Albert Einstein's blackboard (May 1931), © History of Science Museum, University of Oxford
About this course
How are we able to focus on one thing rather than something else? Why do we remember some things and forget others? What makes human beings intelligent? This course offers the opportunity to explore these questions and more through an introduction to Cognitive Psychology, a key area within Psychology which examines how the brain works.
You will learn about the role of attention as a fundamental cognitive process and how it relates to short and long-term memory; you will examine the phenomenon of learning, looking at learning theories and neuroimaging evidence to discover how learning occurs in the brain; and you will investigate the role of cognition in language, sleep, and consciousness. Throughout the course you will learn about the methods involved in studying Psychology and how to think critically about empirical research.
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology offers a solid foundation for future study in Psychology and provides an opportunity to hear about cutting-edge research taking place here at the University of Oxford.
Course Convenor: Dr Samuel Recht
Sam is a cognitive scientist interested in how we think about our own thinking. His work explores how attention, memory, and confidence interact to shape what we learn and why we seek out new information. While it might seem obvious that paying attention should make us more confident, research shows that this isn’t always true. Sam investigates why our sense of confidence can sometimes diverge from reality, and what this reveals about how the mind works. Another area of research is human curiosity. Curiosity is apparent in our daily distractions, from our appetite for solving puzzles to our search for answers to trivia questions, and our desire for suspense in literature. Curiosity can be defined as a craving for information for the sake of knowing, distinct from information gathered to achieve a pre-defined goal. Sam’s work explores how confidence and curiosity interact, and how this interaction shapes learning and adaptation. His research combines behavioural experiments, psychophysics, and neuroimaging methods (MEG/EEG).
At the University of Oxford, Sam is a Departmental Lecturer in Biological Sciences, teaching for both the Department for Continuing Education and Pembroke College. He is also a member of the Computational Neurology Group in the Department of Experimental Psychology. Sam completed his PhD in 2019, focusing on the relationship between attention and metacognition, and previously held a Fyssen Research Fellowship at Oxford.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you will:
- Be able to demonstrate understanding of the key issues and topics within Cognitive Psychology, including current areas of research.
- Be able to demonstrate understanding of the psychological and biological methods behind Cognitive Psychology.
- Be able to evaluate critically empirical findings from psychological research.
Who is this course suitable for?
This course would suit students from a range of disciplines who are interested in the scientific study of mental processes. Prior formal academic experience in Psychology is not required.
Dates and availability
Available as a Residential or Online course on the following dates:
Session 1: 29th June - 17th July 2026
Get in touch
If you have any questions, or would like to know more, please get in touch via the link below.