Exam 2 Flashcards
The approach to explaining depth perception that focuses on identifying information in the retinal image that is correlated with depth in the scene. Some of the depth cues that have been identified are overlap, relative height, relative size, atmospheric perspective, convergence, and accommodation.
cue approach to depth perception
Depth cue in which one object hides or partially hides another object from view, causing the hidden object to be perceived as being farther away. A monocular depth cue.
occlusion
Depth cue that depends on our ability to sense the position of our eyes and the tension in our eye muscles. Accommodation and convergence are oculomotor cues.
oculomotor cues
Depth cue—such as overlap, relative size, relative height, familiar size, linear perspective, movement parallax, and accommodation—that can work when we use only one eye. (10)
Monocular cues
Monocular depth cue, such as overlap, relative height, and relative size, that can be depicted in pictures.
Pictorial cues
A monocular depth cue. Objects that have bases below the horizon appear to be farther away when they are higher in the field of view. Objects that have bases above the horizon appear to be farther away when they are lower in the field of view.
relative height
A depth cue in which judgment of distance is based on knowledge of the sizes of objects. Epstein’s coin experiment illustrated the operation of the cue of familiar size by showing that the relative sizes of the coins influenced perception of the coins’ distances.
familiar size
A cue for depth perception. When two objects are of equal size, the one that is farther away will take up less of the field of view.
relative size
The perception that parallel lines in the distance converge as distance increases.
perspective convergence
A depth cue. Objects that are farther away look more blurred and bluer than objects that are closer because we look through more air and particles to see them. (10)
Atmospheric perspective
The visual pattern formed by a regularly textured surface that extends away from the observer. This pattern provides information for distance because the elements in a texture gradient appear smaller as distance from the observer increases.
texture gradient
A depth cue. As an observer moves, nearby objects appear to move rapidly across the visual field whereas far objects appear to move more slowly.
Motion parallax
A cue that provides information about the relative depth of two surfaces. Deletion occurs when a farther object is covered by a nearer object due to sideways movement of an observer relative to the objects. See also Accretion.
Deletion
A cue that provides information about the relative depth of two surfaces. Occurs when the farther object is uncovered by the nearer object due to sideways movement of an observer relative to the objects. A cue that provides information about the relative depth of two surfaces. Deletion occurs when a farther object is covered by a nearer object due to sideways movement of an observer relative to the objects.
Accretion
Two-eyed depth perception involving mechanisms that take into account differences in the images formed on the left and right eyes.
stereoscopic vision
The perception of depth that is created by input from both eyes. See also Binocular disparity.
stereoscopic depth perception
Misalignment of the eyes, such as crossed eyes or walleyes (outward looking eyes), in which the visual system suppresses vision in one of the eyes to avoid double vision, so the person sees the world with only one eye at a time.
strabismus
Occurs when the retinal images of an object fall on disparate points on the two retinas.
Binocular disparity
The points on each retina that would overlap if one retina were slid on top of the other. Receptors at corresponding points send their signals to the same location in the brain.
corresponding retinal points
An imaginary surface that passes through the point of fixation. Images caused by a visual stimulus on this surface fall on corresponding points on the two retinas.
Horopter
Two points, one on each retina, that would not overlap if the retinas were slid onto each other. Also called disparate points.
noncorresponding points
The visual angle between the images of an object on the two retinas. When images of an object fall on corresponding points, the angle of disparity is zero. When images fall on noncorresponding points, the angle of disparity indicates the degree of noncorrespondence.
absolute disparity
The visual angle between the images of an object on the two retinas. When images of an object fall on corresponding points, the angle of disparity is zero. When images fall on noncorresponding points, the angle of disparity indicates the degree of noncorrespondence.
angle of disparity
Disparity that occurs when one object is being fixated, and is therefore on the horopter, and another object is located in front of the horopter, closer to the observer.
