Psyc 111 Perception

Spring 2008 Syllabus

Time and place:

T-Th 9:00-10:20 AM, ANNS 100

Instructor: Sarah Allred, sallred@psych

Rm 327C, 3401 Walnut (C-Wing)

Office hour: Wednesdays, 3-4 pm (and by appt), Rm 326C

Teaching Assistant: Julian Lim, julianzl@sas

Office hour: Tuesdays, 11-12 pm (and by appt) Solomon, Rm C6

Websites:

Main website: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~sallred/Psyc111Website/Homepage.html

Announcements, relevant documents, and grades will be posted on Blackboard (https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/).

Required Reading:

(1) Text: B. Goldstein, Sensation and Perception, 7^th edition.

(2) Additional readings posted at website.

Big Questions:

Why do things sound, look and feel the way they do?

What do our senses tell us about reality?

How can we measure our perceptual abilities, and what do our measurements tell us?

Linking hypotheses: how do we relate what happens in the world to physiology in the brain and to our phenomenal perception?

Specific Topics:

History of ideas in perception

Psychophysical methods

Signal detection theory

Smell and taste

Touch, temperature and pain

Sound (ear, auditory localization, pitch perception, language perception, music)

Vision (eye, spatial vision, object perception, depth and size, color, motion)

Attention

Illusions

Animal vision and evolution

Exams:

Exams will combine multiple choice, short answer, and short essay. Some questions may require basic algebra and simple computations (but not a calculator). If a multiple choice question seems unclear, you may annotate it for possible credit. On each exam, there will be several questions with two parts. Part 1 will require solving a quantitative problem and Part 2 will require a descriptive answer. You may choose to answer Part 1 OR Part 2 for full credit. I offer this choice on some questions in recognition that some students find solving equations easier than writing essays. All exams are closed book. You may bring one 3x5 card (writing on both sides ok) to each exam to help you remember names, lists and formulas. You may bring one card to the final exam as well. Please use ink on exams. There will be three midterm exams and a final. There will be NO makeup exams. However, you will be allowed to drop your lowest midterm exam. There will be one review session scheduled prior to each exam.

Midterm exam #1: Thursday, February 14^th, 2008 (Lectures 1-8)

Midterm exam #2: Tuesday, March 25^th, 2008 (Lectures 9-16)

Midterm exam #3: Thursday, April 17^th, 2008 (Lectures 17 – 24)

Final: Tuesday, May 13^th 9-11 am.

Assignments:

(1) Reading assignments are posted at the website on the calendar.

(2) Regular homework assignments will also be given during the semester. These will NOT be graded. Homework assignments are provided solely for you, to indicate whether you are keeping up with the course material. Answers will be posted on Blackboard one week after they are distributed in class. Exam questions will be similar in style and content to homework problems, so it is to your advantage to work through the homework problems. Although the homework will not be graded for credit, you may submit your homework (via Blackboard) before the answers are posted. In the possible event that you are very close to a grade border, regular homework submission will indicate to me that you have kept up with course material over the semester.

Grading:

Together, the midterms are worth 60%, and the final is worth 40%. To ameliorate the effect of a single bad test day, I will drop your lowest midterm score. Thus, your two highest midterm scores will each contribute 30% of your grade, and your final will contribute 40%. In previous years, the grade distribution has had the following approximate form: A+ to A-: top 25-30% of the class; B+ to B-, next 35% of the class; C+ to C-, next 30-35% of the class; D+ to D, next 5% of the class; F: 0-2% of the class.

Academic integrity:

Penn’s policy regarding academic integrity must be followed at all times. If you are not sure whether a particular activity is cheating (or plagiarism), please ask us, consult the Student Handbook, or see http://www.college.upenn.edu/rules/integrity.html. Please remember: you are obliged to report cheating to the instructor if you become aware of it.