February 2010 Archives

Go to the following site and read this article: http://www-psychology.concordia.ca/fac/deAlmeida/PSYC352/Pages/Treisman-1986-Features.pdf

After reading the article please discuss:

1) What was the article about and how does it relate to the material we discussed so far in class?

2) How does the article relate to how the eye detects shapes and objects?

3) What did you find interesting about this article?

4) Why do you think makes it an important classic in the history of perception?

5) What does your text say about the material covered in the article?

6) Make a list of the terms and concepts you used in this post.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M

1) Provide a brief summary of what you learned about camouflage based on your readings (include Julez's article as well) and internet explorations.

2) Discuss what you learned about camouflage from the Dr. Behrens' talk

3) What question did you ask him or would have asked him if there was time?

4) Why do you think camouflage is an important area of study for sensation & perception? 

 

1)      Discuss what your text has to say about change blindness (or a closely related topic).

2)      Search the Internet and follow your interests as they relate to change blindness.

Discuss the sites you visited, the information you found, and how it relates to Sensation & Perception. Make sure you integrate the information from the sites (Do not discuss the individual sites).  

3)      Provided a breif overview of the talk I presented in class last week on how the brain lies

4)   Discuss how changeblindness relates to the talk I gave

 

Read Chapter 8 and the epilouge in Visual Intelligence.

1)      Make a list of the topics covered in Chapter #7. DO NOT discuss the reader.

2)      Look up the topics covered in your reference text book.

3)      For each topic write at least one paragraph about what your text has to say about it. If you text doesn't directly address the topic, then find a topic in your text that most closely matches the topic from your list and discuss that. It should be clear for each topic paragraphs that you understand the topic well enough to explain it to a student that has not yet taken this class.

4)      What parts do you think you will remember from the reader and the text?

"A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything", a flipbook animation by Jamie Bell made for an art course with biro pens on 2100 pages in 50 jotter books.

What does this tell us about how our perceptual system binds sounds, movement, and objects together to create this unusual experience?

 

Neurosonics Live from Chris Cairns on Vimeo.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Briefly discuss the meeting. What if anything related to the Sensation & Perception class?

"The motion detection isn't perfect, but it's very close - probably as close as it needs to be at this stage. Natal knows when you are moving forwards, backwards or even turning around in a full circle, revealing a detailed understanding of the dynamics and makeup of the human body."

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/15353/new-media/project-natal-hands-on-review

What do we know from S&P about motion and how we calculate movement of other objects? What might programmers want to know about the human brain's ability to detect motion that may be helpful with project Natal?

 

"Designed to be used on blind dates to determine their age, the Age Prediction Machine plays a buzzing mosquito sound, which will tell the user whether they're actually a teenager, in their early 20s, 30s or--heaven forbid!--over 40, depending on how well they can hear it. If they start slapping imaginary mosquitoes away on the 40-year old setting (which should be the loudest), then you know you've been set up with a goose of a blind date."

http://gizmodo.com/5478993/japanese-gizmo-plays-mosquito-buzzing-noise-to-determine-the-age-of-your-blind-date

What do we know from S&P about aging and the ability to detect certain frequencies?

Please read the following article: 

 http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/sp/pdfs/Julesz_1965.pdf

After reading the article please discuss:

1) What was the article about and how does it relate to the material we discussed so far in class?

2) How does the article relate to how the eye detects shapes and objects?

3) What did you find interesting about this article?

4) Why do you think makes it an important classic in the history of perception?

5) What does your text say about the material covered in the article?

6) Make a list of the terms and concepts you used in this post.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M

After reading chapter 7 in Visual Intelligence make a mind map as you have been doing. Next post the following:

1)      Make a list of the topics covered in Chapter #7. DO NOT discuss the reader.

2)      Look up the topics covered in your reference text book.

3)      For each topic write at least one paragraph about what your text has to say about it. If you text doesn't directly address the topic, then find a topic in your text that most closely matches the topic from your list and discuss that. It should be clear for each topic paragraphs that you understand the topic well enough to explain it to a student that has not yet taken this class.

4)      What parts do you think you will remember from the reader and the text?

1)      Discuss what your text has to say about camouflage (or a closely related topic).

2)      Go to the following web page and follow your interests as they relate to camouflage.

http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/Index/Home.html

Discuss the parts of the site you visited, the information you found, and how it relates to Sensation & Perception

3)      Find another site on the web that deals with camouflage

Provide the url.

