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Course profile

Advanced Topics in Psychology IV (PSYC4884)

Study period
Sem 2 2024
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person

Course overview

Study period
Semester 2, 2024 (22/07/2024 - 18/11/2024)
Study level
Undergraduate
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person
Units
2
Administrative campus
St Lucia
Coordinating unit
Psychology School

Enrolment Note:This course has maximum quota of 25 students per semester, seminars with less than 10 students may not run.
Enrolment for Seminars opens in O Week following the Honours Orientation information session. Enrolment will close once the quota has been reached. External offering is only available to those enrolled in the External offering of the Honours Thesis (PSYC4071/PSYC4091).

This course provides students with the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the primary research literature within the context of the wider theoretical framework in relation to relevant topics that vary from year to year.

In this seminar, we will be reading a series of research papers in Attention Research, in particular with regard to the question how emotional states (reward, surprise, emotional faces) affect attention. You can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of attention and Inattentional Blindness, which is still a major cause for mishaps and accidents. In the course, we will discuss some short, contemporary papers on these topics, identify the strengths and weaknesses of studies, and propose better experiments to test a particular research question. Participation in this seminar will hone your critical thinking skills and communication skills. It will also provide you with deeper insights into mechanisms of attention, the involvement of emotions and provide you with a deeper understanding of the role of mood and attention disorders. We will also be delving deep into the intricacies of Cognitive / Experimental Psychology and their clever manipulations to examine the mechanisms and factors driving attention, which will hopefully allow you to experience how much fun research can be.

Course requirements

Restrictions

BPsySc(Hons), BSc(Hons) in Psychology, BA(Hons) in Psychology students only.

Course contact

Course staff

Lecturer

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

See the timetable on Blackboard

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to develop skills in critical evaluation and to deepen understanding of contemporary research on a topic in psychology.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

LO1.

Demonstrate a critical and in-depth understanding of key topics in an area of psychology. 

LO2.

Demonstrate an ability to communicate orally and in writing about a topic in an area of psychology. 

LO3.

Demonstrate an understanding of how different types of research methods can contribute to our understanding of an area of psychology. 

LO4.

Effectively engage with others to discuss and evaluate empirical research.

Assessment

Assessment summary

Category Assessment task Weight Due date
Participation/ Student contribution Contributions to Seminar Discussion 20%

7/08/2024 - 23/10/2024

Essay/ Critique Final Essay on a selected topic 40%

7/10/2024 9:00 am

Presentation Oral presentation on a selected topic 40%

22/07/2024 - 25/10/2024

During one week

Assessment details

Contributions to Seminar Discussion

Mode
Activity/ Performance
Category
Participation/ Student contribution
Weight
20%
Due date

7/08/2024 - 23/10/2024

Task description

Full participation marks can be gained by actively participating in class discussions. The total participation mark for the course is computed on the basis of the 7 highest participation marks (out of 10 seminars in total). Alternative assessments can be discussed: Students who are afraid of speaking out can write a second essay (on one of the essay questions in the list; due on 30/09) and can re-gain partial or full participation marks (depending on the quality of the essay). Students who would like to make use of the alternative assessment should contact the course organiser beforehand.

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Final Essay on a selected topic

Mode
Written
Category
Essay/ Critique
Weight
40%
Due date

7/10/2024 9:00 am

Task description

A structured essay of ~2,000 words (+/- 300 words) on a selected topic from the seminar. A list of possible essay questions is available on blackboard and can be discussed with the course organiser during consultations. Students will also be provided with detailed information about the structure and contents of well-written essays and a checklist. Note that the essay should critically discuss previous findings that relate to the essay question, point to an open question in the literature and propose an own experiment to address the open question. Use of figures to describe the design and stimuli of the own experiment are encouraged. Figures and graphs can also be used to illustrate previous experiments and findings in the literature (e.g., in the intro). Formatting and adherence to APA guidelines are not going to be marked (except when graphs or text are illegible).

Submission guidelines

Via Turnitin in Word format.
NOTE: Please make sure that your essay has been successfully submitted to Turnitin. Download a copy of the digital receipt from the Assignment Dashboard and keep this as a record.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Oral presentation on a selected topic

Mode
Activity/ Performance
Category
Presentation
Weight
40%
Due date

22/07/2024 - 25/10/2024

During one week

Task description

Oral presentation on one of the papers in the seminar, or a similar paper on the topic chosen by the student. Presentations should be 15-18 min max and contain background information (what motivated the study), a good description of the research questions, methods, predictions, results and conclusions as well as implications for theories and interpretation of previous results. At the end of the presentation, presenters should describe the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. Presenters can also provide ideas for experiments how the research question can be tested in a better way, if they have a good idea.

Students who miss their presentation on presentation day should notify the course organiser as soon as possible. Successful completion of the presentation component cannot be guaranteed if students miss their presentations.

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Grade Cut off Percent Description
1 (Low Fail) 0 - 19.49

Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

2 (Fail) 19.5 - 39.49

Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

3 (Marginal Fail) 39.5 - 49.49

Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes

4 (Pass) 50 - 64.49

Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes.

5 (Credit) 65 - 74.49

Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes.

6 (Distinction) 75 - 84.49

Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes.

7 (High Distinction) 85 - 100

Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes.

Additional course grading information

Attendance – Students ᅠmust attend at least 7ᅠ classes in order to pass the course as a whole. Students must attend their presentation on their presentation day for a guaranteed opportunity to gain the marks for the presentation.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Attendanceᅠ– studentsᅠ must attend at least 7ᅠ of the ᅠclasses in order to pass the course as a whole.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

n/a

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

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Learning period Activity type Topic
Week 2

(28 Jul - 03 Aug)

Lecture

Overview and Introduction to the Course

Introduction into Attention Research. Overview of Learning Resources and Assessments. Distribution of Student Presentations. To prepare, students can check Wikipedia. Wikipedia on Attention: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention, and Wikipedia on Visual Search: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_search

Students should familiarise themselves with the two papers below before the seminar (Ruz & Lupianez and Wolfe). The other papers are optional readings.

