| INSTRUCTOR | TEACHING ASSISTANT |
| Dr. Sabina Wolfson | Todd Hudson |
| sabina@psych.columbia.edu | hudson@psych.columbia.edu |
| Tel: 854-3006 | Tel: 854-5548 |
| Office: 358-360 Schermerhorn Ext | Office: 367 Schermerhorn Ext |
| Office Hrs: Tues 4:30-5:30 or by appointment | Office Hrs: Thurs 5:00-6:00 and Fri 1:00-2:00 |
Levine & Shefner, Fundamentals of Sensation & Perception
There will be three in-class (closed book) exams. The first exam will cover approximately the first third of the material and will account for 24% of your grade. The second exam will cover approximately the second third of the material and will account for 24% of your grade. The third exam (the final exam) will cover all of the material (though it will emphasize the last third of the material) and will account for 48% of your grade. The last 4% of your grade will come from participation in the class. There will be no make-up exams.
Update: The final has been changed. It will now cover only the last 3rd of the material. Each of the 3 exams will be weighted equally for your grade.
In addition to the required exams, there is an optional paper. The optional paper can replace either of the exam grades or half of the final grade (i.e., the paper can count for 24% of your grade). The paper grade will only count if it is better than one of your other grades (i.e., the paper cannot hurt you). The paper topic must be approved by the instructor. If your paper topic has not be approved, your paper will not be read. The optional paper is due on or before the start of the last regular class session (12/10). Late papers will not be accepted. Papers placed in the instructor's mailbox will not be accepted.
Update: Since the paper can replace an exam grade, and since each of the exams is now worth 32% of your grade, the paper can now count for 32% of your grade. Paper topics must be approved by 12/10, but the paper is now due 12/17 by 5:00pm.
The following may change, but this is what will probably happen. The exams will be short-answer essay questions (short-answer means a half of an 8 1/2 x 11 page per question). The questions will be similar in spirit to the study questions provided for each chapter. You will get to choose which questions to answer (i.e., answer 4 of the following 5 questions). When answering the questions a graph/table/picture will usually be needed in addition to a few well-worded sentences. Well-worded means that incorrect information will count against you.
| Date | Readings | Topic |
| 09/08 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 1 | Introduction |
| 09/10 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 2 | Psychophysics |
| 09/15 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 2 | Signal Detection Theory |
| 09/17 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 3 | Neurophysiology |
| 09/22 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 4 | Vision & Optics |
| 09/24 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 5 | Retina |
| 09/29 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 6 | Ganglion Cells |
| 10/01 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 7 | Light & Dark Adaptation |
| 10/06 Tues | Review/Catch-up | |
| 10/08 Thurs | Exam 1 | |
| 10/13 Tues | Levine & Shefner Chs 8&9 | Visual Pathway & Visual Cortex |
| 10/15 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 10 | Spatial Frequency Representation |
| 10/20 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 10 | Spatial Frequency Representation |
| 10/22 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 11 | Form Perception |
| 10/27 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 12 | Depth Perception |
| 10/29 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 12 | Depth Perception |
| 11/03 Tues | Holiday | |
| 11/05 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 15 | Color Vision |
| 11/10 Tues | Review/Catch-up | |
| 11/12 Thurs | Exam 2 | |
| 11/17 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 15 | Color Vision |
| 11/19 Thurs | Levine & Shefner Ch 13 | Perceptual Constany |
| 11/24 Tues | Levine & Shefner Ch 14 | Perception of Movement |
| 11/26 Thurs | Holiday | |
| 12/01 Tues | Sekuler & Blake Ch 8 | Action & Events |
| 12/03 Thurs | Goldstein Ch 16 | Perceptual Development |
| 12/08 Tues | Review/Catch-up | |
| 12/10 Thurs | Exam 3 |
last updated: 12/4/98