PSY105
Synthetic Psychology
Assignment 2
This assignment integrates material from both lab classes and from Tom Stafford’s lectures.
Provide an answer of no more than 500 words. It is important that you should answer in your
own words and avoid using quotations if possible. References should be included for any
sources that you cite (see instructions attached to assignment 1).
Assignment
Marr suggested that we can better understand information processing systems by analysing
separately the function, computation and the mechanism involved. In lab 1 you experimented
with a “Type II Vehicle” which could either seek (e.g. a light) or avoid (e.g. a wall). In three
sections analyse this vehicle according to Marr’s three levels of analysis.
Background reading
Chapters 1 and 2 of Braitenberg, V. (1984) Vehicles: Experiments in synthetic psychology.
MIT Press.
Marr’s framework is discussed in Tom Stafford’s lectures and the lab handout, but you can read
the original in Marr, D. (1982) Vision. MIT Press. The relevant section is reprinted here (page
247ff, particularly Figure 11.4).
http://cognet.mit.edu/library/books/mitpress/0262140780/cache/chap11.pdf
How to submit
The assignment should be submitted via http://www.submit.ac.uk. Instructions on how to
submit, together with an electronic cover sheet that you should complete and submit with your
assignment, will be provided via MOLE.
Marking
The assignment will be marked on the 100pt scale and counts for 20% of your total module
mark. In order to pass on the module you also have to pass on each of the assignments.
Deadline
The deadline for this assignment is Noon on Friday 14th December. Late work will be
penalized according to departmental policy.
PSY105
Autumn Semester
Instructions for PSY105 coursework assignment 2
1. General comments
The deadline for coursework submission is not negotiable. It would be unfair if one person had longer
than another person to do the work. Extensions to the deadline will be considered only if satisfactory
documentary evidence re special circumstances is supplied. Applications for extensions should be made
to the Module Organiser (see Student Handbook). If an extension has not been granted work must be
handed in on or before the submission date.
Late submissions will be subject to the standard University penalties for late work (i.e. 5% of the
mark will be deducted for each working day that the coursework is late). Any work submitted
after a 5-working-day-period without a special dispensation should receive zero.
The length of the assignment is not negotiable. The word limit is the maximum allowed. It would be
unfair if one person was allowed to write more than another. The word limit applies to all text in the
essay, including sub-headings, footnotes, words in tables, and references in the text. The only parts of the
essay that do not count towards the word limit are the title, and the reference list at the end.
Penalties for length are: 1-99 words over the limit, three marks deducted, 100-199 words over the
limit, six marks deducted, 200-299 words over the limit, nine marks deducted, and so on. These
penalties are in addition to any marks you might lose due to the content (or lack of) of your over
long coursework.
For multi-part assignments these penalties will be applied to total assignment length, but you should
ensure that each part of the assignment meets the specified length guidelines.
Coursework should be typed in 12 point Times with 1.5 line space. Please number each page including
the reference list.
All coursework must be submitted via turnitinUK for plagiarism detection. The filename of your
coursework should consist of two parts: the first part is your nine digit registration number, the
second part is the module code (e.g.PSY105).
Please make sure your name does not appear in the filename or in the header/footer of the file. The first
page of your coursework should be the coursework coversheet.
2. Specific instructions of submitting assignments
1. Compile both parts of your assignment into a single document with a completed cover sheet (available
from MOLE) as its first page. You can submit your assignment in MS word format (.doc or .docx) or as
a .pdf.
2. Name your file using your student registration number as the first half of the filename with
"_PSY105_A2" as its second part (e.g. 060172952_PSY105_A2.doc)
3. Go to http://www.submit.ac.uk/
4. Login (you have already registered for submitting Assignment 1)
5. You should already be enrolled in the class (class ID: 151651, enrolment password: kismet)
6. Submit your document to "Assignment2"
That's it.
PSY105: Synthetic Psychology
2
Tom Stafford
PSY105
Autumn Semester
A couple of points to note:
1. You will NOT have access to the originality (plagiarism) report generated by TurnItIn (though one is
compiled for every submission). It is your responsibility to make sure that you are not plagiarising when
you write your assignment. Note that most of the documents that you are using as background reading
are available on the web and will therefore be part of the TurnItIn database.
2. You can replace your submitted version of the assignment by a new one up till the deadline (after that
you will not be able to overwrite the previously submitted version).
3. You can submit after the deadline but the time of submission is recorded and the standard penalties
will be applied.
PSY105: Synthetic Psychology
3
Tom Stafford