BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR S DRIVE FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION FOR THIS CLASS

Instructor:  Ira Hyman, Ph.D.
Office:  MH 342
Phone:  650-3519
email:   hyman@cc.wwu.edu
Web Page: www.ac.wwu.edu/~hyman/
Office Hours: 
        Tuesday 11:00 – 12:00
         Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00
         Thursday 11:00 – 12:00
          Other times by appointment.
 
Text:
Baddeley, A. D.  (1999).  Essentials of Human memory.  East Sussex, UK:  Psychology Press.
 In most weeks, readings of original research will be made available.

The Course:
     This course will survey memory theories, research, and applications. In the early part of the course, we will consider various perspectives on human memory and the research generated by each approach.  We will evaluate all approaches in terms of explanatory power, usefulness for promoting research, and applicability.  In the majority of the course, we will turn to various problems in human memory.

Course Requirements:

Lab Reports
     You will be expected to do 3 lab reports.  On most Fridays, we will perform a lab in human memory presenting an interesting problem.  In writing your lab report, please follow APA style.  The lab report will include a title page, method section, results section, discussion section, and references.  Your methods and results will be based on the class lab and data.  In your discussion, you will describe why you think the phenomena may be important and offer an explanation of the phenomena.  Papers will be evaluated based on completeness of your report, clarity and creativity of your explanation, whether the explanation could work, and writing quality.  Readings for the week will be related to the lab report and should be used when writing.  Papers will be due at the start of class one week after the lab is performed.
    Since there will be multiple opportunities, I will not accept late papers.  In addition, I do not encourage procrastination.  Thus, at least one lab report from the first 3 weeks of lab and two lab reports based on labs performed in the first 7 weeks.  Your first lab report is worth 10% whereas the second and third are worth 20% your grade.

Midterm Exam
     We will have an objective midterm exam testing your understanding on the basic concepts concerning human memory.  The midterm is 20% of your grade.

Final Exam
     In the last week of class, I will hand out a take home exam.  The exam will be due at the start of the scheduled final exam time.  There will be several possible questions and you will choose some to answer.  Each question will require you to use research evidence to argue for or against a theoretical position.  The final exam is 30% of your grade.
 

Notes
 1.  All work is due at the beginning of class.  Since there are multiple opportunities for lab reports, I will not take papers late.
 2.  Plagiarism will result in a zero on the task.  Papers are expected to be your own work.  Studying together is acceptable and advised.  Having someone proofread your papers is also a good idea.
 3.  I intend for the text and the class sessions to be complementary.