| Meeting Times:
Lecture: 9:00-9:50 MWF Laboratory: 8:00-10:50 R | Instructor: Dr. John H. Krantz |
| Text: Sensation and Perception, 4th ed.
Coren, Ward, and Enns and readings on reserve. | Office Hours: TBD
Office: Science Hall 112 Phone: x 7307 |
Broadly speaking, the study of sensation and perception is the study of how an organism's brain knows what is going on around it. To help you appreciate the questions that scientists studying sensation and perception struggle with, think of the captain of a sea ship. What does that person need to know? The captain must be able to detect obstacles, storms, other ships, and weather conditions such as extreme heat that may effect the operation and safety of the ship. To perform these functions, the captain has radar, sonar and other systems to gain information about the outside environment. In addition, the captain must know about the operating condition of the ship, such as fuel level and temperature of the engine. Sensors have been placed in the ship to give the captain the needed information. In some sense you can consider your brain, or mind, as the captain of a ship. In the same manner as the captain, your brain does not have direct access to the information necessary to behave in an intelligent and effective manner. Thus, our sensory systems such as vision and audition are like the radar which gives your brain necessary information about the outside world. You also have sensory systems that obtain information about the state of your body such as your position relative to the ground.
The objective of this course is to develop your understanding of how our sensory systems operate to gain this necessary information. We will emphasize those senses that gain information about the outside world. One of the difficulties with teaching Sensation and Perception is that we all intuitively "know" what we see, hear, etc. In addition, we have an implicit trust that what our senses tell us about is physical reality. This belief is held despite most people having extensive experience with illusions which illustrate the almost tentative nature of our information about the outside world. You will have to leave many of these intuitions behind, because there are many surprises in how our sensory systems actually operate.
In addition to the class lectures, we will be performing laboratory experiments. These experiments are important both to illustrate important phenomena of this field, and also to help you understand how the current understanding of the sensory systems has been gained.
Material covered in any course that you take here at Hanover College represents more than a collection of facts or ideas loosely held together by the course title. There is an intricate structure to what is included and what is not included which makes that course content distinct from other courses. I find, however, that in the heat of a term students and faculty get caught up in the particulars of the day's lecture or fulfilling the next assignment and sometimes lose sight of how the specifics of the day fit into the overall structure of the course. It is a "lose sight of the forest for the trees" type of phenomenon. In order to help you understand and keep track of the overall structure of this course, I have prepared the following course outline. The reading assignments are listed within the outline so that you can see how the daily lectures relate to the overall structure of the course.
Note: In addition to readings from the text and some articles on reserve, there are readings on the Internet. The first lab period will cover how to get to these readings.
Date | Days | Topic | Reading | ||
| I. Background | |||||
| Jan 6 | M | A. Philosophical Basis of Sensation and Perception | pp. 4-16 | ||
| Jan 8-10 | W,F | B. Biological Basis of Sensation and Perception
Review Structure of Neuron: http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/neurotut.html | pp. 640-646 | ||
| II. Audition | |||||
| Jan 13-15 | M,W |
Fourier Analysis Tutorial: http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/fourier/ | pp. 181-212 | ||
| Jan 17-22 | F,M,W | B. Perceptual Functions of Audition | pp. 213-252;407-442; CD1 | ||
| Jan 24 | F | Examination #1 | |||
| III. Vision | |||||
| Jan 27-Feb 3 | M,W,F,M |
Receptive Fields Tutorial: http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/receptive/ | pp. 65-102 | ||
| Feb 5-7 | W,F | B. Fundamental Limits of Visual Functioning | pp. 103-118 | ||
| Feb 10-13 | M,W,R(Lab) |
Discussion (Filtering) | pp. 118-145;365-406; CD2 | ||
| Feb 14 | F | Examination #2 | |||
| Feb 17-21 | M,W,F | D. Chromatic Aspects of Vision | pp. 145-180 | ||
| Mar 3-5 | M,W | E. Motion Perception | pp. 453-469; CD3 | ||
| Mar 7-10 | F,M |
Vision and Art Tutorial: http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/art/ | pp. 328-357 | ||
| Mar 12-14 | W,F |
Parts of Vision and Art Tutorial | pp. 483-510 | ||
| Mar 17 | M | Examination #3 | |||
| IV. Other Senses | |||||
| Mar 19-26 | W,F,M,W | A. Skin Senses | pp. 285-326 | ||
| Mar 28-31 | F,M | B. Chemical Senses (Gustation and Olfaction | pp. 253-284 | ||
| Apr 2-7 | W,F,M | V. Interaction of Senses (Orientation as an Example) | pp. 469-478; CD4 | ||
| VI. Perceptual Development | |||||
| Apr 9 | W | A. Development of Sensory Processes | pp. 549-578 | ||
| Apr 11 | F | B. Development of Sensory Integration | pp. 579-618 | ||
| Apr 14-18 | Final Examination (During Final Examination Period) | ||||
1 Yost, W. A. & Guzman, S. J. (1996). Auditory processing of sound sources: Is there an echo in here? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5, 125-131.
2 Peterson, M. A. (1994). Object recognition processes can and do operate before figure-ground organization. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 105-111
3 Lu, Z. & Sperling, G. (1996). Three systems for visual motion perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5, 44-53.
4 Stern, R. M. & Koch, K. L. (1996). Motion sickness and differential susceptibility. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5, 115-120.
In all types of inquiry, the knowledge gained is
fundamentally dependent upon the methods used to gain that knowledge.
