PSYC 263 UNL EXAM 1

Template theories

a pattern treated as an unanalyzed whole

feature theories

aims to describe a pattern by listing the elements of that pattern

Four criteria for features

1. features should be critical for contrast

2. features should not chance under physical changes

3. feature should yield a unique pattern for each letter

4. features proposed should be small in number

bottom-up processing

processing that begins with a sensory input and ends with its representation

top-down processing

the output of a lower step is influenced by a higher one

Alerting attention

the ability to orient oneself to some critical and/or unexpected stimulus

vigilance attention

the ability to devote full attention to a single stimulus

selective attention

the ability to choose to focus on only one stimulus (or dimensions)

divided attention

the ability to focus on two (or more) stimuli/dimensions at the same time

Broadbent's filter theory

only so much information can be conveyed along a channel at one time, and only one channel can be processed at a time

critical prediction

selective attention should not be affected by the identity of various messages

Dichotic Listening

presenting different stimuli to left and right ears, used for split attention

change blindness/inattentional blindness

inability to detect a change in display when focus on one stimulus (gorilla video)

saccadic blindness

blindness due to the eyes rotating at hundreds of degrees per second, too rapid for retina to integrate useful info

relationship between performance and arousal

we preform better when we have moderate levels of arousal

visual search

searching through a display of targets

The Stoop Effect

reading the color of the words instead of the actual word. Happens due to interference and facilitation

feature integration theory

the idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that comprise a stimulus, but is required to bind those individual features together

Parallel pre-attentive stage

parallel feature detectors in brain operating simultaneously

serial attentive stage

links master map to other feature maps, requires attention and as such, takes time

illusory conjunction

wrong features can be bound erroneously. combine features of two objects into one object

algorithms

slow sequence of processes guaranteed to work

availability heuristic

judgement based on information readily available in memory

representative heuristic

cognitive strategy that assigns an object to a category on the basis of a few characteristics regarded as representative of that category

anchoring heuristic

insufficient adjustment up or don from an original starting value when judging the probability value of some event or outcome

Reasons why visual attention is difficult to measure

1. no direct measurement device

2. attention reflected in RT/accuracy

3. need for fixation

exogenous orienting

bottom-up, automatic, involuntary allocation of attention (peripheral cue)

endogenous orienting

top-down, controlled, voluntary allocation of attention

covert orienting

the movement of attention from one location to another without moving the eyes/body

overt orienting

the movement of attention accompanied by movement of the eyes or body

inhibition of return (IOR)

finding that targets that appear of previously attended or cued locations are more slowly responded to than targets that appear at uncued locations when a relatively long temporal interval intervenes between the cue and the target

object-based attention

notion that attention selects objects in visual field, attention goes to objects and not visual fields

location

attention selects portion of visual field

visual neglect

difficulty attending to things in the visual field opposite to brain lesion

extincions

tendency to ignore stimuli in the neglected visual field when a competing stimulus is presented is the other visual field

hearing and vision

single flash and two tones are presented at the same time

Steps in the perception process

selection, organization, interpretation, negotiation

context (palmer experiment)

when incoming data interacts with knowledge, the response is different. Role of knowledge makes it impossible to separate how we perceive things

recognition by components theory

a specific view of an object can be represented as an arrangement of simple 3-D shapes called geons (36)

simplicity

every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form

similarity

the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group

Good coninuation

points which, when connected, result in straight or smooth curving lines, seen as belonging together

proximity

group things together that are near to each other

common fate

things that are moving in the same direction tend to be grouped together

familiarity

things are more likely to form groups if the groups appear familiar or meaningful

Closure

tend to perceive closed figures rather than incomplete ones

uniform connectedness

organize as a single unit those parts of the array that appear to be connected

inverse projection problem

task of determining the object that caused a particular image on the retina

occlusion

when a large object is partially covered by a smaller one, we see the larger one as continuing

ventral stream

handles "what" information

dorsal stream

handles "where" information

what causes the hollow mask illusion?

knowledge, expertise, and experience

what causes color afterimages and motion afterimages?

perception is mediated by various cells in the retina responding to light

Can visual illusions be overcome?

No, but it depends

How Ebbinghaus Studied Memory

used technique of learning, allowing time to forget, then relearning

declarative memory

knowing what, verbally expressed, consciously aware, explicit memory

nondeclarative memory

knowing how, expressed through behavior, awareness not necessary, implicit memory

Three components of memory

encoding, storage, retrieval

Direct vs. indirect tests

direct: subject explicitly asked to recall info from study phase, measure declarative, free recall

indirect: not told memory is being tested, used to investigate non-declarative

prospective memory

subject required to perform action in the future

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list