Chapter 9 Flashcards
our senses
- vision
- hearing
- smell
- taste
- touch
- pain
- kinaesthesia
they provide info in the form of a differnt kind of energy which stimulates a sense organ or sensory receptor
sensation
- the process by which our sense organs and receptors deflect and respond to sensory info that stimulates them
- most sensory info ‘stimuli’ comes from our esternal environment e.g light for vision or chemicals for smell
- other sensory info comes from sensory receptor sites which are within our body (e.g from muscles, tendons and joints (for kinaesthesia))
- sensory info is meaningless untill it is sent to the brain for processing
where are the sensation receptors for each of our senses
- vision = eyes
- tase = mouth
- hearing = ears
- smell = nose
- touch = skin
- kinaesthesia = muscles
perception
- process by which we give meaning to sensory info = personal interpret of the info
- usually processed automatically
- not a passive process what we see, hear, ect… is the result of brain processes that actively construct interpretations of reality from sensory info
- allows us to adapt to the environment and function in every day life
3 stages of perception
- attention
- organisation
- interpretation
Attention Organisation and Interpretation small defintion
- Attention: filtering info. Important features are selected for and unimportant features are ignored
- Organisation: individual impulses are organised into meaningful patterns or wholes
- Interpretation: the brain interprets the patterns/wholes and gives them meaning so we all know what they represent in the outside world
Attention
- our brain uses attention as a filter to determine what is important and what is not
- is defined as the level of awareness directed towards certain stimuli to the exclusion of other
3 main types of attention
- sustained attention
- selective attention
divided attention
sustained attention
- another name (vigilance), involves maintaining a high degree of attention over a prolonged point
- the more rare or unique a stimulis is = the greater a person vigilance is likely to be when attending to it
- vigilance measures of sustained attention are greater when there is uncertainty about the location in which the stimuli will be presented
- takes significant effort
- likelyhood of missing info is increases the longer an individual has remained vigilant
- when paying attention is difficult, the risk of misperceiving info increases
Selective attention
- focusing on a single activity while disregarding other environmentl stimuli. It is:
- best suited to situations in which the stimuli are new or we cannot be certain when the stimuli will be presented
- usually required when we complete a controlled cognitive process
- although your focus is on one stimulus, salient stimuli, you can still be consciously aware of other happenings in the environment
divided attention
- distributing attention to allow the processing of two or more stimuli at the same time. It is:
- usually used when an automatic cognitive process is being used
- can only be effectively used when it is not necessary to concentrate fully on either stimulus
- where 2 or more stimuli rely on similar sensory systems (e.g visual or auditory), it is harder to pay attention and process the information
Controlled cognitive process
- a cognitive task that requires a high level of conscious awareness and mental effort
Automatic cognitive process
- a task that requires a low level of conscious awareness or mental effort
Types of processing
- top-down processing
- bottom-up processing
Top-down processing
- uses individual schemas to apply our prior knowledge onto a situation and expert certain outcomes
- top-down processing is a time efficient way of interpreting the world, but can cause incorrect perception
HOW IT WORKS
Top-down processing -> Drawing on past experiences and knowledge to interpret sensations -> interpreting information according to expectations -> pereception is formed
Bottom-up processing
- involves looking at sensory information and then processing it to create meaning
- what is percieved depends on what sensory data is ‘attended’ to and how it is interpreted in real time
HOW IT WORKS
Bottom-up processing -> analysing the specific features or elements of a stimulus -> creating a whole picture from individual elements -> a perception is formed
Gustation
- technical term for the sense of ‘taste’, and gustatory means ‘to do with taste’
Top-down processing for gustation
- drawing on past experiences and expectations of how a food should taste
- depends on how familiar you are with the smell, taste and reaction you had
- e.g taking a small bite of a chocolate you’ve enjoyed in the past - you taste everything due to top- down processing
Bottom-up processing for gustation
- form an expectation by trying a food
- take a small bite chew it slowly
Biological factors to visual perception
Binocular depth cues
- depth cues that require both eyes to send info to the brain to perceive depth
- requires the use of both eyes
- used with objects that are relaticely close
Convergance
**Retinal disparity
Monocular depth cues
- depth cues that only require one eye (but will work with both) to send info to the brain to perceive depth
- most depth cues are monocular which all ows us to carry on which our daily lives without too much difficulty if we lose vision in one eye
Accommodation
**Pictorial cues
Binocular depth cues
Convergance
- the brain senses the tension in the eye muscles when the two eyes coverage (go crosseyed)
- the closer something is to your face, the more strain is put on the muscles
- only works within about 6 metres
Retinal disparity
- because of the distance between our eyes we get a slightly different image on each retina
- the brain picks up on how different this image is - the closer to your face the more different
- beyond 10 metres there is very little difference
Monocular depth cue
Accommodation
- the lens in each eye plays a role in enabling images of close, large objects to fit into each retina
- involves the automatic adjustment of the shape of the lens to focus on an object in response to change in how far away the object is
- info about how much the lens bulges or elongates is used bu the brain to determine the depth and distance of the object in focus
Pictoral Depth cue
- linear perspective
- Interposition
- Texture Gradient
- relative size
- hight in the visual field
Pictoral Depth cue
linear perspective
- the apparent convergence of parallel lines as they recede (go back) into the distance
