Chapter 3 - coming to perceive the world Flashcards
feedback loop
in developmental psychology, the constant interplay between an infant and his environment, in which an experience causes a change in the infant’s state, which in turn influences how the infant’s next experiences are encountered
visual acuity
sharpness of visual perception based on the ability to see the contrasts in the world that represent lines, shapes, and shadows
preferential looking method
a method to determine whether a subject can detect a difference between two types of displays, implied when the subject looks at one display more than the other
habituation method
a method to determine if an infant can distinguish a new stimulus from a familiar stimulus. An infant’s responses will decrease with repeated presentation of a familiar stimulus, but they will increase if the infant perceives that there is a new stimulus
habituation
the gradual decline of interest in a display or scene, as shown by a decrease in responses to repeated stimulus
dishabituation
the expression of interest in a new display or scene, as shown by increased responses to the novel sitmulus
optokinetic nystagmus method
a technique used to measure acuity, in which increasingly thin arrays of stripes are moved across the infant’s visual field and the infant’s spontaneous eye tracking of the stripes is observed
visually evoked potential method
a method of measuring at what point of resolution the changing patterns that an infant is watching on a screen no longer cause corresponding changes in his brain’s electrical activity
astigmatism
a visual condition that affects the focusing of light and results in stimuli at different orientations being perceived with different levels of acuity
hue
the aspect of color that is a consequence of wavelengths of light
categorical perception
the tendency to group stimuli that vary along a physical continuum, such as light wavelength, in terms of categories, such as different colors
dynamic cue
a cue to the perception of depth that arises from moving objects and surfaces
motion parallax
a cue to depth that arises from the relative motion of objects at different distances
binocular cues
a cue to the perception of depth that arises from the use of both eyes
binocular parallax
a binocular cue to depth that arises from small disparities between the images that reach the two eyes; also called binocular disparity
stereopsis
the fusion of an image that is seen with both eyes, a fusion that uses binocular disparity to compute depth and give a sense of three-dimensionality
convergence
a binocular cue to depth that arises from the sensation that occurs when the two eyes converge to focus on an object
pictorial cue
a cue to perception of depth that arises from information in two-dimensional pictures
visual cliff
an apparatus for assessing depth perception in infants. It consists of a large, transparent and non-reflective pane of glass with two similar patterned displays below it. One-half of the glass pane has a pattern directly beneath it, so that the surface appears solid, and the other half of the glass pane has the same pattern roughly 3 feet below, giving the impression of a sudden drop-off. If the infant perceives depth, she will be afraid to crawl over the half of the glass pane that appears to have a drop-off
plasticity
flexible abilities that enable a developing organism to be responsive to changing environmental contingencies
Gestalt principles
holistic principles of perception that allow viewers to parse up the world into objects and other meaningful units
perceptual narrowing
a process in which infants increase their processing ability and precision in a narrow category, but often at the expense of processing outside that category
U-shaped developmental curve
a developmental pattern in which an early, rudimentary ability or capacity initially declines with increasing age and then increases, becoming more sophisticated than it was at the start. This patterns is associated with the replacement of an early system with a later-emerging, more mature one
sensitive period
a period in development when learning a particular kind of information is much easier. Before or after such a period learning is more difficult
intermodal perception
the ability to see objects and events in an integrated manner across different sensory systems, such as vision and hearing
