Spring 2027

Psychology of Perception

Psychology of Perception surveys how the brain creates conscious experience using neurophysiology, psychophysics, simulations, illusions, and patient studies.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Rosa Lafer-Sousa

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Karen Schloss

Exams accounted for 95% of the grade, and the course was described as very tough with no previous exams provided for preparation.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe the physical and chemical properties of the world (e.g. light, soundwaves, pressure, chemicals) that stimulate sensory systems.

  • Explain how sensory systems in each modality (vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste) convert input from the world into neural signals.

  • Explain how perceptual systems enable observers to acquire knowledge about objects and events in the world around them.

  • Evaluate past and current theories of sensation and perception.

  • Interpret the methods and key findings of foundational and modern experiments in sensation and perception.

  • Compare and contrast sensory and perceptual systems across modalities.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 202, (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151, or (BIOCORE 381 and 382)

PSYCH 406 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

BAS ROKERS is recorded teaching in Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KAREN SCHLOSS is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 3000
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 150
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 150

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Karen Schloss

Dr. Schloss created a welcoming environment that encouraged curiosity and participation, using structured lectures with key questions to guide study.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.60 GPA, 79.5% A/AB (n=88 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.08 GPA, 54.9% A/AB (n=164 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.39 GPA, 69.8% A/AB (n=179 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Karen Schloss

Exams accounted for 95% of the grade, and the course was described as very tough with no previous exams provided for preparation.

Past student reviews · Karen Schloss

Students noted that the professor spoke too quickly to keep up, but she posted slides afterward to help with self-study.

Topics

  • Neurophysiology, psychophysics, computer simulations, perceptual illusions, and patient studies.
  • Sensory systems in vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.

Skills

  • Explain sensory transduction across modalities and evaluate theories of sensation and perception.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PSYCH 406 · Spring 2027

Psychology of Perception

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:820:016387",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 406",
    "course_uid": "course_5c158f91c031d14bdbb23847",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "016387",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "Psychology of Perception",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "257308326900224cdeeadbb13ad33cf3272cd6574fbd86c627406981dd707bbe",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}