AP Psychology - Perception & Thinking and Problem-Solving

Perception

Top down processing; from a top down perspective, we see how, aided by knowledge and expectations, we transform sensory information into meaningful perceptions.

Selective Attention

When we focus our conscious awareness on a particular stimulus and IGNORE other stimuli. Although we are bombarded by various stimuli, we attend to only some of them at any one time.

Cocktail Party Effect

Where we attend to one voice among many.

• If you are having dinner in a crowded restaurant you can have conversations with your party amongst the chatter around you.

• You will also hear “your name”.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

This form of inattentional blindness is when we are distracted we may fail to notice change.

Gestalt Psychology

Organizing sensations into a form/whole

• Hence, “the whole may exceed the sum of its parts”

• There is far more to perception than meets the senses. The unified whole is different from the sum of the parts

Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Connectedness, Closure

What are Gestalt’s grouping principles?

Proximity

Group nearby figures together.

Similarity

Group similar figures together.

Continuity

We perceive smooth, continuous patterns over discontinuous ones. Ex. road map

Connectedness

When they are uniform or linked, we perceive spots, lines, or areas as a single unit. Ex. ladder

Closure

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object.

Form perception

Figure group relationships.

Figure; ground

Our 1st perceptual task in form perception is to perceive any object, called the _______ as distinct from its surroundings the __________ (aka background)

Grouping Principles

The 2nd task is to organize the figure into a meaningful form using the ____________

True

True or False: Some pictures illustrate a reversible figure ground relationship.

Depth perception

3-D Vision - Even though 2-D images fall on our retinas; we somehow organize 3-D perceptions. Seeing objects in 3-D enables us to estimate their distance from us.

Visual Cliff Experiment

This experiment tells us that the ability to perceive depth is partly innate (born with) and the other part is experience

Innate

Each species, by the time it is mobile, has the perceptual abilities it needs

Binocular and monocular cues

How do we transform 2-D retinal images to 3-D perceptions?

Binocular cues

Retinal disparity and convergence; both are good for judging distance of nearby objects

Retinal disparity

Our retinas receive slightly different images of the world due to the fact that our eyes are roughly 2 ½ inches apart. The brain compares these 2 images and the difference between them is their ______.

Closer; farther

The greater the retinal disparity the ________ the object; as objects get _______ away retinal disparity decreases.

Convergence

A neuromuscular cue caused by the eyes’ greater inward turn when they view a nearby object. The brain notes the angle of _________, and then computes whether you are focusing on something up close or far away.

Decrease

With distance, retinal disparity and convergence both _______.

Monocular cues

We depend on these for viewing objects at greater distances. AND they give the illusion of depth on flat or 2-D surfaces (like when you look at paintings/pictures).

Interposition

If one object blocks our view of another, we perceive it closer.

Relative size

Assuming 2 objects are similar in size, we perceive the one casting the smaller retinal image as farther away.

Relative clarity

We perceive hazy objects as farther away than clear sharp objects.

Texture gradient

A gradual change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance. Objects farther away appear smaller and more densely packed.

Linear perspective

Parallel lines appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Motion Perception

Our brain computes motion based partly on its assumption that shrinking objects are retreating (not getting smaller) and enlarging objects are approaching.

Stroboscopic Movement; 24

The brain also interprets a rapid series of slightly varying images as movement called _______. By flashing __ still pictures each second, a motion picture creates perceived movement.

Phi Phenomenon

Creates the illusion of movement by blinking 2 stationary adjacent lights on and off in quick succession (apparent movement).

Perceptual constancy

Enables us to perceive an object as unchanging even though the stimuli we receive from it changes.

Shape constancy

We perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even while the retinal images of them change. Ex. Door

Size constancy

Allows us to perceive objects as retaining their size even while our distance from them varies. Ex. Viewing people and cars from an airplane.

Color constancy

We perceive an object as having a constant color regardless of changes in lighting. However, perceived color changes with context. For example, if you view green apples in a red bowl as opposed to a green bowl, the green will “pop” in the red bowl.

Critical period

The effects of visual experience during infancy in cats, monkeys, and humans suggest there is a _____________ for normal sensory and perceptual development.

Cataracts; born

Adults blinded with ________ from birth, who later have their vision restored, can perceive figure/ground and color (suggesting we are _____ with these aspects of perception), but not recognize objects that were familiar by touch.

Blindness to shape

Kittens and monkeys who wore goggles that created the “cataract” situation above reacted much the same as humans did when the goggles were removed showing ___________

Critical Period

Both the human and kitten experiments tell us that the brain rule applies; USE IT OR LOSE IT!! The brain’s cortical cells had not developed normal connections during the ____________

Experience

___________ guides and sustains the brain’s development as it forms pathways that affect our perceptions.

Feature detector

Early visual experience is critical to the normal development of the ______________ CELLS (team form) of the brain as can be seen with the horizontal/vertical line kitten tests (never normal).

