Perception Flashcards
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect
Selective attention
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
Inattentional blindness
the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses
Visual capture
an organized whole
Gestalt
the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
Figure-ground
the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Grouping
the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
Depth perception
a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
Visual cliff
depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes
Binocular cues
a binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance – the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object
Retinal disparity
a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object. The greater the inward strain, the closer the object
Convergence
depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone
Monocular cues
an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Phi phenomenon
perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change
Perceptual constancy
in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even introverted visual field
Perceptual adaption
