Psychology
3177F: Consciousness
Psychology
3177F: Consciousness
Announcements
January 6, 2012: I forgot to let you keep the exam questions, so I have posted them on this web site. Just click on "Exam" in the "Resources" box on the left and you can see the exam.
January 5, 2012: I submitted the grades this afternoon. The class average on the final exam was 71% with the highest grades being 93% and 90% on the exam. The class average of final grades was 73% with the top marks being 88%, 87%, 86%, and 84%. Well done! If anyone would like to know her grades, she can just e-mail me. If anyone would like a photocopy of the final exam, just stop by during my office hours and I would be glad to give one to you.
November 18, 2011: The final exam is set for Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in Room LH103. There will be an optional review session on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 12:00 noon in Room LH103.
November 2, 2011: I have Part I of the midterm test back. Anyone who would like her or his exam back can drop by my office hours to pick it up. The average for the midterm was 77% with most students getting marks in the 70%s or 80%s.
October 25, 2011: Ok, ok. Due to popular demand, the due date for tomorrow's homework assignment has been extended without penalty until Midnight, Thursday night, October 27, 2011. Please note that if you hand it in before the class, then I will mark it as normal. If you hand it in after the class, then I will mark it taking into account that you have heard the in-class discussion about it. That's only fair. See y'all in class.
October 20, 2011: The preliminary date for the final exam has been set as Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Students are asked not to make travel arrangements until a date has been finalized on November 14, 2011.
October 16, 2011: I've taken down the old homework questions and put up the new ones. Also, a student is coming on Monday at 5:30 p.m. to my office to ask questions in preparation for the test on Wednesday; so any other students who are interested in coming at that time are welcome to do so.
October 7, 2011: I've posted a Practice Midterm Test in the "Resources" box on the left. All of the questions are from the 1-minute essays. I'm just glad I'm not writing your test!
September 21, 2011: In the "Summary" box on the left, I have made a summary of what we did in the first two classes.
September 16, 2011: The people have spoken. All I have to say is that it's going to be an interesting course. Fifteen readings got 7 or more votes, so those will be the readings that we read in this class. I will make up a course-pack with these readings in them. These are the results of the voting:
10 votes
Tart, C. T. (2009), The End of Materialism: How evidence of the paranormal is bringing science and spirit together (Oakland, California: New Harbinger).
Schwartz, J. M. (2005). Mental health, spiritual information, and the power of the mind to shape the brain. In C. L. Harper Jr. (Ed.), Spiritual information: 100 perspectives on science and religion (pp. 389–394). Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press.
Langer, E. (2009). Counter clockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibility. New York: Ballentine.
Barušs, I. (2000). Psychopathology of altered states of consciousness. Journal of Baltic Psychology, 1(1), 12-26.
9 votes
Ferrucci, P. (1982). What we may be: Techniques for psychological and spiritual growth through psychosynthesis. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher. (Chapters 8 & 9 about attention and meditation)
8 votes
Dossey, L. (2009). The power of premonitions: How knowing the future can shape our lives. New York: Dutton.
Mishlove, J. (2000). The PK man: A true story of mind over matter. Charlottesville, Virginia: Hampton Roads.
Lukoff, D., & Everest, H. C. (1985). The myths in mental illness. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 17(2), 123–153.
7 votes
Holvenstot, C. (2011). Toward a Science of Consciousness 2011: The greatest show on earth. Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research, 2(4), 656–665.
Barušs, I. (1987). Metanalysis of definitions of consciousness. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 6(4), 321-329.
Tart, C. T. (2000). Investigating altered states on their own terms: State-specific sciences. In M. Velmans (Ed.), Investigating phenomenal consciousness: New methodologies and maps (pp. 255–278). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Shear, J. (2007). Eastern methods for investigating mind and consciousness. In
M. Velmans & S. Schneider (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to consciousness (pp. 697–710). Malden, MA: Blackwell.Barušs, I. (2008). Quantum mind: Conscious intention in the context of quantum mechanics. Dydaktyka Literatury, 28, 31–40.
