Theoretical Approaches Terms Flashcards
Distal Stimulus
object or event in the environment
Eg baking cookies
Information Medium
environmental energy (or chemicals) carrying information from the object
eg. photons reflecting off surface of cookies, molecules released from cookies into the air
Proximal Stimulus
information about a distal stimulus the impinges upon receptors
eg. photons striking receptors on retina, molecules contacting olfactory epithelium in nasal cavity
Perceptual Object
mental representation of the distal stimulus
Eg. concept of baking cookies activated
Underdetermination
exists when proximal stimulus information, by itself, cannot lead to a unique distal stimulus interpretation, what theories try to solve/explain
Systematic Introspection
analysis of one’s own conscious experience to determine the structure of perceptual phenomena, designed to overcome contamination by stimulus error. Involved in structuralist approach
eg. Lemonade made up of sweet taste, an acid taste, a scent, a sensation of temperature and pricking sensation
Stimulus Error
an observer’s tendency to report what they know an object to be rather than to report the sensations that led to such an inference
Environmental Field
all things that influence perception, organization of set of interacting events, part of the Gestalt Approach
eg. in apparent movement, two independent stimuli induce two neural fields which interact yielding a unitary percept
Unconscious Inference
apart of the constructive approach,
vision is mediated by thought-like deductions; percepts are actively constructed such that we perceive the object that is most likely to be the cause of our sensory stimulation
Natural Constraints
reduce number of possible distal stimulus interpretations, visual system exploits properties that are generally true of the real world to compute veridical perceptions and overcome underdetermination,
apart of natural computation approach
