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Course Info for PSYC - 348 - 01, Fall 2022
Class number: 2708 Title: Focus Mind: Psychol Attention Department: Psychology
Career: Undergraduate Component: Seminar Session: Regular
Instructor's Permission Required: No Grading Basis: Regular Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 15 Current enrollment: 13 Available seats: 2
Start date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 End date: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 Mode of Instruction: In Person
Schedule: TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM, CCAN - 121 Instructor(s): Grubb, Michael
Prerequisite(s): Prerequisite: C- or better in Psychology 293.
Distribution Requirement: Meets Writing Emphasis Part2 Requirements
Note: All seats reserved for PSYC majors.
Course Description:
More than 100 years ago, William James famously declared, “Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.” And while James’ conception of attention resonates with a colloquial understanding of the term that’s still in use today, empirical treatment of attention in the psychological and neuroscientific literature suggests that consensus on what attention is and what attention does has not yet been reached. Using primary sources, scholarly reviews, and popular science pieces, we will work toward a more nuanced understanding of what attention is and delve deeply into what it means to selectively focus the mind in a world full of distraction.