Course Syllabus

Perception (Psych 30) 

Professor Kalanit Grill-Spector

T Th 4:30 -5:50 pm

live on zoom

kalanit@stanford.edu
Office hours after class on Tuesday

Course Overview

Have you ever considered if you perceive the world exactly as it is, or perhaps your percepts are merely an interpretation of the world? Have you ever wondered why your dog can hear some tones that you can’t hear? Have you ever argued with your friend about if you perceive the same red when you look at a red balloon? And, anyway, how does this all work?

If you are seeking answers to questions like these, this is the class for you, as we will learn, discuss, and experiment with basic mechanisms of visual and auditory perception. We will use an interdisciplinary approach leaning on psychological, neuroscience, and computational topics.

Learning in an online environment

I hope I can infect you with my enthusiasm on the topics of our class as my own research uses functional brain imaging, psychophysics, and computational methods to study the neural basis of visual perception. I will bring this perspective to class, not only by incorporating a neuroscience perspective to studying perception, but also through active learning and hands-on projects.

This year our class will be online and utilizing a flipped class format. We will meet live on zoom twice a week (T/Th) for synchronous activities and discussions. To be ready for these activities you will have reading/viewing materials to cover and report on asynchronously prior to each meeting. After the synchronous classes, you will more deeply engage with the learning material by solving a problem set or via a project. I am a believer in active learning so I hope we can tinker with a lot of examples to get deep insights about our perception. 

 

Teaching Team

We have a wonderful group of teaching assistants (TAs) that will lead activities and discussions in breakout rooms during synchronous learning.  You are welcome to meet me and the TAs regularly throughout the quarter. We have an open-door policy, just hop onto one of our office hours sessions on zoom.

Head TA: Dawn Finzi: dfinzi@stanford.edu; Office hours 3:30-4:30 pm on Thursdays; Zoom link here.

Nathan Kong: nclkong@stanford.edu; Office hours 2:00-3:00 pm on Tuesdays; Zoom link here.

Insub Kim: insubkim@stanford.edu;  Office hours 3:00-4:00 pm on Wednesdays; Zoom link here

Pam Wang: shaofang@stanford.edu; Office hours 3:00-4:00 pm on Mondays; Zoom link here

Josh Ryu: jhryu25@stanford.edu; Office hours:  5:00 pm - 6:00 pm on Fridays; Zoom link here

Additionally, we will be using Campuswire for questions about the course and the problem sets.  Please navigate to: https://campuswire.com/p/G3240F635  (Class code: 5079) and sign up.

 

Textbook  & Materials

Textbook: We will be using the book: Sensation and Perception, by Jeremey Wolfe, 5th edition (2017). Books are available for digital rent or purchase.  

Materials: You will need to purchase and use simple cardboard glasses for the first project. 12 cardboard red/cyan 3D glasses can be purchased  for $6.99 here.  If you have a problem in purchasing the glasses please contact our head TA Dawn Finzi (dfinzi@stanford.edu). There's also a pinned post on campuswire to help students coordinate purchasing the glasses (since you'll each only really need one). 

 

Class syllabus in chronological order by module:

Module 1:  Introduction: Can perception be described by basic laws?

Module 2: What's the minimal stimulus we can perceive ? Answers from signal detection theory

Module 3: What are the many functions of your eyes?

Module 4: How does having 2 eyes enable 3D perception?

Module 5: Beyond the eyes and into the brain: visual processing streams

Module  6: How do we perceive  motion?

Module 7: How do we perceive an infinite array of colors?

Module  8: How do we recognize objects, faces and places?

Module 9:  Shifting gears to audition: how do we perceive pitch and loudness?

Module 10: How do we localize sounds?

Module 11: How do we perceive speech?

Module 12: How do attention and experience affect perception?

