Sensory processes and the development of sensation and perception & Perception

Sensation

The process by which the body gathers information about the environment and transmits the info to brain for initial processing.

Tranduction

Process of converting external

energy or substance into electrical activity

within neurons (via sensory receptors).

Absolute Threshold

Minimum intensity of a

stimulus needed that can be detected 50% of

the time.

Webers Law

Constant proportional relationship between the smallest change we can detect and the original stimulus intensity.

Proprioceptive Senses

Related to body position and movement.

Kinaesthetic Sense (Proprioceptive)

Body position and movement of body parts relative to one another.

Vestibular Sense (Proprioceptive)

Detect head movement, gravity and spatial

orientation. Maintains balance, posture, gaze stability

Perception

An active process by which the

brain selects, organises and interprets sensory information.

Ambiguous Figures

Perception not fixed/absolute – single image can have multiple interpretations.

Perceptual Organisation

Organisation of a continuous array of sensory information into meaningful units and locates them in space. Four aspects.

Form Perception (Perceptual Organisation)

Organises sensory information into meaningful shapes and patterns. Divides our perception into figure (prominent stimuli/object viewed) and ground (background against which we perceive the figure).

Gestalt View

The whole is more than the sum of the

parts. The underlying principle: We tend to

organise visual elements into groups or

unified wholes. Six principles.

The Law of Proximity (Gestalt View)

The human brain perceives and groups objects that are spatially close to each other as a single unit or related group, rather than as individual, separate items.

The Law of Similarity (Gestalt View)

Our minds perceive elements sharing similar visual characteristics as belonging to the same group or forming a connected whole, even if they are separated.

The Law of Good Continuation (Gestalt View)

See lines/patterns as continuous, rather than

discontinuous elements.

The Law of Closure (Gestalt View)

Our brains tend to perceive incomplete or fragmented visual elements as a single, unified, and complete object by mentally filling in the missing gaps.

The Law of Simplicity (Gestalt View)

People perceive complex or ambiguous visual stimuli in the simplest, most stable form possible.

Form and Ground (Gestalt View)

The brain separates a visual scene into a focal object (the figure) and its surrounding area (the ground) to make sense of it.

Depth or Distance Perception

Organisation of perception in three dimensions.

Monocular Cues

Uses visual input from one eye.

Binocular Cues

Uses visual input integrated from two eyes.

Binocular Disparity

Each eye gets a different picture of

the world. The greater the difference between

pictures the closer the object.

Binocular Convergence

Eyes point inwards when looking toward close objects. Eyes move outwards when looking at distant objects.

Motion Perception

The brain's process of detecting and interpreting movement from visual, vestibular (inner ear), and proprioceptive (body position) cues.

Perceptual Consistancy

Ability to maintain an unchanging perception of an object despite variations in retinal image. Three main types.

Shape Constancy (Perceptual Constancy)

Perceive true shape of object despite

variations in shape in the retinal image.

Size Constancy (Perceptual Constancy)

Ability to perceive the true size of an object despite variations in the size of the retinal image.

Colour Constancy (Perceptual Constancy)

Tendency to perceive whiteness, greyness, blackness of objects across changing levels of illumination.

Inattentional Blindness

Failure to perceive a prominent object because attention is on another task.

Change Blindness

Failure to perceive changes in a scene when there is a momentary interruption to views of that scene.

Identification

Attaching meaning to what you perceive.