Template and tips for Assignment 1
Note that the following provides a guide for one way you can structure your critical analysis for Assignment 1. It is not the only way, but does demonstrate all aspects of what you are required to write. If you prefer to integrate these aspects together, be careful not to jump around too much between concepts in your writing, and supply details that are not relevant to the essential elements that you wish to convey. Be clear on these essential elements. They are the backbone of your assignment.
However you choose to structure your assignment, you need to clearly address all the essential elements, in a way that is:
• Clear — Your writing must be easily understandable by a lay reader, avoiding uncommon terminology and abbreviations.
• Concise — You must express your ideas efficiently, so that key points are not obscured by irrelevant material.
• Coherent — Your arguments and the conclusions you draw must be structured logically.
• Convincing — The overall “story” you tell must be compelling and believable.
Finally, if you decide to use this document as a template, ensure all parts that are in brackets [ ], text boxes, and comment bubbles are removed, and the margins are re-aligned.
[start with a cover page with your name and student number on it]

Introduction
[short summary of what you will be talking about in the body of your critique]
Cognitive Perspective
[brief introduction for what is going on cognitively with respect to Person A and Person B (i.e., what are the important cognitive aspects that are relevant for Person A in this scenario), as well as what the main differences between these people are]
Perception
[Brief analysis of the relevant perceptual elements of Person A and Person B’s experiences of the information in the scenario. Include the subtopics of Senses, Attention, Schemas and Processing where you see necessary. Remember to not just describe the aspect (e.g., “the user sees this”, or “hears that”), you need to go deeper (e.g., why does seeing this help the person process the information, what effect do schemas have on this sensory information, etc.). When writing this section, focus on comparing and contrasting the different perceptual experiences of both people: think about why they are experiencing different perceptual elements]
Memory
[analysis of the memory elements of Person A and Person B’s experiences of the information in the scenario. Include the subtopics of Working Memory, Long Term Memory, and Retrieval where you see necessary. Remember to not just describe the aspect (e.g., “the user remembers this”, or “encodes that”), you need to go deeper (e.g., why might this episodic memory get retrieved at this moment, how might errors in memory affect how the user acts in this situation, etc.). Also focus on comparing and contrasting the different experiences of both people with respect to memory: think about why they are experiencing different memory and recall elements]
Dual Process thinking
[analysis of how Dual Process theories of reasoning would account for how each person makes decisions and reasons about information in this scenario (thinking about how System 1 processes the information available, and how System 2 might process or use the available information differently). You should also discuss whether a different decision(/s) would be made depending on which system was employed by each person, and whether there are any differences between each person in terms of how they employ each system]
Cognitive Biases
[pick two or three cognitive biases that relate best to the argument you are making and the story you are presenting for each person (and the similarities/differences between them). Go beyond simply mentioning that a certain bias is affecting how they make a decision, describe how it is affecting their decision, how it is affecting how they are processing or retrieving information, and why they may be prone to it].
Shannon
[brief introduction for what aspects of Shannon’s theory you will be focusing on, and the main differences between Person A and Person B (and the information they deal with) from Shannon’s perspective]
Person A
[provide an argument for how Shannon’s theory can be applied to the scenario in Person A’s case. You can start by outlining 2 or 3 events and assigning (by reasoned estimation) the subjective probability that this event would occur, from the perspective of the person. Calculate the information value for each event. What does this mean for the surprise of the event? What does this mean for the person and their decision?]
Person B
[provide an argument for how Shannon’s theory can be applied to the scenario in Person B’s case. You can start by outlining 2 or 3 events and assigning (by reasoned estimation) the subjective probability that this event would occur, from the perspective of the person. Calculate the information value for each event. What does this mean for the surprise of the event? What does this mean for the person and their decision?]
Shannon’s theory in relation to cognitive elements
[critically analyse how well Shannon’s theory can account for the cognitive elements you discussed above for the scenario. Are there any aspects of perception, memory, dual process theory, or cognitive biases that it connects well with, given the events you have outlined above? Are there any that the theory can’t account well for?]
Dretske
[ brief introduction for what aspects of Dretske’s theory you will be focusing on, and the main differences between Person A and Person B (and the information they deal with) from Shannon’s perspective]
Person A
[provide an argument for how Dretske’s theory can be applied to the scenario in Person A’s case. You can start by outlining a proposition from the scenario (this can be the same or different than the event in your discussion of Shannon’s theory). Then, determine what the signal is, what the source is, and what the user’s k is. Is the proposition digitized, i.e., has it become information content? (Think about the required probability threshold for this) Explain why or why not? What beliefs have been acquired (if any)? Repeat this for at least one more proposition]
Person B
[provide an argument for how Dretske’s theory can be applied to the scenario in Person B’s case. You can start by outlining a proposition from the scenario (this can be the same or different than the event in your discussion of Shannon’s theory). Then, determine what the signal is, what the source is, and what the user’s k is. Is the proposition digitized, i.e., has it become information content? (Think about the required probability threshold for this) Explain why or why not? What beliefs have been acquired (if any)? Repeat this for at least one more proposition]
Dretske’s theory in relation to cognitive elements
[critically analyse how well Dretske’s theory can account for the cognitive elements you discussed above for the scenario. Are there any aspects of perception, memory, dual process theory, or cognitive biases that it connects quite well with? Are there any that it can’t account for?]
Compare, contrast and critique
[short summary of your above argument]
Theory that best aligns with my views
[describe your own views on information – you can use the questions about information we asked in the live lecture at the beginning of this module to help]
[state which theory (i.e., Shannon’s or Dretske’s) aligns best with your personal views on information and provide an argument to justify why]
Theory that best relates to cognitive aspects
[state which theory (i.e., Shannon’s or Dretske’s) aligns best with the cognitive aspects that you discussed for your scenario and provide an argument to justify why. It’s a good idea to draw on the relevant connections to cognition you identified in the last sub-sections in your discussion of Shannon’s and Dretske’s theories to help inform your argument]
Strength and weakness analysis
[analysis of strengths and weaknesses of Shannon’s theory. Think about how well it can help us understand how humans can use information to make decisions.]
[analysis of strengths and weaknesses of Dretske’s theory. Think about how well it can help us understand how humans can use information to make decisions.]
[compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of each theory with each other]
Expected decision outcome
[state what the decision outcome will be for Person A and Person B. Is the decision different for each user type? Why? Why do you expect each make this decision? How does the information contribute to this? How do the cognitive aspects discussed contribute to this?]
Conclusion
[brief summary and conclusion of your arguments above]