19203 - Cognitive Psychology (1) (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

Course contents

Psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Perception.

Attention.

Movement and action. Affordances.

Body and cognition. Embodied and grounded cognition, extended mind theories, distributed cognition.

Learning and development.

Memory.

Emotions and cognitive processing.

Thinking and reasoning.

Language and action.

Social cognition.

We will treat these topics referring to experimental studies and, in some cases, to computer simulations as well.

Course contents:

Readings/Bibliography

Recommended reading:

Texts:

1) Manuale: Remo Job – Roberto Cubelli (a cura di) Psicologia dei processi cognitivi. Carocci, 2012.

2) Roberto Nicoletti e Anna Borghi, Il controllo motorio, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007: chapter VI. Movimento e imitazione. - Parte quarta: Movimento, oggetti, concetti e parole. - VII. Movimento, oggetti e concetti. - VIII. Movimento e comprensione del linguaggio.

3) Anna Borghi, Fausto Caruana, a cura di. Cognizione e socialita', numero di agosto 2011 della rivista Sistemi Intelligenti, Il mulino.

One English article chosen among the following ones (they are all available from the website: http://laral.istc.cnr.it/publications)

Paper n. 104. Borghi, A.M., Scorolli, C., Caligiore, D., Baldassarre, G. & Tummolini, L. (2013). The embodied mind extended: Words as social tools. Frontiers in Psychology 4:214. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00214.

(on embodied and extended theories of language)

Paper n. 85. Liuzza, M.T., Setti, A., Borghi, A.M. (2012). Kids observing other kids' hands: visuomotor priming in children. Consciousness & Cognition, 21, 383-392.

(on motor resonance)

Paper n. 71. Costantini, M., Ambrosini, E., Scorolli, C., Borghi, A.M. (2011).When objects are close to me: affordances in the peripersonal space. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 32-38.

(on language and affordances)

Paper n. 54. Pezzulo, G., Barca, L., Lamberti Bocconi, A., Borghi, A.M. (2010). When affordances climb into your mind: Advantages of Motor Simulation in a Memory Task Performed by Novice and Expert Rock Climbers. Brain and Cognition, 73, 68-73.

(on climbers and affordances)

Paper n 14. Borghi, A.M., Glenberg, A., Kaschak, M. (2004). Putting Words in Perspective. Memory and cognition,32, 863-873.

(On language and action)

 5) Slides will be available on the website http://laral.istc.cnr.it/borghi. The slides on each topic will be available one week after the presentation during the lecture (they are not available now!).

Teaching methods

Aim: provide students with a framework on the main psychological perspectives, on the most important cognitive processes and on the most relevant methods used in cognitive psychology.

Provide students with instruments that will allow them to:

a.   Evaluate an experimental study

b.   Plan an experiment

c.   Read a scientific paper of cognitive psychology

Methods:
- lectures

- group exercises aimed at learning to plan and evaluate an experiment.

Assessment methods

The written examination will include questions on the main topics of the course and questions in which the students will be required to apply their acquired knowledge in order to solve a problem, plan a research, evaluate an experimental study.

Alternatively, students (NOT first year students) will be allowed to write an essay on a topic addressed during the course, after having discussed it with the teacher. The essay presentation will be integrated with an oral exam.

Students are required to perform an experiment in the labs of the department of psychology.

 

Teaching tools

Slides will be available on the website http://laral.istc.cnr.it/borghi. The slides on each topic will be available one week after the presentation during the lecture (they are not available now!).

Office hours

See the website of Anna Maria Borghi