University of Evansville

University of Evansville

CURRENT SYLLABUS

Psychology 355

Sensation and Perception

INSTRUCTOR: John R. Lakey, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

Office: 122F Hyde Hall (see website for open hours)

Telephone: 488-2531 (voice mail) or 488-2520 (secretary)

Website: http://faculty.evansville.edu/jl3/vita/vita.htm

Email: lakey@evansville.edu

CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Examines the organization and processing of sensory information and influence of emotion, learning, thoughts and other personal factors on human perception. Spring.

TEXTBOOK: JM Wolfe, KR Kluender, DM Levi, LM Bartoshuk, RS Herz, & SJ Lederman (2006), Sensation & Perception, Sunderland, MA: Sinauer [ISBN 0-87893-938-5].

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

(1) Knowledge of Modern Sensory Psychology. This objective includes:

(a) Awareness of current approaches to the study of human perception,

(b) Awareness of the major problem areas,

(d) Knowledge of critical research findings, concepts, and terminology,

(e) Understanding of the potential and limitations of current research technologies and methodologies.

(2) Personal Development. This objective includes:

(a) Development of your intellectual curiosity about human perception,

(b) Development of your critical attitude toward 'scientific' generalizations and statements of 'fact',

(d) Development of your sense of responsibility for collective learning and interactive education.

EXAMINATIONS: 60%. There will be four Exams: two on vision, one on hearing, and one on touch, smell, and taste – the last will be given during the final exam period. Exams are equally weighted.

STUDENT WEBSITE LOGS: 20%. You are required to submit a Student Website Log with each exam: You will access, complete, and write a short paragraph describing at least three (3) Interactive Activities (or Web Essays) at http://www.sinauer.com/wolfe for each chapter covered by that exam. Your description should be dated providing (1) a brief summary of the Activity or Essay (show you did it or read it) and (2) a short comment on what you found important or meaningful (show you understand it). Submit these Logs as you would any short paper assignment, doubled-spaced pages, stapled together, and name in the upper left corner. Logs are evaluated for adequate content and effective writing. Logs are equally weighted. You may do additional Interactive Activities or Essays) for extra credit.

STUDY NOTES: 20%. There will be a variable number of “study notes” or short one-page papers each worth 10 points. The topics will vary but usually you will obtain information (news report, article, on-line report, etc.), summarize that information (half page) and react to the ideas or findings (half page). These papers provide an opportunity to briefly organize your thoughts about a topic or recent findings—and perhaps generate undergraduate research ideas. They should be well written and must be printed on a single page. They are due at a specific class, and late submissions are not accepted. You must complete at least 75% of these assignments to avoid substantial penalties.

[PARTICIPATION: 0%. Attendance (all classes with less than 70%). Positive Attitude. Participation in Class Discussions. Asking Good Questions.]

GRADE CRITERIA: Grades are assigned on a percentage system:

94% A 87% B+ 80% B- 74% C 67% D+

90% A- 84% B 77% C+ 70% C- 60% D

LETTER GRADE CONVERSIONS:

A+ 98.5% A 95.0% A- 91.5%

B+ 88.5% B 85.0% B- 81.5%

C+ 78.5% C 75.0% C- 71.5%

D+ 68.5% D 65.0% D- 61.5% F 55.0%

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES:

> CLASS ATTENDANCE: Attendance at 70% of the classes is required for credit in this course.

>ACELINK: This course will use ACELINK (http://acelink.evansville.edu). ACELINK will hyperlink our current “official” syllabus, and you will refer to this “master copy” for new due-dates, schedule changes, and course requirement modifications (also available through the Instructor’s website). Significant changes in the syllabus will be alerted by ACELINK email. “Study notes” will be assigned by ACELINK email. We will communicate by ACELINK email. You must maintain you university email account and check it often. If you have problems accessing ACELINK or maintaining your email account, please contact the OTS Help Desk (helpdesk@evansville.edu or 488-2077) for assistance.

> GRADE POSTING: The Instructor's grade book is that provided by BlackBoard, and you should have direct online access to your grade entries throughout the semester. If you can not access your grade, please notify the Instructor.

