APU PSYC303 2018 November All Weeks Forums Latest

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 1 Forum

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

Part I:

Introduce yourself to the class.

Who are you? Where are you from and currently residing or stationed?

What are your current and/or future educational aspirations and goals?

What are your learning goals for this course?

What are your interests outside of college?

Part II:

What is your understanding of cognitive psychology? How does cognition play into one's awareness, recollection, understanding, communication, and even learning? How does one's cognition play a key role in one's identity?

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 2 Forum

Working Memory Capacity

As we move into Week 2 and begin to dig deeper into cognition and learning, we see there are many important topics to discuss this week and in the weeks to follow! An intriguing topic that affects us all is that of memory. Working memory, which is often conflated with short-term memory (STM) is the topic of our forum this week. Our course materials inform us of the limited capacity of the working memory and the need to essentially flip the data processed in immediately, transferring it into a meaningful information we can use to address the issues presented.

Let’s take a moment to review a great Ted Talks video with speaker Peter Doolittle (2013), who discusses the concept of working memory and how it influences our day to day activities.

https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_memory_makes_sense_of_the_world

The Working Memory tests linked below provide us with an excellent opportunity to test our working memory capacity!

https://www.memorylosstest.com/free-working-memory-tests-online/

http://opencoglab.org/memtest1/

https://youtu.be/l6TrsYI1Grk

For this week’s Forumforum, complete the Working Memory Capacity Demo provided in the link.

Complete at the working memory tests on each site and view/summarize your results for each.

Share your results with the group in your initial forum post.

Discuss how you performed on each test, noting whether your working memory capacity was significantly greater on one test over the others.

Note why this may have been; did the course materials offer support to suggest an explanation for your results?

Finally, share your greatest take away from the activity as it relates to your working memory capacity.

References

Doolittle, P. (2013, June). Peter Doolittle: How your “working memory” makes sense of the world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_memory_makes_sense_of_the_world    

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 3 Forum

Motivation and Emotion

In our day-to-day experiences, cognition and motivation are two, intertwined processes that guide our behavior and even the planning of future behavior. As an inherent process, motivation serves to direct our needs-driven behaviors, at the most basic level, ensuring survival; at more sophisticated, complex levels, motivation directs our goals-driven behaviors, working to satisfy those higher-order needs we hold. Various factors (e.g. other individuals, situations, awareness, etc.) may influence the just how motivated one becomes in each situation. Similarly, emotional regulation plays an important role in directing goal related behavior; identifying the effects of emotional leverage is important in motivationally directed behavior.

For this week’s forum, reflect on your personal experiences, thinking about the influence of motivation and emotion in your own life.

Discuss the theory of motivation you see as most applicable to your life and behaviors, sharing how you become and remain motivated to reach your goals. 

Based on your reflection, how has emotion affected your motivation-driven behaviors?

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 4 Forum

Evolutional Perspectives on Cognition

Our behaviors are affected by many factors, including the way in which we receive and process information. The knowledge, awareness, and perceptual processes we have can all be influenced by both external and internal occurrences. Albert Ellis, in his Forumof Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, provides us with food for thought in understanding how our internal discussions, or self-talk, serve as a buffer in behavioral change at the emotional level. From an evolutionary perspective, behavior may develop from knowledge, awareness, perception, labeling, and retention, among other forces.

After reviewing the course materials for the week, share your thoughts on how the Theory of Evolution helps one develop and change over time.

In addition, discuss how you identify changes you have seen in your development, noting the specific theory that is most closely related to your developmental changes.

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 5 Forum

Observational Learning

Below is a link to Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment, which is addressed in our course materials for the week. The experiment reminds us of the foundational makeup of social learning theory and the role observational learning may have in shaping behaviors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqNaLerMNOE

For your initial post this week, think about the modeling steps in observational learning.

Discuss the ways in which prosocial and antisocial learning affect one’s observational learning.

Think about how children and adults are influenced by behaviors and how they mimic actions of others.

What are a few suggestions one can offer to help others be more cautious of their behaviors and how those behaviors can influence others in the role of observer?

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 6 Forum

Expressing Creativity

his week, in our course materials, we are challenged to consider aspects of intelligence and creativity. Creativity, we learn, is an important skill applied in solving novel problems and creating unique goods, products, services, or ideas.

Elizabeth Kirk (2016) explores the role of gesturing in encouraging creative thought in young children. The study conducted revealed gesturing increased the number of novel ideas generated by children. This gives us much to consider as we look at what drives our creativity!

Considering the course materials for the week, think about the situations in which your creativity is at its highest. In what format is your creativity best expressed?

If you were asked to define and develop a measure appropriate for your ideal display of creativity, how would the definitions and instruments of measures be described?

ReferencesKirk, E. (2016, December 14). Gesturing can boost children’s creative thinking. Retrieved from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/gesturing-can-boost-childrens-creative-thinking.html

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 7 Forum

Problem-Solving, Reasoning, and Decision-Making

In our course materials this week, we were introduced to some very useful information about the processes in which we engage to solve problems, reason, and make important (and not so important) decisions. Several methods and strategies were explained in our reading and now we will take the time to put some of the information to use!

Click the link below to get to the game for this Forumforum; you will be relatively familiar with it, some more than others.

http://www.y8.com/games/deal_or_no_deal

Rules to the game are available on the website for those needing additional instructions. While playing the game, be sure to keep note of your steps, the processes in which you are engaging throughout the game, and why.

After completing the game, it should only take about 5 to 7 minutes to play, discuss your processes throughout the selection and decision-making steps of the game.

Discuss the influence of reasoning, risk-taking, framing, emotions, mental models, and other processes and factors in the decision-making process on your final decision to make a deal or not make a deal.

Identify and explain the problem-solving and decision-making models you feel you used while navigating the game and how these may have been improved upon reflection of the activity.

 

PSYC303 Learning and Cognition

Week 8 Forum

Take-Aways

This week's forum is a space for reflection on learning opportunities as we wrap up our course.

First: Share three "take-away" elements of the course that added to your understanding of cognitive psychology and that you believe will serve you well in the future in both your personal and professional lives and explain why.

Second: Describe the most meaningful three experiences you had while participating in the course discussions with your classmates, focusing not on the forum topics but rather on what was meaningful about building knowledge via dialogs with your fellow learners.

Third: Complete the sentence below. In filling in the blanks, think about information that you learned in completion of the course rather than a preformed opinion in place at the time we started 8 weeks ago and elaborate in the space following the word "because" about why you picked what you did (just one pick; no hedging with multiple ideas).

If I could pick just one thing that the world would be well served to better understand about cognitive psychology, it would be ________________. I chose this because ________________.

Please don’t breeze through this forum. It is graded as much for substance, insight and careful thought as all the previous discussions were.

Note: Please make sure your responses are scholarly and are supported by connections to readings and concepts from the literature. Citations are not required for Forumforums.