THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE



                                     FACULTY SENATE







                                       Senate Document Number   0388F   



                                       Date of Senate Approval 11/10/88





      Signature of Senate Chair _________________________ 



      Action of Vice Chancellor:



                     Approval ________________________  Date ______________



                     Denied   ________________________  Date ______________



      Reasons for denial and suggested modifications:

























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      Statement of Faculty Senate Action:



                                         APC #2





      Curriculum Revision Proposal           Psychology Department 





      A.  Effective date:  Fall, 1989



      B.  DELETE:



          1.  Psy 326:  Language and Cognition (3 semester hours).  An

          examination of cognitive processes beyond perception, using

          the information processing approach.  Topics include attention,

          memory, thinking, problem solving, language, imagery, creativity,

          and social cognition.  Prerequisites:  100, 303, 325.



          2.  P. 182, under "Track B--Reading Education," in Item I,

          "Required courses in the major," delete "325 and 326."


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      C.  Add:



          1.  Psy 327:  Cognitive Psychology (3 semester hours).  

          Historical background and current developments in research

          and theory in cognitive science, with particular emphasis on

          attention, memory, problem solving, and educational applications.

          Also including some coverage of artificial intelligence, skill

          acquisition, and the nature of intelligence.  Prerequisites:

          100, 303.  (No credit for students who have credit for Psy 326.)



          2.  Psy 328:  The Psychology of Language (3 semester hours).

          Linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neuropsychological perspectives

          on language and reading.  Emphasis on speech perception and

          production, syntax, linguistic impairment, and comparisions across

          cultures and species.  Prerequisites:  100, 303.



          3.  P. 182, under "Track B--Reading Education," in item I,

          "Required courses in the major," add "327 and 328."



      D.  Environmental Impact Statement:  This change will affect students 

          in Track B of the Psychology major, requiring Psy 327 and 328 in

          place of Psy 325 and 326.  The new courses will permit significantly

          expanded coverage of basic cognitive/learning processes (Psy 327) 

          and language/reading processes (Psy 328).  Students in Track A will

          be unaffected, excepting the wider choice of 300-level electives

          made possible by the change.



      E.  Rationale:  The rapidly expanding areas of cognitive science

          and psycholinguistics require expanding representation in the 

          departmental curriculum, particularly as regards educational

          applications and general coverage of human experimental psyschology.

          The proposed change, which essentially splits Psy 326 (Language

          and Cognition) into two courses -- one expanding the "Language"

          and the other expanding the "Cognition" -- reflects this need for

          expanded representation in these areas.  The material in Psy 325

          (Perception) that is relevant to the Track B students can more

          easily be covered in the new Cognition class (Psy 327).  Increased

          coverage in these areas will allow our curriculum to adapt to the

          increasing representation of these areas in Psychology as a whole.

          The net addition of one course has become possible through the new

          faculty position filled this fall, and was developed with this

          faculty expansion in mind.  The courses to be taught can be handled

          with existing departmental resources.


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