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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2013/2014 -
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Psychology

Undergraduate Course: Consciousness and Perceptual Awareness (PSYL10099)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) Credits10
Home subject areaPsychology Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThe sense of being conscious - both of ourselves and of the world around us - is a central aspect of our psychological makeup. It is well established, however, that a great deal of perceptual processing can be accomplished without awareness. This raises several questions that have been the focus of intense research in recent years:
- What neural activity distinguishes conscious and non-conscious perceptual processes?
- What factors determine whether a percept will reach awareness or not?
- How does consciousness interact with faculties such as attention and memory?
- What sorts of neural activity determine states of consciousness (wakefulness, sleep, coma, vegetative state)?
In this course we will discuss new findings on the above questions, and the theoretical debates they have triggered regarding the nature of consciousness. We will also delve into the fierce ongoing arguments on methodological issues regarding the best ways to rigorously assess people's subjective experience.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Memory and Perception (PSYL10013)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesStatistics and Methodology (Year 2 level or equivalent)
At least one course on Perception
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Block 2 (Sem 1), Available to all students (SV1) Learn enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Course Start Date 21/10/2013
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 98 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
No Exam Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Block 2 (Sem 1), Part-year visiting students only (VV1) Learn enabled:  No Quota:  None
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Course Start Date 21/10/2013
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 88 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
- Familiarity with a range of phenomena used to investigate consciousness and awareness
- An understanding of the methodological difficulties involved in designing experiments to investigate subjective experience
- An ability to distinguish and interpret studies employing objective and subjective measures of awareness
- Knowledge of current theories of consciousness and its neural correlates
Assessment Information
One assignment - students will work in groups of 4-5, and will submit individual presentation slides (20%)
One essay, 3000 words (80%)

Visiting Student Variant Assessment
Essay (3,000 words) to be set by the course organiser and due Friday, week 13.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Kentridge, R.W., Heywood, C.A., & Weiskrantz, L. (1999). Attention without awareness in blindsight. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 266, 1805-1811.

Hannula, D.E., Simons, D.J., & Cohen, N.J. (2005). Imaging implicit perception: promise and pitfalls. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 6, 247-255.

Laureys, S. (2007). Eyes open, brain shut. Scientific American, May 2007.

Lavie, N. (2006). The role of perceptual load in visual awareness. Brain Research 1080, 91-100.

Owen, A.M., et al. (2006). Detecting awareness in the vegetative state. Science 313, 1402.

Sandberg, K., et al. (2010). Measuring consciousness: is one measure better than the other? Conscoiusness and Cognition 19, 1067-1078.

Soto, D., Mantyla, ., & Silvanto, J. (2011). Working memory without consciousness. Current Biology 21, R912-913.

Van Boxtel, J.J.A., Tsuchiya, N., & Koch, C. (2010). Opposing effects of attention and consciousness on afterimages. PNAS 107, 8883-8888.
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr David Podhortzer Carmel
Tel: (0131 6)50 3455
Email: dave.carmel@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Fiona Graham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: F.Graham@ed.ac.uk
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