11.2 Perception Flashcards
What is the visual cortex?
area of the occipital love responsible for processing visual information
What are feature-detecting neurons?
special neurons in the brain that fire in response to particular visual features
What is the feature-detection theory?
theory of visual perception that proposes that certain neurons fire for specific features of a visual stimulus such as shape, color, and movement
What is parallel-processing?
a system where many aspects of a stimulus are processed simultaneously instead of a step-by-step or serial fashion
What is depth perception?
ability to see objects in three dimensions despite the fact that images are imposed on the retina in two dimension
What are binocular cues?
depth cues that depend on information received from both eyes
What is retinal disparity?
binocular cue whereby the brain compares the images projected onto the two retinas in order to perceive distance
What is convergence?
binocular cue that describes the extent to which the eyes turn inward when looking at an object
What are monocular cues?
depth cues that depend on the information that is available to either eye alone and are important for judging distances of objects that are far from us
What is relative size?
if objects are assumed to be the same size, the one that casts the smaller image on the retina appears more distant
What is interposition?
if one object blocks the view of another, we perceive it as closer
What is relative clarity?
we perceive hazy objects as being more distant than sharp, clear objects
What is texture gradient?
change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indistinct texture indicates increasing distance
What is relative height?
we perceive object that are higher in the visual field as farther away
What is relative motion?
as we move, stable objects appear to move as well; objects that are nearer to us move faster than objects that are farther away
