Postgraduate Course: Consciousness and Perceptual Awareness (PSYL11071)

Course Outline
School	School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	The sense of being conscious - both of ourselves and of the world around us - is a central aspect of our psychological makeup. It is well established, however, that a great deal of perceptual processing can be accomplished without awareness. This raises several questions that have been the focus of intense research in recent years: - What distinguishes conscious and non-conscious perceptual processes? - What factors determine whether a percept will reach awareness or not? - How does consciousness interact with faculties such as attention and memory? - What sorts of neural activity determine states of consciousness and the contents of awareness? In this course we will discuss new findings on the above questions, and the theoretical debates they have triggered regarding the nature of consciousness. We will also delve into the fierce ongoing arguments on methodological issues regarding the best ways to rigorously assess people's subjective experience. Feedback Events: Students can contact the Course Organiser directly with any queries they have
Course description	Not entered

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Block 2 (Sem 1)
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 98 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Class presentation of research paper (30%) One 2,500 word essay (70%) Assignment Deadline: Monday 12th January 2015, 12 noon Assignment Return Date: 3rd February 2015
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
- Familiarity with a range of phenomena used to investigate consciousness and awareness - An understanding of the methodological difficulties involved in designing experiments to investigate subjective experience - An ability to distinguish and interpret studies employing objective and subjective measures of awareness - Knowledge of current theories of consciousness and its neural correlates