Perception

Bottom-up processing

Begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain (sensation first)

Top-down processing

Constructing perceptions using our experiences and expectations (expenses first)

Schema

A collection of basic knowledge about a concept or entity that serves as a guide to perception, interception, imagination, or problem solving.

Perceptual set

Tendency to see things in a certain way

Gestalt principles

Set of rules that describe how our brains organize and perceive visual information

Selective attention

Focusing our conscious awareness on one stimulus

Cocktail party effect

Ability to focus one’s listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises

inattention blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is focused elsewhere

Change blindness

Failing to notices changes in the environment

Binocular depth cues

A depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Monocular depth cues

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Perceptual constancies

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Apparent movement

An illusion of motion or change of size that is cued by visual tricks