crossed disparity
Disparity that occurs when one object is being fixated, and is therefore on the horopter, and another object is located behind the horopter, farther from the observer.
uncrossed disparity
The difference between two objects’ absolute disparities
relative disparity
The impression of depth that results from binocular disparity—the difference in the position of images of the same object on the retinas of the two eyes
stereopsis
A pair of stereoscopic images made up of random dots. When one section of this pattern is shifted slightly in one direction, the resulting disparity causes the shifted section to appear above or below the rest of the pattern when the patterns are viewed in a stereoscope.
random-dot stereogram
A device that presents pictures to the left and the right eyes so that the binocular disparity a person would experience when viewing an actual scene is duplicated. The result is a convincing illusion of depth.
stereoscope
The problem faced by the visual system, which must determine which parts of the images in the left and right eyes correspond to one another. Another way of stating the problem is: How does the visual system match up the images in the two eyes? This matching of the images is involved in determining depth perception using the cue of binocular disparity.
correspondence problem
A neuron in the visual cortex that responds best to stimuli that fall on points separated by a specific degree of disparity on the two retinas. Also called a disparity-selective cell.
binocular depth cells
A neuron in the visual cortex that responds best to stimuli that fall on points separated by a specific degree of disparity on the two retinas. AKA binocular depth cells
disparity-selective cells
Eyes located in front of the head, so the views of the two eyes overlap.
Frontal eyes
Eyes located on opposite sides of an animal’s head, as in the pigeon and the rabbit, so the views of the two eyes do not overlap or overlap only slightly.
lateral eyes
Locating objects by sending out high-frequency pulses and sensing the echo created when these pulses are reflected from objects in the environment. Echolocation is used by bats and dolphins.
echolocation
The angle of an object relative to an observer’s eyes. This angle can be determined by extending two lines from the eye—one to one end of an object and the other to the other end of the object. Because an object’s visual angle is always determined relative to an observer, its visual angle changes as the distance between the object and the observer changes.
Visual angle
Occurs when the size of an object is perceived to remain the same even when it is viewed from different distances.
size constancy
A hypothesized mechanism that helps maintain size constancy by taking an object’s perceived distance into account. According to this mechanism, an object’s perceived size, S, is determined by multiplying the size of the retinal image, R, by the object’s perceived distance, D.
size–distance scaling
A law stating that the size of an afterimage depends on the distance of the surface against which the afterimage is viewed. The farther away the surface, the larger the afterimage appears.
Emmert’s law
An illusion in which two lines of equal length appear to be of different lengths because of the addition of “fins” to the ends of the lines.
Müller-Lyer illusion
A principle, proposed by Richard Gregory, that when mechanisms that help maintain size constancy in the three-dimensional world are applied to two-dimensional pictures, an illusion of size sometimes results.
misapplied size constancy scaling
A theory of visual illusions proposed by R. H. Day, which states that our perception of line length depends on an integration of the actual line length and the overall figure length.
conflicting cues theory
An illusion of size in which two objects of equal size that are positioned between two converging lines appear to be different in size. Also called the railroad track illusion.
Ponzo
A distorted room, first built by Adelbert Ames, that creates an erroneous perception of the sizes of people in the room. The room is constructed so that two people at the far wall of the room appear to stand at the same distance from an observer. In actuality, one of the people is much farther away than the other.
Ames room
An illusion in which the moon appears to be larger when it is on or near the horizon than when it is high in the sky. (10)
Moon illusion
An explanation of the moon illusion that is based on the idea that the horizon moon, which is viewed across the filled space of the terrain, should appear farther away than the zenith moon, which is viewed through the empty space of the sky. This theory states that because the horizon and zenith moons have the same visual angle but are perceived to be at different distances, the farther appearing horizon moon should appear larger.
apparent distance theory
An explanation of the moon illusion that states that the perceived size of the moon is determined by the sizes of the objects that surround it. According to this idea, the moon appears small when it is surrounded by large objects, such as the expanse of the sky when the moon is overhead.
angular size contrast theory
Directing the two foveas to exactly the same spot.
binocularly fixate
A plot of a neuron’s response versus the degree of disparity of a visual stimulus. The disparity to which a neuron responds best is an important property of disparity-selective cells, which are also called binocular depth cells.
