Sight and Mind

Fall 1996

Course Schedule, Readings, and Links

9/9 Introductions

9/12 Seminar: Recovery from Blindness and Molyneux's Question

• Sacks, O. (1993) To see or not to see. The New Yorker
• Morgan, M. (1978) Molyneux's Question, Chapter 1.
• Farah, M.J. (1995) Dissociable Systems for Visual Recognition: A Cognitive Neuropsychology Approach, In An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Visual Cognition.

9/16 Seminar:The Eye, Receptive Fields, and Lateral Inhibition

• Ludel, J. (1978) Introduction to Sensory Processes, Freeman:NY. Chapter 1: The Eye, Chapter 2: The Retina.
  The Eye

9/19 Lab: Introduction to Computer Lab and Exploration of Eye Related Web Sites

W3 Lab Manual for Sight & Mind

9/23 Seminar: Brain Representations of Visual Information

• Ludel, J. (1978) Introduction to Sensory Processes, Chapter 6: The Visual System
• Hubel, D. & Wiesel, T. (1990) Brain Mechanisms of Vision, In The Perceptual World.
• Marr, D. (1980) Visual information processing: the structure and creation of visual representations. Phil.Trans.R.Soc.Lond.B, 290, 199-218. (read section on edge detection)

9/26 Lab: Visual Pathways

9/30 Seminar: IIlusions and Empiricism

• Gordon, I. (1989) Theories of Visual Perception, Wiley:NY, Chapter 6.
• Gillam, B. (1990) Geometrical Illusions, In The Perceptual World: Readings from Scientific American, Rock, I. (Ed.), Freeman:NY.

10/3 Lab: Illusions

IIlusions Pages in the W3 Lab Manual
IIlusions Assignment

10/7 Seminar: Illusions, Gestalt Theory and Optical Art

• Solso, R. (1994) Cognition and the Visual Arts, Chapters 3 & 4
• Kanizsa, G. (1990) Subjective Contours, In The Perceptual World.

10/10 Lab: Subjective Contours

10/14 Seminar: Parallel Pathways

• Livingstone, M. & Hubel, D. (1988) Segregation of form, color, movement and depth: Anatomy, physiology, and perception, Science, 240, 740-749.
• Zeki, S. (1992) The Visual Image in Mind and Brain, Scientific American, September.
• Goodale, M. (1995) The Cortical Organization of Visual Perception and Visuomotor Control In An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Visual Cognition.
  Visual Areas

10/21 October Study Day

10/24 Lab: Isoluminance and Stereo

• Lab Manual Section on Stereopsis

10/28 Seminar: Stereopsis II: History of Stereoscopic Devices, 3-D Movies, and SIRDS

• Lipton, L. (1982) Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema, Chapters 1 & 2.

10/31 Lab: Building a stereogram

11/4 Seminar: Visual Surface Representation

• Nakayama, K., He, Z.J., & Shimojo, S. (1995) Visual surface representation: A critical link between lower-level and higher-level vision. In An Invitation to Cognitive Science, pages 1-30 only.

11/7 Lab:An investigation of some of the Nakayama et al stereo effects

11/11 Seminar: Pictorial Depth Cues

• Ramachandran, V.S. (1990) Perceiving Shape from Shading, In The Perceptual World.

11/14 Lab: Shape from Shading

11/18 Seminar: Structure from Motion

• Nakayama, K., He, Z.J., & Shimojo, S. (1995) Visual surface representation: A critical link between lower-level and higher-level vision. In An Invitation to Cognitive Science, pages 30-45.
• Ramachandran & Anstis (1990) The Perception of Apparent Motion, In The Perceptual World.

11/21 Lab: Apparent Motion

11/25 Seminar: J.J. Gibson's Ecological Theory

• Gordon, I. (1989) Theories of Visual Perception, Chapter 7:Direct perception and ecological optics: the work of J.J. Gibson.
• Selections from Bruce & Green.

11/28 Thanksgiving Break

12/2 Seminar: David Marr's Computational Theory

• Marr, D. (1980) Visual information processing: the structure and creation of visual representations. Phil.Trans.R.Soc.Lond.B, 290, 199-218.

12/5 Lab:Structure from Motion

12/9 Seminar: Concluding Discussion on Integrating Theories of Perception

• Gibson, E. (1987) What Does Infant Perception Tell Us About Theories of Perception? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 13, 515-523.
• Spelke, E.S., Gutheil, G. & Van de Walle, G. (1995) The Development of Object Perception, In An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Visual Cognition.

12/12 Lab: Fun with your faces

12/16 Student Presentations

12/19 Student Presentations