________________________________________________________________
Cognitive Science Q270, section 15391
Experiments and Models in Cognition
Fall 2006 Tu, Th 9:30-10:45, Room 113 Psychology Bldg.
Cognitive Science Q270, section 15392
Laboratory Section
Fall Ô06 Wed 9:05-9:55, Lindley Hall 030
Course web site: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/courses/allcourses.html
Oncourse site:
Laboratory web site:
http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/
Instructor: Dr. Robert
Goldstone
Office:
338 Psychology Bldg. Email:
rgoldsto@indiana.edu
Office
hours: Email to arrange Phone:
855-4853
Teaching Assistant: Drew
Hendrickson
Office:
290 Psychology Email:
athendri@indiana.edu
Office
hours: Mondays 3:00-4:00 Phone:
855-9211
________________________________________________________________
Readings
The
course readings can be obtained on-line free of charge from Indiana
UniversityÕs E-reserve system. The
web site is http://ereserves.indiana.edu/eres/courseindex.aspx?page=search
(search for Q270 as the course number) and the password that you will need is
ÒplaceboÓ.
Breakdown of grade:
SPSS
assignment 1: 7%
SPSS
assignment 2: 7%
SPSS
assignment 3: 8%
Lab
1 Pattern recognition class project: 15%
Lab
2 Apparent motion experiment & computational simulation: 11%
Lab
3 Word perception computational simulation: 11%
Lab
4 Unconscious attitudes: 9%
Lab
5: Collective Behavior: 9%
Final
project and talk: 23%
Course Structure
This course is designed to provide an intensive
introduction to laboratory methods in cognitive science. The formal skills emphasized by this
course are: experimental design, statistical analysis, computational modeling
of human behavior, and scientific writing. The content areas covered in the course are: perception,
pattern recognition, consciousness, concept learning, neural networks, and
mathematical psychology. The
course is grounded in a Òlearning by doing philosophy.Ó There will be very few general
lectures. The majority of our time
will be spent discussing research issues as they relate to particular
experiments. You will learn about
experimental control, statistical analysis, research writing, and analysis
techniques, but you will learn about these topics while investigating real
issues in cognitive science.
Rather than try to give a broad overview of all of the major areas in
cognitive science, I have chosen to select a few specific research areas that
are within the mainstream of cognitive science. Although you will not get a general survey of cognitive
science, you will acquire a depth of understanding about some areas.
Quite
a bit of work is expected of students in this course. As you will see from the syllabus, there are many reading
assignments, and many required written assignments. It is vital that you keep up with the class work (late
assignments will be accepted, but you lose one half of a letter grade for every
late day).
Policies.
Labs. Your
principle activity in this class will be to conduct experiments in cognitive
psychology, to develop computational models to compare with human performance,
and prepare written reports of the experiment and model outcomes. The goal of this class is to give you
hands-on experience with what it is like to conduct and model actual
experiments. Your labs will be evaluated on the following criteria:
completeness of introduction, thoroughness and accuracy of procedure and result
sections, appropriateness of discussion, interest and creativity,
grammaticality and style of report, and general coherency and
comprehensibility. There will also
be associated worksheets or assignments associated with the lab report.
Independent
Final Project. The class will culminate in each
studentsÕ preparation of an individual project. You will do background reading on a topic in cognitive
science that is amenable to experimentation. You will design an experiment, conduct the experiment,
analyze the results, and prepare a written report. The project should either involve experimenting on human
subjects or the formal modeling of human behavior. The research question for the individual project must be
approved by the professor.
Creativity and originality are encouraged. Students are discouraged from pursuing cliche, non-original,
or atheoretic projects (e.g. effects of music, or caffeine, on memory). The research should directly address theories
in cognitive science. To get a
feel for what mainstream cognitive science research involves, look through
articles in the following journals: Cognitive Science, Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, Cognitive
Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and
Performance, Memory & Cognition, Psychological Review, Journal
of Memory and Language, and Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. The subjects for your independent study
should be friends, or other students in the class. You can use the lab software for running your independent
project, but you should not feel constrained by these labs. You do not have to use computers for
running your subjects.
