PIA (0501) 470 - Advanced Topics in Sensation and Perception

Credits: 3.00

Students will examine a topic in Psychology of Sensation and Perception through guided reading, lecture, projects, discussion of primary-source articles and presentations. Topics will be chosen by the instructor and will vary from semester to semester.

Learning Goals:

Demonstrate an understanding of a specific topic in perception including its history, how it fits into the wider field, the theoretical approaches to the topic and current state of the field.

Be able to critically evaluate research approaches in regard to their validity (Annotated bibliography, final paper)

Be able to summarize the current state of knowledge about a specialized area of perception including brain correlates of particular mental processes, basic psychophysical correlates of the phenomenon, clinical conditions associated with the topic, possible treatment of theoretical implications of the topic. (in class discussion, lecture, paper)

Demonstrate knowledge about the challenges associated with the interpretation of data, their use and misuse in the scientific literature, popular media and advertisement (in class discussion)