Instructor: Ilyse Dobrow
Email: ilyse@rci.rutgers.edu
Office:
Office hours: By appointment

General goals for the course:

1. To provide an opportunity to experience some perceptual phenomena firsthand.
2. To learn how to perform data collection and some basic data manipulation and analysis.
3. To begin to think about experimental design.
4. To learn how to use software tools to analyze and plot data.
5. To be introduced to the practice of scientific writing.

This laboratory class is meant to serve as a companion to the lecture class PSYCH-301. The conceptual and theoretical basis for the exercises and demonstrations are developed in lecture. For this reason, concurrent or past registration in PSYCH-301 is required.

Grading:

Your final grade will be based on three things:

1. Attendance (see Attendance Policy below)
2. Weekly lab assignments
3. An original project report completed during the last several class meetings.

Every assignment will count towards your grade. There are no tests or quizzes planned. Grades for this course will not be curved or scaled.

The criteria for grading your work will be:

• Effort and class participation
• Demonstration of progress in understanding and using software tools
• Clarity of graphs
• Clarity of writing
• Demonstration of understanding basic perceptual concepts introduced in the labs

Final Project: The final project is the writing of a full laboratory report based on an original experiment carried out in class during the final weeks of the semester. These reports will be given a letter grade (A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F).

Weekly Assignments: We will be working on labs at each class meeting. After each lab is completed (data collection and analysis), you will be assigned a write-up of the lab that is due at the beginning of the next class period. Write-ups will often consist of brief reports on methods, raw data, data analysis (graphs, charts, statistical tests, etc.), results and conclusions.

Students who hand in the assignment on time and receive a failing grade will be given the option of handing in one revised version within one week of receipt of the graded assignment. The revised report will then be graded. No revisions of a failed assignment will be accepted after this one-week delay, and no subsequent revisions will be accepted after the first revision, although I will be available to meet with you at any time to discuss the material and your performance.

The daily assignments will be graded on the "P" scale:

P+: Excellent work

P: Good, pass

P-: Minor problems, needs improvement

F: Fail, requires redo

Scores on these daily assignments will be used to adjust the grade given on the final project. A half letter grade will be added for 3 P+'s accumulated during the semester. A half letter grade will be subtracted for 3 P-'s accumulated during the semester. If an F is not redone, it will also cause a half letter grade deduction.

3 P+'s: Add one-half letter grade

P: No points added or deducted

3 P-'s: Deduct one-half letter grade

F: Deduct one-half letter grade if left uncorrected

All laboratory assignments and reports must be completed by the individual student. Collaborative reports will be given an F grade.

Attendance Policy:

If you miss a lab meeting for a legitimate reason (e.g. illness, religious holiday) you must bring an official excuse note (e.g. doctor's note). This will excuse you from performing that part of the assignment. Missed assignments that are not excused will be given a failing grade. You must arrive on time to class. Excessive lateness prevents you from learning about the goals and content of the lab projects. If you are more than 15 minutes late you will not be allowed to enter and participate that day and your absence will be counted as an unexcused absence.

Schedule of Labs:

The following is a rough schedule of the course. Amendments may be made as the course progresses.

September 9...........Line length lab

September 16.........Line length lab continued—Muller-Lyer Illusion

September 23.........Center of Gravity

September 30 ........Prism adaptation

October 7...............Pitch discrimination

October 14.............Attention shift

October 21.............Crowding effect

October 28 ............P illusion

November 4...........Extrapolation of motion

November 11.........Design final project (must be turned in before you leave), abstract, title page

November 18.........Data collection for final project

December 2............Finish data collection, data analysis

December 9...........Turn in final projects