Discuss the parts of the site you visited, the information you found, and how it relates to Sensation & Perception.

4)      List 3 questions you have about camouflage, how the eye detects objects in the real world, how expectations might influence the detection of objects, etc.

 

Go to the site classics in the history of psychology and pick one of the articles in perception. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/topic.htm#perception

After reading the article please discuss:

1) Why did you pick this article?

2) What was the article about and how does it relate to the material we discussed so far in class (if it doesn't then just say so)?

3) What did you find interesting about this article?

4) What do you think makes it an important classic in the history of psychology?

5) What does your text say about the material covered in the article?

6) Make a list of the terms and concepts you used in this post.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M

 

Go to the posts related to the Ted Talks we did in week #4.

Read though the posts and pick a Ted Talk that sounds interesting (one that you haven't seen before) then watch that Ted Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks 

After you watch the video write a brief discussion including 1) Why you picked that video, 2) What you expected to see, 3) What you actually saw and if you liked it or not, 4) What interested you the most? 5) How does the text discuss the material covered in the Ted Talk?

Make a list of key terms and concepts you used in your post.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M

As we have done already - after reading chapter 6 in Visual Intelligence, go through your text and find out how the text discusses the material in the reader and any additional detail it might offer. You will need to turn in a mind map in class on Tuesday so it might be a good idea to make a mind map before you start the next part of this project.

Try to adhere to the format below - keep the numbering for organization.

1) Discuss what you read in the reader. Think about what you learned from the reader. What were the main points the author was trying to make? What were some examples he used? What was the most interesting part of the chapter - etc.?  Don't simply answer these questions; these are just some things to ask yourself before you start writing. I am pretty open to what you write about.

2) Discuss what you read in your text. How did the author of your text book go about addressing the related material? What did you find out about the topic that wasn't covered in the reader? What did you find interesting that was presented in the text? How difficult was it to find the related material in the text? Again don't specifically answer these questions, just use them as a way to think about the material. Feel free to experiment with your own style.

3) After you have had a chance to think about the material - what parts do you think you will remember and what parts do you think might fade from memory sooner.

4) Make a list of the terms and terminology you used in this post.

"The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and something with a pretty firm theoretical footing. It has also been surprisingly helpful for physicists wrestling with theories of how the universe works at its most fundamental level."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126911.300-our-world-may-be-a-giant-hologram.html?full=true

"Maybe you're familiar with the ManBabies craze sweeping the internets -- the concept: babies' heads and their dads' heads are seamlessly switched using photoshop with weird and arresting results. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/12/huffpost-manbabies-photos_n_459058.html

Also see: http://manbabies.com/

What does your text say about face recognition? Based on that how would you describe what is going on here preceptually? What does your text say about size constancy?  What effect do the head swap have on size perception? 

As we have done already - after reading chapter 5 in Visual Intelligence, go through your text and find out how the text discusses the material in the reader and any additional detail it might offer. You will need to turn in a mind map in class on Tuesday so it might be a good idea to make a mind map before you start the next part of this project.

Try to adhere to the format below - keep the numbering for organization.

1) Discuss what you read in the reader. Think about what you learned from the reader. What were the main points the author was trying to make? What were some examples he used? What was the most interesting part of the chapter - etc.?  Don't simply answer these questions; these are just some things to ask yourself before you start writing. I am pretty open to what you write about.

2) Discuss what you read in your text. How did the author of your text book go about addressing the related material? What did you find out about the topic that wasn't covered in the reader? What did you find interesting that was presented in the text? How difficult was it to find the related material in the text? Again don't specifically answer these questions, just use them as a way to think about the material. Feel free to experiment with your own style.

3) After you have had a chance to think about the material - what parts do you think you will remember and what parts do you think might fade from memory sooner.

4) Make a list of the terms and terminology you used in this post.

Below is an ad for POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS in VISUAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY. For class credit go to his site and see what he does and how it might relate to our discussion on using animals in research....

******************************
 
Postdoctoral positions are available in the laboratory of Greg Horwitz at the University of Washington, Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Washington National Primate Research Center.
 
We study how signals for color perception are processed in the early visual system.  Our primary techniques include: neurophysiology, psychophysics, and computational modeling.  Specifically, we use white noise and adaptive receptive field mapping, simultaneous measurement of single-neuron and macaque visual sensitivity, and statistical models that relate the two.
 
