PSYM4301B ¨C Judgment and Decision Making and Social Cognition

Course content

Judgment and decision making (JDM) is a branch of cognitive psychology. Much of cognitive psychology gives a purely descriptive account on how people think. In contrast, JDM research focuses on readily observable judgments and decisions and also address whether these behaviors are consistent with how people should think. For example, memory psychologists investigate how information is categorized in memory. JDM researchers interested in memory focus on how memory influences judgments and decisions. Judgments and decisions are an essential part of most professions. JDM research is therefore highly relevant to applied disciplines in various fields, including health care, organizational behavior, computer science, economics, law etc.

The course also contains topics in Social Cognition (SC) and the social context of thinking. SC lies in the intersection between social and cognitive psychology, and deals with how we perceive, interpret, describe, and explain events and actions related to self and others in daily life. SC is the study of questions such as: How do we make judgments about the characteristics of ourselves and other people? How do we figure out what other people are thinking and feeling? What role do our self-concepts and our various goals and motives play in guiding our behavior?

This course examines research literature on selected topics within JDM, SC and the social context of thinking. The students are expected to participate in the general discussion following each topic presentation.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The purpose of this course is to provide the students with a foundation for doing research on the master¡¯s degree level. The course gives an overview of selected aspects of research into JDM, SC, and the social context of thinking. Students will get training in analyzing and presenting research literature.

Skills

After completing this course, students know how to do one or more of the following:

• Critically compare different theories and methods and find commonalities and differences.
• Lead theoretical and methodological discussions
• Evaluate new theories and methods
• Write on current topics in JDM, SC or the social context of thinking for the public

General competence

In terms of general competence, students can:

• Deal with larger bodies of scientific texts about the same topic
• Evaluate theory and research
• Present theories and methods in JDM, SC or the social context of thinking

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

This course is only available to students from the GlobalMINDS: Erasmus Joint Degree Masters Programme in the Global Mobility, Inclusion and Diversity in Society.?

Teaching

Teaching is delivered in the form of lectures. In order to pass this course, you are also required to hand in a written mandatory assignment as preparation to the exam.

The assignment should be your own work. Hence generating all or part of the assignment using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

3-hour written school exam.

Previous exams

Examination support material

No examination support material is allowed.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• How to use AI as a student
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.