> OFFICE HOURS: Open hours will be posted on the Instructor’s door and on his website. He is also available at other times, and you can make formal appointments. If you are waiting to see me outside my office door, please make sure I know you’re waiting for me (five professors share that same small hallway).

> MAKE-UP EXAMS: Students will regularly sit for scheduled exams. Should you miss an exam without that absence being excused by the instructor, the score is zero. If excused, you will be allowed to take a substitute exam to replace the zero. If this “makeup” is administered by the Department Assistant, Mrs. Miller, you must schedule it at her convenience (call 488-2520 to make arrangements).

> INCOMPLETE COURSE GRADES: The grade report of I (Incomplete Grade) will be submitted only when justified by personal crisis or legitimate sickness; otherwise, missing quiz scores are entered as zeroes for computation of the course grade. You or the Dean of Students should request an I in writing presenting your extenuating circumstances and, if possible, providing a detailed time schedule for completion of the course: You must receive the instructor’s approval in writing to be assured of the I report. If the deficiency is not removed within twelve months, the I automatically becomes a permanent grade of F. You may formally repeat a course once to replace a poor grade.

> DROPPING A COURSE: A course may be dropped without a designated grade during the first two weeks of a term of the regular academic year. From the third through the eleventh weeks, a grade of W is assigned. After the eleventh week, a grade of F is assigned in this course (a higher grade requires that you actually complete the course). Discontinuance of attendance does not automatically constitute a withdrawal; you must formally withdraw at the Registrar’s Office.

>DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION: It is the policy of the University of Evansville to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. Written notification to faculty from the Office of Counseling and Health Education is required for any academic accommodations. If you are eligible to receive and accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please discuss it with me and allow two weeks notice. Otherwise, it is not guaranteed that the accommodation can be received on a timely basis. If you have questions about services for students with disabilities or procedures for requesting services, you may contact the Office of Counseling and Health Education at 488-2663.

> ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: You will support the University of Evansville’s Academic Honor Code endorsing the following standards of ethical conduct: “I understand that any work which I submit for course credit will imply that I have adhered to the Academic Honor Code: I will neither give nor receive unauthorized aid nor will I tolerate an environment which condones the use of unauthorized aid.” Please report any honor code problem to the instructor immediately.

> UNAUTHORIZED AID FOR EXAMS: Examination results are regularly subjected to “answer profile analysis” for correspondence of answers between students (for example see R.B. Fray, 1993, Detection of Multiple-Choice Answer Copying, Applied Measurement in Education, 6, 153-165). This analysis is reliable, valid, and effective. Students do not have to be seen copying: Statistical analysis can easily identify those who have exchanged answers and given or received unauthorized aid on an examination.

> AUTHORIZED AID FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Acknowledge as a footnote all aid and outside assistance you obtain in preparing written assignments. You may freely obtain help from the Writing Center (located in the Excel Center in front of the Library). You may ask other students to read your paper and make verbal suggestions for improvement, but they may not provide any written help. Provide a footnote to the title of your paper acknowledging the aid. You may (and should routinely) run your word-processor’s “Spelling and Grammar” check without foot note acknowledgement.

> PLAGIARISM: Any copied words in your papers must be in quotation marks (or offset if 25 or more words) with citation of their specific source (author, date, and page). Any paraphrased ideas in your paper should be attributed to their author (at least by name, usually citing the publication). Plagiarism occurs if you violate either of these two basic rules. Presenting someone else’s work as your own is never “authorized,” and it is always violates our Academic Honor Code.

> CITATION SYSTEM: Failure to correctly cite and properly reference others’ work can be construed as plagiarism. In all papers, you are required to specify and use a citation-reference system appropriate for your academic major. Guides to the APA system is found in Rosnow & Rosnow (2003), Writing Papers in Psychology, and the new Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook, 15^th Edition, Chapter 38 (the 15^th edition has 2001 APA format changes). You will adhere to the APA citation and format rules, and you will be graded on your correct use of that system.