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IGCSE Psychology (aqa) > Perception > Flashcards

Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

sensation

A

information we receive from our senses processed by sense receptors

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2
Q

perception

A

organisation and interpretation of sensory information

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3
Q

difference between sensation and perception

A

sensation: detection of stimulus
perception: interpreting what it means

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4
Q

visual cues

A

features of the environment that give us information about movement, distance ect

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5
Q

constancies

A

seeing objects as the same despite seeing them from different angles and distances

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6
Q

monocular depth cue

A

way of judging depth with one eye

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7
Q

list all monocular depth cues

A
  • height in plane
  • relative size
  • occlusion
  • linear perspective
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8
Q

height in plane

A

objects higher up in the visual field appear further away

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9
Q

relative size

A

smaller objects in the visual field appear further away

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10
Q

occlusion

A
  • objects in front of others appear closer to us

- objects behind others seem further away

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11
Q

linear perspective

A

when parallel lines converge in the distance the point at which they come together is perceived to be further away

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12
Q

binocular depth cue

A

way of judging depth with two eye

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13
Q

list all binocular depth cues

A
  • retinal disparity

- convergence

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14
Q

retinal disparity

A

difference between the left and right eye’s view which the brain receives to give information about depth and distance

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15
Q

convergence

A
  • the eyes become closer (converge) when objects are close to us
  • eye muscles work harder to give information about depth and distance
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16
Q

size constancy

A

we keep our original perception of the size of an object even when the information received by the eye changes
eg-people are the same size whether they’re far away or close

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17
Q

misinterpreted depth cues

A

wrongly applying the “rules” of depth perception

objects in distance scaled up by brain to look normal size

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18
Q

examples of misinterpreted depth cues

A
  • Muller Lyer Illusion
  • Ponzo Illusion
  • The Ames Room
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19
Q

ambiguous figures

A

when there is more than one interpretation of an image (brain can’t decide which one is correct)

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20
Q

examples of ambiguous figures

A
  • Rubin’s Vase

- Necker’s Cube

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21
Q

fiction

A

creating an image (seeing something) that isn’t there

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22
Q

example of fiction

A

Kanizsa Triangle

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23
Q

Muller-Lyer illusion

A

misinterpreted depth cue

  • ingoing fins: shape of outside of building, appears closer so scaled down
  • outgoing fins: shape of inside of room, appears further away so scaled up
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24
Q

Ponzo Illusion

A

misinterpreted depth cue

  • converging lines give illusion of distance
  • mentally enlarges the top line even though its the same length as the one at the bottom
25
Q

The Ames Room

A

misinterpreted depth cue

  • when two people are stood at either side of the room, one looks giant and one looks tiny
  • room is shaped like a trapezoid
  • person furthest away makes a smaller image on our retina
26
Q

Rubin’s Vase

A

ambiguous figure

  • people either perceive a white vase or 2 black faces
  • some people perceive black to be the background and the white the object and for others vice versa
27
Q

Necker’s Cube

A

ambiguous figure

-cube seen as pointing upwards to the right or downwards to the left

28
Q

Kanizsa Triangle

A

fiction

-illusory contours create impression of a second triangle

29
Q

outline Gibson’s theory of direct perception (9t)

A

NATURE

  • perceptual abilities are innate
  • direct perception: perceive using the information we receive through our senses, no need to make inferences from past experience (sufficient info for perception)
  • no difference between perception and sensation
  • affordances: use of an object can be perceived directly without past experience of it
  • optic flow: allows us to know when we’re moving (make judgements about speed and distance), point we’re moving towards remains stationary and the rest of the view seems to push away from it
  • motion parallax: helps us understand the speed of our movements , objects closer to us appear to be moving faster than objects further in the distance
  • optic array (everything we can see) gives us all the information we need to be able to judge depth, distance and movement
  • don’t need to learn to perceive the world around us. the environment around us is rich with information and our eyes are sophisticated enough to perceive it
30
Q

outline Gibson’s visual cliff study

A

A: to investigate if perception is innate
M: child is placed on one end of the platform and the caregiver stands on the other side of the clear surface
R: almost all the babies didn’t crawl over the visual cliff
C: -we are born with understanding of visual cues (such as depth cues)
-perception is innate, even babies can perceive the edge of a cliff