Module 13: Project II: Illusion Workshop:  student presentations

Class components

(1) Synchronous learning & Participation (10%):  Participation in synchronous classes on Tu/Th is required.  I believe in active learning, thus, we will have many activities in breakout rooms. You will receive credit for participating. Attendance in 90% of the synchronous classes will give you full participation credit in the class. We will also be recording the zoom lectures, but it is unclear at this point if we can record the activities in the breakout rooms.

(2) Readings and asynchronous learning (20%): Each topic is associated with reading materials & online resources that include material from the book as well as lecture notes/videos that will be posted on canvas in the relevant module. We want you to read the materials before the synchronous classes, so you are ready for the synchronous class activities and discussions. To help guide you in the readings, we have 12 reading assignments with short questions associated with each module. Note that answers to the readings questions mostly due on Mondays but we also have some that are due on Wednesday, so please pay attention to the deadlines! You will receive 2 points for completing the reading on time (we're lenient with this - by class time for that reading will still count) and then 1 point if late (submissions accepted up to the problem set deadline for that module).

(3) Problem sets (40%): Problem sets will be given each week. The problem set is due at the end of each week on Saturday no later than 11:55pm on canvas. Deadline will be strictly enforced as solutions will be subsequently posted. Late submissions will be docked 50% up and no submissions will be accepted after the solutions are posted (typically Wednesday). Work needs be your own work. If you discuss your answers with someone else, please indicate the names of the people in your work group at the top of your homework submission. Answers to problem sets should be typed on a computer and not hand-written. 

Regrading policy: If you think there is a mistake with a released grade, you have to report that within 7 days of the day the results have been published. Regrading requests automatically result in the whole assignment being regraded, which means you may gain, but also lose points.

(4) Projects: The goal of the projects is to promote active learning of perceptual mechanisms and an opportunity to engage your creative side. We will give you more information once we publish the deadlines for each project.

Project I: Random dot stereogram (10%): The first project is aimed to enhance understanding of how stereo vision works. After you create your own original random dot stereogram you might have an ‘aha’ moment and reconsider that the 3D structure you see is an illusion based on the horizontal placement of your eyes. 

Project II: Illusion workshop (20%).  The goal of the second project is for you to dig deeply into a perceptual illusion that interests you and understand how it works. It is also an opportunity for you to be creative and artistic. You will research a perceptual illusion that interests you and try to understand how it work. You will generate your own version of the illusion, present it to your break room group on the last week of the quarter and then summarize it in a writeup. This is going to be the best experience of our class.

    

What we expect from you

- Come prepared to classes by reading the relevant materials and answering the reading questions.

- Participate in classes. Attendance in synchronous classes and participating in activities is mandatory. We understand that due to the pandemic and extenuating circumstances you may need to miss an online synchronous class.  Please email our head TA Dawn Finzi in advance to notify her and justify your absence. You will not be penalized for missing up to 2 sessions. However, missing more than 2 session will affect the attendance component of your grade.

- Join the zoom session on time, and don't leave before it's over.

- We want to get to know you! Keep your video on during class (if possible) & participate in breakroom discussions.

- Ask questions during activities:  We will use the chat to moderate Q/A on zoom. Please don't worry about asking a "stupid" question. Chances are that other students in the class are also confused. Asking a question shows that you're thinking. Believe me, I've asked plenty of bone-headed questions over the years.

 

Office Hours 

You are welcome to meet me and the TAs regularly throughout the quarter. 

 

Honor Code

We expect  you  to follow Stanford’s honor code. The following are examples of honor code violations:

(a) copying answers from someone else

(b) signing in and participating on behalf of your friends 

 

Final note

We are hopeful that the flipped format where you read first and then participate in synchronous activities will result in an engaging learning environment which will inspire you to be curious about how you perceive the world and how your brain works.  As this is the first time the class is run in this format before, we are hopeful that you will be patient as we try different things throughout the quarter. Importantly, I welcome your feedback on what works and what doesn't so we can improve your learning experience .