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.
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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
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 50 |
| Course Start |
Block 1 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Seminar/Tutorial 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 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 10 |
| 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
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- 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.
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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.
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.psy.ed.ac.uk/ |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Robert Logie
Tel:
Email: rlogie@staffmail.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Catherine Renton
Tel: (0131 6)50 3602
Email: crenton2@ed.ac.uk |
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