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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2010/2011
- ARCHIVE as at 13 January 2011 for reference only
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Psychology

Undergraduate Course: Visual Attention (PSYL10074)

Course Outline
School School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences College College of Humanities and Social Science
Course type Standard Availability Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken) SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) Credits 10
Home subject area Psychology Other subject area None
Course website None Taught in Gaelic? No
Course description Attention plays a critical role in current theories of human visual perception and visual cognition. This course will consider the role of attention in visual encoding, visual memory, visual representation, and visual experience. Topics to be covered include the distinctions between covert versus overt attention, space- versus object-based attention, and visual versus spatial attention. Phenomena and experimental paradigms to be discussed include attentional cueing, visual search, the attentional blink, change blindness, inattentional blindness, attentional capture, and the relationship between attention and eye movements. The function of attention in complex tasks such as reading and scene perception will also be discussed. These issues will be considered from the perspectives of both cognitive theory and neural implementation drawing on a variety of empirical approaches including behavioural methods (e.g., psychophysics and chronometrics) and neuroimaging.
Entry Requirements
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Psychology Methodology 1 (PSYL10034) AND Psychology Methodology 2 (PSYL10035)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites Degree major in Psychology and passes in psychology courses at least to the equivalent of junior honours level in Edinburgh.

Prior agreement with the 4th year Honours Course Organiser: Dr Patrick Sturt(Ext. 51 1712).
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2010/11 Block 2 (Sem 1), Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralLecture1-5 09:00 - 10:50
First Class Week 1, Tuesday, 09:00 - 10:50, Zone: Central. Room S1, 7 George Square
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes Stationery Requirements Comments
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)1:3016 sides
Delivery period: 2010/11 Block 2 (Sem 1), Part-year visiting students only (VV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralLecture1-5 09:00 - 10:50
First Class Week 1, Tuesday, 09:00 - 10:50, Zone: Central. Room S1, 7 George Square
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will:
a) Understand the core theoretical concepts of visual attention.
b) Understand the key experimental paradigms and main sources of evidence associated with these core theoretical concepts.
c) Be able to critically evaluate the existing evidence.
d) Understand how new experiments would add to theory advancement in this area.
e) Be able to apply knowledge about visual attention in both written and oral form.

Assessment Information
100% essay exam
Visiting Student Variant Assessment
Long essay (3,000 words) to be set by the Course Organiser and due Friday 4pm, Week 13.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
Keywords visual encoding, visual memory, visual representation, visual experience
Contacts
Course organiser Dr Graham Mackenzie
Tel: (0131 6)50 3451
Email: Graham.Mackenzie@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary Mrs Elizabeth Wright
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: E.Wright@ed.ac.uk
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copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 13 January 2011 6:39 am