Gregorys Theory Flashcards
What is Gregory’s theory known as?
Top down theory
How did Gregory define perception?
Perception involves going beyond the immediately given information of the senses
Briefly explain Gregory’s theory…
An active process
Past experiences, context, knowledge, expectations and motivations affect how we interpret information
Quick process, slowed down with ambiguous information
Make a best guess at what an object is and test it against evidence of our eyes
What affects how we perceive information?
Past experience Own knowledge Context Motivations Expectations
What ideas can be used to explain Gregory’s theory?
Perceptual set
Visual illusions
What is a perceptual set?
A bias to perceive somethings more readily than others
Why does a perceptual set occur?
The brain is pushed to perforce things in certain ways due to factors such as past experience, context, motivation, expectation, knowledge.
How does the idea of a perceptual set support Gregory’s theory?
It fits his idea that perception is motivated by experience and guess work
What is an example of a perceptual set?
Minturn and Bruner
What study is relevant to Gregory’s theory?
Minturn and Bruner
What were Minturn and Bruner’s findings?
The middle figure was more likely to be seen as the number 13 if presented with 12 and 14. It was more likely to be seen as B if presented with A and C
Draw Minturn and Bruner’s stimulus…
Add through Internet
A
12 B 15
C
How do Minturn and Bruner’s findings support Gregory’s theory?
They suggest perception is not just influenced by the sensory data but the persons interpretation of it due to context and knowledge. It is what the brain does with the information not just the information itself
What did Gregory believe about visual illusions?
That the brain creates a hypothesis to explain sensory data
What do visual illusions illustrate?
How we can be misled and dress the wrong conclusions about what we see