Disparity-selective cell
Depth cue—such as overlap, relative size, relative height, familiar size, linear perspective, movement parallax, and accommodation—that can work when we use only one eye. (10)
Monocular cue
Depth cue that depends on our ability to sense the position of our eyes and the tension in our eye muscles. Accommodation and convergence are oculomotor cues.
Oculomotor cue
Monocular depth cue, such as overlap, relative height, and relative size, that can be depicted in pictures.
Pictorial cue
An illusion of size in which two objects of equal size that are positioned between two converging lines appear to be different in size. Also called the railroad track illusion.
Ponzo illusion
The term “convergence” refers to which behavior?
The directing of our eyes to the same point of interest in the environment
Our eyes begin to point inward when:
We are looking at an object that is close.
Why isn’t information about the size of an object’s image on the retina adequate for perceiving size in this example?
Because both monsters create the same sized retinal image
Why does the top monster appear to be larger than the bottom one?
Because depth cues make the top monster appear farther away
The idea behind _____ cues is that we can feel the inward movement of the eyes that occurs when the eyes converge to look at nearby objects, and we feel the tightening of eye muscles that change the shape of the lens to focus on a nearby object.
oculomotor
Greg is learning how to draw a landscape scene. His instructor notes that objects with their bases closer to the horizon are usually seen as being more distant. What concept is the instructor describing?
relative height
Ben is walking along some railroad tracks. He notices that the tracks appear closer together as he looks farther down the tracks until arriving at a single point. What is Ben experiencing?
perspective convergence
Emily is hiking in the mountains. She takes a break to look out at the horizon and notices the mountains in the distance are blurry and appear to have a blue tint. What is this called?
atmospheric perspective
Misty is a spectator at a marathon and looks for a friend. There is a large crowd of marathoners this year and they appear to be more tightly packed together the farther off in the distance she looks. Misty is experiencing the observation of _____.
texture gradient
Nathan is taking his first train ride. He looks out the window and sees the ground below moving past in a blur. When he looks in the distance, the trees, bushes, and land seem to be moving more slowly. Nathan is experiencing _____.
motion parallax
Susan is cross-eyed. What is the term for Susan’s condition?
strabismus
Dr. Sims is rearing cats so that their vision alternates between the left and right eyes every other day during the first six months of their lives. After this six-month period of presenting stimuli to just one eye at a time, Dr. Sims records from neurons in the cat’s cortex and finds that (1) these cats have few binocular neurons, and (2) they are not able to use binocular disparity to perceive depth. What do the results of this experiment demonstrate?
The connection between binocular neurons and perception
Carrie is looking at the poles on a fence row. She knows they are all approximately the same height, even though they appear to get smaller as she looks farther down the fence row. What is Carrie experiencing when she knows the fence poles are the same height, even though they appear to get smaller in the distance?
size constancy
Suppose you are looking at two corners—one from outside a building and one from inside a building. In both cases, the vertical height is 10 feet, yet the corner inside the building appears to have a greater vertical height than the corner outside the building. Richard Gregory explains this real-world demonstration of the Müller-Lyer illusion on the basis of ____.
misapplied size constancy scaling
The ability to idenifty objects
Object Recognition
The idea that a particular image on the retina could have been caused by an infinite number of different objects. This means that the retinal image does not unambiguously specify a stimulus
Inverse projection problem
The condition in which object properties don’t change when viewed from diff angles. Redponsible for our ability to recognize object when viewed from different angles
Viewpoint invariance
The process by which small elements become perceptually grouped into larger objects
Perceptual organization
In perceptual organization, the process by which visual events are “put together” into units or objects
Grouping
The process of separating one area or object from another
Segregation (Figure-ground segregation)
An approach to psych that developed as a reaction to structuralism. The Gestalt approach proposes principles of perceptual organization and figure-ground segregation and stats that “the whole is diff than the sum of its parts”
Gestalt phychologists
The approach to psych, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th ceneries, that postulated that perceptions result from the summation of many elementary sensations. The Gestalt approach to perception was, in part, a reaction to strucuralism.
