THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology
2009-2010
Psychology 2015B (formerly 115B) Section 001
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.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2115A/B (215A/B)
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor:
Office and Phone Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Dr. Patrick Brown
SSC 7328 / ext. 84680
Thursdays 2 – 3 pm
brown5@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Sarah Stanton
SSC 6323
TBA
sstanto4@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures:
Wednesday 2:30 – 5:30 / SH 3345
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Goldstein, E.B. (2009). Sensation & Perception, 8th edition (with Virtual Lab CD ROM). Wadsworth
Publishing.
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
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as
follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+
A
B
C
D
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
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
F
below 50
Fail
Grades in this course will be based on two exams (a mid-term and a final) and two short (5 pages)
essays. The midterm exam will cover chapters 1 – 3, 5 – 8, and the Appendix. The final exam will cover
chapters 9 – 15 and the lecture on art & film. Both will consist of multiple choice questions. The midterm
Short essay 1 – due by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, February 10th
Short essay 2 – due by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, April 7th
Midterm exam
Final exam
15%
15%
30%
40%
Late papers will not be accepted except by prior arrangement with the instructor.
The purpose of the two short essays is to get students to think about what they are learning in class. The
essays will require very little research beyond reading the textbook and attending lectures, but may
involve some practical applications (for example, viewing some type of visual stimulus and writing about
the experience). Topics to select from will be posted on the course WebCT site, along with writing
guidelines. Topics for the first essay will be posted by Friday, January 8th.
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Midterm
Wednesday, February 24th (Chapters 1 – 3, 5 – 8, Appendix)
Final
Scheduled by Registrar - during Final Exam Period (April 12th – 30th 2010) (Chapters 9 –
15, Art & film lecture)
7.0 LECTURE SCHEDULE
Date
Topic
Text chapters
January 6
January 13
January 20
January 27
February 3
February 10
February 17
Introduction
Signal detection
Physiology of perception
Vision
Objects & scenes / Visual attention
Action / Movement
Reading Week – No classes this week
1
Appendix
2
3
5&6
7&8
February 24 – Midterm Exam – Chapters 1 – 3, 5 – 8, Signal Detection Appendix
March 3
March 10
March 17
March 24
March 31
April 7
Color /
Depth & Size
Sound
Speech
Cutaneous & chemical senses
Art & Film
9
10
11 & 12
13
14 & 15
Final Exam – Scheduled by Registrar – Chapters 9 – 15, Art & Film lecture
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/handbook/appeals/scholoff.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
the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario
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 POLICY REGARDING ACCOMMODATIONS
Students planning to request an accommodation based on physical or learning disability are encouraged
to discuss that accommodation directly with the instructor, during office hours or by appointment. Such
students should read the relevant sections of the University’s Calendar, on Academic Rights and
Responsibilities, available at this website:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2009/pg118.html
In particular, students’ attention is drawn to the section on The Responsibility of the Student, the first of
which is to make a timely request for an accommodation. In this course, “timely” is defined in the following
way: such a request from a student must be made within 30 days of the announcement of examination
dates. A request which comes later than that will be considered to be not timely.
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://www4.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/newundergradstudentresp.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
- 2009 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.