Schedule

Week 1 • Mon Jan 8

• Topics
  • About the course
  • An introduction to vision science
  • Discussion of Barlow (1972)
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 1
  • Barlow, H. B. (1972). Single units and sensation: a neuron doctrine for perceptual psychology? Perception, 1(4), 371–394. journals.sagepub.com. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/p010371. | Link for comments |.
• Materials
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 2 • Mon Jan 15 • No class

Week 3 • Mon Jan 22

• Topics
  • Methods in vision research
  • Theoretical approaches to vision
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 2 & Appendix A & B
  • Optional. Teller, D. Y. (1984). Linking propositions. Vision Research, 24(10), 1233–1246. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6395480. | Link for comments |
  • Optional. Read, J. C. A. (2015). The place of human psychophysics in modern neuroscience. Neuroscience, 296, 116–129. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.05.036
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 4 • Mon Jan 29

• Topics
  • The retinal image
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 4
  • Campbell, F. W., & Robson, J. G. (1968). Application of Fourier analysis to the visibility of gratings. The Journal of Physiology, 197(3), 551–566. Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5666169
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 5 • Mon Feb 5

• Topics
  • Depth perception
  • Project proposal due by 5:00 pm
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 5
  • Leopold, D. A., & Logothetis, N. K. (1996). Activity changes in early visual cortex reflect monkeys’ percepts during binocular rivalry. Nature, 379(6565), 549–553. nature.com. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/379549a0
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 6 • Mon Feb 12

• Topics
  • Perceptual organization
  • Size, shape, orientation, & position
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapters 6, 7, & 9 (pp. 433-453)
  • Biederman, I. (1987). Recognition-by-components: a theory of human image understanding. Psychological Review, 94(2), 115–147. psycnet.apa.org. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3575582. | PDF |
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 7 • Mon Feb 19

• Topics
  • Objects, scenes, faces
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 8
  • Schyns, P. G., & Oliva, A. (1994). From Blobs to Boundary Edges: Evidence for Time- and Spatial-Scale-Dependent Scene Recognition. Psychological Science, 5(4), 195–200. SAGE Publications Inc. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1994.tb00500.x
  • Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., & Chun, M. M. (1997). The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. The Journal of Neuroscience, 17(11), 4302–4311. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9151747
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 8 • Mon Feb 26

• Topics
  • Color
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 3
  • Lee, T.-W., Wachtler, T., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2002). Color opponency is an efficient representation of spectral properties in natural scenes. Vision Research, 42(17), 2095–2103. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12169429
  • Nikolić, D., Lichti, P., & Singer, W. (2007). Color opponency in synaesthetic experiences. Psychological Science, 18(6), 481–486. journals.sagepub.com. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01925.x
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 8 • Wed Feb 28

• Project proposal due by 5:00 pm

Spring Break • Mar 5-9 • No class

Week 9 • Mon Mar 12

• Topics
  • Motion
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 10
  • Johansson, G. (1973). Visual perception of biological motion and a model for its analysis. Perception & Psychophysics, 14(2), 201–211. Springer-Verlag. Retrieved December 20, 2017, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03212378
  • Newsome, W. T., & Paré, E. B. (1988). A selective impairment of motion perception following lesions of the middle temporal visual area (MT). The Journal of Neuroscience, 8(6), 2201–2211. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3385495. PDF
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 10 • Mon Mar 19

• Topics
  • Eye and head movements
• Readings
  • Palmer, Chapter 11
  • Schütz, A. C., Braun, D. I., & Gegenfurtner, K. R. (2011). Eye movements and perception: a selective review. Journal of Vision, 11(5). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/11.5.9
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 11 • Mon Mar 26 • No class

• Topics
  • No class meeting; use the time to work on term projects

Week 12 • Mon Apr 2

• Topics
  • Attention
• Readings
  • Palmer, chapter 11.2
  • Treisman, A. M., & Gelade, G. (1980). A feature-integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12(1), 97–136. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7351125
  • Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28(9), 1059–1074. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/p281059
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 13 • Mon Apr 9

• Topics
  • Perception & action
• Readings
  • Gibson, J. J. (2014). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception: Classic Edition. Psychology Press. Retrieved from https://market.android.com/details?id=book-8BSLBQAAQBAJ, chapters 12-14. | PDF |.
  • Costall, A. P. (1984). Are theories of perception necessary? A review of Gibson’s The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 41(1), 109–115. Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1984.41-109
  • Lecture notes. | HTML slides | PDF |.

Week 14 • Mon Apr 16

• Student presentations/demos
  • Jackie
  • Ryan
  • Sara

Week 15 • Mon Apr 23

• Student presentations/demos
  • Jason
  • Jordan
  • Shekoofeh
  • Victoria

Week 16 • Mon Apr 30

• Final write-ups due by 5:00 pm