Unit 2A Vocab- Perception and Attention

Sensation

process by which sensory receptors and the nervous system detect and send info about environmental stimuli

Perception

the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory info

Bottom up processing

relies on external sensory information to build on perception, going from individual elements to the whole

Top down processing

relies on internal prior expectations to fill in the gaps and complete perception

Schemas

frameworks for thinking or mental representations that help us organize and understand our world

Assimilation

fitting existing knowledge into the schema without changing the belief

Accommodation

creating a new schema to fit new info that doesn’t fit existing schema’s

Perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other, impacts our top down processing

Context experiences and cultural experiences

influence and shape our perceptions

Selective attention

the focused conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, allowing us to tune out other surrounding stimuli

Cocktail party effect

the ability to selectively attend to one conversation among many conversations happening around us

Inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Change blindness

form of inattentional blindness in which you fail to notice changes in the environment