Perception

Question 1

Sensation definition

Answer 1

The physical stimulation of our senses

Question 2

Perception definition

Answer 2

How we understand information our senses pick up

Question 3

Explain the ponzo illusion

Answer 3

• Converging lines give the impression of distance (linear perspective)
• We enlarge the upper lines because it appears further away (size constancy)

Question 4

Explain the muller lyer illusion

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

Explain rubin’s vase

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

Explain the kanizsa triangle

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

Explain ames room

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Explain necker’s cube

Answer 8

• There are 2 ways you can view the front of the cube
• Ambiguous image
• We can’t choose what to focus on

Question 9

Relative size definition

Answer 9

Objects appear smaller when they’re further away (monocular depth cue)

Question 10

Height in plane definition

Answer 10

Objects higher up in the picture appear further away (monocular depth cue)

Question 11

Linear perspective definition

Answer 11

Two parallel lines appear to converge in the distance. The further away an object is, the closer together the lines are (monocular depth cue)

Question 12

Occlusion definition

Answer 12

Objects behind or obscured by another object appear further away (monocular depth cue)

Question 13

Convergence definition

Answer 13

The harder your eye muscles work, eg when you go cross eyed, the closer an object is (binocular depth cue)

Question 14

Retinal disparity definition

Answer 14

Our eyes show 2 different images. The closer an object is, the bigger the difference between the 2 images

Question 15

Optic flow definition

Answer 15

When you travel, your destination appears to remain stationary while everything else rushes past you. This lets you work out speed/direction of movement

Question 16

Motion parallax definition

Answer 16

When moving, objects close to us appear to move faster than objects further away. This helps work out how fast you’re moving

Question 17

What is Gibson’s theory?

Answer 17

That you’re born with the ability to perceive, we do not need to use past experiences

Question 18

Name a strength and weakness of Gibson’s theory

Answer 18

• The visual cliff experiment shows we are born with some ability to perceive
• Doesn’t explain how visual illusions work

Question 19

Inference definiton

Answer 19

Taking information from in front of you and drawing a conclusion based on past experiences

Question 20

What is Gregory’s theory?

Answer 20

That perception is learned/based on our past experiences

Question 21

Name a strength and weakness of Gregory’s theory

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

What is perceptual set?

Answer 22

The tendency to notice certain aspect of the environment while ignoring others

Question 23

What is Hudson’s study

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

Name 3 factors that affect perception

Answer 24

Culture, motivation, expectation, emotion

Question 25

Name a strength and weakness of Hudson’s study

Answer 25

• 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

Question 26

How does emotion affect perception?

Answer 26

• We’re more likely to perceive things if they’re exciting or interesting
• We take longer to perceive things we view as unpleasant

Question 27

What is McGinnie’s study?

Answer 27

• 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

Question 28

What is Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study?

Answer 28

• 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

Question 29

Name a strength and limitation of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study

Answer 29

• Lab study, so a very controlled environment
• Artificial materials could reduce validity

Question 30

What is Bruner and Minturn’s study?

Answer 30

• 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

Question 31

Name a strength and limitation of Bruner and Minturn’s study

Answer 31

• Highly controlled conditions
• Artificial tasks, could lack validity/difficult to generalise