Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Humanities Course
Course Code	COGN
Year Opened	1981*
Sites Offered	LAN, LOS, SCZ
Previously Offered	JHU, CAR, CLN, KNE, SAR, SRF, SUN, STM

Course Description

From the CTY Catalog:

While you read this sentence, your eyes alone are transmitting approximately 10 million pieces of data per second to your brain. Nevertheless, your attention remains focused on these words, you quickly decipher their meaning, and your memory stores make the whole process feel seamless. How is this possible? Cognitive psychology—often referred to as the “science of the mind”—examines how we represent and process information from our environment. It examines the diverse range of cognitive processes, including perception, learning, memory, forgetting, attention, problem-solving, reasoning, and language. You and your classmates will apply core research methodologies to models, principles, and discoveries within the discipline, and investigate the fundamental neurological structures associated with cognitive processes. Through simulations, group discussions, readings, and evaluation of research and theory, you’ll gain an understanding of the ways information is processed, and of your own cognitive illusions, predispositions, and capacities.

Cognitive Psychology begins with a primer on the anatomy and functionality of the brain. It then focuses on the subjects of memory, perception, and attention. The course includes discussions on modern developments in medical anomalies and mental disorders. Some classes are centered around the study of various disorders. The course can be intensive and is known to sometimes cover an entire textbook. Other classes' reading materials include popular science books. The class is often structured on reading and writing over discussion.

Class History

Carlisle

In COGN.B.CAR.06.2, the class was taught by Eddie and TA'd by Julie. Eddie extensively used slideshow presentations and lecture as forms of teaching. Students have said that the class was effective if not boring.

Lancaster

COGN.A.LAN.10.1 Led by Monica Pires and Kyle Rodrigues (COG PSYCH LOOOOVES KYLE!), this course was intense, but fun to all those taking it. There were 3 boys and 11 girls. The girls' hall was close, and many, many, many illegal sleepovers occurred. Spoon sanctuary, team BLOW, and The Glenn will be remembered forever <3

COGN.A.LAN.11.2 was taught by KENDRA SEAMEN and TA'd by the awesome Matt Tompkins. All the students involved were autumn goddesses, and lulzed into the night many times. If one student were to yell out "HA HA HA HA", the entire class would reply "jack my swag" because that is what we were. What we are. CogPsych, man. It's forever.

COGN.A.LAN.13.1 was taught by Jessica Newell and TA'd by Anna Moss. The class was entirely composed of squirrels (with the exception of one flying squirrel), resulting in a close-knit group. A popular break activity was mafia. Students created a newspaper complete with cartoons and articles for a project. The students also wrote ten-page research essays and presented them to the class. In the last week, debates were held and the class watched A Beautiful Mind.

COGN.B.LAN.14.2 was taught by Alicia and TA'd by our role model and best friend Jesse. Music was a focus for the students, including satanic messages in popular music and Jesse's wonderful harmonica renditions. Who could forget the questionable purchases made in the book shop, or the spectacular lunch bunch(candy). The wonderful session filled with tuna melts, childsaurs, glazed ham, and so much more will never be forgotten. I like you. I love you. I CTY you.

COGN.A.LAN.15.2 was taught by Ashley and TA'd by Anna. The session featured 14-person UNO games, mice on ecstasy, the Bourne Identity, both diving bells and butterflies, John Watson beginning behaviorism, rapping about the anatomy of neurons, personal victimization due to unusual name spelling, the correlation between cheese consumption per capita and the number of people who die from getting tangled in their bedsheets, and Nicolas Cage's head being run through with a large metal spike.

Some notable quotes were:

• "But Jerry Fam, you used to be a grasshole!"
• "We did ALL the drugs!!"
• "Childrens were not allowed in the birthing area"
• "As you can see, I have murdered Ashley and absorbed her powers"
• "This, my friend, is a house, which we live in with the Schnade, that Jack, who likes soda, built"
• One of our personal favorites: "Police ding dong church wee ooo."
• The most annoying: "legitness."

Each young student left with knowledge of wonderful things, like the functions of each lobe of the brain and that there are no "friends" when it comes to Kahoot. The class avoided being arrested on charges of illegal possession of lemonade powder. Some of the class did not taste that side of the rainbow and infrequently had to remind others.

