PSYC-FPX3501 examines cognition as an information-processing system, covering established research on memory, attention, perception, and reasoning that reveals how the mind actually processes information.
Memory, attention, and perception research
PSYC-FPX3501 covers foundational cognitive research on how memory is encoded and retrieved, how attention is allocated, and how perception constructs our experience of the world.
Problem-solving and reasoning processes
The course covers cognitive research on problem-solving strategies and reasoning, including common cognitive biases that systematically affect human judgment.
Key topics in PSYC-FPX3501
- Memory encoding, storage, and retrieval processes
- Attention allocation and its limitations
- Perceptual construction of experience
- Problem-solving strategies and their effectiveness
- Common cognitive biases in reasoning and judgment
- Applying cognitive psychology to real-world learning and decision-making
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Worked example: memory as reconstruction, not recording
- Common assumption: Memory works like a video recording, accurately preserving exactly what happened
- Cognitive psychology finding: Memory is genuinely reconstructive, meaning each time a memory is recalled it can be subtly altered, incorporating new information or being influenced by current beliefs
- Lesson: Understanding memory's reconstructive nature has significant practical implications, including for evaluating the reliability of eyewitness testimony
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Frequently asked questions
If memory worked like an accurate video recording, an eyewitness's confident recollection would be a highly reliable source of truth, but cognitive research has repeatedly demonstrated that memory is genuinely reconstructive — each act of recall can subtly alter the memory itself, incorporating new information encountered afterward or being shaped by current beliefs and expectations, meaning even a confidently and vividly recalled memory can be inaccurate in ways the person recalling it has no awareness of. PSYC-FPX3501 covers this reconstructive nature of memory because it has genuinely significant real-world implications, including for how legal systems should weigh eyewitness testimony and how interviewers should avoid inadvertently introducing suggestive information that could alter a witness's memory.
Cognitive biases often stem from mental shortcuts (heuristics) that the mind uses to process information efficiently, and these shortcuts generally work reasonably well in most everyday situations but produce systematic, predictable errors in specific circumstances — importantly, these biases operate largely outside conscious awareness, meaning simply being intelligent or trying to think carefully doesn't automatically prevent them from influencing judgment. PSYC-FPX3501 covers cognitive biases because understanding that they affect virtually everyone, not just careless thinkers, is an important and often humbling insight — genuinely reducing their influence typically requires specific awareness of the particular bias and deliberate strategies to counteract it, not simply trying harder to "think clearly" in a general sense.