Structuralism
An illusion of movement that occurs when 2 objects separated in space are presented rapidly, one after another, separated by a breif time interval
Apparent movement
contour that is percieved even though it is not present in the physical stimulus
illusory contours
Principles that describe how elements in a scene become grouped together. Many of these principles were origionally proposed by teh Gestalt psychologists, but new principles have also been proposed by recent researchers
Principles of perceptual organization
A Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that states that every stimulus patter is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible. AKA the principle of good figure, or teh prinicple of simplicity
Pragnanz
The perceptual separation of an object from its background
Figure-ground segregation
When an object is seen as separate from the background, it is called the..
Figure
In an object perception, the background is called the…
Ground
A figure-ground pattern that perceptually reverses as it is viewed, so that the figure becomes the ground and the ground becomes the figure. The best-known _________ pattern is Rubin’s vase-face pattern
Reversable figure-ground
When 2 areas share a boarder, as occurs in figure-ground displays, the border is usually perceived as belonging to the figure
Border ownership
Visual cue that determines how an image is segregated into figure and ground
Figural cues
Theory that states that objects are comprised of individual geometric components called geons, and we recognize objects based on the arrangement of those geons
Recognition by components theory (RBC theory)
According to RBC theory, individual geometric components that comprise objects
Geons
A view of a real-world envriomnment that contains (a) background elements, and (b) multiple objects that are organized in a meaningful way relative to each other and the background
Scene
General description of a scene. People can identify most scenes after viewing them for only a fraction of a second, as when they flip rapidly from one TV channel to another. It takes longer to idenitfy the details within the scene
Gist of a scene
A phenomenon in which perception of any stimulus persists for about 250 ms after teh stimulus is physically terminated
Persistence of vision
A visual patter that, when presented immediately after a visual stimulus, decreases a person’s ability to percieve the stimulus. This stops the persistence of vision and therefore limits teh effective duration of the stimulus
Visual masking stimulus
Info that may enable observers to rapidly perceive the gist of a scene. Features associated with specific types of scenes include degree of naturalness, degree of openness, degree of roughness, degree of expansion, and colour.
Global image features
Characteristics of the envrionment that occur regularly and in may different situations
Regularities in the envrionment
Regularly occuring physical properties of the envrionment. For ex, there are more vertical and horizontal orientations in the enviro than oblique orientations
Physical regularities
The assumption that light usually come from above, which influences our perception of form in some situations
Light-from-above assumption
Characteristics associated with teh funsitons associated with diff types of scenes. These characteristics are learned from experience. Ex, most ppl are aware of the activities and objects associated with kitchens
Semantic regularities
An observers knwoledge about what is contained in typical scenes. An observers attention is affected by knwoledge of what is usually found in the scene
Scene schema
The idea proposed by Helmholtz that we percieve the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received
Likelihood principle
The idea proposed by Helmholtz that some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment
Unconscious inference
A statistical approach to perception in which perception is determined by taking probabilities into account. These probabilities are based on past experiences in perceiving properties of objects and scenes
Bayesian inference
In Bayesian inference, a person’s initial estimate of the probability of an outcome
Prior probability
In Bayesian inference, the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with a particular outcome
Likelihood
A theory that describes how the brain uses our past experiences to predict what we will perceive
Predictive coding
Area of the brain that is active when a person views any kind of object - such as an animal, face, house, or tool - but not when they view a texture, or an object with the parts scrambled
Lateral occipital complex (LOC)
An area in the humsn inferotemporal (IT) cortex that contains neurons that are specialized to respond to faces