Therefore, the laboratory portion of this course is set up to
allow you to both experience some fundamental phenomena and also
to gain experience in how scientific questions are asked, answers
sought and discoveries communicated. Below is the schedule of
laboratories that are part of the course. Some of the laboratories
serve the purpose of illustrating important concepts in the class
that take more time than a one hour class allows. These laboratories
do not have any assignment associated with them and are indicated
by the word "Demonstration" following the description
of the laboratory. Other laboratories are designed primarily
to introduce you to the methods of sensation and perception and
will only have problems due on the lab period following the session
indicated by the word "Problems." Other laboratories
are designed to serve multiple purposes but one of the most important
goal is developing skills in scientific communication. These
laboratories have reports due the laboratory session following
the session indicated by the word "Report."
| Date | Laboratory Topic | Assignment Type |
| Jan 9 | Psychophysical Methods I: Absolute Thresholds (Read Ch 2) | Problems |
| Jan 16 | Hearing Out Harmonics | Report (Method and Results) |
| Jan 23 | Psychophysical Methods II: Psychophysical Laws (Read Ch 2) | Problems |
| Jan 30 | Optics | Demonstration |
| Feb 6 | Blakemore-Sutton Effect I/Project Proposal Due | |
| Feb 13 | Blakemore-Sutton Effect II | Report |
| Feb 20 | Color Vision Laboratory | Problems |
| Mar 6 | Stereoscopic Size Constancy I | |
| Mar 13 | Stereoscopic Size Constancy | Report |
| Mar 20 | Müller-Lyer Illusion | Report |
| Mar 27 | Skin Senses | Problems |
| Apr 3 | Off | |
| Apr 10 | FINAL LAB PROJECT REPORT DUE/CLASS PRESENTATION |
Periodically throughout the term there will be short
homework assignments required. The homework will primarily be
problems of a type covered in the class during which the homework
is assigned. The homework will usually require basic math skills
including simple trigonometry. Only math that is required for
entrance into the college is assumed and the procedures will be
reviewed in the class. The purpose of the homework is to develop
skills in using math to solve problems and make predictions to
be tested. Each set of problems will be due at the beginning
of the next class period. You should be prepared to present the
problem to the class and discuss your solution. The homework problems
will be worth a total of 100 points. You will be graded only
on the problem you present. If you are not ready to present the
problem when called on, then you will get a 0 for this assignment.
There will be four examinations. The examinations will be a combination format of short answer items (such as identification) and longer essays. You should expect that the type of work required in the homework assignments will be required on the examinations. All examinations will be of a similar format. Also, all examinations will be cumulative because all later material builds on or relates to earlier material. Since each successive examination covers more material, each successive examination will be worth more according to the following chart.
| Exam #1 | 50 points |
| Exam #2 | 100 points |
| Exam #3 | 150 points |
| Exam #4 | 200 points |
Problems. The problems will be simple data analysis based on the results of the laboratory. The analysis may require simple statistical procedures such as a mean or a graphical presentation of the results. Each set of problems is worth 25 points for a total of 100 points.
Reports. For three of the laboratories, you will be required to write up the experiment in the form of a report. The format for the laboratory report, similar to the American Psychological Association format used on this campus in courses such as Psychology 325, will be covered in a separate document. All laboratory reports are due exactly one week after you perform the experiment. A letter grade will be subtracted for each partial day that the laboratory report is late. This lateness policy holds for the final project as well. The first laboratory report will be worth 25 points. The second, third and fourth laboratory reports are worth 50 points for a total of 175 points.
Your own Laboratory Project. In this class
we have the great fortune of having available an excellent software
package that can be used to perform actual experiments on visual
capabilities. You will, with a partner, devise an experiment
using this software. Do not get confined by the titles of the
experiment. The range of possible experiments is great and go
well beyond what we might use in our laboratories. A short proposal
for your experiment is required to be submitted on February
6. You will then collect the data and prepare both a written
and oral presentation of your experiment. The written laboratory
report will be done separately by each lab partner, but the oral
presentation (20 minutes total) will be a combined effort. The
written report is due April 10 and the oral presentations
will be on April 10. The lab report will be worth 100
points and the oral presentation will be worth 50 points for a
total of 150 points.
A few years ago, Hanover College established a computer
network that is local to the campus and established links to the
Internet which stretches around the world. The implications and
possibilities of such computer communications strikes me as staggering
and to a great extent unrealized. However, I find it important
that you begin gaining experience with at least some aspects of
the network because it will alter many aspects of at least your
work lives, by providing access to information not previously
available, and probably your home lives in the context of the
information highway. Therefore, I have designed a few small assignments
to give you experience on the network in ways that I believe will
shape the future of Psychology.
Assignment 1: Get a copy of this syllabus off of
the Internet but Wednesday. (10 points)
Assignment 2: Create a file in a word processor
of your choice. Save the document as a text file and include
that file to me in another e-mail message (this is a second message).
I will cover the specifics for this assignment in a laboratory
class. Both assignment 1 and 2 must be completed one week before
the first journal assignment is due as you will use these techniques
to submit your papers. Due the end of the second week of the
term. (20 points)
Assignment 3: One way science may be changed by
the Internet is by the use of electronic journals. For example,
the American Psychological Association supports one journal called
Psycoloquy. For the Hanover College Psychology Department,
I maintain a list of on-line psychological journals. Most of
them do not have actual articles but some like Psycoloquy
do. Search these journals and find one that deals with Sensation
and Perception. Print it out and hand it in. Due the end of
the third week of the term. (20 points)
Participation in and regular attendance of classroom
activities and discussions will be worth 125 points. I expect
each student to participate fully in discussions in class and
laboratories. These discussions are integral to getting the greatest
possible benefit from this class.
I grade on a point system which means that each
assignment of the course is worth a certain amount of points towards
the final grade. When you get an assignment back you will be
given a grade with the points earned over the total number of
points. Thus, you should be able to follow your progress in the
course on your own. There are a total of 1200 points in this
course.
Grades will be assigned as follows: