perception

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

Information we receive from our senses processed by sense receptors.

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

Organisation and interpretation of sensory information.

Question 3

what is the difference between sensation and perception?

Answer 3

Sensation: detection of stimulus.
Perception: interpreting what it means.

Question 4

visual cues

Answer 4

features of the environment that give us information about movement, distance, ect.

Question 5

constancies

Answer 5

seeing objects as the same despite seeing them from different angles and distances.

Question 6

monocular depth cue

Answer 6

perceptual cues that can be detected with one eye.

Question 7

list all monocular depth cues

Answer 7

Height in plane.
Relative size.
Occlusion.
Linear perspective.

Question 8

height in plane

Answer 8

objects higher up in the visual field appear further away

Question 9

relative size

Answer 9

smaller objects in the visual field appear further away

Question 10

occlusion

Answer 10

objects in front of others appear closer to us

Question 11

linear perspective

Answer 11

when parallel lines converge in the distance, the point at which they come together is perceived to be further away

Question 12

binocular depth cue

Answer 12

cues that are only detected when both eyes are used.

Question 13

list all binocular depth cues

Answer 13

Retinal disparity.
Convergence.

Question 14

retinal disparity

Answer 14

difference between the left and right eye’s view which the brain receives to give information about depth and distance

Question 15

convergence

Answer 15

The eyes become closer (converge) when objects are close to us.
Eye muscles work harder to give information about depth and distance.

Question 16

size constancy

Answer 16

we keep our original perception of the size of an object even when the information received by the eye changes.
eg-people are the same size whether they’re far away or close.

Question 17

misinterpreted depth cues

Answer 17

Wrongly applying the “rules” of depth perception.
Objects in distance scaled up by brain to look normal size.

Question 18

examples of misinterpreted depth cues:

Answer 18

Muller Lyer Illusion.
Ponzo Illusion.
The Ames Room.

Question 19

ambiguous figures

Answer 19

when there is more than one interpretation of an image (brain can’t decide which one is correct).

Question 20

examples of ambiguous figures:

Answer 20

Rubin’s Vase.
Necker’s Cube.

Question 21

fiction

Answer 21

creating an image (seeing something) that isn’t there.

Question 22

example of fiction:

Answer 22

Kanizsa Triangle

Question 23

Muller-Lyer illusion

Answer 23

Misinterpreted depth cue.

• Ingoing fins: shape of outside of building, appears closer so scaled down.
• Outgoing fins: shape of inside of room, appears further away so scaled up.

Question 24

Ponzo Illusion

Answer 24

Misinterpreted depth cue.

• Converging lines give illusion of distance.
• Mentally enlarges the top line even though its the same length as the one at the bottom.

Question 25

The Ames Room

Answer 25

Misinterpreted depth cue

• When two people are stood at either side of the room, one looks giant and one looks tiny.
• Room is shaped like a trapezoid
  person furthest away makes a smaller image on our retina.

Question 26

Rubin’s Vase

Answer 26

Ambiguous figure

• People either perceive a white vase or 2 black faces.

Question 27

Necker’s Cube

Answer 27

Ambiguous figure.

• Cube seen as pointing upwards to the right or downwards to the left.

Question 28

Kanizsa Triangle

Answer 28

Fiction

-Illusory contours create impression of a second triangle.

Question 29

outline Gibson’s theory of direct perception

Answer 29

NATURE- perception is innate.

• Perceptual abilities are innate
  direct perception: perceive using the information we receive through our senses, no need to make inferences from past experience (sufficient info for perception).
• No difference between perception and sensation.
• Optic flow: allows us to know when we’re moving (make judgements about speed and distance), point we’re moving towards remains stationary and the rest of the view seems to push away from it.
• Motion parallax: helps us understand the speed of our movements , objects closer to us appear to be moving faster than objects further in the distance.
• Optic array (everything we can see) gives us all the information we need to be able to judge depth, distance and movement.
• Don’t need to learn to perceive the world around us. the environment around us is rich with information and our eyes are sophisticated enough to perceive it

Question 30

strength of Gibson’s theory of direct perception.
*young infants

Answer 30

P- the research being done on young infants provides good support.
E- tested on very young children so its unlikely that their reluctance to crawl over the edge was something they learnt.
L- shows that some perceptual abilities are due to nature and don’t need past experience to perceive the world.

