Perception & Gestalt Principles and Waves

figure-ground relationship

segmenting our visual world into figure and ground

Gestalt psychology

field of psychology based on the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts

good continuation

we are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines

pattern perception

ability to discriminate among different figures and shapes

amplitude

height of a wave

frequency

number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period

peak

highest point of a wave

trough

lowest point of a wave

wavelength

length of a wave from one peak to the next peak

transduction

conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential

perceptual hypothesis

educated guess used to interpret sensory information

proximity

things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together

similarity

things that are alike tend to be grouped together

top-down processing

interpretation of sensations is influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts

bottom-up processing

system in which perceptions are built from sensory input

subliminal message

message presented below the threshold of conscious awareness

signal detection theory

change in stimulus detection as a function of current mental state