January 2012 Archives

Topical Blog Week #4 (Due Thursday)

By Otto on January 28, 2012 2:26 PM | 38 Comments


What I would like you to do is to find a topic from the chapter you read for Monday that you were interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from chapter 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. They will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration method. And besides this is the way researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for so now is a good time to learn this skill. At this point don't worry about a grade, worry about doing your best to have fun with the topic and then integrate it into your own words to share what you found and now know. We will work on citing the sources later....

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reading Activity Week #4 (Due Monday)

By Otto on January 28, 2012 2:24 PM | 39 Comments

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/440176/thumbs/s-LITERARY-FICTION-SHAM-large300.jpg

Please read chapter 3 (if you don't have a book yet, please let me know). After reading chapter 3, please respond to the following questions:

What were three things from the chapter that you found interesting? Why were they interesting to you? Which one thing did you find the least interesting? Why? What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Sensation & Perception? Finally indicate two topics or concepts that you might like more information about.

Note: Keep in mind that there are no scheduled exams. When you make you posts make sure they are of sufficient caliber that the could be used as notes in a test - since the posts are what we are doing in lieu of an exam. Be sure to use the terms and terminology in your posts.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Week #3 Honorarium: Mapping the Blind Spot

By Otto on January 21, 2012 1:57 AM | 17 Comments

An honorarium is often a small payment for services that might otherwise be done for free or for a much larger amount. Think of it as a token payment of appreciation.

Past experience with hybrid classes has shown that on the average 2 assignments a week is about right for most students. The problem is that there are many additional assignments that would enrich your learning in this class. I don't necessarily like the concept of extra credit (if you ask I'll be happy to tell you why) and I can't afford to pay you too much for doing these additional assignments because many students won't be able to find the time resources to do them and I don't want to blow out the grade curve.

So what I am willing to do is offer an honorarium as a token of my appreciation for doing these additional assignments. They will typically be worth 2 points. If you like you can incorporate this assignment into your Topical Blog Assignment by listing it as one of your references (in this case it is OK to 'double-dip').

For this week's honorarium assignment I would like you to go to the following site and read through the introduction and the instructions for the online lab experiment.

http://people.usd.edu/~schieber/coglab/BlindSpot.html

IMPORTANT: When you click on the button at the bottom of the page to "RUN THE EXPERIMENT" you may be asked to log in. If you log in as GUEST you should be able to get in. You will also need a computer with up to date Java plug-ins.

The experiment takes about 15 minutes - perceptually it seems like forever : -) but don't give up and don't just start clicking on buttons to get it over with because we want the data it provides you when you are done.

After all that, since most of the work was doing the assignment. For this blog post, just say I did the experiment and briefly discuss your experience.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Topical Blog Week #3 (Due Thursday)

By Otto on January 21, 2012 1:33 AM | 42 Comments


Before you begin this assignment, please go to the following site and read a couple of topical blog posts that were done by students last semester at : http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/04/topical-blog-week-14-due-friday.html#comments


Next what I would like you to do is to find a topic from the chapter you read for Monday that you were interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from chapter 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. They will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration method. And besides this is the way researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for so now is a good time to learn this skill. At this point don't worry about a grade, worry about doing your best to have fun with the topic and then integrate it into your own words to share what you found and now know. We will work on citing the sources later....

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reading Activity Week #3 (Due Monday)

By Otto on January 21, 2012 1:26 AM | 45 Comments

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/440176/thumbs/s-LITERARY-FICTION-SHAM-large300.jpg

Please read chapter 2 (if you don't have a book yet, please let me know). After reading chapter 2, please respond to the following questions:

What were three things from the chapter that you found interesting? Why were they interesting to you? Which one thing did you find the least interesting? Why? What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Sensation & Perception? Finally indicate two topics or concepts that you might like more information about.

Note: Keep in mind that there are no scheduled exams. When you make you posts make sure they are of sufficient caliber that the could be used as notes in a test - since the posts are what we are doing in lieu of an exam. Be sure to use the terms and terminology in your posts.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
 

Week #2 Honorarium: Psychophysical Measurement using JNDs

By Otto on January 16, 2012 3:49 PM | 20 Comments

An honorarium is often a small payment for services that might otherwise be done for free or for a much larger amount. Think of it as a token payment of appreciation.

Past experience with hybrid classes has shown that on the average 2 assignments a week is about right for most students. The problem is that there are many additional assignments that would enrich your learning in this class. I don't necessarily like the concept of extra credit (if you ask I'll be happy to tell you why) and I can't afford to pay you too much for doing these additional assignments because many students won't be able to find the time resources to do them and I don't want to blow out the grade curve.

So what I am willing to do is offer an honorarium as a token of my appreciation for doing these additional assignments. They will typically be worth 2 points. If you like you can incorporate this assignment into your Topical Blog Assignment by listing it as one of your references (in this case it is OK to 'double-dip').

