Unit 1.2 Part 2 Perception

Perception

process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

Perceptual Set

a type of top-down processing where your past knowledge or experience makes you expect and perceive things in a certain way

Context effects

the situation in which we experience a stimulus to how we perceive it

ex: brownies shaped like poo

Sensory interaction

when one sense influences another

ex: smell influencing taste

Synesthesia

when stimulation of onset sense cause a perception in another sense

ex: hearing colors

Blindsight

when a person literally can’t see something, but their brain still reacts to it without them knowing

Prosopagnosia

face blindness; a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one’s own face, is impaired

Gestalt

emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces of info into a meaningful whole

ex: see an orange furry thing, smell litter, hear meowing, feel soft fur…

Figure-ground relationship

we organize information by separating the figure from its background

Grouping

the brain’s tendency to organize things that are similar, close, or connected into groups

Proximity

seeing similar objects near each other as a group

Similarity

when similar and dissimilar objects are mingle we see the similar objects as groups

Closure

seeing a complete patter or shape, even if it is missing parts

Depth perception

ability to see in 3D

Visual cliff

showed that babies would not cross the clear glass placed between two structures

• proved depth was something that the babies were born with when they became mobile

Binocular cues

depth perception using TWO eyes

Retinal disparity

slightly different perceptions of images are produced because eyes are positioned on different parts of the face

Covergence

when the eye muscles strain because an object comes too close

Monocular cues

depth perception using ONE eye

• helpful for 2D images or when binocular cues aren’t working

Relative size

object appears larger when closer

Relative height

distant objects appear in higher visual field than closer objects

ex: mountains in the distance appear larger than when they are closer to you

Relative clarity

when an object is close you can detect the fine details, when far away you cannot

Interposition

method of determining depth by noting that closer objects partially obstruct/block the more distant objects (overlap)

Linear perspective

parallel lines seem to come together or merge in the distance

Visual perceptual constancies

perceiving an object as not changing, or remaining constant, even though different images are presented to the retina when size, shape, or lightness changes

ex: door image

Size constancy

the object didn’t grow or shrink

shape constancy

the object didn’t change shape

Lightness (color) constancy

the  object didn’t change color

Phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when 2+ adjacent lights blink on/off in rapid succession

ex: construction arrow lights

Stroboscopic motion

illusion of continuous movement experiences when viewing rapid series of slightly varying still images

ex: flip-books

Autokinetic effect

the illusory movement of a still spot of light in a dark room

ex: white circle with black background

Illusions

a trick or the senses to provide a different perception

priming

when exposure to a stimulus influences how you respond to a later stimulus, often without conscious awareness

ex: making a logo for dead animal company video