PSY4206 PSYCHOPHYSICS
| Course Code: | 2334206 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 7.0 |
| Department: | Psychology |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Assist.Prof.Dr NAHİDE DİCLE DÖVENCİOĞLU |
| Offered Semester: | Fall and Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
- The quantitative study of the relationship between the physical signals and sensory experience
- Measuring perception around the threshold
- Measuring suprathreshold sensory discrimination
- Understand the contribution of the sensory signal and noise
- Understand how experience contributes to perceptual experience in humans
- Acquire the skills needed to evaluate, critique, and present primary research articles from leading academic journals
Course Content
Psychophysics, Fechner`s Law, Weber`s Law, Stephen`s Power Law. Methods of constant stimuli, limits, and adjustment, Discrimination and detection thresholds, Just noticeable difference (JND}, psychometric function, Signal Detection Theory. Forced-choice tasks, Non-threshold tasks, and Scaling. Fourier Analysis, Contrast Sensitivity Function, Michelson Contrast. Likelihood Principle, Bayesian Framework.
Course Learning Outcomes
Psychophysics is the science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and psychological events, such as the logarithmic transformation of physical intensity into perceived (hence subjective) intensity, namely Fechner’s Law. This course aims to teach methods to measure perception with theoretical concepts and survey a broad range of experimental findings in human psychophysics and neuroscience.
The course is designed to teach students the theory and methods of perception science so that they can conduct perception research themselves or be critical consumers of the literature on perceptual processes.
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Solid background in basic theories and approaches in psychology. | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Skills to obtain and interpret new information in the light of acquired theoretical knowledge. | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Skills to follow both national and international publications and developments in the discipline. | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Basic applied skills and knowledge of the various disciplines of psychology that do not require specialization. | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Awareness of the value of continuing educational practices such as in-service training, seminars, and conferences to keep career-relevant knowledge and skills up-to-date. | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Skills to conduct research based on basic knowledge related to testing and measurement, research methods, and statistics. That is, skills related to forming research hypotheses, designing the research, collecting data, applying basic statistical analysis, and reporting. | ✔ | |||
| 7 | Knowledge and skills about conducting research and practice by adhering to ethical guidelines. | ✔ | |||
| 8 | Skills in oral and written communication both in Turkish and English. | ✔ | |||
| 9 | Skills to work in teams that involve disciplinary and interdisciplinary projects. | ✔ | |||
| 10 | Critical thinking skills in following the psychological literature together with the psychology-related information appearing in popular media. | ✔ | |||
| 11 | Skills to generate practical and culture-sensitive solutions to problems. | ✔ | |||
| 12 | Awareness of societal, environmental, and economic factors in professional practice and research. | ✔ | |||
| 13 | Skills to lead and pioneer in the profession of psychology, either in academia or professional practice. | ✔ | |||
| 14 | Skills in independent and team work. | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution