Perceiving and Consciousness

Question 1

What is bottom-up processing?

Answer 1

detection of basic stimulus features, focus on parts before the whole

Question 2

What is top-down processing?

Answer 2

observer’s experience influencing meaningful perception, focus on meaningful/useful patterns rather than the whole as parts

Question 3

What are Gestalt’s Principles?

Answer 3

a set of perceptual principles that describe how humans make meaningful perceptions

Question 4

What does the figure-ground relationship state?

Answer 4

perception is automatically separated into the figure (ex: main element) and the ground (ex: the background)

Question 5

What is perceptual grounding?

Answer 5

Our tendency to group elements of our sensory world together

Question 6

What are some categories of perceptual grouping?

Answer 6

similarity, proximity, continuity, closure, symmetry

Question 7

Describe perceptual constancy

Answer 7

Even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains constant

Question 8

What is size constancy?

Answer 8

our perception of an object as being the same size despite it not necessarily being the same size on our retinas

Question 9

What is shape constancy?

Answer 9

perception of an object as the same object despite differences in shape

Question 10

What is attention?

Answer 10

the active and conscious processing of particular info (what you’re currently focusing and attending to)

Question 11

What is feature integration theory?

Answer 11

We can detect specific features from our world without attention. Attention is required for binding of multiple features together

Question 12

Describe Illusory correlations

Answer 12

With attention split incorrect binding of letter and colors is more likely

Question 13

What is consciousness?

Answer 13

persona awareness of mental activities, internal sensations, and external environment

Question 14

What is unconsciousness?

Answer 14

processing or behavior which occur without awareness

Question 15

What is Freud’s unconsciousness theory?

Answer 15

• the mind is like an iceberg
• consciousness is above while below are deep underlying instincts and desires battling with forces to control them

Question 16

What is Dualism?

Answer 16

• separation of mind and bond
• body is like an automaton
• mind an intangible entity in control
  (early philosophical theory of consciousness)

Question 17

What is introspection?

Answer 17

• looking in one oneself
• early tool to study consiousness

Question 18

What are some issues with introspection?

Answer 18

it’s subjective and scientifically immeasurable

Question 19

What is cognitive unconsciousness?

Answer 19

the unexperienced mental processes that gives rise to a person’s thoughts choices, emotions, and behavior

Question 20

How were Freud’s ideas wrong but important/

Answer 20

• everything isn’t b/c of your mother and there’s no evidence for his “forces”
• his ideas brought forward the idea that our behaviors and thinking aren’t always our awareness

Question 21

Where do we now think the mind is rooted?

Answer 21

the brain

Question 22

How do modern views of consciousness help us study it? through which means?

Answer 22

• developed a more objective definition of consciousness
• helps study what happens in individuals with damage
• implement modern tools
• we can study it through experiments and neuroimaging techniques

Question 23

What are the different levels of consciousness? What does each one comprise?

Answer 23

• minimal consciousness - responsiveness and low-level sensory awareness of sensations
• full consciousness - fully aware and able to report your mental state
• self-conscious - focus of attention is upon oneself as an object

Question 24

What are common things that alter states of consciousness?

Answer 24

drugs and brain trauma

Question 25

What are the properties of consciousness?

Answer 25

unity, selectivity, intentionality, transience

Question 26

Explain consciousness unity and give an example.

Answer 26

consciousness is experienced as a whole (phenomena are integrated into a whole experience)
- Ex: painting experiences as a whole even though it’s made up of swatches of color

Question 27

Explain consciousness intentionality and give an example

Answer 27

consciousness is about something
- Ex: experience of coming upon this sign will differ depending on the intention

Question 28

Explain consciousness selectivity and give an example

Answer 28

• consciousness is focused by our attention
• attention acts as a spotlight (there’s limited capacity so we focus on what’s relevant to our current goals
• filters out irrelevant information (ex: cocktail-party effect, intentional blindness)

Question 29

What s inattentional blindness?

Answer 29

occurs when one fails to notice a readily visible yet unexpected visual stimulus in one’s sight

Question 30

Explain consciousness transience and give an example

Answer 30

consciousness is constantly shifting from the current point of focus to the next

Question 31

What is change blindness?

Answer 31

we’re not attending to everything
- unattended changes are easy to miss
gist information instead of details
- processing the image as a whole (unity)
- changes relative to most recent information (Transience)

Question 32

What is multitasking? What’s the downside to multitasking?

Answer 32

• paying attention to two or more stimuli simultaneously
• individual stimuli receive less attention

Question 33

Are there many behaviors that fall outside of our consciousness?

Answer 33

yes (ex: driving, walking, shoe tying, eating)

Question 34

What is automatic processing?

Answer 34

• conscious guidance is unnecessary
• conscious engagement may make it more difficult

Question 35

What is controlled processing?

Answer 35

• requires more focus
• learning tasks

Question 36

What can unconscious information impact?

Answer 36

our behavior (behavior and thoughts are an integration of information from multiple sources: conscious and unconscious information)