Chapter 2 Flashcards
Perception
The use of previous knowledge to gather and interpret stimuli registered by the senses. Perception requires both bottom-up and top-down processing.
Object recognition or pattern recognition
you identify a complex arrangement of sensory stimuli, and you perceive that this pattern is separate from its background.
When you recognize an object, your sensory processes transform and organize raw information provided by your sensory receptors. You also compare the sensory stimuli with information that you have stored in your memory.
distal stimulus
is the actual object that is “ out there” in the environment - for example, the pen on your desk.
proximal stimulus
is the information registered on your sensory receptors - for example, the image that your pen creates on your retina.
retina
covers the inside back portion of your eye; it contains millions of neurons that register and transmit visual information from the outside world.
sensory memory
is a large-capacity storage system that records information from each of the senses with reasonable accuracy.
iconic memory or visual sensory memory
preserves an image of a visual stimulus for a brief period after the stimulus has disappeared
Primary Visual Cortex
is located in the occipital lobe of the brain; it is the portion of your cerebral cortex that is concerned with basic processing of visual stimuli.
Gestalt psychology - One Important Principle
Humans have basic tendencies to organize what they see; without any effort, we see patterns rather than random arrangements. For example, when two areas share a common boundary, the figure has a distinct shape with clearly defined edges.
figure
has a distinct shape with clearly defined efges
ground
is the refion that is “ left over”, forming the background.
Ambiguous figure-ground relationship
the figure and the ground reverse from time to time, so that the figure becomes the ground and then becomes the figure again.
illusory contours or subjective contours
we see edges even though they are not physically present in the stimulus.
templates
specific patterns that you have stored in memory
feature-analysis theories
propose a relatively flexible approach in which a visual stimulus is composed of a small number of characteristics or components
distinct feature
each visual characteristic
recognition-by-components theory
In visual perception, a theory proposing that people can recognize three-dimensional shapes, in terms of an arrangement of simple 3D shapes called geons. Geons can be combined to form meaningful objects.
Geons
In recognition-by-components theory, the simple 2D shapes that people use in order to recognize visual objects
viewer-centered approach
this approach proposes that we store a small number of views of the three-dimensional objects rather than just one view.
Bottom-up processing
emphasizes that the stimulus characteristics are important when you recognize an object. Specifically, the physical stimuli from the environment are registered on the sensory receptors.
Top-down processing
emphasizes how a person’s concepts, expectations and memory can influence object recognition.
word superiority effect
we can identify a single letter more accurately and more rapidly when it appears in a meaningful word than when it appears alone or in a meaningless string of unrelated letters.
change blindness
fail to detect a change in an object or scene
inattentional blindness
when we are paying attention to some events in a scene, we may fail to notice when a unexpected but completely visible object suddenly appears/