Mary M Hayhoe

Seminars in Cognitive or 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, 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.

The goal of this course is to teach you how to do experiments and make discoveries about your own perceptions and actions in ordinary life. There are many basic and important things to learn about this topic, that do not involve extensive background knowledge. We can do this because of new Virtual Reality technology that allows us to examine situations close to everyday life. The goal is to make new discoveries by doing several experiments in the Virtual Reality lab. In the course of doing this, you will learn a lot about how to ask scientific questions, do experiments, analyze the data, and make conclusions. You will learn how to write up experiments in a scientific manner and give oral presentations of your findings in class. This will involve learning technical skills that should be generally useful. The thing of greatest value, however, is learning how to form your own questions and to answer them.

Seminars in Cognitive or 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.

PSY 341K        Seeing and Acting in a Virtual World        Spring, 2010   

               
COURSE OUTLINE


Class hours: Tues, Thurs 9.30-11.00                                          Room 4-242, SEAY

Instructor: Professor Mary Hayhoe
         SEAY Room 4-234  X5-9338                           mary@mail.cps.utexas.edu   
 Office hours: Anytime by appointment
         TA: Sucharit Katyal
         sucharit@mail.utexas.edu,  SEA 4.336
Web Site:  http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/psy341K/hayhoe/2010/

The goal of this course is to teach you how to do experiments and make discoveries about your own perceptions and actions in ordinary life.  There are many basic and important things to learn about this topic, that do not involve extensive background knowledge. We can do this because of new Virtual Reality technology that allows us to examine situations close to everyday life. The goal is to make new discoveries by doing several experiments in the Virtual Reality lab. In the course of doing this, you will learn a lot about how to ask scientific questions, do experiments, analyze the data, and make conclusions. You will learn how to write up experiments in a scientific manner and give oral presentations of your findings in class. This will involve learning technical skills that should be generally useful. The thing of greatest value, however, is learning how to form your own questions and to answer them.

Text:
Because the course is very selective in the topics covered, there is no assigned text. Readings are available on the class web site.
Several chapters from the following book will be assigned. (The amount of material does not warrant buying the book.)
D.A. Rosenbaum  (1991)  Human Motor Control . Academic Press (Chapters 1, 2, 5, & 6)
Another useful reference is:
Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R & Mangun, G  (2000) Cognitive Neuroscience Norton, 2nd ed.


Date        Topic

Jan 19     Overview of the course: understanding human actions     
        Introduction to Virtual Reality lab.
                       
Jan  21    Using our Eyes in Everyday Tasks:
Lecture: The nervous system, vision, and motor control.
The eye and eye movements
        Rosenbaum Ch 5, Land paper.


Jan 26    Lab: tracking the eyes while catching balls.
        
Jan 28    Lab: tracking the eyes.       
       
Feb  2     Lecture:  Interpreting the data

Feb   4    Discussion of Findings/ class presentations

Feb  9        Interdependence of Vision and Action: Lecture    Paper 1 due
        (Rosenbaum, Ch 1, p 1-25)

Feb  11     Vision and movement.
        (Rosenbaum Ch 2)                           
                                   
Feb  16     Lab: Reaching for virtual targets                                        Rosenbaum Ch 6                           

Feb  18    Lab: ctd

Feb 23    Understanding the data

Feb 25    Discussion of Findings / class presentations                                                               
Mar  2     Review                            Paper 2 due                               
Mar 4        Mid-term                               

Mar 9        Learning Visuo-Motor Relationships: lecture

Mar 11    Lecture                       
                           
Mar  16, 18   Spring Break    
       
Mar  23     Lab: Hitting virtual balls                       

Mar  25    Lab: ctd                   
               
Mar 30    Discussion of Outcome

Apr 1        Class Presentations

Apr 6         Attention & Vision: Lecture                Paper 3 due

Apr   8         Lecture: attention and eye movements in natural environments
       
Apr  13     Lab: Walking in a Virtual Apartment                           

Apr  15      Lab: Walking in a Virtual Apartment                       

Apr  20    Understanding the data           
                                           
Apr  22    Class presentations                           

Apr 27     Lecture: Uses of virtual environments               

Apr  29    Review
   
May 4        Review

May 6     Final Exam                    Paper 4 due
                               

Grading:  Grades will be based on the papers, plus the mid-term and final exams. In addition, grades will take into account class attendance, participation in class discussions, and class presentations. (Papers 1-4: 15% each. Midterm and Final: 15% each; Attendance: 5%; Presentations and class discussion: 5%)
Papers should be about 7-10 pages (typewritten, double spaced) reporting the results of the lab experiments.
The exams will consist of short answer questions on the material covered in the preceding half-semester. The final exam will cover only the second half of the course. The exams will cover material discussed in class and in the labs, as well as on the readings.

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.

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.