For this week's honorarium assignment I would like you to go to the following site and read through the introduction and the instructions for the online lab experiment.

http://people.usd.edu/~schieber/coglab/WebersLaw.html

IMPORTANT: When you click on the button at the bottom of the page to "RUN THE EXPERIMENT" you may be asked to log in. If you log in as GUEST you should be able to get in. You will also need a computer with up to date Java plug-ins.

The experiment takes about 15 minutes - perceptually it seems like forever : -) but don't give up and don't just start clicking on buttons to get it over with because we want the data it provides you when you are done.

When you are done, try graphing your data based on Weber's Law. If you can print out the data and bring that to class that would be great and we can try to graph it in class.

After all that, since most of the work was doing the assignment. For this blog post, just say I did the experiment and briefly discuss your experience.

 

Topical Blog Week #2 (Due Thursday)

By Otto on January 14, 2012 4:30 PM | 38 Comments


Before you begin this assignment, please go to the following site and read a couple of topical blog posts that were done by students last semester at : http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/04/topical-blog-week-14-due-friday.html#comments


Next what I would like you to do is to find a topic from chapter 1 that you were interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources.

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter, and why you are interested in it. Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize it, and then write about it. At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

By integrating/synthesizing I mean to take what your read/experienced from the internet search (and from chapter 1 if you like) organize the information into the main themes, issues, info, examples, etc. about your topic and then write about the topic in your own words using that information. This is hard for some people to do - many students write what we refer to as "serial abstracts." They are tempted to talk about the websites rather than the topic proper. They will talk all about website #1, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #2, start a new paragraph and talk all about web site #3, and then write some kind of conclusion. Serial means one after the other...This what you DON'T want to do!

At first it is a real challenge to get out of the habit of writing "serial abstracts," but I assure you once you get the hang of it it is much easier to write using the integration method. And besides this is the way researchers and scientists write their technical reports and findings - many of you will have to be able to do this for other classes and for jobs that you may eventually be hired for so now is a good time to learn this skill. At this point don't worry about a grade, worry about doing your best to have fun with the topic and then integrate it into your own words to share what you found and now know. We will work on citing the sources later....

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reading Activity Week #2 (Due Monday)

By Otto on January 14, 2012 4:24 PM | 43 Comments

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/440176/thumbs/s-LITERARY-FICTION-SHAM-large300.jpg

Please read chapter 1 (if you don't have a book yet, please let me know). After reading chapter 1, please respond to the following questions:

What were three things from the chapter that you found interesting? Why were they interesting to you? Which one thing did you find the least interesting? Why? What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Sensation & Perception? Finally indicate two topics or concepts that you would like more information about.

Note: Keep in mind that there are no scheduled exams. When you make you posts make sure they are of sufficient caliber that the could be used as notes in a test - since the posts are what we are doing in lieu of an exam. Be sure to use the terms and terminology in your posts.

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Week #1 Snow Day Assignment (Due Friday)

By Otto on January 12, 2012 2:13 PM | 40 Comments


Hi Class,

You pretty much rocked your blog posts do far and since today's class was going to cover blogging for the course and how to improve your posts etc. and since it is still snowing/snowy outside we will be doing this online work rather than in class work.

One of the blog assignment type we did for the class was the "In The News" assignments. In order to familiarize you with these assignments, we would like you to read some of the posts from past students to see what they were interested in and how they went about blogging about behavior modification in the news.

http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/02/topical-blog-week-12-due-friday.html#comments

http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/02/topical-blog-week-9-due-friday.html#comments

After reading the posts from the links above please answer the following:
Which posts did you like the best? Why?
Do you think we can adequately learn about sensation / perception from reading the news? How so?
Has reading these posts changed your idea of what sensation / perception is? Why or why not?
Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?

Thanks,

--Dr. M

Topical Blog Week #1 (due Thursday)

By Otto on January 11, 2012 6:16 PM | 36 Comments
By now you should have been able to log in and comment on the blog site. What we would like you to do now is to go to the following pages and read some of the comments left from the students in the class before you.

http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/04/topical-blog-week-15-due-friday.html
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/04/topical-blog-week-14-due-friday.html
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/perception/2011/04/topical-blog-week-13-due-friday.html

After reading the posts please answer the following:
Which posts did you like the best? Why?
Has reading these posts changed your idea of what sensation / perception is? Why or why not?
Based on these posts are there any specific topics you are interested in learning?

Thanks,

--Dr. M

Week #1 assignment (due before class on Thursday)

By Otto on January 11, 2012 6:12 PM | 20 Comments
Please make sure you are registered for the perception class and then spend a little time orienting yourself with the class blog site. While you are at it please look over the syllabus pages and make sure you understand what we will be doing this semester as it relates to the syllabus.

Once you have finished this please leave a comment about what you think about the blog site, the class, or any particular blog post you have read. I mostly just want to make sure you can log in and comment. If you have problems logging in send me an email and let me know what I can do to help.

--Dr. M
« November 2011 | Main Index | Archives | February 2012 »