Chapter 8 - Attention and perception Flashcards
- Attention - Perception - Visual perception - Gustatory perception
Attention
actively focusing on particular information while simultaneously ignoring other information
Internal stimuli
information or sensations that originate from within the body
External stimuli
information or sensations that originate from outside the body
Sustained attention
focusing on one stimulus or task across a prolonged continuous period of time
Distractions
internal or external stimuli that draw attention away from the current task
Divided attention
splitting attention across two or more stimuli at one time
Multitasking
the act of working on multiple tasks at one time
Selective attention
exclusively focusing attention on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring all other stimuli or tasks
Sensory stimuli
the raw pieces of information that are detected by the five senses
Sensation
the process of receiving and detecting raw sensory stimuli via sensory organs and sending this information to the brain
Perception
the process of selecting, organising, and interpreting sensory information
Stages of visual perception
Sensation:
1. Reception - detecting and responding to incoming sensory info by sense organs
2. Tranduction - receptors change energy of sensory info into form that can travel to brain as action potentials
3. Transmission - sending sensory info to relevant areas of the brain
Perception:
4. Selection - paying attention to particular features of a stimuli that’s important to us
5. Organisation - when info reaches brain, it’s rearranged to make sense of it
6. Interpretation - past experiences motives, values & context are involved in the process to give stimulus meaning
Visual sensory system
the network that is involved in the sensation and perception of visual stimuli, including the eyes, the brain and the neural pathways connecting them
Visual perception
the process of becoming consciously aware of visual stimuli as a result of the interactions between the visual sensory system, and the individual’s internal and external environments
Gustatory perception
the process of becoming consciously aware of flavour
gStages of gustatory perception
- when chewing, saliva breaks down food into tastants
- tastants received by gustatory receptors in taste buds on tongue, mouth, throat, back of nose
- tastants converted to a form that’s sent to brain as neural impulse, info about type & intensity of flavour goes to primary gustatory cortex
5 basic tastes
- sweet
- sour
- salty
- bitter
- umami (meat, tomato, soy sauce)
Tastants
the sensory stimuli received in the form of chemical molecules that can be tasted
Primary gustatory cortex
a sensory area in the parietal lobe responsible for receiving and processing tastes
Bottom-up processing
perception is determined by incoming sensory information, moving from specific stimulus information to general knowledge
Top-down processing
perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge to specific stimulus information
Biological factors
definition
internal genetic and/or physiologically based factors
Photoreceptors
the sensory receptors of the eye which receive light and convert this sensory information into a form that can be sent to the brain
Rods
photoreceptors that allow someone to see in low levels of light
Cones
photoreceptors that allow someone to see colour and fine details in well-lit conditions
Visual acuity
the level of detail and clarity of vision
Refractory errors
defects in the eye causing it not to bend light as it is supposed to, resulting in reduced visual acuity
Myopia
short-sightedness due to the focal point of one or both eyes being located in front of, instead of on, the retina
Depth Cues
definition
visual clues that allow someone to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge the distance and position of objects in their environment
Monocular depth cues
rely on visual information perceived by just one eye
Binocular depth cues
rely on visual information from both eyes
Types of monocular depth cues: Accommodation
involving our lens bulging and flattening according to how far away an object is.
- eye accommodates for distance
- close-up - bulges
- far away - flattens
Types of monocular depth cues: Motion parallax
uses our perception of movement to help us gauge how far away things are. it helps us to measure depth: the less objects move, the further away they are
Types of monocular depth cues: Pictorial depth cues
list
- relative size
- height in visual field
- linear perspective
- interposition
- texture gradient
Relative size
the relative size of objects to one another in our visual field helps us to judge distance. If two similar objects cast different-sized images on the retina, the object that casts the larger image is perceived to be closer, and the smaller one is perceived to be further away.
Height in visual field
In our visual field, the closer objects are to the horizon line, the further away they appear. This means that their height in the visual field helps us to determine their distance.
Linear perspective
Parallel lines within our visual field appear to gradually converge as they recede into the distance but are separate up close.
Inerposition (overalap)
when objects overlap with one another, we perceive the object that is covered by another as being further away than the one obscuring it.
Texture gradient
we rely on the use of texture to judge how far away objects are. The closer we are, the greater the detail of texture we can see.
Binocular depth cues
list
- retinal disparity
- convergence
Retinal disparity
refers to the difference, or ‘disparity’, between the different images received on the retina of either eye. The closer an object is, the greater the disparity
- objects appear at a midpoint for both eyes.
- ^ brain takes images from both eyes and puts together to make a cohesive image
- allows us to accurately see the distance of objects
Convergence
When we look at things up close, our eyes turn inwards and eye muscles strain. The turning inwards is called convergence and the strain produces signals to our brain that something is up close
Psychological factors
definition
internal factors pertaining to an individual’s mental processes, including their cognition, affect, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes
Visual perception principles
guiding rules that apply to incoming visual signals and determine how they are organised and interpreted
- gestalt principles
- visual constancies
Gestalt principles
the guiding rules of perception that allows us to organise and group separate visual stimuli into a meaningful whole
- the proximity principle
- the similarity principle
- the figure-ground principle
- the closure principle
The proximity principle
the proximity principle refers to our brain’s tendency to group together items in an image based on their physical closeness to one another
The similarity principle
reflects brain’s tendency to group together parts of an image that are similar in some way. Elements of an image can be similar in their size, shape, colour, position and so on.
The figure-ground principle
This principle involves our brain’s tendency to see some figures as being at the front of an image
- foreground & background
The closure principle
refers to our brain’s ability to mentally complete images that otherwise incomplete
Visual constancies
our ability to perceive visual objects as staying the same, even though they may appear to change or do change in our sensation
- shape
- size
- brightness
Social factors
external factors relating to an individual’s interactions with others and their external environment, including their relationships and community involvement
Culture
the customs, behaviours, and values of a particular group in society
Culture norm
a standard, value, or rule that outlines an appropriate behaviour or experience within a culture
Biological factors
internal genetic and/or physiologically based factors
- Age - has a biological influence on the way we perceive favour (decline in no. taste buds)
- Genetics - has biological influence on way we perceive flavour & preferences
- high tasters
- medium taster
- non-tasters
Psychological factors (gustatory)
- appearance - can contribute to expectations of taste and therefore enjoyment & perception of its flavour
- packaging - brand names, logos, image, familiarity & its association can influence the way we perceive flavour.
