Dr. Leanne Willson
Associate Professor of Psychology
N132,
780-465-3500 x8083
Our email addresses are First Name dot Last Name at kingsu.ca.
Education
Ph.D. University of Alberta, 2001
B. A. University of Alberta, 1995
Courses I teach
PSYC 250 - Basic Psychological Processes
PSYC 340 - Social Psychology
PSYC 363 - Cognition
PSYC 465 - Learning and Memory
Publications
Dawson, M. R. W., Willson, L. R., & Medler, D. A. (under review). A heuristic stopping rule for the k-means cluster analysis of artificial neural networks. Special issue on Data Mining in the Annals of Information Systems Journal.
Yaremchuk, V., Willson, L. R., Spetch, M. L., & Dawson, M. R. W. (2005) The implications of null patterns and output unit activation functions on simulation studies of learning: A case study of patterning. Learning and Motivation, 36, 1, 88-103.
Dawson, M. R. W., Medler, D., McCaughan, D. B., Willson, L. R. & Carbonaro, M. (2000) Using extra output learning to insert a symbolic theory into a connectionist network. Minds and Machines, 10, 171 201.
Sinha, B. K., Willson, L. R., & Watson, D. C. (2000). Coping with stress among students from Canada and India. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 32.
Medler, D., McCaughan, D. B., Dawson, M. R. W., & Willson, L. R. (1999). When local isn’t enough: Extracting distributed rules from networks. In The Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.
Watson, D. C., Willson, L. R., & Sinha, B. K. (1998). Assessing the dimensional structure of coping: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Stress Management, 5, 77-81.
Related Links
Psychology Major Program | Psychology Minor Program | Course Schedule | Academic Calendar
Basic Psychological Processes, Every Year, Fall 3(3-0-0)
Principles and development of perception, motivation, learning and thinking and their relationship to the psychic functioning of the person. Initial attempt to evaluate various approaches to psychology. Students with credit in PSYC 255 cannot receive credit in PSYC 250.
Social Psychology, Every Year, Winter 3(3-0-0)
An introduction to the relationship between individuality and social context. The course covers the history of the field and its relationship to disciplines such as sociology and anthropology. 'Classic' social psychological experiments will be reviewed and experimental, evolutionary, and cross-cultural approaches compared. Other topics include: social cognition and perception, authority and obedience, conformity, depersonalization and institutionalization, attitudes and prejudice, attraction and aggression, normatively, ideology, and socialization and enculturation. Same as SOCI 340.
Prerequisites: PSYC 250 or 251 or three credits in sociology at the introductory level
Cognition, 2009-10, Fall 3(3-0-0)
An exploration of the activities of the mind, using a variety of approaches. Topics include attention, pattern recognition, language development and perception, problem-solving, concept formation, judgment and decision-making. Basic concepts will also be applied to issues such as dyslexia, deafness, primate language, artificial intelligence and creativity.
Prerequisites: PSYC 250 or 251
Learning and Memory, 2010-11, Winter 3(3-0-3)
This course examines how behavior is affected by experience (learning) and how organisms retain those experiences so that they can affect behavior in the future (memory). Theories of learning, such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and imitation, are discussed as well as mechanisms for storing and retrieving learned information. Through lectures and laboratory experiences, students will engage in and challenge the methods and logic of these areas of psychology.
Prerequisites: PSYC 250 or 251, and PSYC 305 Corequisites: PSYC 302
