Perception and Attention

Question 1

Define sensation

Answer 1

The stimulus detection system by which
our sense organs respond to and translate
environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain

Question 2

Define perception

Answer 2

The active process of organising the

stimulus output and giving it meaning

Question 3

What is top down processing?

Answer 3

Processing in light of existing knowledge

motives, expectations, experiences, culture

Question 4

What is bottom up processing?

Answer 4

Individual elements are combined to make a unified perception

Question 5

How is best interpretation done?

Answer 5

A combination of both top down and bottom up processing.

Question 6

What factors affect top down processing?

Answer 6

Attention
Past experience - Poor children and adults overestimate the size of coins compared to
affluent people
Current drive state - Hunger: when hungry, more likely to notice food-related stimuli
Emotions - Anxiety increases threat perception
Individual values and expectations - Telling people a stimulus might be painful makes them more likely to report pain in response to it
Environment
Cultural background

Question 7

Can culture affect perception?

Answer 7

YES

Question 8

What is figure ground relations?

Answer 8

our tendency to organise stimuli into central or foreground and a background.
 Focus of attention becomes the figure, all else is background

Question 9

What are the 4 Gesalt’s laws?

Answer 9

Continuity: When the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object
Similarity: Similar things are perceived as being grouped together
Proximity: Object near each other are grouped together
Closure: Things are grouped together if they seem to complete some entity.

Question 10

Define visual agnosia

Answer 10

Basic vision spared
Primary visual cortex can be mostly intact
Patient not blind
Knowledgeable about information from other senses (e.g. if they touch an object then naming is typically simple)
Associated with bilateral lesions to the occipital, occiptotemporal, or occipitoparietal lobes.

Question 11

What are the two types of agnosia?

Answer 11

Apperceptive - Failure to integrate perceptual elements of stimulus. Damage to lower level occipital regions, individual elements are perceived normally.
Associative - A failure of retrieval of semantic information. Shape/colour/texture, damage to higher occipital regions. If object touched then recognised.

Question 12

What is attention?

Answer 12

 Attention is the process of focusing conscious awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experience requiring more intensive processing.

Question 13

What are the two processes involved in attention?

Answer 13

Focus on certain aspect

filter out information

Question 14

What are the two types of attention?

Answer 14

Focused attention

Divided attention

Question 15

What are the 5 stimuli affecting attention?

Answer 15

Intensity
Novelty
Movement
Contrast 
Repetition

Question 16

What are personal factors affecting attention?

Answer 16

Motives
Interests
Threats
Mood
Arousal

Question 17

How is a response elicited from external stimuli?

Answer 17

Sensory buffers register information for a few seconds which can be used to select which information to focus on.
Limited capacity for short term memory
But, there is evidence that we can unconsciously perceive
information not attended to.

Question 18

What is the cocktail party effect?

Answer 18

We can focus our attention on one person’s voice in spite of all the other conversations
But, what happens when someone says your name in another conversation nearby?

Question 19

Summarise medical mistakes

Answer 19

More automatic a task is the less conscious effort it takes.

High levels of stress and anxiety can impact performance.

Question 20

How do we perceive bodily symptoms?

Answer 20

Focus of attention contributes to the perception of our bodily symptoms
E.g. Perception of symptoms on a treadmill, when listening to music v.s. listening to their breathing amplified those that were listening to their breathing amplified reported more symptoms.

Question 21

What happens when you are told you will feel pain?

Answer 21

You self-report more pain

E.g. vibrating sand paper showed self reporting of pain.

Question 22

What is the gate theory of pain?

Answer 22

Pain signals compete to get through gate
Gate can be opened and close by psychological and physical factors.
Explains pain by rubbing it better

Question 23

What is the fear avoidance model of chronic pain?

Answer 23

Strong relationships between day-day function, pain and mood/thoughts/stress.
Pain breeds avoidance which perpetuates stress, low mood, anxiety