Attention and Perception (Chapter 8) Flashcards
attention
is the process of focusing on specific stimuli whilst ignoring and therefore excluding others.
selective attention
focusing our mental resources on one stimulus at the exclusion of other stimuli.
divided attention
splitting attention across two or more stimuli at the same time.
sustained attention
also known as vigilance, involves maintaining a high degree of attention over a prolonged period.
bottom-up processing
perception is determined by incoming sensory info, moving from specific stimulus info to general knowledge.
top-down processing
perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge (schemas) to specific stimulus info.
what are the stages of perception?
selection
organisation
interpretation
what is selection
choosing relevant features
what is organisation
when selected features are regrouped
what is interpretation
when organised sensory info is understood and given meaning
schema
our pre-existing mental ideas relating to a given concept that helps us organise and interpret new info
salient
distinctive, prominent or important
perception
is the process by which we interpret and give meaning to sensory info.
visual perception
meaningfully interpreting visual stimuli
gestalt principles
a set of principles that allow us to organise and group separate visual stimuli into a meaningful whole.
what are the 4 gestalt principles?
figure-ground
closure
similarity
proximity
figure-ground
the tendency to perceive some figures as being at the front of an image (foreground) and others as falling into the background.
closure
tendency to mentally complete images that are otherwise incomplete.
similarity
the tendency to perceive parts of the visual image that have similar features as belonging together in one group, unit or ‘whole’
proximity
the tendency to group items in an image based on their physical closeness to one another
binocular depth cues
depth cues that rely on information from both eyes.
what are the two binocular depth cues?
retinal disparity and convergence
retinal disparity
refers to the difference or disparity between the different images received on the retina of either eye.
convergence
when the brain detects depth from changes that occur In the eye muscle.
monocular depth cues
cues to assist the perception of depth that only requires information from one eye.
what are the three monocular depth cues?
- accommodation
- pictorial depth cues
- motion parallax
motion parallax
when the perception of movement is used to gauge how far away things are.
accommodation
when the brain receives info about the lens changing, and uses this info to infer the distance of an object from the eye.
pictorial depth cues
monocular depth cues that allow us to perceive depth/distance in a two-dimensional image
what are the 5 pictorial depth cues?
- linear perspective
- relative size
- interposition
- texture gradient
- height in visual field
linear perspective
is based on the apparent convergence of parallel lines as the lines recede into the distance
relative size
the tendency to perceive the object that makes a larger retinal image as being closer than the object that produces a smaller retinal image
interposition/ overlap
indicates that if one object partially obscures the retinal image of another object, then it must be closer to the observer.
texture gradient
the tendency to perceive objects with less detailed surface features as being further away than objects with more detailed surface features.
height in visual field
indicates that objects that are closer to the horizon are perceived as being further away from the observers
visual constancies
principles that help maintain the perception of the world as stable despite changes cast onto the retinal image.
visual perception principles
the rules that are applied to assist in making consistent meaning to visual information
what are the three types of visual constancies?
size, shape and brightness
size constancy
involves recognising that an object’s actual size remains the same despite changes in the size of the retinal image
shape constancy
is the tendency to perceive the shapes of objects as being stable despite changes to the shape of an object as cast on the retina.
brightness constancy
is the tendency to visually perceive an object as being the same despite it appearing a different colour/shade
perceptual set
the predisposition to perceive an object in a way that is consistent with our expectations.
biological factors that affect visual perception
accommodation
convergence
pictorial depth cues
psychological factors that affect visual perception
visual constancies
gestalt principles
pictorial depth cues
social factors that affect visual perception
cultural norms
cultural norms
a standard, value or rule that outlines an appropriate behaviour or experience within a culture
gustatory perception
is a multisensorial process that relies on info from both our taste buds and our sense of smell
taste buds
located around papilla on the tongue and contain taste receptors
biological factors that affect taste
age and genetic
how does taste sensation work?
chemical molecules from food combine with the saliva on our tongues and stimulate the taste receptors within our taste buds
why does ageing affect our taste?
sensitivity to taste diminishes as we age
how do genetics affect taste?
some people are supertasters and have an increased sensitivity to taste and other people are non-tasters and have a decreased sensitivity to taste.
psychological factors that affect taste
appearance
food packaging
how does appearance affect the taste?
colour and shape
when colours are changed accurate assessment of flavours is lowered and are perceived as having something wrong.
round shapes are perceived to be sweet whereas cornered shapes are perceived to be more bitter and savoury
how does food packaging affect the taste?
it can give the impression of higher quality food and therefore a better taste.
Social Factors that Affect Taste
culture
how does culture affect the taste?
different cultures are accustomed to different flavours.
depth perception
the ability to interpret the world as 3-dimensional.
