Perceiving the World

Question 1

What are Bottom-up processing and Top-down Processing

Answer 1

Bottom-up processing:
Analyzing information starting at the bottom (small units) and going upward to form a complete perception

Top-down processing:
Pre-existing knowledge that is used to rapidly organize features into a meaningful whole

Question 2

What are Selective and Divided attentions

Answer 2

Selective:
Focus on one task

Divided Attention
Multi-task

Question 3

What is Inattentional Blindness

Answer 3

Failure to perceive a stimulus that is in plain view, but not the focus f attention

Question 4

What is Gestalt Principles of Organization (how we compound or manage information)

Answer 4

Figure-ground
- Part of a stimulus stands out as an object (figure) against a plainer background (ground)

Similarity
- Stimuli that are similar in size, shape, color or form tend to be grouped together

Proximity
- Stimuli that are near each other tend to be grouped together

Closure: Tendency to complete a figure so that it has a consistent overall form

Continuity: Perceptions tend toward simplicity and continuity

Common region: Stimuli that are found within a common area tend to be seen as a group

Question 5

What can affect Perception

Answer 5

Size constancy:
Perceived size of an object remains constant, despite the size of the image on the retina changing

Shape constancy: The perceived shape of an object is unaffected by changes in its retinal image

Brightness constancy: Apparent brightness of an object stays the same under changing lighting conditions

Question 6

What is the Other-race effect

Answer 6

Tendency to be better at recognizing faces from one’s own racial group than faces from other racial or ethnic groups

Question 7

What is illusion, hallucination, stroboscopic movement

Answer 7

Illusion: Length, position, motion, curvature, or direction is constantly misjudged

Hallucination: When people perceive objects or events that have no basis in external reality

Stroboscopic movement: Illusory motion perceived when objects are shown in rapidly changing positions

Question 8

What is Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and Stage ESP

Answer 8

Ability to perceive events in ways that cannot be explained by known capacities of sensory organs

Stage ESP
Simulation of ESP for entertainment purposes