Psychology

Additional Prerequisite: Prior coursework in perception, cognitive psychology and physiological psychology/neuroscience.

Course description: This advanced seminar course will review current and classic literature on the role of attentional processes in perception and action. A cognitive neuroscience approach will be taken. Evidence from work in humans and animals will be considered.

Topics to be covered: Cognitive and neural mechanisms of attention. Attentional theories.

Course format (lecture, discussion, etc.): Seminar course. Intensive readings. Review of current and classic literature. Student presentations and group discussion.

Grading: Graded

Meeting Times: Contact Dr. Mangun (mangun@ucdavis.edu) for date, time and location of organizational meeting. The course meeting time will be arranged to accommodate everyone's schedule at that meeting.

Textbook(s) and Sample Readings: 

Supplementary text:

Gazzaniga, Ivry and Mangun, Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of Mind. (2^nd Edition) W.W. Norton Publishers: New York (2002).

Sample Literature Readings from past sections:

Martinez, A., Anllo-Vento, L., Sereno, M.I., Frank, L.R., Buxton, R.B., Dubowitz, D.J., Wong, E.C., Heinze, H.J. and Hillyard, S.A. (1999). Involvement of striate and extrastriate visual cortical areas in spatial attention. Nature Neuroscience, 2, 364-369.

Moores, E., Laiti, L and Chellazzi, L. (2003). Associative knowledge controls deployment of visual selective attention. Nature Neuroscience, 6: 182-189.

Moran, J. and Desimone, R. (1985). Selective attention gates visual processing in the  extrastriate cortex.  Science,  229, 782-784.