PSYCH2260 (Cognition) Paper Topics

1. Discuss the relationship between autonomic, instinctive, associative and cognitive
minds as articulated in Reason and Less. Offer a characterization of each, noting their
strengths and weaknesses. Does one capture human behaviour better than another, or
do we need all four systems? Illustrate with examples. Start with the first six chapters of
Reason and Less and go to other sources, as necessary.
2. During a deadly pandemic millions of Canadians and Americans refused to wear a
face mask and/or get vaccinated, despite scientific evidence showing the safety and
efficacy of both measures. Our existing models of human behavior totally failed to
predict this behavior. How do we explain it? One way of approaching this is to start with
the following general article
https://theconversation.com/vaccine-hesitancy-why-doing-your-own-research-doesnt-
work-but-reason-alone-wont-change-minds-169814
and then turn to the textbook, particularly chapters 9-13. You are also free to offer other
accounts, as long as you can defend them.
3. What is the case to be made for and against multiple memory systems? How has
neuropsychological data informed this issue over the past several decades? You might
want to begin your readings with the Memory chapter in Gazzaniga, Ivry, and Magnan
textbook “Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind” and then follow up with
other sources.
4. How has neuropsychological data informed cognitive theories of reasoning over the
past several decades? Begin with the readings in Topic 7 and then follow up with other
references.
5. The most popular theory of human reasoning is Daniel Kahneman’s “Fast and Slow
Thinking” account. It is a variation of what are known as dual mechanism theories.
Illustrate Kahneman’s account, differentiate it from other dual mechanism theories of
reasoning, and indicate what it gets right and wrong. What are the conceptual criticisms
of his account raised in Chapter 7 of Reason and Less? Kahneman has a new book
called “Noise”. What does this add to his theory?