Cognitive Psychology Chapter III (87-103)

Question 0

Name two binocular depth cues!

Answer 0

• binocular disparity
• binocular convergence

Question 1

Binocular depth cues utilize…

Answer 1

… the relative positioning of our eyes.

Question 2

What happens in binocular disparity?

Answer 2

Our two eyes send increasingly disparate/differing images to our brain as objects approach us.

Question 3

When or what for do we use binocular convergence?

Answer 3

When we view objects at relatively close locations.

Question 5

What happens in binocular convergence?

Answer 5

Our two eyes increasingly turn inward as objects approach us. Our brain interprets these muscular movements as indications of distance from us.

Question 6

Name two common positions about how we store representations of objects! And a third alternative!

Answer 6

• Viewer-Centred Representations (we store how the object appears to us)
• Object-Centred Representations (we store a representation of the object, independent of the viewpoint)
• landmark-centred (e.g. representing places in an unknown city according to their relation to our hotel)

Question 7

A possible reconciliation of viewer- and object-centred approaches in object representation?

Answer 7

We use both kind of representations. Both are extrems on a continuum. (Burgund & Marsolek, 2000) + in the lab, people seem to be able to switch between all three

Question 8

Perception also groups objects for us. This is an important concept of …

Answer 8

… the Gestalt approach.

Question 9

Who founded the Gestalt approach to form perception?

Answer 9

• Kurt Koffka (1886 - 1941)
• Wolfgang Köhler (1887 - 1968)
• Max Wertheimer (1880 - 1943)

Question 10

According to the “law of Prägnanz”, …

Answer 10

… we tend to perceive any given visual array in a way that most simply organizes the disparate elements into a stable and coherent form.

Question 11

The concept of “figure-ground” deals with the fact that we …

Answer 11

… almost always perceive a figure in contrast to a background. (the famous vase / faces example: it is impossible to see both at the same time)

Question 12

Name 6 Gestalt-principles!

Answer 12

• Figure-ground
• Proximity
• Similarity
• Continuity
• Closure
• Symmetry

Question 13

Two systems involved in pattern-recognition:

Answer 13

System 1: recognition of parts of objects + assembling them into distinctive wholes

System 2 (Configuraional System): recognition of larger configurations (e.g. looking at a whole tulip flower, your friend’s face)

Question 14

You were relying on which pattern recognition system, when your best friend is angry at you for not noticing her new glasses?

Answer 14

The second! Changes in the details or the structure are not obvious to the second system.

(also: people have more troubles recognizing parts of faces than whole faces. this is not the case for houses)

Question 15

Who says the positive line of aestehtics is beauty and the sublime and the negativ end is ugliness? (Attention: terminological confusion! sublime and beauty? the same, something different? one point on one dimension? different dimensions?)

Answer 15

Steven Palmer

At least he recognices that aestehtics should not only be concerned with arts!

Question 16

Three “aestehtic” biases investigated by Stephen Palmer (+ determine which of the two pics is “more beautiful”):

Answer 16

Center bias, inward bias and rightward bias.

Question 17

When people are processing faces emotion increases activation in …

Answer 17

… fusiform gyrus.

Question 18

Which pattern recognition system might be responsible for configurational effects when people stare at distorted faces.

Answer 18

the 2nd system (configurational system)

Question 19

List theoretical apporaches to perception:

Answer 19

• Direct Perception
• Bottom-Up and Top-Down theories
• Theories that synthesize Bottom-Up and Top-Down approaches

Question 20

List top-down and bottom-up approaches to perception!

Answer 20

• Bottom-Up Theories
• Template Theories
• Prototype Theories
• Feature Theories
• Structural-Description Theories
• Top-Down Approaches

Question 21

How do we connect what we perceive to what we have stored in our minds? Gestalt psyhcologists referred to this problem as the …

Answer 21

… Hoffding function, named after 19th century Danish psychologist Harald Hoffding, who questioned whether perception can be reduced to a simple association of what is seen with what is remembered.

Question 22

According to James J. Gibson’s (1904 - 1980) theory of direct perception everything we need for perception is available …

Answer 22

… in the array of information at our sensory receptors; no higher level stuff is needed for perception.

Question 23

Why is Gibson’s model of direct perception sometimes referred to as an ecological model?

Answer 23

Because it is concerned with perception as it occurs in everyday life (the ecological environment) full of rich contextual information (in contrast to the lab situation).

Question 24

Who followed under the Gibsonean banner and conducted landmark research on infant perception (e.g.depth perception)?

Answer 24

Eleanor Gibson

Question 25

Bottom-up theories are aka.:

Answer 25

data-driven / stimulus-driven theories.

Question 26

Name four main areas of bottom-up theories of form and pattern perception:

Answer 26

Template theories, prototype theories, feature theories and structural-description theories.