Psych 289.  Special Topics: Visual Psychophysics.  UCI.  Winter 2005.
Professors Charles Chubb and George Sperling

This course will introduce students to some useful methods and
data in visual psychophysical research and theory.  Initially,
it will cover the basics of linear system theory from an intuitive
perspective (no equations needed).  Then it considers methods for
fitting psychometric functions to data, and various aspects of
experimental design specific to psychophysics.  Following, it
covers calibration methods for computer-generated visual displays,
such as are used in laboratory psychophysical experiments and in
fMRI.  Other topics to be considered will depend on interests
of participants.  Some possibilities are recent innovations in
psychophysical methodology such as: the method of response
classification images; histogram contrast analysis; the
perceptual-template-plus-external-noise paradigm for investigating
mechanisms of attention and perceptual learning; recent studies of
motion and attention.  The actual meeting time for the course will
be negotiated in the first half-hour of the first scheduled meeting
(Mon 1:30p, Rm SSPB 2209).