Talk
on Independent Project. After the independent project has been
completed, students will prepare a 15 minute presentation on their topic. Students should prepare overhead slides
to describe their ideas, methods, results, and conclusion. In general, you should try to make your
talk a genuine learning experience for your peers. Your talk should probably follow the same rough organization
as your final written report.
Computer
use. Research in cognitive science has been revolutionized by
computer technology. Computers are
now involved in every facet of research (running subjects, analyzing the
results, displaying the results, and writing the article). You will need to learn how to use
several programs: SPSS, Microsoft Word, and Generic Lab. Most of these programs will run on
either Windows-based machines or Macintosh computers, although the class and
labs will focus on Macintosh computers.
Although we will spend some class time demonstrating these programs, it
will also be necessary for you to spend time outside of class learning how to
use these programs. You will have to modify experiments in order to create
original studies or to address assigned questions.
Disclaimer. This
syllabus is not definitive.
Course policies are subject
to change at any time. You will be
notified of any changes.
Plagiarism and Cheating.
According to the university's bylaws: "It is the responsibility of
the student not only to abstain from cheating but, in addition, to avoid the
appearance of cheating and to guard against making it possible for others to
cheat." Cheating will be
dealt with harshly.
Class schedule
|
Date |
Topic |
Assignments |
|
Tu 8/29 |
Introduction, expectations,
policies, overview |
|
|
We 8/30 |
LAB: Introduction to computer resources (Web access, Labs, SPSS) |
|
|
Th 8/31 |
Experimental Methods for
Cognitive Science Mitchell, M., & Jolley, J. (1992). Research design explained. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart, and
Winston. (pp. 15-32). (File called Jolley on e-reserves) |
|
|
Tu 9/5 |
Experimental Methods for Cognitive Science McBurney, D. H. (1994). Research Methods. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. (pp. 141-167) http://www.indiana.edu/~statmath/stat/spss/mac/index.html |
|
|
We 9/6 |
LAB: Statistics I. Data input/output, summary tables, charting |
|
|
Th 9/7 |
Statistics - T-tests Myers, A. (1987). Experimental Psychology. Monteray, CA: Brooks/Cole. (pp. 242-293, Chapters 12 & 13). Read tutorial handout on SPSS |
|
|
Tu 9/12 |
Statistics - ANOVA and regression Hayes, W. L. (1981). Statistics.
New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. (pp. 444-471, Chapter 13) |
|
|
We 9/13 |
LAB: Statistics 2. T-tests, ANOVA, regression |
SPSS assignment 1 due |
|
Th 9/14 |
Statistics –Factorial
ANOVAs |
|
|
Tu 9/19 |
Statistics – Repeated
measure ANOVAs |
|
|
We 9/20 |
LAB: Statistics 3. Repeated measures ANOVAs |
SPSS assignment 2 due |
|
Th 9/21 |
Lab 1: Pattern recognition
(Outlining the problem) * Treisman, A. M., &
Gelade, G. (1980). A
feature-integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 97-136. |
|
|
Tu 9/26 |
Lab 1: Feature search (Lab
software and class project) Wang, Q., Cavanagh, P.,
& Green, M. (1994).
Familiarity and pop-out in visual search. Perception & Psychophysics, 56, 495-500. |
|
|
We 9/27 |
LAB: Run yourself in whole
class project |
SPSS assignment 3 due |
|
Th 9/28 |
Lab 1: Feature search
(analysis, and variations) |
|
|
Tu 10/3 |
Writing up Experiments and More Methods McBurney, D. H. (1994). Research Methods. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. [True experiments, Part 1:
Single-factor methods] |
|
|
We 10/4 |
LAB: Analysis of Feature search data |
|
|
Th 10/5 |
Lab 2: Apparent motion - psychological phenomena * Palmer, S. E. (1999)Vision science:
From Photons to Phenomenology. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books/MIT
Press. (Chapter 10 –
Motion Perception) (Available at http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/courses/palmer10.pdf
) |
|
|
Tu 10/10 |
Lab 2: Computational models of apparent motion Dawson, M. R. (1991). The how and why of what went where in apparent motion: Modeling
solutions to the motion correspondence problem. Psychological Review, 98, 569-603. (Available at http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/courses/dawson.pdf
) |
|
|
We 10/11 |
LAB: Answer apparent motion worksheet Read Apparent Motion Lab descriptions |
Lab 1 due |
|
Th 10/12 |
Lab 3: Word perception * Wheeler, D. D. (1970).
