Chapter 3 Vocab Terms

Question 1

The outside edges of our vision, where the optic nerve passes through to convey visual signals to the brian.
Our minds fill in the missing pieces of the scene.

Answer 1

Blind spot

Question 2

Where your view of the illusory object is not obstructed, and where there is no objective boundary between the illusory object and the background

Answer 2

Modal completion

Question 3

You seem to percieve an object despite an apparently obstructed view

Answer 3

Amodal completion

Question 4

The sensory input, such as image coming through the eyes.
Starting with individual elements and gradually combining them to form a bigger picture.

Answer 4

Bottom-up information

Question 5

The light-sensitive part at the back of the eye that detects light and converts it into electrical signals that are sent to the brain to create visual images

Answer 5

Retina

Question 6

Specialized cells in the the retina that detect light and convert it into electrical signals for vision, the two main types are rods and cones.

Answer 6

Photoreceptors

Question 7

Densely packed photoreceptors located in the fovea (the center of the retina) that detect color and detail

Answer 7

Cones

Question 8

Extremely light-sensitive photoreceptors that help with low-light vision

Answer 8

Rods

Question 9

Part of the brain that is located in the occipital lobe that processes visual info recieved from the retina. Plays a key role in interpreting basic visual features like color and motion

Answer 9

Primary visual cortex

Question 10

The way sensory info moves from lower to higher processing areas, such as from the retina to the visual cortex

Answer 10

Feedforward system

Question 11

Starts with prior knowledge, expectations, or context to interpret and understand sensory input, influencing perception and decision-making.

Answer 11

Top-down information

Question 12

Automatic process by which the brain interprets sensory information using prior knowledge and assumptions to make sense of the world.

Hermann von Helmholtz

Answer 12

Unconscious inference

Question 13

Brain theory suggesting that perception results from the brain continuously generating and updating predictions about sensory input, minimizing the difference between expected and actual information.

Answer 13

Predictive coding

Question 14

The process of identifying and separating objects within a visual scene, allowing the brain or computer vision systems to distinguish different elements from the background

Answer 14

Object segmentation

Question 15

A visual perception principle where the brain distinguishes objects (figure) from their background (ground), allowing us to focus on important elements while ignoring the rest.

Answer 15

Figure-ground organization

Question 16

The process of interpreting a 3D scene from its 2D retinal image, where multiple 3D objects could create the same 2D projection, making depth perception ambiguous.

Answer 16

Inverse projection

Question 17

The closer something is to you, the
greater the difference between what your two eyes see

Answer 17

Binocular disparity

Question 18

Cues that require both eyes to be effective

Answer 18

Binocular depth cues

Question 19

Visual signals that provide depth information using only one eye, including cues like relative size, occlusion, linear perspective, and shading.

Answer 19

Monocular depth cues

Question 20

Refers to the fact that although the
same object looks very different on the retina depending on its
orientation (indeed, try rotating a book around in your hand),
people are good at recognizing objects despite their orientation.

Answer 20

Object constancy

Question 21

Refers to the fact that the perceived sizes of objects
are remarkably stable despite radical differences in their image size on the retina

Answer 21

Size constancy

Question 22

When our visual system factors in differences in
illumination when shaping our color perception

Answer 22

Color constancy

Question 23

Our minds similarly factor in illumination
conditions when perceiving the brightness of things,

Answer 23

Lightness constancy

Question 24

A neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize objects, people, sounds, or smells despite normal sensory function.

Answer 24

Agnosia

Question 25

Claims that we match images to representations that are like two-dimensional pictures or “templates”

Answer 25

View-based approach

Question 26

An approach that plays a key role in object recognition, models that represent objects as sets of three-dimansional parts standing in spatial relationships to each other.

Answer 26

Structural descriptions

Question 27

A theory of object recognition proposing that objects are identified by decomposing them into basic 3D shapes called geons and analyzing their spatial relationships. | Biederman

Answer 27

Recognition by components

Question 28

Basic three-dimensional shapes, such as cylinders, cubes, and cones, that form the building blocks of object recognition. It suggests that humans recognize complex objects by breaking them down into those simpler shapes.

Answer 28

Geons

Question 29

We're able to recognize and categorize objects when viewing them from a range of angles. We're able to do this because the view-based approach suggests that we remember different images of the same object from various angles, helping us quickly recognize and match new objects to what we’ve seen before.

Answer 29

Multiple-trace memory model

Question 30

We process a whole object at once, including the relations of the individual parts to each other. It involves processing visual information globally, focusing on overall structure, shape, and relationships rather than isolated details.

Answer 30

Holistic perception

Question 31

The act of forming a percept in mind without sensory input. It allows people to visualize objects, scenes, or experiences as if they were perceiving them in real life. Ex: Giving directions to other people, problem-solving, etc.

Answer 31

Mental imagery

Question 32

The process of mentally moving from one point in an image to another. ## Footnote “Without looking back at the map, determine whether the hut and the lake are closer than the hut and the tree.”

Answer 32

Mental scanning

Question 33

A secondary effect or byproduct that arises from a process but does not influence that process itself. A side effect rather than a casual factor in the system it emerges from. People are simply “simulating” perception but do not actually use visual imagery. | Pylyshyn describes imagery this way

Answer 33

Epiphenomenon

Question 34

Refers to how the brain maps sensory or motor information in a structured way. The occipital cortex is like a map that reveals activity in the visual world, just like a weather map on your phone or computer can represent where rain is falling in the regions around you

Answer 34

Topographic

Question 35

A neurological condition in which a person fails to attend to one side of space, typically due to brain damage. Ex: When asked to copy a drawing of a clock, they might draw all the numbers on only the right side.

Answer 35

Spacial neglect