42568 - Psychology of Perception (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: learns the main theories on human perception, especially those concerning objects, distance, colours and movement perception; knows and understands experimental aesthetics and psychological studies on portrait and caricature; obtains a basic knowledge concerning the most recent researches of psychology of perception and their applicative value in the fields of ergonomy, design and artistic fruition.

Course contents

The course opens with a description of visual perception starting from the most low-level aspects and leading to the more high-level ones:

-notions on the physics of light, the eye and the low-level sensory processes related to motion, color and binocular vision

-Segmentation and completion processes, spatial perception and perceptual constancies (form, color).

-Object and event recognition

-Attention and consciousness

-Vision as an active and constructive process

The same scheme will be used to address auditory perception, starting from the physics of sound and the properties of the ear, moving on to localization and individuation of sound sources and leading up to the recognition of speech sounds

We will briefly describe the tactile modality and multisensory perceptual phenomena (e.g. synestesia)

We will describe the main meta-teories of perception (inverse optics, Gestalt, ecological approach)

Finally we will discuss to what extent the study of perception can help us understand about how artworks are created and experienced. I particular we will describe the perceptual phenomena which are relevant for pictorial representation, the active perception of artwork mediated by eye movements, the efficacy of artistic representation, particularly the recognition of icons, caricatures and faces. 

Beyond the pictorial representation, we will describe artworks as sensori-motor objects in an ecological perspective, referring to the recognition of the artist's gesture. Finally we will discuss artwork in a multisensory perspective, addressing the concept of harmony. 

Readings/Bibliography

Slides provided by the teacher

Rookes, P.; Willson, J., La percezione, Bologna: il Mulino, 2002 (Chap. 1-3)

Gombrich, E.H., Hochberg, J. e Black, M., Arte, percezione e realtà. Torino: Einaudi, 1978. (Chap. by Julian Hochberg - La rappresentazione di cose e persone)

Suggested further readings:

Nicola Bruno, Introduzione alla psicologia della percezione visiva. Come facciamo a vedere. Il Mulino, 2021

Baingio Pinna, La percezione visiva. Il Mulino, 2021 (particularly chap IX e X)

Elvira Di Bona, Vincenzo Santarcangelo, Il suono. L’esperienza uditiva e i suoi oggetti. Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2018 (Particularly Cap. 1).

Teaching methods

Teaching will be based on frontal lessons. However, the presentation of the material will be as much as possible centered on the presentation of examples and demos (e.g. illusions) and on their discussion in the classroom. To this end, attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

The assessment method will be based on a written test with open questions with a duration of 60 minutes. The test will involve three questions. A maximum of 11 points will be assigned to each question, a total score of 31 will correspond to 30 cum laude.

The answers will be evaluated based on whether the statements are correct and based on the appropriateness of the language. An excellent evaluation (10 or 11 points) will require proof of some degree of personal re-elaboration of the material and of the ability to connect the different topics.

For students with learning disabilities or who are not native speakers of Italian, it is possible, upon request, to arrange an oral exam.

The test modality will be identical for students regardless of whether they attended the lessons.

Teaching tools

All of the slides will be provided by the teacher through the "virtuale" platform.

We will try as much as possible to use the online instruments (forum, meetings on teams) to promote the interaction between students and teacher, both during the cours and in the phase leading up to the exam.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Valsecchi