Psychology 2015B-001
The Psychology of Perception
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
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.
Antirequisite: Psychology 2115A
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit.
So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for
the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisite: At least 60% in a 1000 level Psychology course.
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your
Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record.
This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you
are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
4 lecture hours; 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Krista Macpherson
Office: SSC 8244
Office Hours: By Appointment
Email: kmacphe6@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: TBA
Time and Location of Classes: Tuesday 2:30-5:30p.m., AHB-1R40
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. (2016). Sensation & Perception, 10th edition. Cengage Learning.
This text is mandatory for the course.
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.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Recognize the individual perceptual processes and identify how they relate to the broader function
of our perceptions
2. Identify the methods used to investigate perceptual processes by researchers in psychology
3. Take experimental methods into account when interpreting the results of perceptual experiments
4. Apply basic findings in perception psychology to make predictions about scenarios in everyday life
5.0 EVALUATION
Exam 1: 30% of final grade
Exam 2: 30% of final grade
Final Exam: 35% of final grade
Participation: 5% of final grade
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% 2190-2990 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/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Exam 1 (February 5th, 2019):
Exam 2 (March 19th, 2019):
Final Exam (TBA April 11-30, 2019):
Participation: Pop quizzes (5 quizzes each worth 1% of final mark…please see details below!)
There will be THREE tests, TWO given during the term and ONE during the final exam period. The tests
will not be explicitly cumulative although you must retain and understand earlier material in order to
understand and discuss later material. The tests will include multiple choice, short answer, and short essay
questions.
Participation marks will be awarded based on the completion of 5 pop quizzes (two before the first exam,
two between the first and second exams, and one between the second and final exam). If you miss a quiz,
you may write and submit a 500-word summary of the readings assigned for the lecture that day. The dates
of the quizzes will be posted on the course website once they have occurred, and it is your responsibility to
check if you have missed one. The 500-word summary is due exactly one week from the date of the
missed quiz, and will not be accepted after this one week time period. Failure to complete a quiz or submit
a 500-word write-up will result in a mark of zero for that particular quiz.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
January 08 Introduction 1January 15 Psychophysics & Signal Detection 1 + Appendix
January 22 Vision (1) 2
January 29 Vision (2) 3
February 5 Midterm #1 – covers Chapters 1, 2, 3, + Appendix & corresponding lectures
February 12 Hearing 11
February 19 Reading Week – No lecture
February 26 Cutaneous & Chemical Senses 14, 15
March 05 Perceiving Motion 8
March 12 Midterm #2 – covers Chapters 8, 11, 14, 15, & corresponding lectures
March 19 Perceiving Objects & Scenes 5
March 26 Visual Attention 6
April 02 Perceiving Color, Depth & Size 9 & 10
April 09 Perceiving Color, Depth & Size 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, 2019)
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/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.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 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 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/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- 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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
