Accuracy and Inaccuracy in Perception Flashcards
sensory interaction
the working together of different senses to create experience
- taste, smell, texture combine to create flavour
- movie = images and music works together
synesthesia = one sensation (sound) creates experiences in another (vision)
selective attention
ability to focus on some sensory inputs while tuning out others
- allows us to focus on single talker at a party while ignoring other conversations
cocktail party phenomenon
being at a party and talking to someone in one room when suddenly you hear your name across the room
* simultaneously doing monitoring of world around us
sensory adaptation
decrease in sensitivity of a receptor to a stimulus after constant stimulation
- ability to adapt is essential for survival
- leaves sensory receptors free to detect important changes in environment
saccades
quick, simultaneous movement of eyes
- explains why we don’t adapt to an image (it doesn’t fade away)
perceptual consistency
ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation (ex: rectangle door closed vs small slice when door is open)
- corrects for colour constancy (whether inside or outside, white T-shirt is bright compared to blue jeans )
Illusions
occur when perceptual processes that normally help us correctly perceive the world around us are fooled by a particular situation so that we see something that doesn’t exist or that is incorrect
troller effect
fading objects surrounding the central one
ex: black dot w grey circle that disappears
Mueller-Lyer
line looks longer than another because of the failure of monocular depth cues
moon illusion
moon perceived to be 50% bigger when near the horizon even thought it is the same size all the time
ponzo illusion
top yellow bars seems longer than bottom one
* failure of monocular depth
embodied
we as humans are built into and linked with our cognition such that the world around us becomes part of our brain
Importance of expectations in perception
- bad food will taste more negatively if expected to
- people think two ppl look similar If told they are related
influenced by desires
if hungry = food related words grab attention
human factors
uses psychological knowledge including principles of sensation and perception to improve the development of technology
- airline safety
- televisions developed with knowledge of trichromatic theory
