Undergraduate Course: Learning and Memory (PSYL10108)
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 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course aims to give an understanding of long-term memory at a range of levels of analysis. It begins with memory failures and preservation in amnesia, then considers the basic neurobiology of the hippocampus. Next a human cognitive neuroscience perspective on memory provides the framework for applications to learning skills, and an understanding of false memory and eyewitness testimony. The main course content is presented in lectures, with in-class discussions. The course is supported by autonomous peer-learning groups with a revision and feedback session in the final week.
Week 1. Amnesia and memory systems.
Week 2. The hippocampus and the neurobiology of memory.
Week 3. Human learning and episodic memory.
Week 4. Constructive memory: its successes and failures.
Week 5. Revision and feedback session.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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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 |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe and discuss the kinds of memory preserved and impaired in amnesia
- Understand the basic neurobiology of the hippocampus and its disruption in amnesia
- Evaluate experimental psychological and cognitive neuroscientific insights into human memory and their implications for how we learn and study
- Discuss the constructive nature of human memory and its pitfalls for eyewitness evidence
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Reading List
Lecture 1 reading:
Klein, S.B. (2015). Learning: Principles and Applications, 7th Edition. Chapter 4: Principles and Applications of Pavlovian Conditioning. NY: Sage.
Squire, L.R. & Zola, S.M. (1996). Structure and function of declarative and non-declarative memory systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93, 13515-13522.
Lecture 2 reading:
Siegel, S. (2005). Drug tolerance, drug addiction, and drug anticipation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(6), 296-300.
Lecture 3 reading:
Purves, D., Cabeza, R., Huettel, S.A., LaBar, K.,S., Platt, M.L., & Woldorff, M.G. (2013). Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience. Chapter 8: Memory: Varieties and Mechanisms (pp. 243-275) and Chapter 9: Declarative Memory (pp. 279-318). Sinauer, Sunderland, MA.
Baddeley, A.D., Eysenck, M.W., & Anderson, M.C. (2014), Memory. Hove: Psychology Press. Chapter 17, ¿Improving your Memory¿.
Lecture 4 reading:
Schacter, D. L., Guerin, S. A., & St Jacques, P. L. (2011). Memory distortion: an adaptive perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 467-474.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alexandra Morcom
Tel: (0131 6)51 1907
Email: alexa.morcom@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Stephanie Fong
Tel: (0131 6)51 3733
Email: S.Fong@ed.ac.uk |
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