Cognition and Consciousness

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Describe major theories and empirical findings on perception, attention, and memory, and explain their relationship to conscious awareness
• Integrate psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical perspectives to explain the conscious control of thought, emotion, and behavior
• Critically evaluate primary research on cognition and consciousness and communicate that evaluation through discussion and presentation
• Apply theories of cognition and consciousness to explain everyday experiences of attention, memory, and self-awareness

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Reaction papers	25%
Presentations	15%
Exams	60%

*Note: grades are rounded to the nearest .5

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
93-100	A
90-92	A-
87-89	B+
83-86	B
80-82	B-
77-79	C+
73-76	C
70-72	C-
67-69	D+
63-66	D
60-62	D-
59 or below	F

Attendance/Participation:

Class attendance is mandatory. Students are permitted 3 unexcused absences without penalty. For each additional absence, final grades will be reduced by 1 level (i.e., if you earned a B and had 4 unexcused absences, your final grade would be a B-).

Arriving late or leaving early is disruptive to the class—coming late or leaving early three times is equivalent to one absence.

Students are expected to be present for the full class period, so please plan to be in the classroom a few minutes early and refrain from packing up your things until I have dismissed the class.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

• Blackmore, S. & Troscianko, E. T. (2024). Consciousness: An introduction (4th ed.) New York, NY: Routledge.
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