31
Q

what is a strength of Gibson’s theory of direct perception (9t)
*pilots

A

P- supported by research with pilots
E- when he worked for the US Army Air Force he found that all the information he needed to land a plane was the pattern of light that reached the eye
L- real world relevance, explains how we perceive the world around us on a daily basis

32
Q

what is a strength of Gibson’s theory of direct perception (9t)
*young infants

A

P- the research being done on young infants provides good support
E- tested on very young children so its unlikely that their reluctance to crawl over the edge was something they learnt
L- shows that some perceptual abilities are due to nature and don’t need past experience to perceive the world

33
Q

what is a weakness of Gibson’s theory of direct perception (9t)
*perceptual errors

A

P- perceptual errors aren’t easily explained
E- visual illusions are good examples of when we make perceptual errors and draw wrong conclusions about what we’re looking at, Gibson argues that what you see is what you get but illusions show that perception and sensation are separate processes
L- he doesn’t explain this so his research is limited

34
Q

outline Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception (9t)

A

NURTURE

  • stimuli in our environment are frequently ambiguous so for us to interpret it we need to access knowledge stored in our brain and makes inferences about what we perceive
  • perception was influenced by past experiences
  • constructivist theory: idea that we make sense of the world by building up our perceptions based on incoming data and clues we know about the world
  • inferences: taking info and forming a conclusion about what it means based on other things you know
  • nurture: refers to the aspects of behaviour that are acquired through experience
  • mistaken hypothesis: where our brain draws the wrong conclusion from available evidence
  • past experience: our understanding of visual cues is learned from experience. our perception becomes more sophistic as we grow older and interact more with the world around us. the way we’re raised can have a big influence of on our perception
35
Q

what is a strength of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception (9t)
*cultural differences

A

P- support from studies investigating cultural differences in perception
E- people in different parts of the world interpret visual cues differently (cultures with higher levels of schooling were better judges of depth)
L-: “nurture” effects our perception and our prior knowledge influences how we interpret objects

36
Q

what is a weakness of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception (9t)
*not usual perception

A

P- good explanation of illusions but its not our usual perception
E- illusions are designed to fool us
L- therefore not a good explanation of how we perceive objects every day

37
Q

what is a weakness of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception (9t)
*driven by nature

A

P- can’t explain how perception can be driven by nature
E- research shows that babies prefer human faces compare to random patterns from birth (before they received environmental input)
L- not all perception is a result of nurture, if culture was so influential we’d expect to see more differences in culture

38
Q

what are the 4 factors affecting perception

A
  • culture
  • emotion
  • motivation
  • expectation
39
Q

culture

A
  • beliefs and expectations that surround us (way of life, social world)
  • perceptual set is influenced by culture, what we’re used to and familiar with will determine how we interpret what our senses pick up
40
Q

outline research investigating how culture affects perception
(Hudson)

A

A: to find out if people from different cultures use depth cues differently
M: -he showed a 2D drawing to black and white children, schooled and unschooled
-the children were then asked what was nearer to the man, the elephant or the antelope?
R: -black and white schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than unschooled participants
-white schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than black schooled participants
C: -different cultures use depth cues differently
-(white children had more access to magazines and books, schooled children also had more exposure to 2D images and learned how to interpret them)
-some aspects of perception are learned

41
Q

what is a weakness of Hudson’s research into how culture affects perception
*language barrier

A

P- may have encountered a language barrier (communication problems)
E- researcher relied on translators, procedure may have been unclear and misunderstood
L- affects the validity

42
Q

what is a weakness of Hudson’s research into how culture affects perception
*confusion

A

P- some participants may have been confused with the 2D drawing
E- many African participants may have never seen paper, could’ve been more interested in this aspect rather than properly answering the questions; when the pictures were presented on familiar material (cloth) different answers were given
L- study may have not been suitable for the participants

43
Q

what is a weakness of Hudson’s research into how culture affects perception
*poorly designed

