• to introduce the foundations of perception as a cognitive process;
• to present the basic perceptual principles, areas of investigation and theories.

• demonstrate familiarity with the basic notions and concepts of perception;
• discuss the problems of perception of form, motion, space and the related phenomena;
• debate on and contrast the perceptual theories;
• explain perceptual phenomena from different points of view;
• relate perception to other cognitive processes.

• lectures on key problems of perception;
• guided reading;
• tutor led group discussion.

• [1] Bruce V., Green P.R., Georgeson M.A. (1996), Visual Perception. Physiology, Psychology and Ecology, Hove: Psychology Press.
• [2] Eysenk M.W., Keane M.T. (1995), Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Textbook, Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd.
• [3] Goldstein E.B. (1996), Sensation & Perception, Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Pacific Grove.
• [4] Gordon I.E. (1997), Theories of visual perception /second edition/, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
• [5] Schiffman H.R. (1996), Sensation and Perception. An Integrated Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.

• introduction - historical and scientific roots of perception;
• sensation-related disciplines - psychophysics and sensory physiology;
• sensory systems - basic knowledge of the structural organization and functioning of vision, hearing, touch, vestibular and kinesthetic senses, smell and taste;
• perceptual organization - perception of form, figure-ground segregation, principles of gestalt, pattern recognition;
• perception of spatial relations - depth, perceptual constancy, illusions;
• perception of motion - real and apparent motion, stability of the perceptual world;
• theoretical approaches to perception - constructivism, ecological optics, computational approach, contrasting perceptual theories.

• [4] Chapter 1, pp. 1-12
• [5] Chapter 1, pp. 1-10;

Additional reading:

• [2] Chapter 1, pp. 1-24

Topic 2: Discussion "Why do things appear as they do?". Realism vs. idealism; Nativism vs. empiricism; Atomism vs. holism; Phenomenology vs. behaviorism.

Topic 3: Sensation - Psychophysics. Basic concepts and theoretical approaches.
Required reading:

• [5] Chapter 2, pp. 22-44;

Topic 4: Sensation - Sensory physiology. Basic neurophysiology and sensory reception.
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 1, pp. 5-15;
• [5] Chapter 1, pp. 11-19;

Additional reading:

• [4] Chapter 5, pp. 112-139

Topic 5: Sensory systems - Vision. Basic physiology, structure and functional organization of the visual system.
Required reading:

• [5] Chapter 3 and 4;

Additional reading:

• [1] Chapter 3
• [5] Chapter 5;

Topic 6: Sensory systems based on mechanoreception - Hearing, balance, kinesthesis, touch.
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 11, pp. 460-487;
• [5] Chapter 12 pp. 318-340; Chapter 15, pp. 399-410; Chapter 16, pp. 414-445;

Additional reading:

• [3] Chapter 9;
• [5] Chapter 13;

Topic 7: The chemical senses - Olfaction and taste. Basic perceptual phenomena related to the structure and organization of the sensory systems: adaptation, perception of contrast and contours, feature detectors
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 12, pp. 500-526;
• [5] Chapter 18 and 17; Chapter 6, pp. 138-146; Additional reading:
• [3] Chapter 2, pp. 78-80 and Chapter 3, pp. 102-105;
• [5] Chapter 6, pp. 147-154;

Topic 8: Discussion on Perceptual organization. Figure ground segregation, principles of Gestalt, perception of form.
Required reading:

• [5] Chapter 7, pp. 163-178; Additional reading:
• [3] Chapter 5, pp. 180-194;
• [4] Chapter 3, pp. 56-94

Topic 9: Pattern recognition. Discussion on the role of templates and features in recognition. Connectionist approach to pattern recognition. Bottom-up and Top-bottom approaches.
Required reading:

• [1] Chapter 9, pp. 205-212
• [5] Chapter 6, pp. 154-158 and 160-161;

Additional reading:

• [2] Chapter 3, pp. 47-60;
• [3] Chapter 5, pp. 203-205;
• [4] Chapter 5, pp. 139-149

Topic 10: Depth perception - discussion. Sources of depth information. Depth cues.
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 6, pp. 231-252;
• [5] Chapter 9, pp. 215-243;

Topic 11: Perceptual constancies and illusions. Discussion on the explanations of various perceptual illusions.
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 6, pp. 253-266;
• [5] Chapter 10, pp. 247-283;

Additional reading:

• [3] Chapter 4, pp. 153-159;

Topic 12: Perception of movement. Stability of the visual world.
Required reading:

• [3] Chapter 7, pp. 294-303;
• [5] Chapter 8, pp. 195-212;

Topic 13: The constructivist approach to perception.
Required reading:

• [2] Chapter 4, pp. 73-77;
• [3] Chapter 5, pp. 195-198;

Additional reading:

• [4] Chapter 6, pp. 154-179

Topic 14: The ecological approach to perception
Required reading:

• [1] Chapter 3, pp. 4-8 and Chapter 11
• [3] Chapter 6, pp. 266-273;

Additional reading:

• [2] Chapter 4, pp. 77-81;
• [4] Chapter 6, pp. 180-219

Topic 15: The computational approach to perception. Discussion: Contrasting perceptual theories.
Required reading:

• [1] Chapter 4 and Chapter 17
• [4] Chapter 6, pp. 154-179

Additional reading:

• [1] Chapter 5, pp. 75-83; Chapter 7, pp. 159-163; Chapter 9, pp. 313-322
• [2] Chapter 2;

• participation in discussions;
• written paper on a topic chosen from a predetermined list of topics;
• multiple choice test.

Grading procedure:

• 30% participation in discussions
• 40% written paper
• 30% multiple choice test