Christoph Hölscher: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2017

Name Prof. Dr. Christoph Hölscher
FieldCognitive Science
Address
Chair of Cognitive Science
ETH Zürich, RZ E 23
Clausiusstrasse 59
8092 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
Telephone+41 44 632 31 96
E-mailchoelsch@ethz.ch
DepartmentHumanities, Social and Political Sciences
RelationshipFull Professor

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
363-1065-00LDesign Thinking: Human-Centred Solutions to Real World Challenges Restricted registration - show details
Due to didactic reasons, the number of participants is limited to 30.

All interested students are invited to apply for this course by sending a by sending a short motivation letter until the 18 of September 2017 to Florian Rittiner (Link).

Additionally please enroll via mystudies. Please note that all students are put on the waiting list and that your current position on the waiting list is irrelevant, as places will be assigned after the first lecture on the basis of your motivation letter and commitment for the class.
5 credits5GA. Cabello Llamas, F. Rittiner, S. Brusoni, C. Hölscher, M. Meboldt
AbstractThe goal of this course is to engage students in a multidisciplinary collaboration to tackle real world problems. Following a design thinking approach, students will work in teams to solve a set of design challenges that are organized as a one-week, a three-week, and a final six-week project in collaboration with an external project partner.

Information and application: http://sparklabs.ch/
ObjectiveDuring the course, students will learn about different design thinking methods and tools. This will enable them to:
- Generate deep insights through the systematic observation and interaction of key stakeholders (empathy).
- Engage in collaborative ideation with a multidisciplinary team.
- Rapidly prototype and iteratively test ideas and concepts by using various materials and techniques.
ContentThe purpose of this course is to equip the students with methods and tools to tackle a broad range of problems. Following a Design Thinking approach, the students will learn how to observe and interact with key stakeholders in order to develop an in-depth understanding of what is truly important and emotionally meaningful to the people at the center of a problem. Based on these insights, the students ideate on possible solutions and immediately validated them through quick iterations of prototyping and testing using different tools and materials. The students will work in multidisciplinary teams on a set of challenges that are organized as a one-week, a three-week, and a final six-week project with an external project partner. In this course, the students will learn about the different Design Thinking methods and tools that are needed to generate deep insights, to engage in collaborative ideation, rapid prototyping and iterative testing.

Design Thinking is a deeply human process that taps into the creative abilities we all have, but that get often overlooked by more conventional problem solving practices. It relies on our ability to be intuitive, to recognize patterns, to construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional, and to express ourselves through means beyond words or symbols. Design Thinking provides an integrated way by incorporating tools, processes and techniques from design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences to identify, define and address diverse challenges. This integration leads to a highly productive collaboration between different disciplines.

For more information and the application visit: http://sparklabs.ch/
Prerequisites / NoticeOpen mind, ability to manage uncertainty and to work with students from various background. Class attendance and active participation is crucial as much of the learning occurs through the work in teams during class. Therefore, attendance is obligatory for every session. Please also note that the group work outside class is an essential element of this course, so that students must expect an above-average workload.

Please note that the class is designed for full-time MSc students. Interested MAS students need to send an email to Florian Rittiner (frittiner@ethz.ch) to learn about the requirements of the class.
851-0252-01LHuman-Computer Interaction: Cognition and Usability Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 30.

Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-INFK, D-ITET
3 credits2SI. Barisic, C. Hölscher, S. Ognjanovic
AbstractThis seminar introduces theory and methods in human-computer interaction and usability. Cognitive Science provides a theoretical framework for designing user interfaces as well as a range of methods for assessing usability (user testing, cognitive walkthrough, GOMS). The seminar will provide an opportunity to experience some of the methods in applied group projects.
ObjectiveThis seminar will introduce key topics, theories and methodology in human-computer interaction (HCI) and usability. Presentations will cover basics of human-computer interaction and selected topics like mobile interaction, adaptive systems, human error and attention. A focus of the seminar will be on getting to know evaluation techniques in HCI. Students form work groups that first familiarize themselves with a select usability evaluation method (e.g. user testing, GOMS, task analysis, heuristic evaluation, questionnaires or Cognitive Walkthrough). They will then apply the methods to a human-computer interaction setting (e.g. an existing software or hardware interface) and present the method as well as their procedure and results to the plenary. Active participation is vital for the success of the seminar, and students are expected to contribute to presentations of foundational themes, methods and results of their chosen group project. In order to obtain course credit a written essay / report will be required (details to be specified in the introductory session of the course).
851-0252-02LIntroduction to Cognitive Science Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 70.

