Perception and Action Flashcards
What is the ecological approach to perception and action?
Emphasizes evolution
Considers perception in its natural environment
All info required for perception is available in the environment
The visual scene is analyzed in terms of whole objects and surfaces, not edges or colours that comprise objects
Perception is direction and immediate
What is optic flow?
Stimulus array changes in a logical way as observer moves through the environment
What are affordances?
Actions one can perform with an object
What are the pros to the ecological approach to perception?
Identifying invariants adds to understanding
What are the cons to the ecological approach to perception?
Perceptual processing exists
What is the lateral interparietal area?
Represents location you plan to move your eyes to
What is the medial interparietal area?
Represents area one can reach to; responds to visual and somatosensory input
What is the ventral interparietal area?
Responds to moving nearby visual input/tactile input to face; important for feeding behaviour
What is the anterior interparietal area?
Represents important shape information for grasping objects; located between sensory and motor areas
Contains neurons that respond to visual stimuli and physical action
Three types - motor, visual, motor and visual
What are motor-dominant neurons?
Respond when action performed in the dark or in the light - but not to seeing visual cue
What are visual-dominant neurons?
Respond when action performed in the light - but not in the dark
What are moto and visual AIP neurons?
Respond to action in the light, and to a lesser degree to action in the dark, or to visual cue alone
What are mirror neurons?
Activated when a goal-directed action is performed, and when a similar action is observed
What are the features of motor neurons?
Require biological motion
Seems to be an execution-observation matching system
No response when action observed without object
No response to mere visual presentation of objects
Audio-visual mirror neurons can be triggered by visual information and by the sound of a particular action
Activation is found when reading a literal phrase, watching a video of an action
May infer the goal of an observed action
Activation dependent on understanding intentions, intentions transcend the context of an action, require comprehension of the hypergoal
What is theory of mind?
The cognitive capacity to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions different from one’s own; and the ability to form a theory as to these mental states
