Chapter 5

Question 1

what makes a human different from machines?

Answer 1

humans can detect unclear images in their visual receptors (inverse projection problem)

humans can identify hidden or blurry objects

humans know that objects remain the same even at different angles (viewpoint invariance)

Question 2

inverse projection problem

Answer 2

retina in humans can determine what an object represents even if it doesn’t look like the object in the retina

Question 3

viewpoint invariance

Answer 3

ability to recognize an object from different viewpoints (object stays the same no matter the orientation)

Question 4

perceptual organization

Answer 4

how we process elements/objects of an environment in our visual system

2 components: grouping and segregation

Question 5

grouping

Answer 5

component of perceptual organization

objects belonging together

Question 6

segregation

Answer 6

component of perceptual organization

objects separate from each other

Question 7

structuralism

Answer 7

type of perceptual approach

build up sensory parts first and perception will occur

past experiences can influence building sensations to form perception

Question 8

Gestalt approach

Answer 8

type of perceptual approach

past experience plays minor role

“whole is different than the sum of its parts” – perception does not always require adding up sensations first

Question 9

apparent movement

Answer 9

illusion of movement when nothing is movement

relating to gestalt approach; structuralist cannot explain building up sensations to form movement (can’t see it but you know)

Question 10

illusory contours

Answer 10

appearance of shape without actual physical edges present

relating to gestalt approach; structuralist cannot explain how sensations are built up without physical edges to perceive shape

Question 11

7 gestalt organizing principles of perception

Answer 11

good continuation (connecting points of straight lines or smooth curves are grouped together)

pragnanz (pattern interpreted in simplest way possible)

similarity (alike items grouped together)

proximity (things near each other are grouped together)

common fate (things moving in the same direction are grouped together)

common region (elements in same area are grouped together; can overpower proximity)

uniform connectedness (connected region perceived as single unit; can overpower proximity)

Question 12

perceptual segregation

Answer 12

how an element can be separated from another element

ex. figure-ground segregation

Question 13

Vecera et al experiment

Answer 13

focus: detect where people perceive figure and ground

up-down display (lower area = figure; above area = ground)

left-right display (no preference of figure and ground)

^^because of everyday awareness (below area = land = figure ; above area = sky/background = ground)

Question 14

Peterson and Salvagio experiment

Answer 14

left-right display (convexed borders – the ones bulging out – tend to be figure)

if left-right display is more focused, this will not always be the case because of contextual cues and segregation

Question 15

what do gestalt psychologists believe regarding perceptual organization and experiences in recognizing objects

Answer 15

perceptual organization could override past experiences to recognize objects

Question 16

Gibson and Peterson experiment

Answer 16

meaningfulness can play an important role in recognizing objects

familiarity allows people to recognize patterns of an object

Question 17

recognition by components theory

Answer 17

biederman (Supporting idea of viewpoint invariance)

objects are composed of geometric components called geons (3D shapes)

limitation: not all geons are shaped the same way for objects (ex. clouds)

Question 18

scene

Answer 18

view of the environment

contains:
background elements
objects organized in meaningful ways with each other and the background

Question 19

how do objects differ from scenes

Answer 19

object: acted upon (involves action to an object)

scene: acted within (environment where action of object occurs)

Question 20

gist of a scene

Answer 20

how we generally describe our rapid awareness of the environment

Question 21

how long can a person perceive the gist of a scene

Answer 21

250 ms

Question 22

visual masking

Answer 22

important for covering info from being seen after stimulus is shown

prevents persistence of vision (perception lasts for another 250 ms when image disappears)

Question 23

global image features (5 features)

Answer 23

characteristics we use to rapidly perceive specific types of scenes

degree of naturalness (natural scenes = textured, wavy ; man-made = straight)

degree of openness (spacious and contains few objects)

degree of roughness (how smooth looking environment looks)

degree of expansion (convergence of parallel lines show distance)

color (colors can depict a certain type of scene)

Question 24

physical regularities

Question 25

semantic regularities

Question 26

Palmer’s experiment

Answer 26

items that fit scene schema were identified more accurately than those that did not fit context

Question 27

helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference

Answer 27

our unawareness of being able to interpret a stimulus in more than one way in the environment

Question 28

likelihood principle

Answer 28

objects perceived based on what is most likely to have caused the pattern