COGN.B.LAN.17.2 was taught by Perrē Shelton (Mr. P) and TA'd by Anna. The class filled the walls of the classroom with posters and key term flashcards. Class was a mix of jigsaw presentations and Kahoots and somehow managed to finish the textbook within one session. Remember to focus, because Mr. P hasn't forgotten about break.

COGN.B.LAN.18.1 was taught by Stephen Foley and TA'd by Heather. 18.1 may have been the most iconic class of all time, with tons of inside jokes and good memories. TA Heather was notorious for sending kids to the academic counselor for reasons such as "seeming lonely" or "being depressed." Some inside jokes included lemonade powder, which makes us all salivate, and Set, the worst game of all time ("Y'all mind if I procure this... set?"). Stephen, the super woke instructor, was bald, and the best lesson in the entire course was when students got to draw on his head with a marker. His baldness led to such quotes as "Am I licking your head?" "That's a HARD no" and "When you wash your face, how far up do you go?" It was pretty great.

COGN.B.LAN.19.1 was taught by Stephen Foley and TA’d by Heather. Stephen classically conditioned us, let us make memes, and refused to tell us why Max gets tingly when he watches ASMR. Projects on each of the three books were in three parts: presentation, visual, and musical. This gave us gems such as “Stacy’s mom has got a phantom arm,” “she stayed up all night to those Irish folk songs,” and “I got occipital lobe in the back.” Stephen taught us that learning styles are fake and abiding by them was s***ty teaching. Hjönk, MOTHER, and we were both girls, and unless were completely overused but funny every time. Our class championed 9-square, and purged the court of our inferiors, specifically COGN.A and Topology. #cognb19 #damos

COGN.AB.LAN.22.1 was taught by Dr. Jeffery Bostwick (Jeff) and TA'd by Melanie and Dorothy. Due to the class cancellations of 2022, class A and B were combined. This led to a larger class (21 kids) and two TAs. There is a conspiracy theory that Jeff, Melanie, and Dorothy are all the same person, "Jmelathy". The class mascot was a beach ball named "DaBal" who's pronouns are DaBal/DaBal/DaBal. The class motto was, "DaBal quod DaBal vis duo do" which is a terrible google translated version of the sentence, "DaBal do wut DaBal wanna 2 do" in Latin. Jeff was a fantastic teacher, however, NOTHING HE SAYS IS TRUE - and EVERYTHING IS A BIT (the bandage), and NOTHING IS REAL.

Jeff would often playfully trick and manipulate his students to teach them more about their weird brains. Melanie and Dorothy were iconic and are probably (definitely) the same person. Melanie is known for being short and having a degree, while Dorothy is known for being slightly less short, a ginger, and consistently getting her key stuck in the door. There were also explorations of Floor M, the mysterious basement/old theater of the building, which several students discovered on trips down the weird and old elevator. There was also a demon known as Nmonicus, which many people in the class drew. Some say the best drawing of Nmonicus was put in the elevator by a student and is still there. Many students drew on the chalkboards extensively, resulting in some iconic phrases. The class also enjoyed frequent trips to the bookstore, since the building was close by. During the last few days of the session, half of the class caught Covid and had to leave, resulting in a class of 21 becoming 12.

Quotes:

• “If boing, then boing.”
• “Does more brain mean more smart?”
• “We stan imperfections here.”
• “You COULD throw the Earth at someone.”
• "DOROTHY IS AMOGUS"
• “Is a tide pod a ball?”
• “What are you people ON?!?!”
• “No, grandmothers could be dead.”
• “Something is either Winston Churchill, or not Winston Churchill.”
• “What’s a dog?”
• "I love Piss, Comma, The Cat. Piss Boogerpenis."
• "What part of the brain processes fear?" "The Amongdala."
• "Please do not create or destroy life while I'm responsible for you."
• “Clive Wearing cannot lose the game.”
• "There's nothing better than child labor"
• "I don't think hating people for who they are is a good idea, but the French are an exception."
• "Murder is okay!!!"
• "I can pirate Minions the Rise of Gru in 30 seconds flat"
• Last but not least, “You lost the game.”

