Psychology 520 - Sensation & Perception

Spring, 1998

Dr. Carpenter

Text: Goldstein, E. B. (1996). Sensation & Perception (4th ed). New York: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.

Course Goals: To impart knowledge about the theories, issues, phenomena, methods, and data that have resulted from scientific study of how the environment is perceived, with an emphasis on visual perception.

Course Structure: The course will combine lectures, demonstrations and discussions. Text and reading assignments are given below with deadline dates. Evaluation will be based upon three exams, a paper, reviews of research reports, and class participation and contribution.

Paper: The paper will be a research proposal for a perceptual issue that interests you and could potentially be done here. You are invited to discuss your topic with me before investing major resources into it. The final form of the paper will be a typed proposal outlining your proposed study that is identical to a thesis proposal. It will contain an Introduction, Review of the Literature, Statement of Hypotheses, Methods, and description of how the data will be analyzed. The paper is to follow APA format as closely as possible. A typed (printed) draft is due April 2nd, and the final report is due April 28th. Late papers will incur grade penalties. I will comment on the draft to aid you in revising for the final draft. The grade on the paper will be weighted equivalent to an exam.

Research Report Review: Four (4) reviews of research reports are required. These are to be based on four different journal articles that you find in the literature. Each will be presented verbally to the class and then in print to me. A copy of the printed article is to be included with the review submitted to me. Each review will describe a brief history of the problem, the hypotheses being tested, the method, the results, and how the outcome informs us concerning the original problem. Each presentation should be in the 5 – 10 minute range and the printed report no more than 5 pages. The four reviews combined will be weighted equivalent to an exam. No more than two may be from your research proposal.