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LD1004 Psychology and Critical Thinking 2.0 credits

Administer About course

Being able to interpret and analyze news, reports, and research is crucial for making good long-term decisions. Therefore, understanding how different cognitive biases and thought traps can affect your judgments is essential. In this course, you will learn to analyze how cognitive biases and thought traps can affect your assessments of information. You learn about practical strategies to deal with these pitfalls of thinking to make better decisions.

Choose semester and course offering

Choose semester and course offering to see current information and more about the course, such as course syllabus, study period, and application information.

Application

For course offering

Autumn 2024 Start 28 Oct 2024 single courses students

Application code

10181

Headings with content from the Course syllabus LD1004 (Spring 2023–) are denoted with an asterisk ( )

Content and learning outcomes

Course contents

  • Lectures on how people assess information and how different cognitive bias and thought traps influence these assessments.
  • Presentation of key concepts about how people's interpretation  of information is influenced by social context, pre-understanding and earlier experiences.
  • Practice on identifying bias and thought traps when we interpret news feeds, reports and research.

Intended learning outcomes

After passing the course, the student should be able to:

  1. Explain central psychological concepts connected to how people assess information and understand how cognitive bias and thought traps influence these assessments.
  2. Analyse underlying theories of how people validate and assess different types of information and understand how different contexts could influence these assessments.
  3. Give an account of and analyse strategies that are used at marketing, news reporting and public opinion formation from a psychological perspective and be able to apply basic strategies to respond to such communication strategies.

Literature and preparations

Specific prerequisites

General entry requirements only

Recommended prerequisites

No information inserted

Equipment

No information inserted

Literature

The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing and correcting misinformation by Rainer Greifeneder, Mariela E. Jaffé, Eryn J. Newman, and Norbert Schwarz. ISBN 9780367271831 The book is available for free via google books and the KTH library

Examination and completion

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

Grading scale

P, F

Examination

  • INLA - Assignment A, 1.0 credits, grading scale: P, F
  • INLB - Assignment B, 1.0 credits, grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Opportunity to complete the requirements via supplementary examination

No information inserted

Opportunity to raise an approved grade via renewed examination

No information inserted

Examiner

Profile picture Stefan Stenbom

Ethical approach

  • All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
  • In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
  • In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Further information

Course room in Canvas

Registered students find further information about the implementation of the course in the course room in Canvas. A link to the course room can be found under the tab Studies in the Personal menu at the start of the course.

Offered by

ITM/Learning in Engineering Sciences

Main field of study

Technology and Learning

Education cycle

First cycle

Add-on studies

No information inserted

Contact

Marcus Lithander, mlit@kth.se