Fusiform face area (FFA)
A form of visual agnosia in which the person can’t recognize faces
Prosopagnosia
An area of the temporal lobe that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies
Extrastriate body area (EBA)
An area in the temporal lobe that is activated by indoor and outdoor scenes
Parahippocampal place area (PPA)
Proposal that the parahippocampal cortex responds to the surface geometry or geometric layout of a scene
Spatial layout hypothesis
A situation in which one image is presented to the left eye, a different image is presented to the right eye, and perception alternates back and forth between the 2 images
Binocular rivalry
Using a neural response, usually brain activation measured by fMRI, to determine what a person is perceiving or thinking
Neural mind reading
In neural mind reading, a technique in which the pattern of activated voxels is used to determine what a person is perceiving or thinking
Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA)
A computer program that can predict the most likely stimulus based on the voxel activation patterns that were previously observed in the calibration phase of neural mind reading
Decoder
The idea that human proficiency in perceiving certain things can be explained by changes in the brain cause dby long exposure, practice, or training
Expertise hypothesis
Contour that is perceived even though it is not present in the physical stimulus
illusory contour
Impossible Motion: Antigravity Ramps
Why do the balls appear to roll upward in each of the displays in this video?
Because our visual interpretation of the orientation of the slopes is incorrect
Impossible Motion: Antigravity Ramps
Which of the following statements regarding the ambiguity of the visual image is correct?
-We assume that the ramps are oriented (more or less) in parallel with the edges of the base of the device, which influences our perception of their orientation.
-We assume that the “pillars” are straight, vertical supports, which influences our perception of the ramps’ orientation.
-When seen from a different angle, relative to the first time we view the device, the illusion of uphill rolling goes away.
Doug is shown a series of pictures of faces seen from different angles. He is able to recognize that the pictures are of the same woman. Doug is easily able to do what a sophisticated computer program is unable to do because he makes use of _____.
viewpoint invariance
Stacy is looking at the city skyline, with multiple buildings of different heights, architectural styles, materials, and colors. She perceives the buildings as separate buildings, not a single mass, because of _____.
segregation
Jean sees a flash of light. A structuralist would note that Jean is experiencing a(n) _____.
sensation
John is looking at a sign that appears to have text scrolling across it. In actuality, the sign is made up of stationary lights programmed to flash on and off in a way that looks like letters scrolling across the sign. John’s perceptual experience is called _____ movement.
apparent
The Olympic symbol, which is typically perceived as five distinctly colored, interlocked circles, best illustrates the Gestalt principle of _____.
simplicity
Margo is at the beach watching a large flock of seagulls flying in the same direction. She perceives the birds to be one large unit flying together rather than as individual birds. What principle does this scenario best illustrate?
the principle of common fate
Samantha, an artist, is drawing a cityscape that she sees off in the distance as well as the surroundings of the park in which she is sitting. As she is drawing the trees and buildings, Samantha notes that there are more vertical and horizontal lines than angled lines. These frequently-occurring characteristics of the environment that Samantha perceives are known as _____.
physical regularities
Kris is asked to visualize a kitchen and then to describe his visualization. He notes that there is a refrigerator and stove for food preparation, as well as a table for dining with friends and loved ones. Kris is able to provide meaning to this scene because of _____ regularities.
semantic
Lakshmi is shown two pictures simultaneously. Her left eye is shown a rectangle and her right eye is shown a tiger. Lakshmi reports that sometimes she sees the rectangle and other times she sees the tiger, but not both at the same time. This example illustrates binocular _____.
rivalry
Dr. Minder conducts an experiment where he measures participants’ brain activity as they are viewing various complex indoor and outdoor scenes. Which “mind reading” analytic method should Dr. Minder use if he is interested in the meaning of the scenes?
semantic encoding
