Chapter 3 study for Cognitive Psych

Completion of Perceptual Filling-In

The brain completes shapes or edges that are not fully present in the visual input

Sensation

The physical stimulation of sensory receptors

Perception

The brain’s interpretation of sensory information

Cognition

Higher-level processes including attention, knowledge, reasoning, memory, language, and decision-making

How Perception Relates to Memory

Perception relies on memory to categorize items, find best-matching examples, and change as we learn about the world

Object Recognition

The process of finding the best-matching example or representation stored in memory

Encoding (Recognition Stage)

A bottom-up sensory process of taking in raw input

Comparison (Recognition Stage)

Matching sensory codes against stored memory codes

Decision (Recognition Stage)

Selecting the best-fitting representation from memory

Perceptual Sets

Our predisposition or tendency to interpret stimuli in a specific way based on expectations or experience

Inverse Projection Problem

The ambiguity in sensory input (e.g., occlusion, blur, incomplete data) where different 3d objects can create the same 2d retinal image

Occlusion

When one object blocks another, acting as key depth cue for perception

Equilibrioception

The sensory system responsible for balance

Proprioception

The sensory system that detects the position, movement, and orientation of our limbs in space

Bottom-Up Processing

Data-driven processing that is built directly from raw sensory input

Top-Down Processing

Knowledge-driven processing that uses prior expectations, context, and memory

Pandemonium Theory

A feature analysis model developed by Selfridge and Neisser using feature detectors to recognize handwritten letters

Geons

Geometric solid primitives (volumetric building blocks) used in Biederman’s Recognition-by-Components theory

Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory

Biederman’s theory stating that objects are recognized as combinations of neons, requiring key structural components like corners and intersections

Inferotemporal Cortex (IT Cortex)

A brain region containing specialized cells tuned to a wide variety of shapes, features, motion, and idiosyncratic forms

Grandmother Cells

Highly specific neurons hypothesized to respond only to specific, complex visual science or individual objects