The ideal candidate has a strong quantitative neuroscience background and experience with neurophysiological recording.  Familiarity with MATLAB and single-unit recording in awake, behaving monkeys are desired.
 
To apply, please send A CV, research statement, and relevant publications/preprints to Dr. Greg Horwitz, ghorwitz@u.washington.edu.
 
Dr. Horwitz will be interviewing candidates at the upcoming Cosyne conference
(Salt Lake City, 02/25/10-02/28/10).

Greg Horwitz, Ph.D.
UW Physiology & Biophysics
1959 NE Pacific Street
HSB Room I-039, Box 357330
Seattle, WA 98195-7330
Phone: (206) 616-0731
Fax: (206) 543-1196

When Christian Jahn, a 37-year-old graduate student, was 13, he wouldn't leave the house without wearing a heavy Arctic jacket. In Southern California, that was enough to set him apart. But Christian was obsessed with what he deemed an even more troubling physical anomaly: He was terrified of his own face.

Over the next 15 years, Jahn almost flunked out of college, then dropped out of law school - all because of a fixation on physical flaws. Then he caught an episode of "Oprah" about obsessive compulsive disorder. A little more online research yielded another related illness: body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Suddenly, Jahn's mysterious and life-altering condition had a name.

To read more click the link below:

New Research May Help Those Afraid of Own Looks

How does this video relate to touch and to our skin organ?

 

Much of the data we use in the class comes from non-human animal research. 1) Find a site that uses animal research. It could be a laboratory, a journal article, a video, etc. and discuss the site - What is being studied with what types of animals? What have we learned from the research? How are the animals used? How are they treated? etc. You don't have to answer these questions - use them as a guideline for formulating your comment.

2) Find a site that deals with the down side of animal research - i.e., Where do they go when they are no longer needed? Activist group? Site about ethical treatment, etc? Discuss the site. How does it relate to your site #1 (it might not)? What are the main issues? How are these issues handled with #1? Is the research being done in #1 worth the harm done to the animals?

3) What is your personal opinion of animal research?

 

As we have done already - after reading chapter 4 in Visual Intelligence, go through your text and find out how the text discusses the material in the reader and any additional detail it might offer. You will need to turn in a mind map in class on Tuesday so it might be a good idea to make a mind map before you start the next part of this project.

Try to adhere to the format below - keep the numbering for organization.

1) Discuss what you read in the reader. Think about what you learned from the reader. What were the main points the author was trying to make? What were some examples he used? What was the most interesting part of the chapter - etc.?  Don't simply answer these questions; these are just some things to ask yourself before you start writing. I am pretty open to what you write about.

2) Discuss what you read in your text. How did the author of your text book go about addressing the related material? What did you find out about the topic that wasn't covered in the reader? What did you find interesting that was presented in the text? How difficult was it to find the related material in the text? Again don't specifically answer these questions, just use them as a way to think about the material. Feel free to experiment with your own style.

3) After you have had a chance to think about the material - what parts do you think you will remember and what parts do you think might fade from memory sooner.

4) Make a list of the terms and terminology you used in this post.

There are a variety of really great lectures called TED Talks. Go to http://www.ted.com/talks and look around for a lecture that relates to a topic discussed in our text. This might take some doing, but there are a few and they should be worth your effort.

After you watch the video write a brief discuss including 1) Why you picked that video, 2) What you expected to see, 3) What you actually saw and if you liked it or not, 4) What interested you the most? 5) How does the text discuss the material covered in the Ted Talk?

Make a list of key terms and concepts you used in your post.

 

Let me know if you have any questions,

 

--Dr. M

For this web divergence I would like you to find some web material that relates to what we have been reading about in our reader. I would like you to integrate what our reader and text discuss in relation to the site. When you write about the site, 1) Discuss in general what the site is about, 2) discuss why you chose this particular aspect of what we have been covering, 3) discuss how the web site uses the material - how it supports or extends what we have learned, 4) how does the reader present the material (what does it say about the material), 5) How does your text handle the material (what does it say), and 6) After reading the three sources of information, what do you now have to say about the particular topic you chose.

When you develop your comment for your homework please use the numbering system above for organization sake.

Take care,

 

--Dr. M