David L Gilden

Topics of contemporary interest that may vary from semester to semester. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: For psychology majors, upper-division standing and Psychology 301 and 418 with a grade of at least C in each; for nonmajors, upper-division standing, Psychology 301 with a grade of at least C, and one of the following with a grade of at least C: Biology 318M, Civil Engineering 311S, Economics 329, Educational Psychology 371, Electrical Engineering 351K, Government 350K, Mathematics 316, 362K, Mechanical Engineering 335, Psychology 317, Sociology 317L, Social Work 318, Statistics 309, Statistics and Scientific Computation 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 318.

Theoretical and critical analysis of the development, nature, and function of the thought process. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: For psychology majors, upper-division standing and Psychology 301 and 418 with a grade of at least C in each; for nonmajors, upper-division standing, Psychology 301 with a grade of at least C, and one of the following with a grade of at least C: Biology 318M, Civil Engineering 311S, Economics 329, Educational Psychology 371, Electrical Engineering 351K, Government 350K, Mathematics 316, 362K, Mechanical Engineering 335, Psychology 317, Sociology 317L, Social Work 318, Statistics 309, Statistics and Scientific Computation 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 318.

This course explores the cognitive foundations of music.We will examine the full range of physical, psychophysical, and cognitive mechanisms that lead to musical experience. The course begins with the physics of musical instruments and the physical qualities of musical pitch. This leads to the psychophysics of hearing and why some sounds are experienced as consonant and others as dissonant. We then turn to perceptual organization and develop the sense in which music is an emergent phenomenon. Finally we examine the structures in working memory that allow individual pitch events to be organized into musical expressions. Along the way we will look at the general principles that govern the structure of music and also investigate the extent to which other species understand and hear music as music. The course will also include a deep analysis of musical expectancy in terms of fractal structure and dynamic systems.

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the various issues involved in conducting psychological research. Minimally this includes the design, analysis, and reporting of experiments. In this course we will also attempt to focus on the less tangible but ultimately more important issue of how one asks a good question - a question that leads the way to learning something that you don't already know.

Grading: There will be three 1-hour exams. No make-up exams. The first two exams will each counttoward 35% of the grade, and the third exam will count toward 30% of the grade. cumulative. Exams are derived 100% from lecture. Exams are not cummulative. Exams are derived 100% from lecture.

This course explores the cognitive foundations of music. We will examine the full range of physical, psychophysical, and cognitive mechanisms that lead to musical experience. The course begins with the physics of musical instruments and the physical qualities of musical pitch. This leads to the psychophysics of hearing and why some sounds are experienced as consonant and others as dissonant. We then turn to perceptual organization and develop the sense in which music is an emergent phenomenon. Finally we examine the structures in working memory that allow individual pitch events to be organized into musical expressions. Along the way we will look at the general principles that govern the structure of music and also investigate the extent to which other species understand and hear music as music. The course will also include a deep analysis of musical expectancy in terms of fractal structure and dynamic systems.

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the various issues involved in conducting psychological research. Minimally this includes the design, analysis, and reporting of experiments. In this course we will also attempt to focus on the less tangible but ultimately more important issue of how one asks a good question - a question that leads the way to learning something that you don't already know.

Course Description: This course explores the cognitive foundations of music. We will

examine the full range of physical, psychophysical, and cognitive mechanisms that lead to

musical experience. The course begins with the physics of musical instruments and the physical

qualities of musical pitch. This leads to the psychophysics of hearing and why some sounds are

experienced as consonant and others as dissonant. We then turn to perceptual organization and

develop the sense in which music is an emergent phenomenon. Finally we examine the structures

in working memory that allow individual pitch events to be organized into musical expressions.

Along the way we will look at the general principles that govern the structure of music and also

investigate the extent to which other species understand and hear music as music. The course

will also include a deep analysis of musical expectancy in terms of fractal structure and dynamic

systems.

Theoretical and critical analysis of the development, nature, and function of the thought process. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: For psychology majors, upper-division standing and Psychology 301 and 418 with a grade of at least C in each; for nonmajors, upper-division standing, Psychology 301 with a grade of at least C, and one of the following with a grade of at least C: Biology 318M, Civil Engineering 311S, Economics 329, Educational Psychology 371, Electrical Engineering 351K, Government350K, Mathematics 316, 362K, Mechanical Engineering 335, Psychology 317, Sociology 317L, Social Work 318, Statistics 309, Statistics and Scientific Computation 303, 304, 305, 306.

Course Description

This course studies the perceptual and cognitive processing involved in the psychology of music. The general idea is to acquaint students with the basic concepts and issues involved in the understanding of musical passages. The focus of this course is on the perception and cognition of musical materials, taking as its starting point the music listener as a gatherer and interpreter of information from the environment.

Topics will include the basic physical and psychological properties of sound, pitch perception and melodic organization, the perception of rhythm and time, general aspects of auditory scene analysis, musical performance, emotion and meaning in music, musical development, and so on.

