Course syllabus

Kognition och risk
Cognition and Risk

EXTA90, 5 credits, G1 (First Cycle)

Valid for: 2023/24
Faculty: Faculty of Engineering, LTH
Decided by: PLED C/D
Date of Decision: 2023-04-18

General Information

Main field: Technology.
Compulsory for: R1
Language of instruction: The course will be given in Swedish

Aim

The course aims to give the student a basic understanding of how human cognition functions, and how our cognitive capabilities affect judgement and decision making in the risk domain. The course will lay the foundation for the students to be able to, in later courses and in their profession, develop and design products, processes and systems, related to risk, safety and crisis management, that take human cognition into account.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

Competences and skills
For a passing grade the student must

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

Contents

The course introduces some basic aspects of human cognition, such as perception, attention, and memory. This is used to introduce and explain cognitive mechanisms underlying judgements of probability (e.g. "availability bias" and "representativeness bias"), how we recall them (e.g. "hindsight bias") and evaluations (e.g. framing and sunk costs). We will also briefly address how both emotions and context affect judgements. One course objective is to make students aware of the variance in how individuals perceive and understand (for example) probability estimates and risk assessments. This is done through both practical and theoretical learning activities. We will address aspects such as numerosity, mental models and calibration (e.g. based on feedback mechanisms). We will also discuss the variability in not only laymen but also expert judgements, and how this in part can be counteracted by structured assessment templates and less information. We will discuss benefits and drawbacks of both simple and more complex ways of evaluating and deciding.

Examination details

Grading scale: TH - (U,3,4,5) - (Fail, Three, Four, Five)
Assessment: Passed written exam, passed laboratory work, and passed group work.

The examiner, in consultation with Disability Support Services, may deviate from the regular form of examination in order to provide a permanently disabled student with a form of examination equivalent to that of a student without a disability.

Parts
Code: 0122. Name: Examination .
Credits: 3. Grading scale: TH. Assessment: Passed examination. Contents: Graded written individual examination.
Code: 0222. Name: Laboratory Work.
Credits: 0,5. Grading scale: UG. Assessment: Successfully completed laboratory work
Code: 0322. Name: Group Work.
Credits: 1,5. Grading scale: UG. Assessment: Successfully completed group work

Admission

The number of participants is limited to: No

Reading list

Contact and other information

Course coordinator: Annika Wallin, annika.wallin@lucs.lu.se
Examinator: Annika Wallin, annika.wallin@lucs.lu.se
Course homepage: https://www.fil.lu.se/utbildning/utbildningsutbud/kog/