sensation and perception - Courses in Psychology - UCLA

Psychology 120B Sensation & Perception 2such as light and sound. From patterns formed in this energy, perceptual systems extractinformation about structure and events in the world. To understand all this, we need accounts of theinformation, of computational processes, and of neural mechanisms. The study of perception teaches theneed for multiple levels of analysis in the study of the mind.Studying perception also raises the deepest issues about the nature of reality, mind, and knowledge.What is real? Is perception a direct link to reality? We are all familiar with illusions or failures ofperception. Yet, if we know reality through perception, what does it mean to perceive incorrectly?The consequences for science are as large as for the individual. In all of its branches, scientificknowledge depends on observation; as such it requires a coherent account of how we obtainknowledge by perceiving.The stakes are high -- intellectually, but also practically. Analyzing perception allows us tocommunicate and to depict; to imagine and to build artificial systems, such as virtual realitysystems. Investigating the neural hardware of perception helps us to understand and treat injuryand disorder. Perception issues arise in many facets of life, such as in the design of aircraft displaysand controls, highways, motion pictures, and Ipods, to name only a few.Although a 10-week, first course in perception is necessarily limited in the scope, you are invited toexplore issues in domains within and beyond our course material with the instructor and TAs andespecially on the course website. Your instructor has been doing scientific research in perceptionfor a long time, and has also been involved in a wide range of applications, including aviation andair traffic control, vehicle accident cases (as an expert witness, not a participant), consultant togovernment and law enforcement agencies, and development of educational technology.Discussions with your instructor, TAs, and on the course website can help you to relate thecoursework to your interests and to expand your involvement in the study of perception.Our course will emphasize visual perception, both our most important sense and the one moststudied. We will also discuss auditory perception and issues that span all perceptual systems.Course Prerequisites and Related InformationPsychology 120B fulfills a core course requirement for the Psychology and related majors.Prerequisites include prior fulfillment of Psychology 10 and Psychology 100A.Because this course has been designated as an "impacted" course, the Department of Psychology hasrequested that the following information be included here:1) If you are not enrolled in a discussion section by the end of the second week of the quarter, youwill be dropped by the computer. Furthermore, CORE courses are over-enrolled to compensate forthe typical drop rate. For this reason, Permission to Enroll Authorization Numbers (PTE's)will not be issued for this course. Students with concerns should go to the PsychologyAdvising Office, 1531 Franz Hall. All enrollment issues must be handled by the Advising Office.2) You cannot drop an impacted course after the second week of a term for other than exceptionallyextenuating circumstances which must be approved by the L&S Executive Committee on referral bycollege counseling units. Exceptionally extenuating circumstances do not include circumstances ofshort duration where other alternatives exist, including but not limited to a late drop of other(nonimpacted) courses or taking an Incomplete in the impacted course.