9 distortions of perception

Question 1

visual illusion

Answer 1

a misperception of external visual stimuli that occurs as a result of a distortion or mistake when interpreting the stimuli

Question 2

Müller-Lyer illusion

Answer 2

a visual illusion in which one of two lines of equal length, each of which has opposite-shaped ends, is incorrectly perceived as being longer than the other

Question 3

Ames room illusion

Answer 3

a perceptual misinterpretation involving a trapezium-shaped room that appears rectangular when viewed through a peephole using only one eye and people appear small or large, depending on where they stand in the room

Question 4

Spinning dancer illusion

Answer 4

a visual illusion in which the silhouette of a female dancer can be interpreted as spinning either clockwise or anti-clockwise

Question 5

agnosia

Answer 5

loss or impairment of the ability to recognise and identify objects, persons, sounds or other sensory stimuli using one or more of the senses due to brain injury

Question 6

visual agnosia

Answer 6

loss or impairment of the ability to recognise visual stimuli due to brain injury

Question 7

supertaster

Answer 7

a person who is more sensitive to certain tastes than most others; taste is experienced with far greater intensity, especially bitter

Question 8

miraculin

Answer 8

a protein found in the fleshy part of a miracle berry that has a taste-changing effect whereby a sweet taste is perceived

Question 9

exposure to miraculin

Question 10

flavour

Answer 10

perceptual experience produced by a combination of taste and other sensations, especially smell

Question 11

judgment of flavours

Answer 11

• perceptual set: a temporary readiness to perceive something in accordance with expectations of what it is
• colour intensity:
• texture: a property of food or beverage that is felt in the mouth and contributes to flavour along with taste

Question 12

synaesthesia

Answer 12

a perceptual experience in which stimulation of one of the senses produces additional sensations in another

Question 13

types of synaesthesia

Answer 13

• Mirror–touch — a person watching another individual being touched feels a tactile sensation on their own body
• Auditory–tactile — certain sounds trigger sensations in parts of the body
• Word–gustatory — experiencing tastes when hearing certain words
• Pain — experiencing pain when observing or imagining another person in pain
• Chromesthesia — perception of nonvisual stimuli is accompanied by colour sensations
• Chromatic audition — colour sensations are experienced when sounds are heard
• Time–space — individuals experience units of time as occupying specific spatial locations around them

Question 14

characteristics of synaesthesia

Answer 14

• Involuntary and occurs automatically in response to relevant sensory stimulation
• Difficult to suppress
• Experience is vivid, highly memorable and consistent across time

Question 15

cause of synaesthesia

Question 16

spatial neglect (visual neglect)

Answer 16

a neurological disorder whereby individuals are unable to notice anything either on their left or right side even though there may be no sensory loss

Question 17

perceptual distortion (illusion)

Answer 17

an inconsistency between a perceptual experience and physical reality