BIOLOGY 70, Fall 2007

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOBIOLOGY

Part II: Sensory Systems

GENE'S OFFICE HOURS 14 NOVEMBER 2007
WILL BE HELD 2:30-3:30 PM IN ROOM 347 THIMANN LABS
due to PSB building closure

HISTOGRAM FOR MIDTERM #2 (distribution, not grades)

The six lectures on sensory systems will discuss aspects of how visual and auditory information is processed by the eye, ear, and brain. The presentations will have several aims: i) to give an overall view of the mechanisms by which information in the outside world is captured, processed, and related to perceptions, ii) to see how aspects of vision are related to “everyday” phenomena and to techniques used by artists, iii) and to understand a few of the common disorders which lead to anomalous vision and hearing. The material presented will come from Kalat and Gregory’s books and from outside sources.

In order to help you organize the material presented in lectures, we have compiled handouts (available on this WWW site) which specify most of the material for which you will be held responsible. These handouts include both questions of concept and vocabulary items; however, you should note that the vocabulary is not intended to be only an exercise in memorization but that important concepts lie behind each “vocabulary” item. DOWNLOADING AND PRINTING THE HANDOUTS BEFORE THE LECTURES WILL MAKE NOTETAKING MUCH EASIER. At any rate, I hope that these handouts help to reassure you regarding the material for which you are responsible and thus allow you to enjoy the ebb and flow of the lectures. If you really know the material on the handouts, you will be in very good shape for the midterm!

E. Switkes

An especially good site for understanding visual perception is
The Joy of Visual Perception: A Web Book
by Peter K. Kaiser.

and

Eye, Brain, and Vision
a more advances book by Nobel Prize winner David Hubel