Learning and Memory (PSYC 345)
Spring 2008
MWF 2:00pm-3:05pm, BGC M229

Instructor:     Dr. Raymond Phinney
Office:          M253, Billy Graham Center
Office Hours:        M,W,F 3:10-4:30, T-Th 1:30-3:00, or by appointment
                   Please sign up 24hrs in advance for office hours.
Office Phone: 752-5159
Email:          Raymond.E.Phinney@wheaton.edu

Text:    Anderson, Learning and Memory, 2nd Ed. (2000), Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. 

Goals of the course: The goal of this course is to familiarize each student with the history, concepts, general theories, theorists, and paradigms in the study of learning and memory. We will study the historical movements in the field, then focus on contemporary thinking and research in several areas within the field, including classical and operant (instrumental) conditioning; reinforcement issues; acquisition, retention and retrieval of information; skill acquisition; and inductive learning. Knowledge of this content will aid you in future class work or research (especially in the behavioral sciences), in psychology applications such as counseling or private industry (e.g. human factors), in teaching or testing others, and life in general (training your kids, disciplining yourself, etc.).

Course grades: Final grades will be determined from performance on four exams given throughout the semester worth 100 points each. Question formats may include multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, essay questions, and take home question. The grade scale below is the approximate scale used for letter grade assignments. Any adjustment to the grading scale will reduce the cutoff points for grades.

Policy Regarding Make-up Exams:  Make-up exams will only be given by pre-arrangement as a result of illness (verified by the health service) or death in the family. English translation: if you wake up sick the day of the test, leave me a voice mail and/or an email (since they are timed and dated) before the exam time, then go to student health. If you hear of a family death, contact me (voice mail or email) before you leave town and before the exam period. Coming to class the next day with an excuse will not allow you a make-up exam. Make-up exams will be of the same format and number of questions, but different from the regularly scheduled exam.

Extra Credit:  Up to ten points extra credit will be given for a typed review (2-3 pages) of an article from a peer reviewed learning or memory article in an approved (by me) journal. Only one review may be submitted for a maximum of 10 extra credit points for the semester. This may be handed in no later than the last day of lecture (May 2). Additional opportunities for extra credit (i.e. participation in a psychology department experiment, attending a colloquium) may be available and will be announced in class.

Class Attendance, Participation and Out-of-Class Responsibilities:  Enrolling for this course means you are making a good faith commitment to attend and participate. Please do so. Ask lots of questions in class, during my office hours, or via email (my favorite is in class, so everyone can benefit from the discussion). Also, I encourage you to form study groups and work with one another to prepare for tests. Your colleagues are bright and caring will add much to your education. It is the student's responsibility to read assigned text before attending the lecture, to be aware of additional information that is covered in the lectures but not found in the book, and to be aware of changes to the syllabus that are announced in class. 

Academic Dishonesty: Plagiarism and Cheating:  Cheating on exams defeats the purpose of giving them will not be tolerated. In this course, cheating--that is, representing others' work as your own—is most often committed in the copying of assignments or exam answers.  In addition, academic dishonesty may also be committed by sharing this information with another (i.e. allowing a classmate to copy your answers). Any student found to have committed academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade of zero (0) for the assignment/exam and may be subject to additional discipline based on the severity of the offense. (See also the section on Academic Integrity contained in the current Wheaton College Catalog.)

Struggles with class material: If you get a poor grade on one or more tests or assignments, or you feel that you do not understand the material, please contact me. I encourage you all to ask questions during lecture and during exam reviews in class, to see me after class (I will be available most days after class), come to my office hours, email me, or phone me at the office. You may also arrange to meet with me at a different time than my regular office hours. If you are thinking about speaking with me but keep avoiding it, that’s a sure sign you should come see me! If there is a problem, the sooner it gets acknowledged, the sooner and better we can address it.

Grading Scale

Number of Points (400 total)	Grade
93% = 372	A
90% = 360	A-
87% = 348	B+
83% = 332	B
80% = 320	B-
77% = 308	C+
73% = 292	C
70% = 280	C-
60% = 240	D
50% = 200	F

  Tentative Schedule of Topics

Tentative Date		Topic	Reading(s)
Jan	14	Introduction
	16	Perspectives on Learning & Memory	Anderson Ch 1
	18
	21	Martin Luther King Day – no classes
	23
	25	Classical Conditioning	Anderson Ch 2
	28
	30
Feb	1
	4
	6	EXAM #1
	8	Instrumental Conditioning	Anderson Ch 3
	11
	13
	15
	18	President's Day - No Class
	20	Reinforcement & Learning	Anderson Ch. 4
	22
	25
	27
	29	EXAM #2
Mar	3	Transient Memories	Anderson Ch 5
	5
	7
	10	Spring Break – no class
	12	Spring Break – no class
	14	Spring Break – no class
	17	Acquisition of Memories	Anderson Ch. 6
	19
	21	Good Friday – No classes
	24
	26	Retention of Memories	Anderson Ch. 7
	28
	31
Apr	2
	4	Retrieval of Memories	Andersen Ch. 8
	7
	9
	11	EXAM #3
	14	Skill acquisition	Anderson Ch. 9
	16
	18		Anderson Ch. 10
	21
	23	Applications to Education	Anderson Ch. 11
	25
	28	Inductive Learning?
May	2	Last Day of Class	Extra Credit Due
	6	Tue- 1:30-3:30 pm Final (Exam #4)
* Note that this schedule is tentative and may change based on our progress through the topics covered during the semester.