Perceptual Powers: Origins and Influences

Question 1

Are most basic sensory abilities and perceptual skills inborn?

Answer 1

-yes

Question 2

What is a procedure for testing depth perception in infants?

Answer 2

“visual cliff”

• infant is placed on a pane of glass which covers a checkered shallow surface and deep one
• a mother lures the baby to either side, and an infant with depth perception will go to the shallow side and refuse to crawl out to the “cliff”

Question 3

If an infant misses out on important experiences during a _________, perception will be impaired

Answer 3

-critical period (sensitive period)

Question 4

What is the difference between people who have recovered from blindness in early childhood, and those who do not recover until adulthood on?

Answer 4

• when blindness is corrected early, the best recoveries occur because the child has not missed the critical period for visual development
• in older adults, perception is unlikely to FULLY recover because areas in the brain normally devoted to vision may have taken on different functions while the person was blind. They may have poor depth perception and size contstancy

Question 5

What is a technique in curing deafness?

Answer 5

-cochlear implants (devices that stimulate the auditory nerve and allow auditory signals to travel to the brain)

Question 6

Why are cochlear implants more successful in children and in adults who became deaf late in life?

Answer 6

-because children have not missed the critical period, and adults have already had many years of auditory experience

Question 7

What psychological factors influence they way people perceive the world?

Answer 7

• needs and motives
• beliefs
• emotions

Question 8

Define: perceptual set

Answer 8

-a habitual way of perceiving, based on expectations

Question 9

How does culture affect our perception?

Answer 9

-by shaping stereotypes, and telling us what to focus on, notice, and what to ignore