EXP 3104 "Sensory Processes"
Credits: 3
Gen Ed: B
Writing Requirement (Gordon Rule): None
Instructor: Keith D. White, Ph.D.
Meeting Time: MWF 2nd period (8:30 - 9:20 am)
Meeting Location: Little Hall room 101, LIT 101
Section Number: 1024
Prereq: PSY 2012 (General Psychology)
Course Objectives
This course is an introductory survey of the human senses and their role in perception,
considering how we sense the physical environment and what factors influence our
perception of it. The capacities and the limitations of sight, hearing, touch, taste and
smell are explored from physiological and behavioral perspectives. Inasmuch as the
phenomena under study can also be experienced, lectures are frequently supplemented with
demonstrations and discussions. The aim is to improve understanding of how one's own
perceptions may plausibly relate to structures and functions of the nervous system, as a well as to
capacities and limitations of behavior.
Textbook
Goldstein, E. B. Sensation and Perception, Eighth Edition, Cengage (2010), specifically
ISBN10: 0-495-76049-8 or ISBN13: 987-0-495-76049-8. This specific ISBN is a bundle
including the textbook plus CengageNOW personalized lesson planning and e-book
access. The textbook is required reading but the CengageNow personalized lesson planning
is optional. You may therefore purchase new or used, the eighth edition textbook issued
under an ISBN number which does not include CengageNOW as a bundled option.
CengageNOW is a feature not currently present within UF’s E-Learning system. This feature
holds promise to save your time by selecting study materials based on your existing knowledge.
Prior to studying a chapter you take a pre-test. If you correctly answer questions on the pretest, then portions of the material which you already understand are omitted from your study
plan. The materials you did not demonstrate knowing on the pre-test are provided in the
lesson plan as links into the e-book of that chapter. I believe this personalized study planning
(and personalized review) might save significant time while also enabling each student to
master the material.
This textbook is available by itself in printed or in electronic (e-book) format (e-book access is
included in the above printed book bundle). The printed book can be obtained by itself from
many sources. The e-book can also be ordered separately (without the printed book) from
cengagenow.com or from iChapters.com. The first chapter can be viewed free-of-charge at
iChapters.com, if you are uncertain about remaining in the course. DO NOT PURCHASE an
edition earlier than the Eight Edition, the materials are not in the same order.
Online Materials
Lecture notes, study guides, this syllabus, quizzes and tests will be on the UF E-Learning system for
online access. Because E-Learning recently moved to a new software system (Sakai),
technical problems might arise. I strongly suggest that you work on E-Learning during the
operating hours of the UF computing Help Desk.
Personalized lesson planning and e-book access (CengageNOW, optional) use the textbook
publisher’s web site (cengagenow.com). You register on the CengageNOW web site using (1)
your email address, (2) Course/Section Key contact Dr. White, plus (3) an access code purchased
with your textbook IF you purchased the bundle designated ISBN10: 0-495-76049-8. You can, if you
wish, purchase CengageNOW access directly from the web site if you did not purchase a
bundle having the access code.
Topical Outline and Calendar of Assignments
EXP 3104 "Sensory Processes”: Fall 2013
Date Assignment Topic
8/21 - 8/26 Chapter 1 Introduction to Perception
8/28 Appendix Signal Detection, Procedure and Theory
8/30 - 9/06 Chapter 2 Introduction to the Physiology of Perception
9/02 Labor Day, no classes
9/09 QUIZ 1 - Chapters 1 & 2 and Appendix, 32 questions in 40 minutes (e-Learning)
9/09 - 9/13 Chapter 3 Introduction to Vision
9/16 - 9/23 Chapter 4 The Visual Cortex and Beyond
9/25 QUIZ 2 - Chapters 3 & 4, 32 questions in 40 minutes (e-Learning)
9/25 - 9/27 Chapter 5 Perceiving Objects and Scenes
9/30 - 10/02 Chapter 6 Visual Attention
10/04 - 10/07 Chapter 7 Taking Action
10/09 QUIZ 3 - Chapters 5 - 7, 32 questions in 40 minutes (e-Learning)
10/09 - 10/11 Chapter 8 Perceiving Motion
10/14 - 10/18 Chapter 9 Perceiving Color
10/21 - 10/25 Chapter 10 Perceiving Depth and Size
10/28 QUIZ 4 - Chapters 8 - 10, 32 questions in 40 minutes (e-Learning)
10/28 - 11/01 Chapter 11 Sound, the Auditory System, and Pitch Perception
11/04 - 11/06 Chapter 12 Sound Localization and the Auditory Scene
11/08 Homecoming, no classes
11/11 Veterans’ Day, no classes
11/13 - 11/18 Chapter 13 Speech Perception
11/20 QUIZ 5 - Chapters 11 - 13, 32 questions in 40 minutes (e-Learning)
11/20 - 11/22 Chapter 14 The Cutaneous Senses
11/25 - 12/02 Chapter 15 The Chemical Senses
11/27 - 11/29 Thanksgiving, no classes
12/02 - 12/04 Chapter 16 Perceptual Development
12/12 (Thursday) CUMULATIVE FINAL EXAM, 80 questions in 100 minutes, 4 or 5
questions per chapter, ch. 1 – 13 & Appendix, 8 questions per chapter, ch. 14 – 16
e-Learning: Begin on the date shown after 8:00 am and submit by 10:00 pm.
