Students

COGS201 – Disorders and Delusions of Mind

2014 – S1 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Anne Castles
Contact via anne.castles@mq.edu.au
Other Staff
Hua-Chen Wang
Contact via huachen.wang@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
12cp
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit is designed to provide you with an understanding of the basic cognitive disorders and higher-level delusions that can arise either developmentally or as a result of brain injury. You will learn about the characteristic features of these disorders and delusions, and about how the patterns of symptoms displayed can be accounted for in terms of models of normal cognitive processing. Where relevant, you will be familiarised with theories about the underlying causes of the conditions, and with experimental investigations of the efficacy of particular treatments. Patterns of similarities and differences of conditions will be critically examined. Conditions covered include: dyslexia, specific language impairment (SLI), aphasia, agnosia, amnesia, autism, synaesthesia, auditory hallucination, delusion and schizophrenia.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.
  • The ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations and theories of psychological disorders and delusions: specifically, the capacity to evaluate critically, integrate, and apply carefully key concepts used in relevant areas of social policy, healthcare, psychiatry, and the cognitive sciences.
  • The ability to apply findings from empirical research on psychological disorders to real-world contexts in which debates about normality, personal identity, and psychological health arise.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Due
Online Quiz 15% During semester
Research Assignment 45% After Mid Semester break
Formal Exam 40% Examination period

Online Quiz

Due: During semester
Weighting: 15%

This quiz is low risk and will cover basic course content. 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.

Research Assignment

Due: After Mid Semester break
Weighting: 45%

The written assignment will involve a critical evaluation and review regarding cognitive accounts of cognitive disorders. 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.
  • The ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations and theories of psychological disorders and delusions: specifically, the capacity to evaluate critically, integrate, and apply carefully key concepts used in relevant areas of social policy, healthcare, psychiatry, and the cognitive sciences.
  • The ability to apply findings from empirical research on psychological disorders to real-world contexts in which debates about normality, personal identity, and psychological health arise.

Formal Exam

Due: Examination period
Weighting: 40%


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.

Delivery and Resources

This unit is delivered in a blended mode: online lectures plus face-to-face tutorials. The lectures will be fully online via iLearn, with interactive activities, and each topic in the course will be delivered by experts in the field of cognitive science. In addition, students will attend face-to-face tutorials on a fortnightly basis.

It is essential that students have adequate access to the internet as most of the course material and activities are accessed online in the form of:

  • video interviews
  • audio and video lectures
  • online activities and quizzes
  • online database research
  • participating in online discussion forums

 

Access to a reasonably fast internet connection would be ideal, given the large amount of video content. Also, please note that in order to access Resources and Activities in your online unit, you will need a browser such as Firefox or Chrome. iLearn will operate on the following browsers, it is recommended that you upgrade your browser to the most recent version:

  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Internet Explorer 8 or later

 

 

Unit Schedule

Topic 1: Dyslexia

Topic 2: Aphasia

Topic 3: Specific language Impairment

Topic 4: Autism

Topic 5: Synaesthesia

Topic 6: Amnesia

Topic 7: Agnosia

Topic 8: Delusions 

Topic 9: Schizophrenia

Topic 10: Modelling Delusions Using Hypnosis

Topic 11: Hearing Voices

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy  http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.

Assessment tasks

  • Online Quiz
  • Research Assignment
  • Formal Exam

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • The ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations and theories of psychological disorders and delusions: specifically, the capacity to evaluate critically, integrate, and apply carefully key concepts used in relevant areas of social policy, healthcare, psychiatry, and the cognitive sciences.

Assessment tasks

  • Research Assignment
  • Formal Exam

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • The ability to explain contemporary issues concerning a range of psychological disorders in light of scholarly cognitive theory and empirical work in the cognitive sciences, and to critique popular or prejudicial claims about delusions, disorders, and the mind from an informed and evidence-based perspective.

Assessment task

  • Research Assignment

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • The ability to apply findings from empirical research on psychological disorders to real-world contexts in which debates about normality, personal identity, and psychological health arise.