Interposition
- occurs when one object partially blocks or covers another, and the partially blocked object is perceived as further away than the object that obscures it (and vice-versa)
Texture Gradient
- the gradual reduction of detail that occurs in a surface as it recedes into the distance, compared with a surface that is close and perceived in fine detail
- our judgement about depth and distance is influenced by the extent to which we can detect fine detail
- we perceive objects for ehich fine details is clear as being closer and those that lack detail, as being further away
Relative size
- the tendency to visually perceive the object that produces the largest image on the retina as being closer, and the object that produces the smallest image on the retina as being further away
Height in the visual feild
- refers to the location of objects in our feild of vision
- objects that are located closer to the horizon are percieved as being more distant that objects located further from the horizon
Psychological factors to visual perception
- perceptual set
- perceptual constancies
- Gestalt principles
Perceptual set
- the tendency to view things in a certain way due to a readiness to receive certain stimuli
1- past experiences- the situations and events we have encountered throughout our life prior to the present
2- memory- shaped by our experiences of the world and informs our expectations
3- motivation- our desires, which causes is to percieve stimuli that align with our goals as more salient
4- context- the situation or conditions in which something occurs
Perceptual constancies
- used to perceive a visual stimulus as remaining constant even though the visual information sent to the brain about the object shows it as constantly changing in shape, size, brightness and orientation
1- size constancy
2- shape constancy
3- orientation constancy
4- brightness constancy
Brightness constancy
- the tendency to perceive an object as maintaining its level of brightness in relation to its surroundings, despite changes in the amount of light being reflected from the object to the retina
Orientation constancy
- we percieve ean objects true orientation (position) as being unchanged despite changes in the orientation of the objects image on our retina
size constancy
- involves recognising that an objects actual size remains the same, even though the size of the image it casts on each retina changes
shape constancy
- the tendency to perceive an object as maintaining its shape despite any change in shape of the image of the object on the retina
Gestalt principles
- a set of principles that explain how we interpret visual information most efficiently by grouping individual elements together to perceive a whole object
1- figure-ground
2- closure
3- proximity
4- similarity
figure-ground
- we organise visual information by dividing a visual scene into a ‘figure’, which stands out from the ‘ground’, which is its surrounding
- by making an objecet the centre of our focus it becomes the figure, while all the other visual information becomes the (back) ground
- we separate the figure from the ground using a line or a boundary between the figure and ground
closure
- refers to the perceptual tendency to mentally ‘close up’, fill in or ignore gaps in a visual image and to perceive objects as complete (‘whole’)
- closure is also applief to non-verbal information (written) e.g we interpret the shapes in the liqorland logo as bottles
similarity
- involves the tendency to percieve parts of a visual image that have similar features
- the principle of similarity is used when we group people wearing the same uniform and identify them as belonging to the same team
e.g colour blindness text (groups colours
proximity
- the principle of proximity (or nearness) is the tendency to percieve parts of a visual image which are positioned close together as belonging together in a group
- we group the separate bits into a whole based on how close they are to each other
biological factors for gustation
Age and genetics
illness
pregnancy
age and genetics
- we are likely to have a different number of taste buds to someone else, and our number of buds will change as we age
e.g older people have fewer taste buds, so their food starts to taste bland
illness
- if your sense of smell is reduced, such as from a blocked nose, your brain is not receiving the full range of sensations that combine to give food its flavour. As a result, your food might taste bland or even totally different
e.g loss of taste is very common symptom of a viral infection
pregnancy
- there can be a biological change in taste during pregnancy and people who are pregnant are very sensitive to smells and tastes
e.g an increased bitter or deacreased sweet response may occur, however, specific differences between pregnant people remain uncertain
psychological factors to gustation
perceptual set
emotion
product packaging
perceptual set
- tendency to view things in a certain way due to a readiness to recieve certain stimuli
e.g past experiences the situations and events we have encountered throughout our life prior to the present
emotion
- our emotional reaction to tastes is closely related to our past experiences with them
e.g eating a dish that was a favourite as a child may give a nostalgic feeling of happiness. Each time you eat that dish, the associatioed feeling of happiness can influence you towards a positive taste perception
product packaging
- both branding and packaging itself can trigger our perceptual sets and emotions, thereby influencing how we perceive a products taste
e.g it was found that when yoghurt containers were heavier, people percieved the yoghurt to be more filling
social factors to gustation
food culture
historical experiences
songlines
food culture
- the attitudes, behaviours, customs and values around food with which we were raised
e.g the australian meat pie and combodias giant honey crickets, both suggested to be delicious snacks
historical experiences
- a countrys food culture is largely shaped by its history
e.g thai food is spicy because chilis grow in thailand
songlines
- contain the memories and knowledge of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Some songlines mark walking routes connecting important sites and locations, helping the traveller find their way safely, including by knowing where to find food and which food to eat
e.g the taste of ginger may be perceived differently by people from different cultures
