Psych 358-Chapter 3 Definitions

Question 1

Action pathway

Answer 1

• Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, that is associated with neural processing that occurs when people take action.
• Corresponds to the where pathway.

Question 2

Apparent movement

Answer 2

-An illusion of movement perception that occurs when stimuli in different locations are flashed one after another with the proper timing.

Question 3

Bayesian inference

Answer 3

-The idea that our estimate of the probability of an outcome is determined by the prior probability (our initial belief) and the likelihood (the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome).

Question 4

Bottom-up processing

Answer 4

• Processing that starts with information received by the receptors.
• This type of processing is also called data-based processing.

Question 5

Brain ablation

Answer 5

• A procedure in which a specific area is removed from an animal’s brain.
• It is usually done to determine the function of this area by assessing the effect on the animal’s behavior.

Question 6

Direct pathway model

Answer 6

• Model of pain perception that proposes that pain signals are sent directly from receptors to the brain.

Question 7

Experience-dependent plasticity

Answer 7

• A mechanism that causes an organism’s neurons to develop so they respond best to the type of stimulation to which the organism has been exposed.

Question 8

Gestalt psychologists

Answer 8

-A group of psychologists who proposed principles governing perception, such as laws of organization, and a perceptual approach to problem solving involving restructuring.

Question 9

Inverse projection problem

Answer 9

-Task of determining the object that caused a particular image on the retina.

Question 10

Law of pragnanz (AKA. law of good figure and the law of simplicity)

Answer 10

• Law of perceptual organization that states that every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible.

Question 11

Landmark discrimination problem

Answer 11

• Problem in which the task is to remember an object’s location and to choose that location after a delay.
• Associated with research on the where processing stream.

Question 12

Light-from-above assumption

Answer 12

-The assumption that light is coming from above. This is a heuristic that can influence how we perceive three-dimensional objects that are illuminated.

Question 13

Likelihood

Answer 13

• In Bayesian inference, the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome.

Question 14

Likelihood principle

Answer 14

-Part of Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference that states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received.

Question 15

Object discrimination problem

Answer 15

• A problem in which the task is to remember an object based on its shape and choose it when presented with another object after a delay.
• Associated with research on the what processing stream.

Question 16

Oblique effect

Answer 16

-The finding that vertical and horizontal orientations can be perceived more easily than other (slanted) orientations.

Question 17

Perception

Answer 17

-Conscious experience that results from stimulation of the senses.

Question 18

Perception pathway

Answer 18

• Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognizing objects.
• Corresponds to the what pathway.

Question 19

Physical regularities

Answer 19

-Regularly occurring physical properties of the environment. For example, there are more vertical and horizontal orientations in the environment than oblique (angled) orientations.

Question 20

Principle of good continuation

Answer 20

-Law of perceptual organization stating that points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together. In addition, lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path.

Question 21

Principle of good figure (AKA law of good figure and the law of simplicity)

Answer 21

-Law of perceptual organization that states that every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible.

Question 22

Principle of similarity

Answer 22

-Law of perceptual organization that states that similar things appear to be grouped together.

Question 23

Principles of perceptual organization

Answer 23

-Rules proposed by the Gestalt psychologists to explain how small elements of a scene or a display become perceptually grouped to form larger units. These “laws” are described as “heuristics” in this book.

Question 24

Regularities in the environment

Answer 24

• Characteristics of the environment that occur frequently.
• For example, blue is associated with open sky, landscapes are often green and smooth, and verticals and horizontals are often associated with buildings

Question 25

Prior probability (AKA Prior)

Answer 25

-A person’s initial belief about the probability of an outcome.

Question 26

Scene schema

Answer 26

• A person’s knowledge about what is likely to be contained in a particular scene. This knowledge can help guide attention to different areas of the scene.
• For example, knowledge of what is usually in an office may cause a person to look toward the desk to see the computer.

Question 27

Semantic regularities

Answer 27

-Characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes. For example, food preparation, cooking, and perhaps eating occur in a kitchen.

Question 28

Speech segmentation

Answer 28

-The process of perceiving individual words within the continuous flow of the speech signal.

Question 29

Theory of natural selection

Answer 29

-Darwin’s theory that characteristics that enhance an animal’s ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on to future generations.

Question 30

Top-down processing

Answer 30

-Processing that involves a person’s knowledge or expectations. This type of processing has also been called knowledge-based processing.

Question 31

Unconscious inference

Answer 31

-Helmholtz’s idea that some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment. See also Likelihood principle.

Question 32

Viewpoint invariance

Answer 32

-The ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoints.

Question 33

What pathway

Answer 33

• Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognizing objects.
• Corresponds to the perception pathway.

Question 34

Where pathway

Answer 34

• Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe, that is associated with neural processing that occurs when people locate objects in space.
• Roughly corresponds to the action pathway.