Perception Flashcards
Sensation definition
The physical stimulation of our senses
Perception definition
How we understand information our senses pick up
Explain the ponzo illusion
- Converging lines give the impression of distance (linear perspective)
- We enlarge the upper lines because it appears further away (size constancy)
Explain the muller lyer illusion
- Line with outgoing fins appears longer
- Like the corner of a room, we perceive the image as further away
- We enlarge the line with outgoing fins
Explain rubin’s vase
- People either see two faces or a vase
- This in an ambiguous image (seeing 2 things)
- Our brain can’t decide what to focus on
Explain the kanizsa triangle
- We see a triangle overlapping another triangle and 3 circles
- This is fiction
- We see something that isn’t there, but it’s implied by other parts of the image
Explain ames room
- Two similarly sized people stand in the corner of the room, but one appears much larger
- The room is a weird size, but our brain perceives it as a cube
- This confusion removes all distance cues and we can’t maintain size constancy
Explain necker’s cube
- There are 2 ways you can view the front of the cube
- Ambiguous image
- We can’t choose what to focus on
Relative size definition
Objects appear smaller when they’re further away (monocular depth cue)
Height in plane definition
Objects higher up in the picture appear further away (monocular depth cue)
Linear perspective definition
Two parallel lines appear to converge in the distance. The further away an object is, the closer together the lines are (monocular depth cue)
Occlusion definition
Objects behind or obscured by another object appear further away (monocular depth cue)
Convergence definition
The harder your eye muscles work, eg when you go cross eyed, the closer an object is (binocular depth cue)
Retinal disparity definition
Our eyes show 2 different images. The closer an object is, the bigger the difference between the 2 images
Optic flow definition
When you travel, your destination appears to remain stationary while everything else rushes past you. This lets you work out speed/direction of movement
Motion parallax definition
When moving, objects close to us appear to move faster than objects further away. This helps work out how fast you’re moving
What is Gibson’s theory?
That you’re born with the ability to perceive, we do not need to use past experiences
Name a strength and weakness of Gibson’s theory
- The visual cliff experiment shows we are born with some ability to perceive
- Doesn’t explain how visual illusions work
Inference definiton
Taking information from in front of you and drawing a conclusion based on past experiences
What is Gregory’s theory?
That perception is learned/based on our past experiences
Name a strength and weakness of Gregory’s theory
- Other studies have found that people raised in different cultures perceive differently (eg tribes thinking far away animals were insects)
- Visual cliff experiment shows we can be born with the ability to perceive
What is perceptual set?
The tendency to notice certain aspect of the environment while ignoring others
What is Hudson’s study
- Hudson asked groups of schooled/unschooled native black south africans, and schooled/unschooled native white south africans
- Schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth
- White schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than black schooled participants
Name 3 factors that affect perception
Culture, motivation, expectation, emotion
Name a strength and weakness of Hudson’s study
- Supports Gregory’s theory as it shows participants from wealthier backgrounds perceive better (eg because of better access to books)
- The instructions may have been unclear as some participants would have had to rely on a translator, causing less accuracy/may lack in validity
How does emotion affect perception?
- We’re more likely to perceive things if they’re exciting or interesting
- We take longer to perceive things we view as unpleasant
What is McGinnie’s emotion study?
- Participants were shown a series of words that they had to then repeat
- Some neutral (apple) and some offensive (bitch)
- Participants took longer to recognise offensive words
- Our brains block out information we deem offensive (perceptual defence
What is Gilchrist and Nesberg’s motivation study?
- Two groups, one group of 26 students went without food for 20 hours, the other group ate regular meals
- Both groups were shown pictures of food
- They were told it was a matching pictures experiment. Each image was shown a second time, this time dimmer, and participants had to adjust the lighting to the original setting
- Food deprived participants made the lighting brighter than it started
Name a strength and limitation of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study
- Lab study, so a very controlled environment
- Artificial materials could reduce validity
What is Bruner and Minturn’s expectation study?
- Participants were shown an ambiguous image which is viewed as either a ‘B’ or ‘13’
- Participants were shown either a sequence of letters from left to right, or numbers from top to bottom
- Those shown numbers saw 13, and letters saw B
- Expectation affects perception
Name a strength and limitation of Bruner and Minturn’s study
- Highly controlled conditions
- Artificial tasks, could lack validity/difficult to generalise
