Undergraduate Course: Working Memory (PSYL10117)

Course Outline
School	School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate)	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	Working memory refers to the cluster of processes engaged while thinking: retrieving information already learned, attending to information in the environment, and using this information in the service of some goal. Theories of working memory describing how these functions relate to each other will be covered, drawing upon empirical evidence from cognitive experiments, typical and abnormal neural functioning, and development from childhood to adulthood.
Course description	This course provides in-depth consideration of working memory, including basic research and theories.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites	Students MUST have passed: Psychology Methodology 1 (PSYL10034) AND Psychology Methodology 2 (PSYL10035)	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	Visiting students should have at least 3 Psychology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Students are advised to enrol only if they have passed an introductory cognitive psychology course.
High Demand Course?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2016/17, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: 50
Course Start	Block 1 (Sem 1)
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 88 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 80 %, Coursework 20 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Course work (20%) Complete one written essay (maximum length 1000 words) based on a prompt that will be made available at least one week in advance. Feedback will be provided to help students better prepare for their examination. Exam 80% Semester 1 Visiting Students Only 3000 word essay (100%) Essay titles will be provided by the Course Organiser.
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)	Working Memory		1:30

Academic year 2016/17, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Block 1 (Sem 1)
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 88 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Course work (20%) Complete one written essay (maximum length 1000 words) based on a prompt that will be made available at least one week in advance. Feedback will be provided to help students better prepare for their examination. Exam 80% Semester 1 Visiting Students Only 3000 word essay (100%) Essay titles will be provided by the Course Organiser.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
After the course, students will be able to - Demonstrate knowledge of current working memory theory, including the ability to critically evaluate evidence favouring various theories - Demonstrate understanding of the methods used to measure working memory - Reason about how working memory theory can predict everyday cognitive functioning

Reading List
Lecture 1: Baddeley, A. (2012). Working memory: Theories, models, and controversies. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 1�29. Logie, R. H. (2011). The functional organization and capacity limits of working memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 240�245. Lecture 2 Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87�185. Nairne, J. S. (2002). Remembering over the short-term: the case against the standard model. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53�81. Lecture 3 Barrouillet, P., Portrat, S., & Camos, V. (2011). On the law relating processing to storage in working memory. Psychological Review, 118, 175�192. Lewandowsky, S., & Oberauer, K. (2015). Rehearsal in serial recall: An unworkable solution to the nonexistent problem of decay. Psychological Review, 122, 674�699. Lecture 4 Caplan, D., Waters, G., & Howard, D. (2012). Slave systems in verbal short-term memory. Aphasiology, 26, 279�316. D�Esposito, M., & Postle, B. R. (2015). The cognitive neuroscience of working memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 115�142. Lecture 5 Kane, M.J., & McVay, J.C. (2012). What mind wandering reveals about executive control abilities and failures. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 348-354. Unsworth, N., Fukuda, K., Awh, E., & Vogel, E. (2014). Working memory and fluid intelligence: Capacity, attention control, and secondary memory retrieval. Cognitive Psychology, 71, 1-26.

Additional Information
Course URL	http://www.psy.ed.ac.uk/
Graduate Attributes and Skills	Not entered
Keywords	Not entered

Contacts
Course organiser	Dr Candice Morey Tel: Email: cmorey@exseed.ed.ac.uk	Course secretary	Ms Stephanie Fong Tel: (0131 6)50 3628 Email: S.Fong@ed.ac.uk