Sensation and Perception

Laura Cacciamani is an assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience in the department of psychology and child development at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Before joining the faculty at Cal Poly, she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute while also lecturing at California State University, East Bay. Dr. Cacciamani's research focuses on the neural underpinnings of object perception and memory as well as the interactions between the senses. She has published papers that have used behavioral, neuroimaging and neurostimulation techniques to investigate these topics in young adults, older adults and people who are blind. Dr. Cacciamani is also passionate about teaching, mentoring and involving students in research. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology and biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology with a minor in neuroscience from the University of Arizona. E. Bruce Goldstein is an associate professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and is affiliated with the department of psychology at the University of Arizona. He received the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Pittsburgh for his classroom teaching and textbook writing. Before joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the biology department at Harvard University. Dr. Goldstein has published papers on a wide variety of topics, including retinal and cortical physiology, visual attention and the perception of pictures. The author of COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: CONNECTING MIND, RESEARCH AND EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE, 5th Edition (Cengage, 2019) and THE MIND: CONSCIOUSNESS, PREDICTION AND THE BRAIN (MIT, 2020), he edited the BLACKWELL HANDBOOK OF PERCEPTION (Blackwell, 2001) and the two-volume SAGE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PERCEPTION (Sage, 2010). He is currently teaching courses in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, for learners over 50, at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Arizona, including Your Amazing Mind, Cognition and Aging, The Social and Emotional Mind, and The Mystery and Science of Shadows. He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Tufts University and his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Brown University.

1. Introduction to Perception.
2. Basic Principles of Sensory Physiology.
3. The Eye and Retina.
4. The Visual Cortex and Beyond.
5. Perceiving Objects and Scenes.
6. Visual Attention.
7. Taking Action.
8. Perceiving Motion.
9. Perceiving Color.
10. Perceiving Depth and Size.
11. Hearing.
12. Hearing in the Environment.
13. Perceiving Music.
14. Speech Perception.
15. The Cutaneous Senses.
16. The Chemical Senses.
Appendix A: Methods of Adjustment and Constant Stimuli.
Appendix B: The Difference Threshold.
Appendix C: Magnitude Estimation and The Power Function.
Appendix D: The Signal Detection Approach.