Papers:

Ruz, M. & Lupianez, J. (2002): A review of attentional capture: On its automaticity and sensitivity to endogenous control. Psicologica, 23, 283-309.

Wolfe, J. M. (1994). Guided Search 2.0: A revised model of visual search. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1, 202-238.

Optional Readings:

Posner, M. (1980). Orienting of Attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32, 3-25.

Treisman & Sato (1990): Conjunction Search Revisited. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 16, 459-478.

Duncan & Humphreys (1989): Visual search and stimulus similarity. Psychological Review, 96, 433-458.

Wolfe, J.M., & Horowitz, T.S. (2004). What attributes guide the deployment of visual attention and how do they do it? Nature Reviews Neurosience, 5, 495-501.

Week 3

(04 Aug - 10 Aug)

Seminar

Bottom-Up vs Top-Down controlled factors in attention (Student Presentations and Discussion)

All students should read the following two papers:

Papers:

Theeuwes, J. (1992). Perceptual selectivity for color and form. Perception &   Psychophysics, 51, 599-606.

Ludwig, C. J. H., & Gilchrist, I. D. (2002). Stimulus-driven and goal-driven control over visual selection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 28, 902-912.

Week 5

(18 Aug - 24 Aug)

Seminar

Tackling problems of Inhibition Research (Student Presentations and Discussion)

All students should read the following two papers:

Papers:

Chang, S., & Egeth, H. E. (2021). Can salient stimuli really be suppressed? Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83(1), 260–269.

Hamblin-Frohman, Z., Chang, S., Egeth, H., & Becker, S.I. (2022). Eye movements reveal the contributions of early and late processes of enhancement and suppression to the guidance in visual search. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 84, 1913-1924.

Optional Paper:

Stillwell, B.T., Adams, O.J., Egeth, H.E., & Gaspelin, N. (2023): The role of salience in the suppression of distracting stimuli. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 30, 2262-2271.

Week 6

(25 Aug - 31 Aug)

Seminar

Surprise Capture (Student Presentations and Discussion)

All students should read the following two paper

Papers:

Gibson, B.S., & Jiang, Y. (1998). Surprise! An unexpected color singleton does not capture attention in visual search. Psychological Science, 9, 176-182.

Horstmann, G. (2002). Evidence for attentional capture by a surprising color singleton in visual search. Psychological Science, 13, 499-505.

Optional:

Retell, J.D., Venini, D., & Becker, S.I. (2015). Oculomotor capture by new and unannounced color singletons during visual search. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 77, 1529-1543.

Week 7

(01 Sep - 07 Sep)

Seminar

Inattentional Blindness (Student Presentations and Discussion

All students should read the following two papers:

Papers:

Simons, D.J., & Chabris, C.F. (1999): Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28, 1059-1074.

Most et al. (2001). How not to be seen: The contribution of similarity and selective ignoring to sustained inattentional blindness. Psychological Science, 12, 9-17.

Optional Reading:

Most, S. B., Scholl, B. J., Clifford, E. R., & Simons D. J. (2005). What you see is what you set: Sustained inattentional blindness and the capture of awareness. Psychological Review, 112, 217-242.

Koivisto, M., Hyona, J., & Revonsuo, A. (2004). The effects of eye movements, spatial attention, and stimulus features on inattentional blindness. Vision Research, 44, 3211-3221.

Week 8

(08 Sep - 14 Sep)

Seminar

Effects of emotional expressions on visual search for faces (Student Presentations and Discussion

All students should read the following two papers:

Papers:

Eastwood, J.D., Smilek, D., & Merikle, P.M. (2001). Differential attentional guidance by unattended faces expressing positive and negative emotion. Perception & Psychophysics, 63, 1004-1013.

Devue, C. & Grimshaw, G.M. (2017). Faces are special, but facial expressions aren’t: insights from the oculomotor capture paradigm. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 79, 1438-1452.

Optional Reading:

Becker, S. I., Horstmann, G., & Remington, R. W. (2011). Perceptual grouping, not emotion, accounts for search asymmetries with schematic faces. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 1739-1757

Horstmann, G., Becker, S.I., Bergmann, S., & Burghaus, L. (2010). A reversal of the search asymmetry favouring negative schematic faces. Visual Cognition, 18, 981-1016.

Week 11

(06 Oct - 12 Oct)

Seminar

Effects of Reward and Punishment on Attentional Capture (Student Presentations and Discussion)

All students should read the following three papers (*the first two of which are very short):

Papers:

Anderson, B.A., Laurent, P.A., & Yantis, S. (2011). Value-driven attentional capture. PNAS, 108, 10367-10371. AND:

Anderson, B.A., & Yantis, S. (2013). Persistence of value-driven attentional capture. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39, 6-9.

-> both papers for one presentation as they’re very short!

Theeuwes, J. & Belopolsky, A.V. (2012). Reward grabs the eye: Oculomotor capture by rewarding stimuli. Vision Research, 74, 80-85.

Optional:

Schmidt, Belopolsky & Theeuwes (2015). Attentional capture by signals of threat. Cognition & Emotion, 29, 687-694.

Pearson, Watson, Cheng & LePelly (2020): Overt attentional capture by reward-related stimuli overcomes inhibitory suppression. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46, 489-501.

Week 13

(20 Oct - 26 Oct)

Seminar

No Seminar - Stef away

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.