Grading Policy

TBA

Texts

TBA: Various readings selected by the professor.

Prerequisites

A major in psychology, PSY 301 with a grade of at least C, PSY 418 or an equivalent statistics course with a grade of at least C, and a GPA of at least 3.0 in psychology courses taken at the Univeristy. Upper-division standing required.

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the various issues involved in conducting psychological research. Minimally this includes the design, analysis, and reporting of experiments. In this course we will also focus on the less tangible but ultimately more important issue of how one asks a good question - a question that leads to a rich field of empirical study.

Grading Policy

TBA

Texts

TBA

PSY 355: Cognition 43975
Dr. Gilden
Office: Sea 5.118    Phone: 232.4641    gilden@psy.utexas.edu
Office hours: MWF 12:30-1:00 and by appointment
TA:  Laura Marusich
Office: Sea 5.118    Phone: 475.6303    lmarusich@mail.utexas.edu
Office hours: MWF 2:00-3:00 and by appointment
Grading:  There will be three 1-hour exams.  No make-up exams.  Each exam counts toward 1/3 of the grade.  Exams are not cumulative.  Exams are derived 100% from lecture. ?  ?
Proposed syllabus

Week    Topic   
Jan 20 - Jan 22    Foundations of cognition   
Jan 25 - Jan 29    Neural computation   
Feb 1 - Feb 5    Perception   
Feb 8 - Feb 12    Principles of Gestalt   
Feb 15 - Feb 19    Attention: Visual search    Exam 1: February 19
Feb 22 - Feb 26    Attention: Models and theory   
Mar 1 - Mar 5    Imagination   
Mar 8 - Mar 12    Time   
Mar 15 - Mar 19    Spring Break   
Mar 22 - Mar 26    Working memory    Exam 2: March 26
Mar 29 - Apr 2    Long term memory   
Apr 5 - Apr 9    Informal reasoning   
Apr 12 - Apr 16    Subjective probability   
Apr 19 - Apr 23    Dynamical systems   
Apr 26 - Apr 30    Complexity theory   
May 3 - May 7    Modern approaches to cognition    Exam 3: May 7


The psychology department will drop all students who do not meet the following prerequisites: ?(a) PSY 301 with a C or better ?(b) Upper-division standing (60 hours completed) ?(c) PSY 418 (or an equivalent listed in the course schedule) with a C or better

Psychology 458 Experimental Psychology-W #44200

SEA 2.116 MWF 1:00 - 3:00

Dr. Gilden  SEA 5.118  232-4641  ?Office Hours: MWF 3-4

gilden@psy.utexas.edu

Text: Basic Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (3^rd Edition), by Kenneth D. Hopkins, B. R. Hopkins, Gene V. Glass

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the various issues involved in conducting psychological research.  Minimally this includes the design, analysis, and reporting of experiments.  In this course we will also attempt to focus on the less tangible but ultimately more important issue of how one asks a good question - a question that leads the way to learning something that you don't already know.

Requirements:

1.  There will be a 45 minute examination every second Monday.  These exams will consist of 2 or 3 questions requiring short essays or solutions to specific problems.

            ?2.  During the semester the class will construct a number of illustrative experiments.  For 2 of these experiments, each student will analyze the data and write a summary of the experiment in a form that would be acceptable in a psychological journal such as Human Perception and Performance. 

            ?3.  Each student will undertake a final project.  As part of this project, the student will (a) develop their own research question, (b) formulate an experiment that addresses some aspect of this question, (c) conduct the experiment, (d) analyze the data, (e) give a short informal talk describing the research, and (f) write a written report in the style of a scientific paper.

Grading:

            ?Examinations - 30%

Reports of Illustrative Experiments - 30%  

Final Project - 40%

General Policy:  Attendance in class is required.  One unexcused absence is allowed.  Further absence will result in a 1/2 final grade penalty.  To be specific; 2 unexcused absences will result in a final grade of A being recorded as an A-.  If you must be absent please contact the instructor or the TA.

Seminars in Cognitive and Perceptual Systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Seminars in Cognitive and Perceptual Systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Topics of contemporary interest that may vary from semester to semester. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: For psychology majors, upper-division standing and Psychology 301 and 418 with a grade of at least C in each; for nonmajors, upper-division standing, Psychology 301 with a grade of at least C, and one of the following with a grade of at least C: Biology 318M, Civil Engineering 311S, Economics 329, Educational Psychology 371, Government 350K, Mathematics 316, Psychology 317, Sociology 317L, Social Work 318, Statistics 309.

Theoretical and critical analysis of the development , nature, and function of the though process. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: For psychology majors, upper-division standing and Psychology 301 and 418 with a grade of at least C in each; for nonmajors, upper-division standing, Psychology 301 with a grade of at least C, and one of the following with a grade of at least C: Biology 318M, Civil Engineering 311S, Economics 329, Educational Psychology 371, Government 350K, Mathematics 316, Psychology 317, Sociology 317L, Social Work 318, Statistics 309.