In your “initial” forum post each week describe how one of the phenomena mentioned in this week’s readings explains an everyday event that you have experienced or observed and then suggest how this phenomenon might have serious consequences (so first its everyday occurrence and impact and then ways in which it can have serious impact). For the purpose of this assignment, we will define “serious impact” as something that has negative consequences to health and safety of the self or others rather than something that is inconvenient or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain light may lead to getting home after a shopping trip only to find out an outfit isn’t the color you thought it was, which can be inconvenient and/or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain war zone conditions can be safety and life threatening. You will need to be specific, thorough and concrete. Just tacking onto the end of a post a statement or two that something could be a problem isn’t sufficient. Additionally, saying you don’t know of any negative consequences isn’t permitted. Doing so will void your forum assignment points. You will need to explain how the phenomenon specifically has a negative impact. An example, described in Nicholas Wade’s 2000 “The Natural History of Vision” is below (NOTE: Because this one has already been applied, you must select another). Additionally, unless you are discussing one of the more common disorders, like a lack of depth perception or hearing loss, you’ll want to avoid “I think I have this” syndrome. This is something that medical students often fall prey to in the early years of medical school because they spend so much time studying human disorders, from the very common to the exceedingly rare.
You should start each weekly “initial forum post” with, “For my sensation/perception phenomenon this week I chose (fill in the name of the phenomenon) _________” and then go on to give a brief description of who the phenomenon works (don’t dwell here–we can all read the details in the textbook or in an article–just provide enough so we understand what happens with the phenomenon) and describe your everyday example of the occurrence of the phenomenon and how it could have serious consequences. The phenomenon can be one occurring in persons not suffering any pathology (like the example below–pretty much everybody experiences what happens to our ability to differentiate colors and their brightness around dusk…it’s not abnormal at all) or it can be the result of a disorder or injury.
