| CODE | CGS1000 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Cognitive Psychology of Communications | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Cognitive Science | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit introduces human information processing, from perception to cognition, with a focus on those processes that are particularly relevant to communications. These will include vision, auditory perception, attention, memory, concepts & categories, reasoning, and decision making, These topics will be illustrated through examples and applications to a range of media (including social media) and media issues including advertising, news, politics, fake-news, and educational and public information campaigns. Study-Unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to assist participants in developing an understanding of: - The main processes involved in human cognition; - How such processes effect the consumption of communications, including various types of mass communication; - The role of the processes involved in human cognition in the production of effective communications campaigns; and - The role of such processes in shaping social perceptions, agendas, attitudes, and behaviours. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe the fundamental concepts of cognitive psychology and how they relate to communication processes; - Describe key theories in cognitive psychology that inform communication, including models of information processing and perception; - Discuss the psychological effects of mass communication on attitudes, behaviours, and social perceptions. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Analyze how cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and perception influence interpersonal and mass communication; - Describe and evaluate the possible roles of mass communications in shaping beliefs, knowledge, social perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours; - Apply cognitive psychology principles to design effective communication campaigns and messages tailored to specific audiences. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Reisberg, D. (2021). Cognition: Exploring the science of the mind (8e). New York, USA: W.W. Norton & Company. - Articles will be made available on VLE. Supplementary Readings: - Bushman, B.J., (2007). That Was a Great Commercial, but What Were They Selling? Effects of Violence and Sex on Memory for Products in Television Commercials. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37,8, 784–1796. - Furnham. A., Bergland, J., & Gunter, B. (2002). Memory for TV ads as a function of ad-programme congruity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 525-545. - Gaskell, G. (2017) A brave new world of sleep? The Psychologist, 3, 22-26. - Infolinks (2013). What the advertising industry can do to beat banner blindness. - Johnson, V., Zhu, Z., Anguera, R.,Bollinger, J., Eccles, J., Hardtke, D., Breza, M., & Zanto, T. P. (2021). Increasing brand awareness: Memory for short audio ads. Psychol Mark, 38, 1960–1972. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21558. - Sacks, O.W. (1995). An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven paradoxical tales. London:Picador. Chapter 1 - The Case of the Colorblind Painter. - Sanborn, F.W. (2022). A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication, (8th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. 5th edition. - Schuldt J.P. (2013). Does Green Mean Healthy? Nutrition Label Color Affects Perceptions of Healthfulness. Health Communication, 28:8, 814-821, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2012.725270. - Wallish, P. ( 2017). Illumination assumptions account for individual differences in the perceptual interpretation of a profoundly ambiguous stimulus in the color domain: ‘‘The dress’’. Journal of Vision, 17(4):5, 1-14. |
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| RULES/CONDITIONS | In TAKING THIS UNIT YOU CANNOT TAKE PSY1635 AND TAKE CGS2100 | ||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Noellie Brockdorff (Co-ord.) Rebekah Mifsud Anna Riga |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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