COGN.A.LAN.23.2 was taught by Dr. Jeffrey "Jefferson" Bostwick and TA'd by Gershom. It was a class of 18, 16 girls and 2 boys. The class was known for its chant "Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss" and the class "mascot", the Homunculus. Dr Jeff or Gersh would scream "Homunculi" during breaks. The class liked to joke about Ramachandran and his "sexual desires" in the book The Tell Tale Brain. Another favorite of the class during breaks was Four-Square. Being across from the bookstore, the class went to the bookstore several times. During breaks students would sit on the stairs or handrails of Distiller House, and try to play Four-Square while sitting on the handrails. While COGN B got several cases of COVID, nobody in COGN A got covid, leading to the quote, "Cog Psych A, ain't gonna get COVID, Cog Psych B, boutta get covid" or another variation, "Cog Psych A, at least we have all our kids". The COGN A girls were housed in the Schander basement, and enjoyed making conga lines with the rolling chairs in the dorms.

COGN.B.LAN.23.2 was taught by John Price and TA’d by Aliya. The entire class decided that John was too casual and John Price was too formal, resulting in the teacher being called Dr. Mr. John Comma PHD, or John Comma for short. Those who scroll down to the Saratoga section will recognize John as he previously taught there. The Depressed Kirby trend continued with many Kirbys being drawn, most notably Kirbeas Gage. Kirby, however, was not the only character drawn, leading to the horrifying creation that is "Ennuikachu." Unfortunately, the so-called “Cog Psych Curse” also continued, with a COVID outbreak on the first Wednesday. 7 students eventually had to be sent home for 5 days, leaving a class of 17 down to 10, before going back to 17. Despite all the viral drama, the class was fairly close, and shall be missed by the writer.

Los Angeles

COGN.LOS.12.2 was taught by Nadia and TA'd by Filip. Students were by and large amused by Filip's Czech accent, yelling "COG PSY" to the heavens in a vague approximation of his voice to call the class together during handoffs. Class was very inTENTs *puts hands above head like a tent*, no pun inTENTed.

COGN.LOS.13.2 was taught by Nadia and TA'd by Jennifer. The students this session were self-proclaimed as the "Cognitive Psychos" and often went around making several cognitive psychology references every chance they got (i.e. "inattentional blindness!" "selective attention!" "cocktail party effect!"). Also, a special shout out to our class "god" Argus. I still think I like you better as a Latin dog than a monster. *sneeze* "God bless you and the United States of America."

COGN.LOS.15.1 was taught by Brenda Yang and TA'd by Chaparrelle Mogavero-Cline. The students loved their after-lunch game of The Resistance, a board game of identity, lies, and deception. They watched The Prestige with the Philosophy of Mind class; the enjoyable movie left most people confused, but in a good way. No one forgets the Miracle Berries, where students ate straight up lemons because sour things were all of a sudden sweet. There were 11 girls and 4 boys.

COGN.LOS.16.1 was taught by Javi Ortuño-Sierra and TA'd by Joselyn Ho. The students learned about the brain and its functions through the positive reinforcement of blue tape. Four Square was ALWAYS played on break. The class was competitive about the game; Students were known to dive on all fours in order to stay in. Instructor Javi kept the peace, making rules such as "Don't Smash", even though he was one of the most competitive participants. Furthermore, the class perfected the use of several unusual tactics (i.e. faked-smashes, ball-spins, foot-stomps, serve-steals, and taps). They did not enjoy playing with Electrical Engineering class as the lines got way too long and they were "mean." Playing with the Physics class was okay. Students stayed saucy.

Justin was our favorite and however "full blast" he turns up the heavy metal music must be an acceptable volume standard for experiments. He's only twelve, guys.

Notable Quotes and Inside Jokes included:

• "Let's go baby. Ca$h Money!!"
• "HE'S ONLY TWELVE!"
• "Stay saucy, ya feel"
• "Do you like Henry for his attractive face?"
• "Kinky, Kinky, Kinky! Scott is Kinky!"
• "Blue Tape!"
• "Antonio, watching over us."
• "YeahDawg!"
• "Bromigos"
• "I know what the testerones are."
• "Darling would make a great mom."
• "Four Square Up" (along with a corresponding set of hand signals: 4️⃣⏹⬆️)
• "Let's go for a-"
• "It has a nice blush."

From stuffed neurons to juggling brains to A Beautiful Mind to "making funny activities," the CogPsy class was perfect. Don't argue. We know how you think.

