PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF COGNITION  Workshop – Speaker Katie's Notes

Students record their visual observations of the classroom (timed, 10 minutes).

• How many things did you observe? 
• Did you both see the same things?
• Did you notice the same things when you first entered the room? What was different? Was anything the same?
• Did the exercise become easier or more difficult as time went on?

Students close eyes while new objects are placed around the room. Record changes (timed, 5 minutes)

• How many new items are there?
• What are they?

Discuss the reasons why certain items were seen while others were missed - placement, size, color

Discuss binocular vision and how it works.

• What changes when you use only one eye?
• Why do some animals have forward facing eyes while others have eyes on the sides of their head?

Discuss perspective and learn how to visually measure objects with sight sticks.

• What is it?
• How do you know how far away objects are? How accurate is your perception?
• Standing up, sitting on the floor, and standing on chairs: How did objects’ angles change?

Discuss two-dimensional and three-dimensional.

• What are the differences?
• Can you draw an object that is 2D? An object that is 3D?

Discuss 1 point and 2 point perspective. 

• Terms: horizon line, vanishing point, orthogonal lines, transversal lines
• How-to drawing lesson

Optional homework:
When in a familiar environment (such as your bedroom), take a moment to look around and see if there are things in the room you don’t normally notice. Then take a pencil or a ruler (or any implement that can be used as a sight stick) and hold it up to different objects in the room. Try to find the different perspectives and vanishing points.