Once begun you will have 1.25 minutes allotted per multiple-choice question
Methods by which students will be evaluated and their grade determined
Evaluations will include five eLearning-based QUIZZES , each covering about 1/6th of the course,
and a cumulative FINAL EXAM over all of the course materials, with extra questions on the last sixth
of the material not previously on a QUIZ.. The total on the five QUIZZES (160 questions) contributes
2/3 toward course grade, and the FINAL EXAM (80 questions) contributes 1/3 of the course grade.
Quiz and final exam questions will be multiple choice items . Scale for grades is approximately
[>90%]=A, [89% to 80%]=B, [79% to 70%]=C, etc. If the distribution of total course scores appears to
warrant it, then at my discretion I may adjust the exact cutoff values for a grade range to favor the
students (i.e., a lower score than 90% might earn an A). I will not raise the cutoff values. I award
pluses to an upper part of each grade range, determined at my discretion but typically about the
top 1/3 of the range. I award minuses to a low part of each grade range, determined at my
discretion but typically about the bottom 1/3 of each grade range.
UF Academic Honesty Policy
UF's Academic Honesty Policy is clearly stated in rule
6Cl-4.0l7 Student Affairs: Academic Honesty Guidelines .
Class Attendance Policy
You will not be specifically penalized for missing class other than by failing to hear and
learn from the lecture and by failing to observe or to participate in demonstrations or
discussions. It is not our responsibility to provide materials from lectures other than in
the scheduled lectures. Powerpoint presentations will be available on the web.
Class Conduct Policy
Using a cell phone during class, late arrival to class, or early departure from class are all
usually distracting and should be avoided whenever possible. If an emergency cell
phone call must be responded to, please excuse yourself from class to attend to it. Class
discussions or conversations need to stay on track (not be monopolized by a personal
agenda), and require listening to others’ ideas as well as responding to others in an
appropriate manner using appropriate language (civil, respectful conduct).
Policy for makeup exams
If you have a schedule conflict known in advance, please inform me well before the
quiz/test/final exam date to arrange for a makeup on a different date. Because only the best
quiz score counts, makeups for quizzes are not usually offered except by prior arrangement.
Emergencies are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Accommodations for students with disabilities
If you require accommodations due to a disability, UF policy states that "Students
requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students
Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who
must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation."
Please make an appointment during my office hours so that we may discuss how best to
address your needs.
How to contact Dr. White or the TA
The most reliable way to contact me is by email: kdwhite@ufl.edu . My office is room 005K PSY,
located in the basement of the Psychology building. Phone: 273-2143 (office and voice mail),
392-7985 (fax), or 375-6373 (home). Voice mail or an answering machine at home will pick up
after the fourth ring.
Wendy Yoder, the teaching assistant, can be reached by email wendyyoder@ufl.edu
Keith White is an Associate Professor of Psychology with joint/affiliate appointments in
Clinical and Health Psychology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, the McKnight Brain
Institute, and Ophthalmology. He is a Research Scientist and Associate Coordinator of
the Brain Function Measurement Core in the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center at the NF/SG VA
Medical Center. His sensory research concerns vision and visual perceptions, and altered visual
perceptions in individuals with neurologic or psychiatric disorders. He also does
neuroimaging research, primarily functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and white
matter tractography using high-angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging . His
neuroimaging research studies normal aging, as well as rehabilitation of aphasia and limb
movements in stroke patients, studies of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other
neurodegenerative diseases, and Gulf War syndrome. He is also studying vestibulo-ocular
reflexes in autistic children, and the influence of mild traumatic brain injury on postural
stability.
Office hours
Dr. White: MWF 3rd 005K PSY or by appointment (kdwhite@ufl.edu)
Wendy Yoder, teaching assistant: W 1:00 – 3:00 pm PSY 330 or by appointment wendyyoder@ufl.edu