s+p exam 4 pt 4!

2 types of perceptual processing

1. Top-down processing: this is the gestalt school of psyc (looking at the whole configuration or big picture)-- here the percievers are bringing things to the table– things we’ve experienced/gone through (ex- if we’re friends w someone, we know their voice, so if we were out in a croud and heard their voice, we’re going to be more familiar to it and turn to it rather than if we just heard a random voice say our name). Processing is a combo of this– we;re brining something to the table, but still need to rely on what we’re seeing. This would be like looking at the entire forest, not the individual trees. 

2. Bottom-up processing: related to the school of thought in psyc called structualism (looking for the basic sensations of things)- Titchnerer was looking for sasic sensation (the basic building blocks of perception → the closest we’ve gotten to learning about this this semester is the individual firing of cones– this is the foundation and then our perception of light and things builds on this). If we were looking at a forest, this would be like seeing the individual trees that make up the forest

what is structuralism?

looking for the basic sensations of things

what names are associated w gestalt psychology

• gestalt psyc is an example of top-down processing

• Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler are all names associated with this type of perception and processing

what are the 5 gestalt psyc grouping principals

1. Proximity- spacing: how close things are together (two groups of red and blue dots or two people sitting together and then another person (like in the pic))

2. Similarity: as soon as a child can understand the question that’s being asked, you can ask them to group things (based on color, size, type, etc…) (we’re grouping based on some type of similar characteristic among objects)

3. Common fate: things that move together are grouped together (the example where he had some of the dots move together on the slides)

4. Good continuation: what pattern makes the most sense (contros or lines will follow in a straight line) (ex- in the blob of blue and red dots, we see the arch that it makes– our eyes follow that line/contour)

5. Closure: we will complete incomplete objects (ex- the dotted line in the shape of a circle becomes a cirlce to us or the fact that news papers pics are just dots, but we put them together and close everything in)

what is a representation of all 5 of the gestalt grouping principals?

canada geese cover all of these when flying in a V

Law of pragnanz:

wrapped all 5 of the gestalt grouping principals up and put them into one law. Said that we will see the simplest, easiest perception that we can (ex- the red square, blue circle, and green triangle). With all of our top down influences, our experiences, and gestalt groupingn, wr are going to comeup with the easiest, simplest, most symmetric figure that we can