AP Psych Unit 2 cognition vocab perception edition

Perception

The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events

Bottom-up processing

A way our brain makes sense of information by starting with the small details and then building up to a complete perception

Top down processing

Involves interpreting sensory information based on the larger context, prior knowledge, and expectations

Selective attention

The process of focusing on a specific aspect of information while ignoring others

Cocktail party effect

Our ability to focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment, like a crowded party, while tuning out other stimuli

Inattentional blindness

An individual fails to notice an unexpected stimulus in their visual field when their attention is focused on something else

Change blindness

The failure to notice large changes in one’s environment when the change occurs simultaneously with a visual disruption

Schemas

Mental frameworks that help us organize and interpret information in the world around us

Perceptual set

A tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others

Gestalt psychology

We perceive whole objects or figures (gestalts) rather than just a collection of parts

Figure ground

Refers to the ability to distinguish an objects (figure) from its surroundings (ground)

Binocular depth cues

Visual information that requires both eyes to perceive depth and distance

Retinal disparity

When each eye sees a slightly different picture because of their separate positions on your face

Convergence

When our eyes move inward toward each other to focus on a close object

Monocular depth cues

Visual indicators of distance and space that can be perceived using just one eye

Relative clarity

A depth cue where objects that are clearer and more detailed are perceived as closer, while objects that are hazier or less clear seem farther away

Relative size

A visual cue where objects closer to us appear larger, while objects further away appear smaller

Texture gradient

The way we perceive texture to become denser and finer as it recedes into the distance

Linear perspective

A depth cue where parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance

Interposition

Occurs when one object overlaps another, leading us to perceive the overlapping object as closer

Perceptual constancies

Our brain’s ability to see objects as unchanging, even when the image of our retina (like size, shape, and color) changes

Shape constancy

Our ability to perceive an object as having the same shape, even when our angle of view or the distance from which we see the object changes

Size constancy

Our perception that an objects remains the same size, even when its distance from us changes, causing the image on our retina to grow or shrink

Color constancy

Ability to perceive colors of objects as stable under varying lighting conditions

Apparent movement

The perception of motion when there isn’t any actual movement