Mar 28, 2024  
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PY 4300 - Cognition


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This course investigates how, and to some extent why, ordinary human minds function as they do. Minds combine information from outside the central nervous system, via inborn programs, with knowledge and beliefs learned from experience stored in memory. This knowledge is then retrieved, on the spot, from memory and used to understand the suround and, perhaps, to control habits and inborn programs; but all are organized to achieve an appropriate response. Topics include attention, perception, memory (several memory systems), conceptual structure (the web of knowledge), language, personal cognition, problem-solving, and creativity. It also includes references to findings in cognitive neuroscience to augment, clarify, and unify our understanding of the human mind. PY 4300 is a writing-intensive course designed for advanced students.

Prerequisite: PY 1000  or PY 1100  and six hours of upper-division psychology.