Psychology 2115A-001
Introduction to Sensation and 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
An introduction to the study of the human senses and higher order perceptual processes. Data
gathered from psychophysical research and studies of the nervous system in both humans and
other animals will be discussed. The course will review the mechanisms and principles of
operation of vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell.
Prerequisite: A mark of at least 60% in 1.0 credits of Psychology at the 1000 level
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.
Antirequisite: Psychology 2015A/B
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.
4 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Blake Butler
Office and Phone Number: WIRB 6126
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: bbutler9@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Jerrica Mulgrew
Office Hours: By appointment
Email:jmulgrew@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Mondays & Wednesdays 2:30pm-4:30pm, SSC 2024
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
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 Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Schwartz BL, & Krantz JH. 2019. Sensation & Perception, 2nd Edition.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is an introduction to how we make sense of sensory input -- our only source of information
about the world. We will explore how sensation differs from perception; investigate different theoretical
traditions that have attempted to account for perceptual phenomena; survey the methods that are used to
study sensation and perception; and trace the functional and anatomical organization of the different
sensory modalities, from sensory transduction, through stages of information processing, to perception.
We will cover the basic principles involved in seeing, hearing, touch, sensation of the position and
movement of one’s body in the world, tasting, and smelling. Many principles are common to more than
one sense domain, and commonalities will be emphasized whenever possible. Throughout, we assume
that the goal of perception is behaviour. Perception is our only means of extracting information from the
environment, allowing us to experience the discrete objects, people and events “out in the world” that
drive our behaviour
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Learning Outcome Assessment
Describe the structure and function of
our sensory systems
Quizzes and final examination
Develop the capacity to design and
develop experiments to investigate
concepts in sensation and perception
Group project
Develop the ability to consolidate and
present scientific information at an
appropriate level for a group of peers
Group project
Develop capacity to transfer principles
of sensation and perception to novel
applications
Final examination
5.0 EVALUATION
Evaluation is based on the completion of a group project (15%), quizzes (20%), and a final exam (65%).
5.1 Group Project (15%)
As a group of ~5 students, you will complete a brief report describing a perceptual phenomenon (a
list will be provided in class or you can come up with your own). The report will be a maximum of 4 pages
long (double spaced), and should include a) a description of the phenomenon; b) a description of what is
interesting/puzzling about the phenomenon; c) a reasonable hypothesis that might explain the
phenomenon; and d) a description of an experiment that could test the hypothesized explanation. You will
have an opportunity to share your work with your peers near the end of term. Your mark will reflect a
group mark on the written assignment/class presentation as well as peer evaluation.
Groups will be assigned from Week 1, and you will be responsible for scheduling meetings as a
group to complete this project. Four pages is not a lot of space, so it’s important to be concise, and only
convey the most important information. Sorting out the important stuff from the details is part of the
challenge! At the completion of your project, you will confidentially evaluate the contribution of each group
member to the overall project (including your own).
5.2 Quizzes (20%)
Five short quizzes will be administered via the class OWL site throughout the term. Your best four
scores will comprise your final mark (4 x 5% = 20%). Each quiz will probe your understanding of the
content presented in the most recent lectures (those occurring since the last quiz) and related readings.
Because a quiz mark can be dropped, no make-up quizzes will be provided.
5.3 Final Exam (65%)
The final exam will be 3 hours in length, and will cover all material presented in lecture and
associated readings. The exam will be scheduled within the December exam period. The format of the
exam will be discussed in class toward the end of term
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 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
The final examination will be scheduled during the December exam period (December 8-19).
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Below is a general outline of the topics that will be discussed each week. In advance of
each class, a short list of applicable readings (2-3 papers per week) will be available on
OWL. Students are expected to have read each of the papers posted, and be ready to
comment.
DATE TOPIC READINGS ASSESSMENTS
Week 1 (Sept 9) What is perception, and
how can we study it?
Chapters 1 &2
Week 2 (Sept 16) Visual system: The eye Chapter 3
Week 3 (Sept 23) Visual system: The brain Chapter 4 Quiz 1
Week 4 (Sept 30) Object & colour perception Chapters 5 & 6
Week 5 (Oct 7) Depth, size, and movement Chapters 7 & 8 Quiz 2
Week 6 (Oct 14) (No class Monday) Visual attention Chapter 9
Week 7 (Oct 21) The auditory system Chapter 10
Week 8 (Oct 28) The auditory brain & sound localization Chapter 11 Quiz 3
Week 9 (Nov 4) No Class – Fall Reading Week
Week 10 (Nov 11) Speech perception Chapter 12
Week 11 (Nov 18) Music perception & Group presentations Chapter 13 Quiz 4
Week 12 (Nov 25) Touch & pain Chapter 14
Week 13 (Dec 2) Olfaction & taste Chapter 15 Quiz 5
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://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf
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
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
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
- 2019-2020 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