Perceptual adaptation

In vision, ________________ refers to the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field (goggles).

Plasticity

After a brief period of adjustment from perceptual adaptation, most humans function normally due to ___________ (interaction of nurture on nature). Once removed, we will experience a brief aftereffect and then function normally.

Perceptual set

MENTAL predisposition greatly influences what we perceive. Through experience, we form concepts or schemas that organize and interpret unfamiliar information. Assumptions and expectations also influence perception.

Perceptual set

You have “political” schemas and “religious” schemas that heavily influence your ideas about what is right and wrong; fair or unfair; etc.

Perceptual set

For example, you may have heard that a new pizza restaurant has the best pizza in town so you decide to try it out. The thought of “thinking”/expecting the pizza to be good will influence your perception of it.

Context effect

The immediate context (location) of a stimulus also influences how it is perceived.

Context effect

Hearing the word “morning” may be perceived as mourning if you are at a funeral.

Cognition

Focuses on the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information.

Metacognition

(Beyond cognition), or thinking about our thinking, allows us to assess our understanding and performance. Students who monitor and evaluate their learning perform better academically. How do you learn best? What works and doesn’t work for you?

Concepts

Sets of ideas/mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people.

SChema(s)

Synonymous to Concepts/mental groupings/mental Categories/mental Classifications/mental Constructs, etc.

Prototypes

We form schemas from ______. They are considered the most typical/best examples of something.

Assimilation and accommodation

People modify schemas through _________ and __________

Assimilation

Taking in new information but not changing the schema in light of it. Ex. Tomato

Accomodation

Taking in new information and adjusting/changing the schema to incorporate new information. Ex. Dog/cow

Classifying

If something fails to match our prototypes, we may have trouble ________ it (assimilation). Ex. Illness symptoms

Executive functions

the high-level cognitive abilities that collectively allow us to solve problems and make decisions effectively. Solving Problems.

Trial and error

If at first you don’t succeed; try and try again. Fingers crossed.

Algorithms

A step by step process that guarantees a solution but is often time consuming and best suited for complicated problems.

Heuristics

Often more appropriate because they allow us to make quick judgements using rule of thumb strategies. They are shortcuts based on common sense. However, they can often lead to errors in judgment.

Representativeness Heuristic

When decisions are made according to prior expectations or stereotypes. Ex. ageism, racism, sexism, socioeconomic status, demographics, etc.

Availability Heuristic

Recalling the first or most vivid example that comes to mind. Often driven by media coverage or personal experience. Ex. plane crash, automobile purchase.

Insight

On occasion, answers just come to us. This is known as _________.

Confirmation bias

a major obstacle to problem solving because we tend to search ONLY for EVIDENCE that supports our ideas, while IGNORING evidence that contradicts our beliefs

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. It is easy to become fixated on certain solutions, because those that worked in the past often work in the future. Past success can prove fruitful with new problems, BUT can also interfere with finding a new solution.

Mental set

A type of fixation that makes us repeat solutions that have worked in the past. Ex. Ripcord.

Functional fixedness

Another type of fixation that keeps us from perceiving objects as serving more than one purpose. Using the end of an envelope as a toothpick (thinking outside the box implies creativity).

Snap

Using and MISUSING Heuristics allows us to make “______” judgements that are often correct BUT can lead us astray.

Representativeness Heuristics

Judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to prototypes the person holds in his or her mind. Ex. You visit the doctor. The receptionist puts you in a room and says the nurse will be in to take your vitals shortly. A man walks in and you assume it's the doctor and not the nurse.

Availability Heuristics

Judging a situation based on personal experiences and/or extensive media coverage that “readily” come to mind. In other words, you OVERESTIMATE the significance of personal experiences and “hot” topics in the media.

Framing effect

refers to the way we “present” an issue; paint the picture per say, and can have an effect on making decisions. Percentages are often used.

Belief bias

occurs when we make illogical conclusions in order to confirm our preexisting beliefs. You have lost the ability to be objective.

Belief perseverance

Refers to our tendency to maintain a belief even after the evidence we used to form the belief is contradicted. The more we believe our beliefs are true, the more we cling to them.

Sunk-cost fallacy

when a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial

Gambler’s fallacy

the mistaken assumption that a specific outcome is more likely to occur based on past outcomes, even though the probability of the event is independent from one trial to the next (think tossing coins)

Creativity

Some researchers investigate ________ by examining the differences between convergent and divergent thinking.

Convergent thinking

thinking that is pointed towards one solution

Divergent thinking

thinking that searches for multiple possible answers to a question; more closely associated to creativity than convergent thinking