Interactive Sensation Laboratory Exercises (ISLE)

ISLE Activities

Interactive Sensory Laboratory Exercises (ISLE) is a set of activities, experiments, and illustrations that allow students to engage the concepts of Sensation & Perception by interacting with the phenomena discussed in the book, including anatomical diagrams, visual illusions, auditory illusions, and musical selections.

Access sample chapter-specific activities under each chapter, and access the full range of ISLE activities within the Interactive eBook.

Hands-On Experience

In working through these exercises, students have the opportunity to interact and see how different variables alter their experience. For example, students can:

  • Try out Kuffler's experiment exploring center-surround receptive fields and other models of cells in the brain, with results generated in real time.
  • See what a photograph looks like to people with different forms of dichromacy, and upload their own photographs to see what happens.
  • Read about hue cancellation and then run an experiment that allows them to manipulate the stimulus and method settings.

Anaglyph glasses

Some of the photographic figures on ISLE are anaglyphic stereo­grams, and they will require special glasses to be seen properly. See Chapter 7 for more information about stereograms. While these glasses are not provided with the book, they are easy to make, or, if you prefer, cheap to buy, individually or in bulk. Please note that you will need Red/Cyan anaglyph glasses. Anaglyph glasses can be found in each new copy of Sensation and Perception, Second Edition. Consult ISLE P.1 for specific information about either making or ordering these glasses.

Assessment

You can see the results of these experiments and collect the data in an Excel-ready format that is compatible with any statistical analysis package. In addition, there is a full set of quiz questions to be used to assess what students have gained from interaction with the exercises. See Chapter 3 for a sample.

Flexibility

The site is designed to work on most platforms, devices and browsers, and is optimized for display on tablets and mobile phones. Each exercise also includes its own set of specific instructions.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge John Krantz, co-author of Sensation & Perception, for creating and developing the Interactive Sensory Laboratory Exercises (ISLE). Special thanks are also due to Hanover College for hosting the site and to Sarah Blythe of Washington & Lee University for creating the ISLE assessments.