Question 31

weakness of Gibson’s theory of direct perception.
*perceptual errors

Answer 31

P- perceptual errors aren’t easily explained.
E- visual illusions are good examples of when we make perceptual errors and draw wrong conclusions about what we’re looking at, Gibson argues that what you see is what you get but illusions show that perception and sensation are separate processes.
L- he doesn’t explain this so his research is limited.

Question 32

outline Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception

Answer 32

NURTURE

• Stimuli in our environment are frequently ambiguous so for us to interpret it we need to access knowledge stored in our brain and makes inferences about what we perceive.
• Perception was influenced by past experiences.
• Constructivist theory: idea that we make sense of the world by building up our perceptions based on incoming data and clues we know about the world.
• Inferences: taking info and forming a conclusion about what it means based on other things you know.
• Nurture: refers to the aspects of behaviour that are acquired through experience.
• Mistaken hypothesis: where our brain draws the wrong conclusion from available evidence.
• Past experience: our understanding of visual cues is learned from experience. Our perception becomes more sophistic as we grow older and interact more with the world around us. the way we’re raised can have a big influence of on our perception

Question 33

strength of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception.
*cultural differences

Answer 33

P- support from studies investigating cultural differences in perception.
E- people in different parts of the world interpret visual cues differently (cultures with higher levels of schooling were better judges of depth).
L- “nurture” effects our perception and our prior knowledge influences how we interpret objects.

Question 34

weakness of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception.
*not usual perception

Answer 34

P- good explanation of illusions but its not our usual perception.
E- illusions are designed to fool us.
L- therefore not a good explanation of how we perceive objects every day.

Question 35

what are the 4 factors affecting perception?

Answer 35

culture.
emotion.
motivation.
expectation.

Question 36

culture:

Answer 36

Beliefs and expectations that surround us (way of life, social world).
Perceptual set is influenced by culture, what we’re used to and familiar with will determine how we interpret what our senses pick up

Question 37

emotion:

Answer 37

Feeling or mood can make us behave a certain way.
Tendency for our brain to notice exciting things and block threatening things.

Question 38

motivation

Answer 38

Wanting something increases it’s attractiveness.
Can influence what we ignore and what we pay attention to.

Question 39

outline research investigating how motivation affects perception.
(Gilchrist and Nesberg)

Answer 39

A: To investigate if food deprivation affects the perception of food.
M: -one group went without food for 20 hours whereas the other group ate as normal.
- All participants were shown a set of pictures (4 typical meals) on a screen for 15 seconds.
- They were shown the pictures again but the researcher had changed the brightness settings.
- They were then asked to adjust the lighting so that it looked like the original.
R: -No food group: adjusted lighting so that it was brighter than before.
- Food group: adjusted it similar to the original photo.
C: hunger is a motivating factor that affects perception.

Question 40

weakness of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s research into how motivation affects perception.
*unethical

Answer 40

P- deprived people of food.
E- may have caused discomfort (physical harm).
L- raises ethical issues.

Question 41

weakness of the Gilchrist and Nesberg’s research into how motivation affects perception.

Answer 41

P: Not like everyday life.
E: Participants were asked to judge pictures of food rather than real food. It might have been better, and more realistic, to use actual food rather than pictures. Also, judging pictures for brightness is not something we generally do in an everyday situation.
C: Decreases validity and generalisability.

Question 42

expectation:

Answer 42

Beliefs based on past experiences can affect how much we attend to things.

Question 43

outline research investigating how expectation affects perception.
(Bruner and Minturn)

Answer 43

A: to investigate if an ambiguous figure is seen differently if you anticipate to see a particular object.
M: -lab, independent groups.
- One group was shown a sequence of letters and the other group was showed a sequence of numbers.
- Were shown an ambiguous figure and were asked wether they saw it as a B or a 13.
R: -saw letters: more likely to report it as a B.
- saw numbers: more likely to report it as a 13.
C: expectation is affected by the context the figure is presented.

Question 44

weakness of Bruner and Minturn’s research into how expectation affects perception.
*artificial task

Answer 44

P- used an artificial task.
E- ambiguous figures are designed to trick perception.
L- lacks validity.

Question 45

weakness of Bruner and Minturn’s research into how expectation affects perception.
*individual differences

Answer 45

P- used independent groups design.
E- might have been individual differences.
L-may be inaccurate as difference in perception may have been due to participant variables rather than expectation.

Question 46

perceptual set:

Answer 46

is a tendency or readiness to notice certain aspects of the sensory environment whilst ignoring others. Set is affected by the 4 factors.