunities you would have with such a degree, visit: http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/undergrad/lifeafterbcs.html

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