PNP 2010
Inquiry in the Cognitive Sciences
Understanding the mind-brain involves orchestrating a variety of conceptual tools and modes of inquiry from the cognitive sciences. This course offers a hands-on introduction to a variety of research tactics used in the behavioral and biological sciences and emphasizes the advantages of combining them. For example, neuroimaging can enhance the interpretation of experiments by cognitive psychologists, and modeling can be used to simulate and understand the effects of brain lesions. Prerequisite: completion of at least one of the following courses: Psych 100B, Phil 120F, Phil 125C, Biol 296A, MBB 120 or Ling 170D.
Instructors
Brandon Towl, Carl Craver, David Kaplan, David Kinney, James Gulledge, James Quilty-Dunn, Megan Entwistle, Philipp Koralus
Reviews
4-6 hrs/week
i just took this class cuz i had to. kinney is awesome and so enthusiastic. very nice guy. just a lot of the content was... idk, it just went over my head. couldn't really follow the progression of the course though and not really sure what I learned lol.
12/29/2024
It's his first time teaching at WashU, and his teaching style was super engaging and pretty interesting for a intro pnp class. Half of classes are "analysis" days: lectures and reading responses before class. Other half are "theory" days: group presentations on scientific studies. Final essay was relatively easy and he offered a lot of support.
12/17/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Uhhhh don't really know what to say about this class. The readings and write-ups are tedious and some aren't that interesting at all. LOTS of stats and clinical info that would only be interesting if you have some basic knowledge of psych studies and the field. Nevertheless, there were some cool topics we covered.
5/28/2024
2-4 hrs/week
did i understand every complex concept? no! was the prof a quirky little dude YES
5/21/2024
2 or less hrs/week
fair amount of readings, but the responses to them were not graded harshly. some of the content was really difficult and abstract for an intro class, but most was interesting. had a lot more neuroscience than pnp 200, but was still definitely focused in cognitive science
5/18/2024
This is an easy class to get a good grade on with minimum effort. However, I recommend doing the readings (or just skim them as some can be pretty long) to be engaged during the lecture. He makes really good points and answers questions creatively. The "essays" all follow the same structure so with practice it will be easy to get good grades.
4/19/2024
Dr. Gulledge is very knowledgeable, and the course material was great! Class was centered around readings. No exams - just an essay every week-ish, sometimes graded P/F. Lectures could be slow-paced/hard to pay attention to, at times.
1/8/2024
This class teaches valuable critical thinking skills for psychology and cognitive science. Professor Towl really wants you to understand the material and is a very helpful professor who will answer all your questions thoroughly.
9/19/2013
took inquiry to cogsci with him - extremely clear and usually very interesting lecturer... definitely knows what he's talking about (i learned alot) and is good at engaging the class with intro discussions and random bits of funny knowledge about experiments. taught me to think more critically about cogsci methods. fair tests. highly recommend!
4/17/2012
Puts a TON on the slides, talks sort of quietly. Very interesting class and he's so good looking. Very endearing and brilliant person
3/26/2012
I do not recommend him at all. While he means well, he is too pretentious and smug to actually know if you're getting it. He is all over the place, disorganized in every way and is not especially all that smart to act how he does. I would consider waiting and taking any class he teaches with someone else.
2/1/2010
He is a really bad teacher, and he relies completely on his slow-working TA to grade everything. He makes everything he teaches seem far more complicated than it is.
12/20/2009
Class was interesting, but the material was difficult. Craver is very smart and gives interesting lectures, but sometimes he goes on long unrelated tangents which are hard to follow if you aren't well verse in the topic. A bit disorganized.
6/29/2006
I'm sure he's a great person, but Craver isn't the best professor. He often is disorganized in and out of class, to the detriment of his students.
11/8/2005
Dr. Craver is an incredibly interesting and likeable professor. His lectures are intriguing and he often encourages class discussion. The class material is difficult to engage in since it is mostly independent,however Dr. Craver is approachable for help.
12/27/2004
An easy going professor who really teaches you how to think. Professor Craver may be a little disorganized, but a great, helpful person to get to know
12/23/2004
craver is an incredibly funny, laid-back guy; great to have as a friend, but he does not belong in the classroom. our tests contained material we never could have guessed would have been on there, and he was extremely disorganized and wasted precious class time--i don't recommend him.
12/22/2004
Dr. Craver is creative, good at inspiring students, good at both lecturing and listening, incredibly helpful, funny, frighteningly intelligent, and an amazing professor. Teaches a very hard class, but is a fair grader.
7/25/2004