WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology
2014-2015
Psychology 2015B Section 001 – Winter 2015
The Psychology of Perception
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This survey course provides an introduction to perception with an emphasis on
perceptual principles in everyday life. The topics may include: assessment of vision and
hearing, perceptual principles in art and film, colour vision, illusions and constancies, the
perception of pain, perceptual disabilities, and the senses of animals.
Anti-requisites: Psychology 2115A/B
Anti-requisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for
credit. So if you take a course that is an anti-requisite to a course previously taken, you will
lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor:
Office and Phone Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Dr. Patrick Brown
SSC 7328 / 661-2111 ext. 84680
Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30
brown5@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Harrison Ritz
SSC 7306
Thursday 10 – 12:00
hritz@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures:
Tuesday 2:30 – 5:30 / NS 145
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at
Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more
information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you
require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish
to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111,ext.82147 for any
specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Goldstein, E.B. (2014). Sensation & Perception, 9th edition. Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN:
978-1-133-95849-9
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will introduce students to the various human senses, including vision, hearing,
touch, taste, smell, pain, and vestibular and kinaesthetic senses. It will cover basic issues of
transduction and transmission in the sense modalities, and subsequent perceptual
processing. This will include description of the how processing produces perception and
recognition. We’ll also examine various methods for investigating perceptual experience.
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades
to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around
the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2100-2990-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergra
d.pdf
A+
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
below 50
One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
Superior work that is clearly above average
Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
Competent work, meeting requirements
Fair work, minimally acceptable
Fail
Grades in this course will be based on three multiple choice exams: two midterms and a final
exam. Midterm #1 will be worth 30% of the final grade. Midterm #2 will be worth 30%. The final
exam will be worth 40%. Exams will not be cumulative – each will cover roughly one-third of the
course content.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Midterm #1 Tuesday, February 3rd – in class
Midterm #2 Tuesday, March 10th – in class
Final exam
Scheduled by Registrar for a time during the April Final Exam Period (April 11th –
30th). Location will be announced when available.
7.0 LECTURE SCHEDULE
January 6
January 13
January 20
January 27
Introduction
Psychophysics & Signal Detection
Vision (1)
Vision (2)
1
1 + Appendix
2
3
February 3
Midterm #1 – covers Chapters 1, 2, 3, + Appendix & corresponding lectures
February 10
February 17
February 24
March 3
Hearing
Reading Week – No class
Cutaneous & Chemical Senses
Perceiving Motion
March 10
Midterm #2 – covers Chapters 8, 11, 14, 15, & corresponding lectures
March 17
March 24
March 31
April 7
Perceiving Objects & Scenes
Visual Attention
Perceiving Color
Perceiving Depth & Size
11
14, 15
8
5
6
9
10
Final exam– Chapters 5, 6, 9, 10, & corresponding lectures – Scheduled by Registrar’s Office for
a time during the April exam period (April 11 – 30)
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of
plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious
offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting
a scholastic offense are described at the following link:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect
scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the
pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating
locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service
designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages
of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such
checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of
detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is
subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com
(http://www.turnitin.com).
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the
course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergradresponsibilities.htm
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2014 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, may be used during exams.