Virginia de Sa's 160 Page
Cogsci 160: Seminar on Visual Illusions and Aftereffects
CSB 272 : Tu-Thu 11-12:20
Projects are due Tuesday Dec 10 in Cogsci Rm 139 (to Thanh Maxwell). 1 copy by 11am or 2 Copies by noon.
Summary
This course will introduce you to the fascinating world of visual illusions and aftereffects. The emphasis will be on inferring properties of brain computationfrom the observed "errors".
Most days the format will consist of a student presentation in the
first part of the class, followed by group discussion, and then
followed by a lecture from the instructor on material relevant to the
next paper. In the beginning there will be more instructor led lectures
and at the end there will be project presentations. There may also
be occasional guest lectures.
For 4 units of credit, a final project is required. Group work
on the project is encouranged.
Instructor
Virginia de Sa
lastname_at_cogsci_dot_ucsd.edu
Room CSB164 Phone x2-5095, x2-2402
Office Hours TBD in class
Class
Time Tuesday and Thursdays 11:00am-12:20pm
Place CSB 272
Text (in progress)
There is no required text. Papers will be made available for download.
Recommended texts (very reasonably priced!):
The Psychology of Visual Illusion, J.O. Robinson ($9.95)
Visual Illusions, Matthew Luckiesh ($6.95)
Visual Intelligence, D.D. Hoffman ($17.95)
Useful References
TOP LEVEL MATLAB PROGRAM
TAR FILE FOR MATLAB subroutines
PDF extract with cross-modal refs
Collection of pages with
Psychophysical Illusions
Vision Research
Perception & Psychophysics (UCSD only)
Perception
Journal of Neurophysiology
Journal of Neuroscience
Brain Research
Proposed Grading Scheme
Paper presentation is an important part of the class. You will receive
tips on general presentation skills and specific guidance on your
presentations (see below Presentation Guidlines). You are
required to present 2 papers of your choice from a list of recommended
papers. Before presentation you will meet with the instructor
to plan your presentation. (Presentations: 10% (first), 20% (second))
Discussion is also an important part, and papers you don't present, you
will be expected to read and actively discuss in class. A 1/2 page review
of the day's paper is required at the beginning of the class discussing
the paper. You may be excused from 1 paper of your choice.
(Paper summaries: 20%, Class participation: 15%)
There will be 1 final project. You are encouraged to work in groups
of 2 or 3 but may work on your own. (Project Report:25% Project Presentation: 10%).
email about
Project Write-Ups
Grades for participation are computed out of 5 for each class as follows :
Presenter gets 5/5, Showing up gets you 3/5 (not showing up and not having
a good excuse gets 0/5), Minor participation gets you 4/5 (asking a question,
answering a question),... Major participation gets you 5/5 (suggesting a new
interpretation, asking/answering several questions, helping other students,...)
I will drop your lowest 2 numbers.
Presentation Guidelines (Thanks to Charles Elkan)
The procedure for each student presentation is as follows:
-
One week in advance: Finish a draft of your slides that present clearly
the work in the paper. Make an appointment with the instructor to
discuss the draft slides.
-
Several days in advance: Meet for about one hour to discuss improving the
slides, and how to give a good presentation.
-
Day of presentation: Give a good presentation with confidence, enthusiasm,
and clarity.
This procedure allows the presenting student to learn how to make a better
presentation and allows for better learning for the other students.
Presenters will received feedback from all class participants using
the following (also courtesy of Charles Elkan) feedback form.
Schedule
Instructions
on using the UCSD web proxy for accessing journal papers from home (that
say they require payment)
Week 1
Course Admin details
Intro and Motivation
link to pdf notes for lecture 1
link to pdf for reading 1
link to pdf for reading 2
Week 2
Oct 1: What kinds of things can we learn from Visual Illusions
link to pdf notes for lecture 2
Oct 3: Example presentation :
A multiscale spatial filtering account of the White effect, simultaneous brightness contrast and grating induction
pdf link
link to pdf notes for lecture 3
sample review
Week 3
Oct 8: Guest Lecture -- David Eagleman, Salk Institute
Oct 10: Hassan Ibrahim presenting
Thirst modulates a perception
local link to pdf
link to pdf
Week 4
Oct 15: Rob Morgan presenting Neuronal correlates of visibility and invisibility in the primate visual system link to pdf
link to pdf notes for lecture 4
Oct 17: Susan Peppas presenting Rubber hands 'feel' touch that eyes see link to pdf and What you see is what you hear link to pdf
local link to 1st paper
local link to 2nd paper
Week 5
Oct 22: Cindy Tsai presenting Independence of perceptual and sensorimotor predictions in the size-weight illusion link to pdf
NOTES FOR PROJECTS
Oct 24: Cassandra Pierce presenting
Surface color from boundaries: a new `watercolor' illusion
link to pdf
Week 6
Oct 29: Wayhowe Huang presenting
A size illusion of the letter 'P'
link to pdf
Also Project proposal due
Oct 31: Michael Chadwick presenting
Stable perception of visually ambiguous patterns link to pdf
Week 7
Nov 5: Joshua Skeels presenting
The Ponzo illusion and the perception of orientation link to pdf
Nov 7: Steven Tamekuni presenting The Duncker Illusion and Eye-Hand Coordination local link to pdf
Week 8
Nov 12: Kristen Monroe presenting
Measurements of Geometric Illusions, Illusory Contours and Stereo-depth at Luminance and Colour Contrast link to pdf
Nov 14: Examples of illusions from recent papers, Techniques for quantitative
measurements
Week 9
Nov 19: I will present Motion illusions as optimal percepts link to pdf
Nov 21: Background/motivation for project (15 minute presentation/5 min questions): Susan, Cassandra, Kristin, and Steven
Week 10
Nov 26: Background/motivation for project (15 minute presentation/5 min questions): Josh, Hassan, Michael, Cindy & Wayhowe
Nov 28: THANKSGIVING -- NO CLASS
Week 11
Dec 3: Project presentations (15 minute presentation/5 min questions): Susan, Cassandra, Kristin, and Steven
Dec 5: Project presentations (15 minute presentation/5 min questions): Josh, Hassan, Michael, Cindy & Wayhowe
Notes on cross-modal and uni-modal contingent aftereffects
MORE NOTES FOR PROJECTS and psychometric functions
Presentation of "Motion illusions as optimal percepts"
Possible Papers (more to come) -- You may also search for your own
The Scintillating Grid Illusion
link to pdf
A multiscale spatial filtering account of the Wertheimer-Benary effect
and the corrugated Mondrian
link to pdf
Spatial aspects of object formation revealed by a new illusion, shine through
link to pdf and errata
Conditions under which stereopsis and motion perception are blind
link to pdf
Development of this course is supported by the National Science Foundation under CAREER Grant No. 0133996. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.