PSYC3871: Perception from the Lab to the Real World

• 60 credits from Level 2 Psychology

• None

• None

• This module aims to develop an in-depth understanding of the psychological and neural processes underlying human perception, the interactions with other cognitive functions that create experience and determine behaviour, and how those neural functions and behaviours may adapt to new challenges and situations. Students will be introduced to different theories and research methods, with a focus on extending the knowledge and empirical support gained from controlled conditions in the laboratory to real-world settings, including everyday tasks, situations, and applications.

• The module content will include a range of topics regarding human perception, covering theoretical explanations and application to real-world scenarios, as well as different methodological approaches. Example topics include: perception of visual features; object recognition; face recognition; perception of facial emotional expressions; everyday scene perception; 3D and multisensory perception; visual consciousness; interaction between perception, attention and memory in laboratory and everyday environments; neural substrates of perception in healthy functioning and impairments; sensory neuroplasticity; psychophysics; eye movements; electroencephalography; neuroimaging.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Detailed knowledge of the conceptual and methodological issues in human perception, including key theories, current developments, experimental research methods and empirical evidence in fundamental and applied domains.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Ability to review critically and consolidate understanding of a coherent body of psychological knowledge and apply it appropriately.
• Ability to analyse empirical evidence and use new knowledge to formulate scientific arguments.
• Ability to formulate and test hypotheses grounded on the evaluation of existing literature to address a current issue in human perception.

Key Skills:

• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Good IT skills in relevant software, e.g. software for word processing, visualisation.
• Ability to work independently in scholarship and research within broad guidelines.

• Modes of teaching will typically include lectures, within lecture interactive elements such as problem-based-learning tasks and discussions, audio-visual materials, and reading lists.
• These modes of teaching and student independent learning will facilitate acquisition of detailed subject knowledge.
• They will also equip students with the skills to appropriately analyse and apply evidence from the literature, critically evaluate different theoretical and methodological approaches based on current evidence, formulate scientific arguments and hypotheses and design research studies.
• Interactive problem-based-learning tasks, discussions in small groups and independent student research will develop students' abilities to work independently in locating and evaluating information from a range of sources.
• The summative essay will assess students detailed subject knowledge and depth of understanding of key theories and methodological approaches, the ability to organise and synthesise theories and empirical studies coherently, appropriately applying evidence to develop scientific arguments and provide informed, critical evaluation, and the ability to formulate and test hypotheses. It will also assess students' independent scholarship and written communication skills.
• The summative presentation will assess students IT and oral communication skills, as well their subject knowledge.

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