This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Readings

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McBurney and White readings are from the following textbook:

Amazon logo McBurney, Donald H., and Theresa L. White. Research Methods. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004. ISBN: 0534524184.

LEC # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction  
2 Variables and Controls - Signal Detection Theory McBurney and White, chapter 5 and 8.

Wolfe, Jeremy M., Todd. S. Horowitz, and Naomi M. Kenner. "Rare items often missed in visual searches." Nature 435 (2005): 439-440.
3 Single Factor Design and Statistics (T-test) McBurney and White, chapter 11.

Posner, M. I. "Orienting of attention." Q J Exp Psychol 32 (1980): 3-25.

Amazon logo Gazzaniga, Michael S., Richard B. Ivry, and George R. Mangun. Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind. New York, NY: Norton, 2002, pp. 251-252. ISBN: 0393977773.
4 Factorial Design and External Validity McBurney and White, chapter 7 and 12.

Treisman, Anne. "Features and Objects in Visual Processing." Scientific American 255, no. 5 (1986): 114B-125.

Wolfe, Jeremy M., and Todd S. Horowitz. "What attributes guide the deployment of visual attention and how do they do it?" Nature Reviews: Neuroscience 5 (2004): 495-501.
5 How to Write a Research Paper / How to Give a Talk  
6 Factorial Design and Statistical Analysis (ANOVA)  
7 Project 1 Presentation: Single Factor Design  
8 MATLAB® Tutorial - Description of Project 2  
9 Greatest Experiments in Cognitive Science Shepard, Roger, and Jacqueline Metzler. "Mental Rotation of Three-Dimensional Objects." Science 171 (1971): 701-703.

Pylyshyn, Zenon W. "Mental Imagery: In search of a theory." Behav Brain Sci 25 (2002): 157-182.
10 Experimental Paradigms in Cognitive Science  
11 Cognitive Neuroscience Methods Brett, Matthew, Ingrid S. Johnsrude, and Adrian M. Owen. "The problem of functional localization in the human brain." Nature Review: Neuroscience 3 (2002): 243-249.
12 Single Participant Experiments, Quasi-Experiments  
13 Correlational Studies and Non Experimental Research McBurney and White, chapter 9.

Dubner, Stephen. "The Economist of Odd Questions: Inside the Astonishingly Curious Mind of Steven D. Levitt." The New York Times Magazine, August 3, 2003.
14 Project 2 Presentation: Factorial Design  
15 Description of Project 3  
16 Experiments in Other Sciences Meehl, Paul E. "Theoretical Risks and Tabular Asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the Slow Progress of Soft Psychology." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 46 (1978): 806-834.
 
17 Special Topic: Understanding the Visual World  
18 Ethics in Research McBurney and White, chapter 3.

Ioannidis, John P. A. "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False." PLoS Med 2 (2005): 696-701. (PDF)

Shepard, Roger. "Toward a Universal Law of Generalization for Psychological Science." Science 237 (1987): 1317-1323.
19 General Review  
20 Exam in Class  
21 Project 3 Discussion Simons, Daniel J., Gabriel Nevarez, and Walter R. Boot. "Visual Sensing Is Seeing." Psychological Science 16 (2005): 520-524.
 
22 Flawed Studies  
23 Review  
24 Project 3 Presentation  
25 Project 3 Presentation (cont.)  
26 Discussion of Articles (Optional)  
27 Last Class: Final  

CogLab Additional Readings

Amazon logo Gazzaniga, Michael S., Richard B. Ivry, and George R. Mangun. Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind. New York, NY: Norton, 2002, pp. 251-252. ISBN: 0393977773.

Treisman, Anne. "Features and Objects in Visual Processing." Scientific American 255, no. 5 (1986): 114B-125.

Wolfe, Jeremy M., and Todd S. Horowitz. "What attributes guide the deployment of visual attention and how do they do it?" Nature Reviews: Neuroscience 5 (2004): 495-501.
 

Shepard, Roger, and Jacqueline Metzler. "Mental Rotation of Three-Dimensional Objects." Science 171 (1971): 701-703.

Tversky, Amos, and Danial Kaneman. "Extensional Versus Intiutive Reasoning: the conjunction fallacy in probability judgement." Psychological Review 90 (1983): 293-315.