Psychology 450: Sensation and Perception
Dr. J. Cooper Cutting
Syllabus
Spring 1998

Contact Information

	Instructor: J. Cooper Cutting
Office:	Barnwell 532
Phone:	777-4294
e-mail:	cuttingc@garnet.cla.sc.edu
office hours:	Wed 1-2 & by appointment

General Course Information

Textbook:Sensation and Perception, Fourth edition
by E. Bruce Goldstein, Brooks/Cole Publishers.

Course Prerequisites:PSYC 101 or SCCC 130

Course Description & Objective. The purpose of this class is to explore processing of information from the environment. Our focus will be on how we see and hear the world, but we'll also touch on how we feel, taste, and smell the world. We will approach this from a number of different perspectives, including physiological, physical, psychological, and contextual determinants of perception. Clearly this covers a lot of material, so it is important that you keep up with the readings and attend the lectures.

Course Requirements (grading). Your grade will be based on your performance on two exams and five quizzes. While the exams are not technically cumulative, a competent understanding of previous material will be helpful in your performance on later tests. This is because material later in the course builds upon the earlier work. Each exam will count for 30% of your overall grade. The format of the exams will be primarily multiple choice, however there may also be some short answer questions.

The remaining 40% of your grade will come from five quizzes, roughly corresponding to 1 quiz for two chapters (with weeks off when there is an exam scheduled). The quizzes will be administered at the end of classes (see the topic calendar for the dates on which the quizzes will occur). They'll consist of a few short answers or definition types of questions. The main purpose of the quizzes is to help you keep up with the readings and lectures.

The midterm and final dates and times are fixed, you must take them when they are scheduled. The quizzes are also fixed, but you may make up one quiz if you have and excused absence and notify me as soon as you know that you will miss it (at least 48 hours ahead if you have to go out of town, at least an hour ahead if you are sick). The make-up will be scheduled at my connivance (either before or after the original assigned time).

Up to 8 extra credit points can be earned (roughly 4% of total points in the class) via participation in experiments and/or short written assignments. See the attached handouts for more details about extra credit.

Section Topic Calendars