Particularly suitable for students of D-ITET
3 credits2VC. Hölscher, V. Schinazi, T. Thrash
AbstractThe lectures provide an overview of the foundations of cognitive science and investigate processes of human cognition, especially perception, learning, memory and reasoning. This includes a comparison of cognitive processes in humans and technical systems, especially with respect to knowledge acquisition, knowledge representation and usage in information processing tasks.
ObjectiveCognitive Science views human cognition as information processing and provides an inter-disciplinary integration of approaches from cognitive psychology, informatics (e.g., artificial intelligence), neuroscience and anthropology among others. The lectures provide an overview of basic mechanisms of human information processing and various application domains. A focus will be on matters of knowledge acquisition, representation and usage in humans and machines. Models of human perception, reasoning, memory and learning are presented and students will learn about experimental methods of investigating and understanding human cognitive processes and representation structures.
851-0252-03LCognition in Architecture - Designing Orientation and Navigation for Building Users Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 40.

Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH
3 credits2SV. Schinazi, B. Emo Nax, C. Hölscher
AbstractHow can behavioral and cognitive science inform architecture? This project-oriented seminar investigates contributions of cognitive science to architectural design with an emphasis on orientation and navigation in complex buildings and urban settings. It includes theories on spatial memory and decision-making as well as hands-on observations of behavior in real and virtual reality.
ObjectiveTaking the perspectives of building users (occupants and visitors) is vital for a human-centered design approach. Students will learn about relevant theory and methods in cognitive science and environmental psychology that can be used to understand human behavior in built environments. The foundations of environmental psychology and human spatial cognition will be introduced. A focus of the seminar will be on how people perceive their surroundings, how they orient in a building, how they memorize the environment and how they find their way from A to B. Students will also learn about a range of methods including real-world observation, virtual reality experiments, eye-tracking and behavior simulation for design. Students will reflect on the roles of designers and other stakeholders with respect to human-centered design and an evidence-based design perspective. The seminar is geared towards a mix of students from architecture / planning, engineering, computer science and behavioral science as well as anybody interested in the relation between design and cognition. Architecture students can obtain course credit in "Vertiefungsfach" or "Wahlfach"
851-0252-04LBehavioral Studies Colloquium Information 2 credits2KM. Kapur, H.‑D. Daniel, D. Helbing, C. Hölscher, R. Schubert, C. Stadtfeld, E. Stern, E. Ziegler
AbstractThis colloquium offers an opportunity for students to discuss their ongoing research and scientific ideas in the behavioral sciences, both at the micro- and macro-levels of cognitive, behavioral and social science. It also offers an opportunity for students from other disciplines to discuss their research ideas in relation to behavioral science. The colloquium also features invited research talks.
ObjectiveStudents know and can apply autonomously up-to-date investigation methods and techniques in the behavioral sciences. They achieve the ability to develop their own ideas in the field and to communicate their ideas in oral presentations and in written papers. The credits will be obtained by a written report of approximately 10 pages.
ContentThis colloquium offers an opportunity for students to discuss their ongoing research and scientific ideas in the behavioral sciences, both at the micro- and macro-levels of cognitive, behavioral and social science. It also offers an opportunity for students from other disciplines to discuss their ideas in so far as they have some relation to behavioral science. The possible research areas are wide and may include theoretical as well as empirical approaches in Social Psychology and Research on Higher Education, Sociology, Modeling and Simulation in Sociology, Decision Theory and Behavioral Game Theory, Economics, Research on Learning and Instruction, Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science. Ideally the students (from Bachelor, Master, Ph.D. and Post-Doc programs) have started to start work on their thesis or on any other term paper.
Course credit can be obtained either based on a talk in the colloquium plus a written essay, or by writing an essay about a topic related to one of the other talks in the course. Students interested in giving a talk should contact the course organizers (Ziegler, Kapur) before the first session of the semester. Priority will be given to advanced / doctoral students for oral presentations. The course credits will be obtained by a written report of approximately 10 pages. The colloquium also serves as a venue for invited talks by researchers from other universities and institutions related to behavioral and social sciences.
851-0252-05LResearch Colloquium Cognitive Science Restricted registration - show details
Prerequisite: Participants should be involved in research in the cognitive science group.
2 credits2KC. Hölscher, V. Schinazi, T. Thrash
AbstractThe colloquium provides a forum for researchers and graduate students in cognitive science to present/discuss their ongoing projects as well as jointly discuss current publications in cognitive science and related fields. A subset of the sessions will include invited external visitors presenting their research. Participants of this colloquium are expected to be involved in active research group.
ObjectiveGraduate student train and improve their presentation skills based on their own project ideas, all participants stay informed on current trends in the field and have the opportunity for networking with invited scholars.
851-0252-08LEvidence-Based Design: Methods and Tools For Evaluating Architectural Design Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 40
Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH
3 credits2SB. Emo Nax, M. Brösamle, C. Hölscher
AbstractStudents are taught a variety of analytic techniques that can be used to evaluate architectural design. The concept of evidence-based design is introduced, and complemented with theoretical background on space syntax and spatial cognition. This is a project-oriented course, students implement a range of methods on a sample project. The course is tailored for architecture design students.
ObjectiveThe course aims to teach students how to evaluate a design project from the perspective of the end user. The concept of evidence-based design is introduced through a series of case studies. Students are given a theoretical background in space syntax and spatial cognition, with a view to applying this knowledge during the design process. The course covers a range of methods including visibility analysis, network analysis, conducting real-world observations, and virtual reality for architectural design. Students apply these methods to a case study of their choice, which can be at building or urban scale. For students taking a B-ARCH or M-ARCH degree, this can be a completed or ongoing design studio project. The course gives students the chance to implement the methods iteratively and explore how best to address the needs of the eventual end-user during the design process.

