Perception

Question 1

Bottom-up processing

Answer 1

Receptor stimulation (raw sensory data)

Question 2

Top-down processing

Answer 2

Applying knowledge to sensory data

Question 3

Feature detectors

Answer 3

Neurons that break sensory info up into features

Located in visual cortex

Question 4

Visual search experiments

Answer 4

Evidence for feature analysis
Items that stand out are easier to identify than items that don’t
More distraction with items that don’t: greater variance in time to identify

Question 5

Feature integration theory

Answer 5

Attention is needed for some perception, but not for others
2 stages to object recognition: preattentive stage (object is broken down into features), focused attention stage (features are combined in proper order to identify object)

Question 6

Limitation to feature integration theory

Answer 6

Works well for 2-D features (color, shape), but not for 3-D objects

Question 7

Geons

Answer 7

Shapes that when combined, make up 3-D objects (cylinder, cone, rectangle, triangle, “elbow noodle”)
Allow for recognition of objects by components

Question 8

Features of geons

Answer 8

View invariance (can be seen from any direction)
Discriminability (can be distinguished from each other)
Resistance to visual noise (can be distinguished from background stimuli)
Easiest to recognize when corners are seen

Question 9

Problem with recognition by components

Answer 9

Additional processing is needed to identify complex objects

Ex- blob test (blobs all look the same, but when put into context, make up totally different objects)

Question 10

How we recognize faces

Answer 10

Features (feature detectors, recognition by components)
Holistic approach (Gestalt heuristics)

Question 11

What eye tracking studies tell us

Answer 11

More eye movement is used when learning a face than when recognizing a face
Important features used to recognize a face: eyes, then nose, then mouth (eyes far and away the greatest)

Question 12

Evidence for holistic processing

Answer 12

We expect certain patterns (nose sticking out, eyes on top, mouth on bottom)
If the overall feature is right and the key features are right, we see a more or less normal face (even when the face is far from normal)

Question 13

Fusiform face area

Answer 13

Area of brain that recognizes faces
Expert recognition of anything requires this part of the brain
Located in temporal lobe