Perception 2 Flashcards
Explain why Desirable objects will appear closer/larger than less desirable objects?
Perceptions are subjective
- A water bottle appears closer than crackers when thirsty
- Hills look steeper when you are tired
What is the order of touch processing?
Mechanreceptors -> Spine -> Somatosensory cortex
What is the Cortical homunculus?
Spatially organized map of the body for sensory and motor
* BUT … current evidence suggests an update of motor homunculus to include regions that
control integrative, whole-body actions. Science is a process
What is Olfaction?
Chemicals moving through the air pass through olfactory epithelium to olfactory bulb
- Direct connections to memory and emotion brain regions … other senses go through the thalamus
- Smell has a stronger link to memory and emotion than any of the other senses
- Explains why the smell of cut grass can trigger a memory better than an image of grass
- New research: Sense of smell is also related to brain and
early symptom of dementia
What is the Taste system?
Works with olfaction
* Explains why things do not taste as good when our nose is stuffed
- Taste buds on tongue, palate, pharynx, upper esophagus
- Measure chemicals that have been ingested
- Relay message to thalamus and then the
primary gustatory cortex - Other areas like PFC and reward
areas of the brain
Flavour (taste) is also affected by other senses, including vision
* Reddish colours associated with sweet tastes
* Greenish colours associated with bitter tastes
What is A Constructivist Theory of
Perception?
A top-down theory of perception
- Perception is influenced by stored knowledge and context
- Mental models
- We make unconscious inferences to interpret and to predict sensory data
Sensory Input -> Mental Model -> Perception and action
What are Ambiguous Bistable figures?
Image that can look like two things.
- Bistable figures suggest that we can experience spontaneous subjective change in perception
- Direct us to understand what factors (constraints) are driving this effect
or how we organize perception
What are the Gestalt organizational principles?
Gestalt Psychology: There are fundamental organizational principles to deal with ambiguity in our environment
- These principles are based on knowledge and experience (top-down
processes) and shared among people
Name the Gestalt principles:
The principle of experience
* Figure ground segmentation
Visual grouping principles
* Principle of proximity
* Principle of closed forms
* Principle of good contour
* Principle of similarity
Explain the Principle of experience ?
Image segmentation (figure-ground)
depends on sensory input, detect edges
or shadows
* Bottom-up
Experience and knowledge also drives
figure-ground segmentation
* Regions perceived as the figure are the
ones that are more familiar and more easily
named to the observer
* Top-down
What is the Principle of proximity?
Objects or features that are close to one another in a scene will be judged as belonging together
What is the Principle of closed forms?
We see a shape in terms of closed forms, and we like to see items that enclosed
as whole
What is the Principle of good contour?
We perceive objects as continuous in cases where it is expected that they
continue
What is the Principle of similarity?
We organize objects or features of a scene based on similarity
What are Constructivist theories of visual info and perception?
Visual information is ambiguous, and perception requires top-down processes
