Perception

Question 1

perception

Answer 1

the process of interpreting and understanding sensory information

Question 2

perception occurs in conjunction with _____

Answer 2

action

Question 3

a problem with current computer programs designed to detect objects

Answer 3

they make certain mistakes that humans would never make

Question 4

Information processing model

Answer 4

input -> sensory memory -> STM -> LTM

Question 5

sensation

Answer 5

the first contact with the stimulus, which is transformed from light, sound, etc. into a neural impulse which is passed to the brain

Question 6

Where are the photoreceptors located?

Answer 6

the retina

Question 7

The types of photoreceptors and their purpose

Answer 7

• cones are colour sensitive (red, green, blue)

- rods are luminance sensitive (black, white)

Question 8

cones are mainly clustered in the

Answer 8

fovea (foveal pit)

Question 9

where are rods located?

Answer 9

in an increasing concentration coming away from the fovea

Question 10

the blind spot is where

Answer 10

the information leaves the eye to go to the brain

Question 11

how information gets passed from photoreceptors to the brain

Answer 11

photoreceptors -> bipolar cells -> ganglion cells -> visual cortex

Question 12

saccade

Answer 12

the quick movement (25-175 msec) of the eyes from one location to another

Question 13

fixation

Answer 13

the brief period (~200 msec) when the eyes stop moving and process the visual scene

Question 14

perceptual span

Answer 14

the number of items that an individual can report form a brief display that did not allow for eye movements (~4.5 items)

Question 15

George Sperling

Answer 15

introduced the concept of iconic memory (1960)

Question 16

Sperling’s experiment

Answer 16

• replicated perceptual span studies and found similar results
• introduced partial report (just 1 row), which gave much better results

Question 17

Sperling’s subjects reported that:

Answer 17

• they saw the whole array of images but forgot it while reporting
• the array seemed to fade but was available to examine mentally even after it went off-screen

Question 18

Averbach & Coriell

Answer 18

• replicated Sperling’s study but only asked them to report a single item by putting a bar underneath where the item was
• their performance was more accurate than when asked for a row
• when a circle was used instead of a bar, performance was worse

Question 19

Sperling found that information in the iconic store is ___

Answer 19

very visual and quite unprocessed as to meaning (raw, sensory information)

Question 20

the duration of information in the sensory store lasts for

Answer 20

• 1/4 to 1 second (iconic)

- 1 to 4 seconds (echoic)

Question 21

information transfers from sensory memory to working memory through

Answer 21

pattern recognition

Question 22

template theory

Answer 22

the mind uses templates, a pattern treated as an unanalyzed whole, to recognize whether a stimulus matches it

Question 23

challenges to template theory

Answer 23

• a stimulus can be interpreted differently depending on the context
• we can still recognize a stimulus when partially blocked out, in a different orientation, etc.

Question 24

feature theory

Answer 24

a pattern is decomposed into different elements (features) in order to recognize a stimulus

Question 25

bottom-up

Answer 25

processsing begins with the sensory input and ends with its representation, therefore the outcome of a lower step is never affected by a higher step in the process

Question 26

top-down

Answer 26

the output of a lower step is influenced by a higher one (knowledge, context), changing the way we process a stimulus

Question 27

direct perception theories

Answer 27

• bottom-up
• perception comes only from stimuli in the environment
• parts are identified and put together, then recognition occurs

Question 28

constructive perceptive theories

Answer 28

• top-down processing

- people actively construct perceptions using information based on knowledge and expectations

Question 29

Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization

Answer 29

rules governing how features should be put together (rule of similarity, continuation, etc.)

Question 30

Law of Pragnanz

Answer 30

every stimulus pattern is seen so the resulting structure is simple as possible

Question 31

unconscious inference

Answer 31

our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment

Question 32

likelihood principle

Answer 32

we perceive the world in the way that is “most likely” based on our past experiences

Question 33

oblique effect

Answer 33

we perceive vertical/horizontals more easily than other orientation because we experience them more regularly

Question 34

light-from-above assumption

Answer 34

we assume light comes from above because this is common in our environment

Question 35

scene schema

Answer 35

knowledge of what a given scene ordinarily contains

Question 36

Bayesian inference

Answer 36

we estimate the probability of an outcome is influenced by:

• the prior probability
• the likelihood of a given outcome

Question 37

movement adds ____ to perception but also creates more ____ perceptions

Answer 37

• complexity

- accurate

Question 38

inverse projection problem

Answer 38

there is an infinite number of sources for any given retinal image

Question 39

viewpoint invariance

Answer 39

the ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoints

Question 40

speech segmentation

Answer 40

being able to tell when one word ends and the next one begins

Question 41

Gestalt psychology

Answer 41

rejected the idea that perception is formed by adding up of sensations, believed that the whole is different from the sum of its parts

Question 42

apparent movement

Answer 42

when movement is perceived even though nothing is actually moving

Question 43

physical regularities

Answer 43

regularly occurring physical properties of the environment

Question 44

semantic regularities

Answer 44

the characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes

Question 45

experience-dependant plasticity

Answer 45

the structure of the brain is changed by experience

Question 46

what (perception) pathway

Answer 46

leads to the temporal lobe, responsible for determining an object’s identity

Question 47

where (action) pathway

Answer 47

leads to the parietal lobe, responsible for determining an object’s location