Module 2.1

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize menaing ful objects and events; it is influenced by whether one primarily relies on external sensory information or internal prior expectations

Question 2

Bottom up processing

Answer 2

external sensory information

Question 3

Top down processing

Answer 3

internal prior expectations

Question 4

Schemas

Answer 4

cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information; a schema describes patterns of thinking and behavior that people use to interpret the world

Question 5

Perceptual sets

Answer 5

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Question 6

Gestalt psychology

Answer 6

an organized whole; gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful units

Question 7

Closure

Answer 7

we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

Question 8

Figure-ground

Answer 8

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures_ that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

Question 9

Proximity

Answer 9

we group nearby figures together

Question 10

Similarity

Answer 10

It states that people tend to organize objects with similar qualities into a perceptual group and interpret them as a whole

Question 11

Cocktail party effect

Answer 11

the ability to attend to one of several speech streams while ignoring others, as when one is at a cocktail party.

Question 12

Change blindness

Answer 12

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness (failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere)

Question 13

Binocular depth cues

Answer 13

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of 2 eyes

Question 14

Retinal disparity

Answer 14

a binocular cue for perceiving depth; it compares the retinal images from the two eyes; the greater the distance, the closer the objects

Question 15

Convergence

Answer 15

The rotation of the two eyes inward toward a light source so that the image falls on corresponding points on the foveas. Convergence enables the slightly different images of an object seen by each eye to come together and form a single image. The muscular tension exerted is also a cue to the distance of the object from the eyes.

Question 16

Monocular depth cues

Answer 16

a depth cue available to either eye alone

Question 17

Relative clarity

Answer 17

monocular cue to depth perception that describes how objects appear clearer and more detailed when they are closer, while more distant objects appear less distinct and hazier

Question 18

Relative size

Answer 18

if we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

Question 19

Texture gradient

Answer 19

monocular cue; the progressive decline in the resolution of textures as the viewer moves away from them.

Question 20

Linear perspective

Answer 20

parallel lines appear to meet in the distance; the sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance

Question 21

Interposition

Answer 21

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

Question 22

Visual perceptual constancies

Answer 22

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Question 23

visual cliff

Answer 23

an apparatus to investigate the development of depth perception in nonverbal human infants and in nonhuman animals, and in particular, whether depth perception is an innate ability or learned through visuomotor experience. Most infants as young as 6 months of age will not cross to the side over the cliff suggesting that depth perception is partially innate

Question 24

selective attention

Answer 24

concentration on certain stimuli in the environment and not on others, enabling important stimuli to be distinguished from peripheral or incidental ones.

Question 25

relative motion

Answer 25

as we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move

Question 26

inattentional blindness

Answer 26

a failure to notice unexpected but perceptible stimuli in a visual scene while one’s attention is focused on something else in the scene

Question 27

phi phenomenon

Answer 27

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Question 27

stroboscopic movement

Answer 27

an illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a rapid series of slightly varying still image

Question 28

color constancy

Answer 28

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Question 29

brightness constancy

Answer 29

we perceive an object as having a constant brightness even as its illumination varies

Question 30

shape constancy

Answer 30

we perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even while our retinas receive changings images of them

Question 31

size constancy

Answer 31

we perceive an object as having an unchanging size even when our distance from it varies

Question 32

Ames Room

Answer 32

an irregularly shaped but apparently rectangular room in which cues for depth perception are used experimentally to distort the viewer’s perception of the relative size of objects within the room

Question 33

critical period for vision

Answer 33

There is normal sensory and perceptual development when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences are required. When vision is restored beyond that period not all elements of vision will be restored

Question 34

perceptual adaptation

Answer 34

The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field