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PSY-30154 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

PSY-30154 - Models of Cognition
Coordinator: Einat Rashal
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733736

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

Models of cognition aim to explain how "the gears clank and how the pistons go", as Prof. Allen Newell once said. In this module, you will encounter and evaluate important and contemporary models of human thought. You will work with academics at the forefront of their fields to explore issues such as: What is a "model" of cognition? How do we decide what makes a model "good" or "bad"? And how do we explain the process of human thought, derive predictions about how humans think and further our knowledge of psychology? This module will develop not only your understanding of key issues in cognitive psychological models, but develop your capacity to reason and evaluate as a scientist. Indicative topic areas include models of attention, perception, task switching and higher-level functions.

Aims
This module aims to develop your ability to evaluate and test cognitive psychological models. You will be provided with a solid understanding of cognitive models across a variety of subdisciplines within cognitive psychology, and be able to evaluate the capacity of models to explain human thinking and behaviour.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-30154/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

Evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of cognitive explanations of human thought and behaviour: 1,2
Produce falsifiable predictions based on an evaluation of the literature in the field of cognitive psychology: 2
Design a quantitative experimental procedure for testing cognitive psychological model predictions.: 2

Study hours

- 24 hours of scheduled synchronous teaching
- 30 hours of Assessment 1 independent work
- 46 hours of Assessment 2 independent work
- 50 hours of independent study (e.g., reading, revision, organising information)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Essay weighted 30%
Theory evaluation
This assessment (1,000 words) is designed to assess the depth of knowledge of module material from the student and to assess the student's capacity to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of cognitive models. Students will choose a cognitive model that explains one human thinking process or behaviour and be required to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of that theory.

2: Research Proposal weighted 70%
Research proposal
This assessment (2,000 words) is designed to assess the capacity to produce falsifiable predictions based on an evaluation of the literature in the field of cognitive psychology. Students will choose a theory and be tasked with developing a prediction from that theory. They will also need to provide a quantitative experimental study design that would allow them to test the prediction of the theory.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025