Visual Memory (U03812)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : PPL-4-VC-PS

This course examines how human observers create, store, and employ memory representations of visually experienced objects, scenes, and events. Although the term "visual memory" sounds as though it refers to unitary line of scientific enquiry, research in the area varies tremendously across the time scales, stimuli, and scenarios of interest. While some researchers are interested in memory for events in the distant past, other researchers' investigations are restricted to memory for visual experiences that occurred no more than 500 ms ago. While some examine memory for simple features, others consider memory for entire scenes. While some are interested in memory for specific events, others are interested in how memory for those events can be mentally manipulated to support future action and reasoning. While some are interested in the veridicality of visual memory, others are interested in the susceptibility of memory to various errors and distortions. The course will bring together these separate strands of research and present the state-of-the-science in areas of visual memory research including objects, faces, locations, scenes, events, and mental images.

Lectures are designed to provide students with a working understanding of the key literature in the area of visual memory and to provide students with a forum for debate and discussion.

This course will complement U0xxx Visual Attention and students with a keen interest in visual cognition are encouraged (but not required) to also enrol in that course.

? Keywords : Vision; cognition; perception; eye movements; attention; memory

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Normally Psychology Methodology 1 (U00651) or equivalent.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Psychology, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Block 3 only

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 5 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
18/01/2008	09:00	10:50	Room S.1, 7 George Square	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Friday	09:00	10:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course students should
- be aware of the major topics of inquiry in the field of visual memory;
- understand how experimentation is carried out in the field of visual memory and how results of experiments can bear on theory;
- be able to critically analyze recent theories proposed in the literature;
- be able to intelligently discuss the state-of-the science in the area of visual memory;
- be able to apply knowledge and skills gained to their individual research projects