This course is an introduction to the theoretical and experimental issues associated with the sensory and perceptual experience of the world. The main emphasis is on understanding basic perceptual phenomena, such as the relation between physical stimuli and behaviour/experience. To this end, we must consider: the nature of the physical stimuli; the anatomy and physiology of the sense organs and receptors; the anatomy and physiology of the neural paths from receptors to the brain; and how the brain processes sensory information. Prerequisites: PSYCO 104 and STAT 151 (or former PSYCO 211).

PSYCO 364 - Methods in Perception

This course is for students with a particular interest in the experimental study of perception. The course is primarily laboratory work supplemented with occasional lectures. The student will become familiar with the various psychophysical methods as applied to a variety of phenomena, and with manuscript preparation according to APA standards. Prerequisites: PSYCO 267. 

PSYCO 365 - Advanced Perception

This course covers the origin and current status of several major problem areas within the study of perception. Provides the historical background and knowledge of recent theoretical and experimental contributions required to understand current conceptual schemes and disputes. Prerequisites: PSYCO 267 and MATH 113 or 114. 

PSYCO 451- Visual Cognition and Attention

This course will cover the general area of visual object recognition, and it will do so by taking two approaches to the literature. During the first half of the term, we will read articles by many individuals who have done research in this area, and we will read the articles in chronological order, to see how the area and the issues have developed generally. During the second half of the term, we will cover the work of one researcher in this area - I. Biederman - also in chronological order, to see how one individual (granted, a very prolific individual) has both shaped and been shaped by the literature during the same period. Prerequisite: PSYCO 351. 
 

PSYCO 496 / PSYCO 498 - Individual Research

A course designed to allow the senior undergraduate student the opportunity to pursue a research topic in greater depth than the classroom structure permits. This pursuit may take the form of directed reading, library research, and/or laboratory experience. A formal paper, research proposal, research report, annotated bibliography, lab notes, and/or essay is required. Prerequisites: A 300-level psychology course and consent of the Department.