AP Psych Unit 2

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to make it meaningful.

Bottom-up Processing

Analysis that starts at the sensory level and works up to higher levels of processing.

Top-down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Perceptual Set

A predisposition to perceive things in a certain way.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach to psychology that emphasizes that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Closure

The perceptual tendency to fill in gaps in order to perceive a complete image.

Proximity

Objects that are close to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together.

Similarity

Objects that are similar in appearance are more likely to be perceived as belonging together.

Figure and Ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

Attention

Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events.

Selective Attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, much like tuning into a single voice at a noisy party.

Inattentional Blindness

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

Change Blindness

Failing to notice changes in the environment.

Binocular Depth Cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Convergence

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.

Monocular Depth Cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Relative Size

If two objects are known to be of similar size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image as farther away.

Texture Gradient

The tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases.

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Interposition

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

Perceptual Constancies

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change.