COGN.LOS.18.1 was taught by Gidget Brogdon and TA'd by Ester Garcia. This supreme class of cognitive psychology started a reign of chaos and led to an unlimited amount of fun and good memories. The class was wild and chaotic, including having a chant about "608" and "yeehaw." The girls in the class constantly blared out "Summer Depression" in public, which drew attention from everyone else. There was a lot of talk about hairy feet and the absurdity and how disgusting feet were. The exemplary class even showed off its talented music skills, by singing songs, while using various body parts as instruments. They also got glitter everywhere and stole silverware from the cafeteria; additionally, they formed a giant marriage contract and are still married to each other to this day. The students started a revolution against the CTY authorities, singing "Free Jack and Randy" during the last American Pie. They even came together to (maybe illegally) "win" a ton of money and wreak chaos, but it was fruitless: no one was announced because of the infamous bank theft and raining money. In the end, it can be concluded that the class was a tight-knit group that got along well and became a giant family. 608 forever.

COGN.LOS.18.2 was taught by Javi Ortuño-Sierra and TA'd by Ester Garcia. The return of Javi meant more blue tape addiction and iconic quotes like "Please die outside of the classroom, it's too much paperwork" and "By the end of this week you'll all be dead and I'll be close to dead." (This kind of came true as almost everyone was sick by the end of CTY). The only other boy in the class left halfway through the first week due to him "Not feeling [CTY] anymore," so the remaining male was left alone in a classroom of hyperactive fourteen-year-old girls who promptly nicknamed him "Queen K". The other students were also given equally memorable nicknames like Daddy Long Legs, Danimals/Dabby, FiFi the Poodle, and Khushi-Whushi (it was required to say "was a bear" after anyone said this one).

The class was taught many important life lessons, most important of which were "Don't get a lobotomy" and "Don't do drugs." Other notable quotes included "No personally attacking people in formal debates *cough cough*" "I feel personally attacked"; "Justin you're INAdeqUaTe"; "Kevin's writing fanfiction in Chinese"; and "Let's do Meth, Mice". By the end of the three weeks, the class had become so attached to each other that they had formulated a plan for flying to Spain to attend Instructor Javi's course there on Cognitive Psychology (and Danimals would translate). After CTY ended, the class went home with their brains filled with knowledge about their brains and severe blue tape withdrawal symptoms.

COGN.LOS.22.1 was taught by Janene Cielto and TA’d by Galen Terranova on 3rd floor St. Roberts in a room with nice chairs and desks often used for sleeping due to everyone getting an upper respiratory viral infection. The class involved many Starbucks runs, off-topic movies, trauma stories, and a lot of Taylor Swift. They nicknamed themselves the Humunkies after humuncular theory, which they were all obsessed with. The identity of Janene’s favorite student was a recurring debate, and while the majority of the class agreed on one person, Janene insisted that her favorite was “whoever made her smile” and even gave everyone “my favorite cog psych student!!” tape on love tape day. The class consisted of 12 girls and 2 boys, as well as honorary member Victor <3

Saratoga

COGN.B.SAR 1 and 2 were described, variously, as "incredible," "earth-shatteringly good," and "astoundingly rewarding" by students. Headed by Randi with support from Jack, COGN students learned how to study models of cognition, analyze experimental data, and control people with brain waves. The course culminated with a rousing discussion of clinical procedure given by Hugh Laurie, better known as television's "House, MD." Though unconfirmed by site admin, it is rumored that Jack and Randi will be offered six-figure contracts to come back next summer. "It's totally worth it for those two," said one source. "There are good teachers and there are great teachers, but these two... it's another level. LOUIS!"

In COGN.SAR.09.2, the class was taught by Shani and the TA was Dave. The students were close and bonded during class over the song STOP WEARING PURPLE!!! and Shani's look when she walked in and saw Dave playing it. Students claimed they learned a lot and still occasionally use cognitive psychology terms in casual conversation, much to the dismay of others.

COGN.SAR.19.1 In Cog Pysch 19.1, the teacher John Price drew depressed Kirby everywhere. There was a case study done examining the number of times a distressing sound came out of his mouth. On the door of the room, Joseph Vandermillen taped "Free Rocky". He also attempted (key word: attempted) to sleep in class with goggles that distorted the world around you, thinking that John and Nina (our TA) wouldn't notice.