The course is tailored for students studying for B-ARCH and M-ARCH degrees. As an alternative to obtaining D-GESS credit, architecture students can obtain course credit in "Vertiefungsfach" or "Wahlfach".
851-0252-10LResearch Seminar in Behavioural Finance Restricted registration - show details
Does not take place this semester.
Number of participants limited to 25

Particularly suitable for students of D-MTEC
2 credits2SC. Hölscher
AbstractIn this seminar, students will study cognitive processes, behaviour and the underlying biological response to financial decisions. Research methods such as asset market experiments, lottery games, risk preference assessment, psychometrics, neuroimaging and psychophysiology of decision processes will be discussed. Financial bubbles and crashes will be the core interest.
ObjectiveThis course has four main goals:
1) To learn about the most important topics within Behavioural Finance
2) To learn how to conduct behavioural studies, design experiments, plan data collection and experimental tasks
3) To learn about causes of market crashes, factors that influence them, traders' behaviour before, during and after financial crises
4) To investigate a topic of interest, related to behaviour of traders during market crashes.

Additionally, the course gives to the students the opportunity to practice oral presentations, communication skills, report writing and critical thinking.
ContentThe course provides an overview of the most important topics in Behavioural Finance. First part of the course involves reading scientific articles, which will be discussed during the seminar. Therefore, attendance is required to pass the course. Each week, a student volunteer will present a paper and the presentation will be followed by a discussion. After obtaining sufficient knowledge of the field, students will select a topic for a behavioural study of their own. The final assignment consists of preparing and conducting a small behavioural study/experiment, analysing the data and presenting the project in the final meeting of the class. Each student will write a scientific report of their study.
851-0609-08LResearch Seminar in Experimental Social Sciences and Humanities
If you are interested in presenting in the seminar, please contact Jan Schmitz (Link), and state your preferred date of presentation, the title of the presentation and whether the presentation is a design presentation or a full paper presentation
0 credits1SJ. Schmitz, M. Grieder, C. Hölscher, M. Schonger, R. Schubert, C. Waibel, S. Wehrli
AbstractThe aim of the seminar is to establish a research and networking platform for researchers conducting social science experiments at the ETH and to offer an outlet to present designs for laboratory and field experiments before data collection. Presentations of first study results and working papers are also welcome.
ObjectiveThe research seminar is open to all students, scientific staff, and faculty interested in experimental research in the areas of economics, sociology and psychology. The aim of the seminar is to establish a research and networking platform for researchers conducting experiments at the ETH and to offer an outlet to present designs for laboratory and field experiments before data collection. Presentations of first study results and working papers are also welcome.

Objective: Establish a research and networking platform for researchers conducting experiments at the ETH and to offer an outlet to present designs for laboratory and field experiments before data collection. Presentations of first study results and working papers are also welcome.