A

P- may be poorly designed
E- it was 50 years ago, no control group and data wasn’t properly recorded
L- lacks validity

44
Q

emotion

A
  • feeling or mood can make us behave a certain way

- tendency for our brain to notice exciting things and block threatening things

45
Q

outline research investigating how emotion affects perception
(McGinnies)

A

A: to investigate if anxiety provoking things are noticed more than neutral things
M: -8 male and 8 female students
-they were shown a series of words that flashed on screen that they had to say out loud
-some neutral (apple, dance) and some taboo (bitch, penis)
-level of emotional arousal was measured using Galvanic Skin Response which records electrical changes on the surface of the skin
R: -took longer to recognise/say the taboo words
-taboo words gave a bigger change in GSR
C: -emotion affects perceptual set, in this case perceptual defence (brain blocks out the info)
-higher anxiety level that is associated with taboo words slows down the recognition

46
Q

what is a strength of McGinnies research into how emotion affects perception
*objective data

A

P- used an objective measurement of emotion
E- use a GSR, scientific method (accurate)
L- less open to bias, valid measurement

47
Q

what is a weakness of McGinnies research into how emotion affects perception
*embarrassment

A

P- delayed reaction may be more to do with embarrassment
E- hesitation may have been because they were uncomfortable with saying rude words in a research study
L- awkwardness is an extraneous variable

48
Q

what is a weakness of McGinnies research into how emotion affects perception
*contradictory

A

P- results are contradictory
E- doesn’t say why perceptual defence occurs in some situations and why perceptual sensation occurs in others
L- difficult to draw conclusions and predict behaviour

49
Q

motivation

A
  • wanting something increases it’s attractiveness

- can influence what we ignore and what we pay attention to

50
Q

outline research investigating how motivation affects perception (9s)
(Gilchrist and Nesberg)

A

A: to investigate if food deprivation affects the perception of food
M: -one group went without food for 20 hours whereas the other group ate as normal
-all participants were shown a set of pictures (4 typical meals) on a screen for 15 seconds
-they were shown the pictures again but the researcher had changed the brightness settings
-they were then asked to adjust the lighting so that it looked like the original
R: -no food group: adjusted lighting so that it was brighter than before
-food group: adjusted it similar to the original photo
C: hunger is a motivating factor that affects perception

51
Q

what is a strength of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s research into how motivation affects perception (9s)
*support

A

P- support from similar studies
E- Sanford found that food deprived participants were more likely to see vague pictures as food
L- strengthens validity

52
Q

what is a weakness of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s research into how motivation affects perception (9s)
*unethical

A

P- deprived people of food
E- may have caused discomfort (physical harm)
L- raises ethical issues

53
Q

what is a weakness of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s research into how motivation affects perception (9s)
*individual differences

A

P- used independent groups design (individual differences)
E- participants may have perceived things differently
L- results may be inaccurate

54
Q

expectation

A

beliefs based on past experiences can affect how much we attend to things

55
Q

outline research investigating how expectation affects perception (9s)
(Bruner and Minturn)

A

A: to investigate if an ambiguous figure is seen differently if context is changed
M: -lab, independent groups
-one group was shown a sequence of letters and the other group was showed a sequence of numbers
-were shown an ambiguous figure and were asked wether they saw it as a B or a 13
R: -saw letters: more likely to report it as a B
-saw numbers: more likely to report it as a 13
C: expectation is affected by the context the figure is presented

56
Q

what is a weakness of Bruner and Minturn’s research into how expectation affects perception (9s)
*artificial task

A

P- used an artificial task
E- ambiguous figures are designed to trick perception
L- lacks validity

57
Q

what is a weakness of Bruner and Minturn’s research into how expectation affects perception (9s)
*individual differences

A

P- used independent groups design
E- might have been individual differences
L-may be inaccurate as difference in perception may have been due to participant variables rather than expectation

58
Q

what is a strength of Bruner and Minturn’s research into how expectation affects perception (9s)
*real world application

A

P- real world application
E- explains errors made as a result of expectation
L- helps explain why people make serious mistakes on tasks in the real world

IGCSE Psychology (aqa) (10 decks)

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