Undergraduate Course: Consciousness and Perceptual Awareness (PSYL10099)
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 | The 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.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Memory and Perception (PSYL10013)
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | Statistics and Methodology (Year 2 level or equivalent)
At least one course on Perception
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Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Delivery period: 2013/14 Block 2 (Sem 1), Available to all students (SV1)
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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 )
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Additional Notes |
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Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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No Exam Information |
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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
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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.
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Study Abroad |
Not entered |
Study Pattern |
Not entered |
Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr David Podhortzer Carmel
Tel: (0131 6)50 3455
Email: dave.carmel@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Fiona Graham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: F.Graham@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2013 The University of Edinburgh - 10 October 2013 5:15 am
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