Processes in word recognition.
Cognitive Psychology, 1, 59-85. |
|
|
Tu 10/17 |
Lab 3: The word superiority effect and Using
"Generic Psychology Laboratory" |
|
|
We 10/18 |
LAB: Word superiority effect, class project |
Lab 2 due |
|
Th 10/19 |
Lab 3: Computational models of word perception * McClelland, J. L., & Rumelhart, D. E.
(1981). An interactive
activation model of context effects in letter perception: Part I. An account of basic findings. Psychological Review, 88,
375-407. |
|
|
Tu 10/24 |
Lab 4: Conscious and unconscious processes *Jacoby, L. L., & Kelley, C. M. (1992). A process-dissociation framework for
investigating unconscious influences: Freudian slips, projective tests,
subliminal perception, and signal detection theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1,
174-179. |
|
|
We 10/25 |
LAB 3: Interactive activation models |
|
|
Th 10/26 |
Guest Lecture on Consciousness |
|
|
Tu 10/31 |
Lab 4: Unconscious attitudes * Banks, W. B., & Farber, I. (2003). Consciousness. In A. F. Healy & R. W. Proctor
(Eds.) Handbook of Psychology.
New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. (pp. 3-31). |
|
|
We 11/1 |
LAB 4: Implicit attitudes
test Class project using Generic
Psychology Laboratory |
Lab 3 due |
|
Th 11/2 |
Lab 5: Social Networks *Barabasi, A-L., Albert, R. (1999). Emergence of scaling in random
networks. Science, 286, 509-512 (available at: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/papers/barabasi&albert.pdf) *Watts D. J. and Strogatz S. H. Collective dynamics
of 'small-world' networks. Nature 393, 440-442 (1998). (available at: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/papers/watts&strogatz.pdf) |
|
|
Tu 11/7 |
Lab 5: Collective Behavior * Goldstone, R. L., & Janssen, M. A.
(2005). Computational models of
collective behavior. Trends
in Cognitive Science, 9, 424-430. (available at: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/AgentsTICS.pdf) Goldstone, R. L., & Roberts, M. E. (2006).
Self-organized trail systems in groups of humans. Complexity, 11,
43-50. (available at: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/complexity.pdf) (our labÕs papers are available at http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/papers.html) |
|
|
We 11/8 |
LAB 5: Collective Behavior: coordination,
competition, cooperation, and information diffusion |
Lab 4 due |
|
Th 11/9 |
Lab 5: Complex Systems Models * Netlogo Web UserÕs Manual (http:// http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/
) |
|
|
Tu 11/14 |
Lab 5: Computational Models of Social Behavior Macy, M. W., & Willer, R. (2002). From factors
to actors: Computational sociology and agent-based modeling. Annual Review
of Sociology, 28, 143-166. (available at: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/papers/macysoc.pdf |
|
|
We 11/15 |
LAB 5: Netlogo Models of Collective Behavior |
|
|
Th 11/16 |
Loose ends: Final project descriptions, statistics,
models |
|
|
Tu 11/21 |
|
|
|
We 11/22 |
Thanksgiving |
|
|
Th 11/23 |
Thanksgiving |
|
|
Tu 11/28 |
Work on Final Project (office visits) |
|
|
We 11/29 |
Work on Final Project (office visits) |
Lab 5 due |
|
Th 11/30 |
Work on Final Project (office visits) |
|
|
Tu 12/6 |
Presentations |
|
|
We 12/7 |
Presentations |
|
|
Th 12/8 |
Presentations |
Final papers due
December 14, 5:00 |
Particularly important
readings are indicated by asterisks.