Kozlowski 383
- M, W
Office
Hours: M 11:30-1, R 9-11 or by appointment
Office: Kozlowski 353 - Office Phone: 275-2701
also
Fahy 108, ext. 7947
There will be five quizzes (on 2/4, 2/25, 3/18, 4/15
and the final on May 6th). Each student will be able to drop one of these test
scores other than the final; thus, there should be no need for makeup tests.
Assigned readings will be included in tests in one of two ways at the student's
option: a typed essay turned in the day of the test, or multiple-choice
questions on the test. There will also be a research paper (details later) that
will count as a quarter of the grade.
There is no specific grade for attendance, but
attendance at each class is very highly recommended. In my experience, class
attendance is a good predictor of the final grade in the course. January
21, February 18, and April 1 are holidays.
There are two required texts:
GOLD - Goldstein, E. B. (1999). Sensation and
Perception (6th ed.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
RAMA - Ramachandran, V. S., & Blakeslee, S. (1998). Phantoms in the Brain. NY: Quill.
It is recommended that the student bring GOLD to each class.
The topic of the paper will be on an illusion
(optical or otherwise) of the student's choosing. Topics must be approved, in
the format described, BEFORE the student begins significant research. A listing
of some potential topics, and more detail on the nature of the paper, will be
provided next week.
Here is a very old and representative optical illusion, the Ebbinghaus illusion. Which central circle appears bigger? Check your answer with a ruler...
Aim for a paper of about 6-10 pages of SUBSTANTIVE
material. Illustrations do not count as pages. In addition, at least THREE
viable sources will be used. NOTE: Plagiarism is the submission of other
people's words as your own. Even if you have cited your source for a fact or
observation, you must use quotation marks and give the page number if you are
also using the author's exact words. I will penalize and I may return ungraded a
paper with excessive plagiarism.
Click here
for a list of the illusion topics that are still open or taken
Relevant dates:
2/6. Topic for final paper must be submitted and
approved.
2/27. Sheet with three references is due. (Penalty:
5 points from paper grade for each week or partial week late.)
4/17. Final paper due. (Penalty: 5 points from paper
grade for each week or partial week late.)
5/6. Final exam.
SYLLABUS:
1. Introduction: What is perception and how do we know? GOLD 1
2. Nonhuman senses
3. Nerves and brains GOLD 2
4. Vision I: Light, eyes, and visual wiring. GOLD
3, RAMA 4
5. Vision II: Dividing vision into subsenses. GOLD
4, 5
6. Perceptual constancies and depth perception GOLD 6, 7
7. Perspectives on illusions GOLD
6, RAMA 5
8. Sound and Hearing GOLD 8, 9
9. Speech GOLD 10
10. Touch senses GOLD
11
11. Chemical senses GOLD
12, RAMA 9-10
12. Development of perception RAMA 11, 12
13. Diagnosis of perception GOLD
13
There will also be some assigned readings to be
announced.