Perception Flashcards
What is sensation
The physical process of collecting data from the environment via the senses
What is perception
The cognitive process of interpreting data after it has been sensed
What is a visual illusion
When data is misinterpreted
There is a mismatch between sensation and perception
We see something that is distorted or false
This shows that sensation and perception are seperate
What type of illusion is the ponzo illusion
Misinterpreted depth cue
What does the ponzo illusion look like
Two horizontal line on top of each other of the same length
Two converging line surrounding them.
Top line perceived as longer
What type of illusion is the muller-Lyer illusion
Misinterpreted depth cue
What does the muller lyer illusion look like
<—>
>—<
What type of illusion is Rubin’s vase
Ambiguous figure
What does Rubin’s vase look like
An image of two faces and a vase in the same picture
What type of illusion is the Ames room
Misinterpreted depth cue
What shape is the Ames room
Trapezioid
What are visual constancy’s
Allow us to see things remaining the same although their physical characteristics are changing constantly.
Although sensation is changing perception is constant
What do depth cues do
Allow us to see how far away something is
What is a monocular depth cue
Detected with one eye and allow us to judge depth and distance
What are the four monocular depth cues
Height in plane
Relative size
Occlusion
Linear perspective
What is height in plane
If the image of an object is higher to the eye then it is often seen as further away than something that is lower in the picture
What is relative size
When our brains interpret bigger objects as closer and smaller objects as further away.
What is occlusion
When the image of an object blocks the image of an another object we assume that the blocked image is further away
What is linear perspective
When looking down a long stretch of road the road markings start to converge this shows that they are far away
What are binocular depth cues
Perceptual cues that can be detected with two eyes that allow us to perceive deph and distance
What are the two binocular deph cues
Retinal disparity
Convergence
What is retinal disparity
Occurs because our eyes are approx 6cm apart
Each eye gets different view of the world
The greater the difference in views the closer the object is
What is convergence
When our eyes follow something coming towards us they come together
The muscles around our eyes work harder when viewing close things.
The muscles provide the brain with info about depth and distance of an object.
What are the four types of illusion
Misinterpreted depth cues
Size constancy
Ambiguity
Fiction
What is size contancy
When we look at something far away and it looks smaller
Our brain knows that t is not actually that small it is just far away.
What is a misinterpreted depth cue
When our brain perceives distance when it is not really there
What is ambiguity
When there are two possible ways that you can see something
What is a fiction
When we see a figure that is not part of the figure presented
What is Kaniza’s triangle an example of
Fiction
What are the key points of gibbons theory
Direct theory of perception
All info we need comes from environment
Perceptual ability’s are innate
Sensation and perception are the same thing
Optic flow patterns
Motion paralax
Nature explains perception
What is optic flow patterns
When moving point we are moving towards stays stationary
Everything else rushes away from us
Let’s our brain knows that t we are moving
Brain makes judgement about speed and direction of movement
What is motion paralax
When we are moving objects that are closer to us appear to be moving faster than objects that are far away.
What are the three AO3 points for Gibson
S - has real world application (pilots)
S - visual cliff experiment gives the study research support
W - can not explain perceptual errors
What are the key points of Gregory’s theory
Constructivist
Sensory info combined with knowledge
Brain makes inferences about the world using visual cues
Illusions occur when brain makes wrong conclusion from visual cues
Some visual cues are learned (nurture)
Sensation and perception are different
What is inference
When we fill in gaps with our knowledge from past experience to understand a situation
What are the AO3 points of Gregory’s theory
W - cant explain how perception begins (baby prefer faces)
W - can explain VI but VI are not like real life
S - support from study’s of cultural differences (Hudson)
What is perceptual set
The tendency for our brain to notice certain aspects of the sensory environment and ignore others.
How do cultural differences affect perceptual set
People from different cultures use depth cues differently when perceiving something
How does emotion affect perceptual set
We are less likely to notice something that causes us anxiety than something that is neutral
What is motivation
The forces that drive your behaviour and encourage you to act
Who investigated motivation
Gilchrist and Nesberg
What was Gilchrist and Nesbergs aim
To find out what effect food deprivation would have on the perception of food related pictures
Who were the sample for Gilchrist and Nesbergs study
26 food deprived uni students
26 non food deprived uni students
In Gilchrist and Nesbergs study how long were some participants deprived from food
20 hours
What was the method of Gilchrist and Nesbergs study
Shows four slides of food for 15 seconds each
After each slide Ps had to adjust the brightness of the image to look like the original.
Ps were told this was a matching activity.
What were the results of Gilchrist and Nesbergs study
Food deprives Ps adjusted lighting so that is was brighter than it was before
What is the conclusion of Gilchrist and Nesbergs study
Suggests that hunger is a motivating factor that affects perception.
Being deprived of a basic need heightens our sensitivity this made the image appear brighter.
What are the AO3 points of Gilchrist and Nesberg study
S - research support (food deprived see food in ambiguous)
W - ethical issues
W - task was artificial
What is expectation
The belief about what is likely to happen based on past experience.
What study looked into expectation
Bruner and Minturns study
What was the aim of Bruner and Minturns study
To see whether an ambiguous figure was seen differently if the context of that ambiguous figure was changed
What was the aim of Bruner and Minturns study
Independent groups design
One group shown a sequence of letters and then ambiguous figure
One group shows a sequence of numbers and then ambiguous figure
The ambiguous figure could be seen as a B or a 13
P had to draw and report what they saw
What were the results of Bruner and Minturns study
Group that saw the letter sequence reported and drew a B
Group that saw the number sequence reported and drew a 13
What was the conclusion of Bruner and Minturns study
Expectation has an important influence on perceptual set.
By changing context is is possible to change the way that info is perceived
What are the AO3 points of Bruner and Minturns study
W - artificial task (VI)
W - could be individual differences
S - can be used to explains error people made in the war (expect enemy planes)
