PS921-7-AU-CO:
Advanced Seeing and Hearing
2021/22
Psychology
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 07 October 2021
Friday 17 December 2021
15
31 March 2021
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
MSC C80012 Psychology,
MSC C800JS Psychology
This module will provide an advanced introduction to cognitive psychology for postgraduate students taking MSc Psychology. It will run throughout the first term. Material covered will include visual, auditory, tactile and multisensory perception, and visual cognition, which are major areas of cognitive psychology, as defined by the British Psychological Society.
The module aims to:
Examine at an advanced level different methods and techniques used in the scientific study of visual and auditory perception and visual cognition.
Provide at an advanced level a significant body of detailed knowledge about the processes involved in auditory, visual and multisensory perception and visual cognition.
Provide at an advanced level a broad theoretical background to important contemporary issues in the scientific study of cognition.
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
Answer advanced factual questions about the processes involved in perception and cognition.
Compare and contrast at an advanced level different theories, methods and techniques used in the scientific study of cognitive processes.
Syllabus
Lecture 1: Introduction (LD)
This lecture will begin with a brief introduction to the PS414/PS921 module: it provides an outline of the lecture topics, the methods of assessment, and the reading lists. There will also be a brief overview of the history and methodology of cognitive psychology and a discussion of perception as a psychological construct of the world.
Lecture 2: Vision 1 - Colour vision (KM)
This lecture focuses on the fascinating topic of colour vision. We'll begin by looking at how the perceived colour and brightness of any part of the visual field depends on what came before (afterimages). Then we'll look at how the perceived colour and brightness of the patch depends on what surrounds it, leading to some amazing visual illusions. We will also examine the well-known viral internet image known as #TheDress. We'll examine a range of explanations for all of these phenomena, and will meet a key concept in vision science: the receptive field of a neuron.
Lecture 3: Vision 2 - Spatial vision (KM)
Moving on from colour and brightness, this lecture examines how the visual system analyses other aspects of the retinal image, including orientation, size and motion. We will also look at how we perceive depth (i.e. how far away things are). We will see that many of these different image properties can be analysed using neurons with different types of receptive field.
Lecture 4: The Visual Brain and the Perception of Action (TF)
We will begin by recapping the visual pathway in the brain, showing how the organization of this pathway reflects processing of visual features. The rest of the lecture will consider theories of perception-for-action and their neural underpinnings, including evidence from non-human animals and neuropsychological patients.
Lecture 5: Perceiving Objects and Scenes (TF)
The module now considers how we combine the simple visual features extracted by the visual system into a percept of a coherent object. This is a deceptively hard problem. The visual properties of objects vary hugely with distance, orientation, lighting and occlusion from other objects, but despite this, we are easily able to see and recognize all the many objects around us. The lecture will review some models of object perception, along with experimental and neuropsychological evidence for these models. We will also consider the perception of natural scenes because scene gist (e.g. whether a picture is a beach or a city) can be recognized very quickly, suggesting that it may be more than just a configuration of objects. Moreover, scenes provide a context that affects our attention and recognition of component objects.
Lecture 6: Perceiving Faces (TF)
This lecture is devoted to a special class of visual objects – the human face. Faces are of great biological and social significance, and psychologists know a disproportionate amount about the processes involved in face recognition. We will review some structural models of face recognition and evaluate the experimental evidence in support of these models, drawing on data from neurologically normal observers and brain-damaged patients.
Lecture 7: Sound and Hearing (LD)
This lecture will review the fundamentals of auditory perception and the auditory system. It will outline the distinct functions of the structures of the ear and explain how it helps us to interpret and localize sound.
Lecture 8: Complex sounds and Speech (LD)
This lecture will begin by introducing the concept of complex sounds as the combination of different frequencies within a sound. Then this lecture will dive into a very special case of complex sound: speech. The lecture will review some of the challenges that the perceptual system faces when interpretation speech-sounds and the mechanisms that it uses to overcome these challenges.
Lecture 9: Feeling the world around us (LD)
Have you ever considered that the skin with which we feel is the largest sensory organ of the human body? Touch is an important sense when it comes to actually physically interacting with the world around us. Without it we would for instance not be able to feel an object slipping from our grasp or sense warning signals for immediate physical dangers in the form of pain. In other words, perhaps touch should be considered as the most important sense for our immediate survival? In this lecture we will explore the somatosensory system (the system for processing touch sensations). We will review the physiology of the peripheral somatosensory system, and the mechanisms of transduction.
Lecture 10: Multisensory integration (LD)
In the previous lectures we have explored the visual, auditory and somatosensory systems. However, in order to perceive the external world we merge information from different senses. In this lecture we will explore the behavioural advantages of our ability to bind information from different sensory modalities. We will explore the neural mechanisms enabling multisensory perception.
A full set of readings for the module will be distributed during the lectures
The module will be delivered by 10 x 2-hour lectures and 5 MSc advanced seminars.
You need not attend the second-year undergraduate laboratory class associated with PS414, but you are welcome to do so, if your timetable permits.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Research proposal |
|
100% |
| Exam |
Main exam: 24hr during January
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: 120 minutes during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Tom Foulsham, email: foulsham@essex.ac.uk.
Loes van Dam, Tom Foulsham, Keith May
E-mail: foulsham@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Dr Thomas Hunt
University of Derby
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Available via Moodle
Of 32 hours, 30 (93.8%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Psychology
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.