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What's New |
What's New Check this page regularly for important postings such as book chapter read-a-longs, study guides (test objectives) and additional course materials.
BOOK CHAPTER READ-A-LONGS Exam 1 Read-a-longs Read-along for Chapter 1 Read-along for Chapter 9 Read-along for Chapters 10 and 11
Exam 2 Read-a-longs Read-along for Chapter 14 Read-along for Chapter 15 Read-along for Chapter 13
Exam 3 Read-a-longs Read-along for Chapter 2 Read-along for Chapter 3
TEST OBJECTIVES Click here to download TEST OBJECTIVES for Exam 2. This is an MS Word file. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. Click here to download TEST OBJECTIVES for Exam 1. This is an MS Word file. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.
SEEING SOUND The following links are to a series of videos that illustrate the frequency structure of sound and why we hear sound as if it were log-scaled. Begin with the first video - Introduction to Auditory Psychophysics - which will help you understand the music clips that follow. Introduction to Auditory Psychophysics Acoustic Guitar (Pat Metheny) Electric Guitar (Pat Metheny) Sound Synthesis circa 1968 (Wendy Carlos) Sound Synthesis circa 2010 (BT) Dissonance (Elis Regina)
ADDITIONAL READINGS Click here to read about the basics of how neurons produce electrical and chemical signaling. This is one of those cases where if you put in the time to learn a little, you will have actually learned a lot! In other words, as you learn how neurons can operate at such low voltages, you will actually be learning about how electronic devices work, and the larger issue of energy efficiency that is so important for the future sucess of our society. The article is in MS Word format. Click here to read a recent article in the New York Times about a girl (now 13) who cannot feel pain. This story clearly demonstrates the developmental importance of nociception. Click here to read a review of a recent book by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is one of those rare psychologists who have been awarded a Nobel Prize - however, since there is no Nobel Prize in Psychology, his award came under Economics. In any case, as we've studied human sensory systems it should be clear that our sensory systems are more concerned with avoiding bad things than enjoying good things. Notice how this plays in Kahneman's economic theory of 'loss aversion' - that humans seem to hate losses much more than they enjoy gains. Click here to read a recent article about cortical plasticity during adolescence. This will relate to our discussion in class about how experience can change the size of cortical maps. When I was an undergraduate student, the day my professor discussed the problem of free will and brain was the day when I first realized I might be interested in studying the brain. The problem of free will and the brain has not gone away - if you enjoy thinking about this problem you might find this recent news article interesting. The recognized 'pioneer' of this work is Ben Libet - if you like the news article you might check out Libet's Wikipedia page here. |
