How do we think and remember? These are fundamental questions for our everyday functioning. Find out more in this course.
The way we think and remember has a fundamental effect on virtually all facets of life. Understanding real-world problems starts with an understanding of human behavior and its underlying cognitive processes, and thinking and memory are at the heart of this endeavor.
In this course human thinking and memory will be addressed using a theoretical framework according to which decisions are made by either a fast automatic system, or a slow deliberate system. Several aspects of decision-making will be discussed on this basis, from heuristics and biases to overconfidence and risky choices. We will also address how we remember and how memory processes play a role in the way we think and the decisions we make. We will examine the reliability of our own memories and the memories of eyewitnesses and apply our knowledge in several real-world applications. The VU research profiles concerning human health and sustainability will further be discussed from these perspectives. The course will follow the framework of the book “Thinking Fast and Slow”, by Daniel Kahneman.
This course is suitable for students at different levels of their bachelor programme (1st, 2nd or 3rd year).
Note: this course is not open for psychology students because of overlap with their regular study.
For more information and course details, go to 'Curriculum' at the top of the page.