Puthoff, H. E. (1996). CIA-initiated remote viewing program at Stanford Research Institute. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10(1), 63–76.
Bem, D. J. (2011). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 407-425.
September 11, 2011: I have posted the Readings Master List under the "Reading List" link in the "Resources" box on the left. You can think about which of those papers you would like to read since you will get to vote on them in the first day of classes. The first four homework assignments are given in the "Homework" link in the "Resources" box on the left. You can also start doing the homework for next week. I have left up the old practice test, exam, and summary so that you can get some idea of the sort of material that will be covered in this course.
July 28, 2011: I have posted the course outline for the fall semester. You can find it in the "Resources" box to the left.
July 21, 2010: Please note that this course will not be taught at all during the 2010-11 academic year.
June 17, 2010: Please note that I will not be teaching this course during the 2010-11 academic year.
December 20, 2009: The exams have been marked and the final grades submitted. The class average for the final exam was 69% and the class average for the course was 70%. The highest mark was 91% and the lowest . . . . well, let's just say that not everyone did equally well. E-mail me if you want to know your final mark. And let me know if you want to see your final exam. In fact, any student who wishes, can have a photocopy of her final exam. (The Registrar is required to keep the originals.) I'm looking forward to seeing some of you in Psych 3120G! We'll try to carry on the motto from this class, i.e., to have as much fun as possible! Have a lovely Christmas break!
September 15, 2009: Please note, there is a change to the course outline. Rather than 12 homework assignments, there will be only 11. Also, if you have a chance, please read the first article in the coursepack for the first class. We will cover definitions of consciousness during the first class.
July 20, 2009: In addition to the reading list, I have also posted the course outline for the fall semester 2009–10 in the "Resources" box to the left. Students who have any questions about the course should e-mail me.
July 16, 2009: I have posted the reading list for fall 2009-10 in the Resources to the left. I will have those made up into a coursepack that will be available for purchase in the UWO Bookstore. In addition, we will read Authentic Knowing (Purdue University Press, 1996) which has been ordered for the UWO bookstore. It can also be obtained online from some book distributors.
December 4, 2008: A copy of the DVD "Mystical Brain" is now available on reserve in the King's library.
November 20, 2008: There will be an optional review session on Thursday, December 11, 2008, at 1:00 p.m. in Room LH103. I won't be preparing anything for this session. It is just an opportunity to answer any questions that you might have.
November 18, 2008: The final exam will be held on Friday, December 12, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in room LH103. The exam will be three hours in length.
November 13, 2008: I have made up a practice final exam. Just click on the link in the box on the left.
October 24, 2008: Please note that I have posted the grading criteria for essay questions. You can see those by clicking on the link on the left. Also, the DVD "Consciousness and Its Implications" is now available in the King's library if you would like to take it out and watch any of the DVDs.
October 15, 2008: Test 1 has been marked. The class average was 65% with the average for Part I being 57% and the average for Part II being 72%. I don't have the exam papers from Part I back from the marker yet, but anyone who wants to can have their test paper for Part II and their grade on the test back at the end of today's class. I should have Part I for the class next week. All but one student answered Question 14 for Part II. The main problem was that students did not develop the second part of that question, namely, the implications of the results of the Ganzfeld studies for our understanding of consciousness. Otherwise the answers were generally reasonably good.
September 26, 2008: I have made up a practice test which you can access by clicking on the link in the box on the left. Let me know if you want to take some time on Wednesday to go over any of the questions.
September 23, 2008: I have placed a copy of the overheads for the lecture about Beliefs About Consciousness and Reality on reserve in the King's library under the title "Beliefs Research."
September 10, 2008: I have added a summary of what was covered in class to the list of resources on the left. I will update this after each class.
July 22, 2008: I have made up the course outline. You can see it by clicking on the link at the left.
July 8, 2008: Please note that this class is full and that I will not exceed the class limit.
May 11, 2008: I will make up a course pack for this course. Please check in for further information during the summer.