Unit 2 AOS 2 SAC

Question 1

attention

Answer 1

the level of awareness directed towards certain stimuli to the exclusion of others

Question 2

divided attention

Answer 2

Splitting attention across two or more stimuli at once

Question 3

selective attention

Answer 3

Exclusively focusing attention on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring all others

Question 4

sustained attention

Answer 4

focusing on one stimulus or task across a prolonged, continuous period of time

Question 5

top down processing + example

Answer 5

when perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations. e.g. expecting something to be a certain way

Question 6

bottom up processing + example

Answer 6

when perception is determined by incoming sensory information, e.g. reading an unfamiliar text or learning a language

Question 7

gestalt principles

Answer 7

figure ground, closure, similarity, proximity

Question 8

figure ground

Answer 8

dividing a visual scene into a figure, which stands out and its background

Question 9

closure

Answer 9

perceptual tendency to mentally close up gaps in a visual image to percieve objects as complete

Question 10

similarity

Answer 10

percieving parts of a visual image that have similar features as part of the same group

Question 11

proximity

Answer 11

perceiving parts of a visual image that are close together as part of the same group

Question 12

depth cues

Answer 12

visual clues that allow someone to judge the distance and depth of stimuli or their environment

Question 13

monocular depth cues + examples

Answer 13

require only one eye,
pictoral depth cues and accomodation

Question 14

Pictoral depth cues

Answer 14

external clues provided by the environment, assist the brain in determining depth and distance
Linear perspective
interposition
texture gradient
relative size
height in the visual field

Question 15

linear perspective

Answer 15

two parallel lines that converge together as they move further away

Question 16

interposition

Answer 16

when two images overlap each other, one object is partially blocked by something making it appear further away

Question 17

texture gradient

Answer 17

level of detail in an environment, when an object is less detailed, it is percieved as being further away

Question 18

height in the visual field

Answer 18

uses the horizon to determine how far away an object is. the closer to the horizon, the further away the object is

Question 19

relative size

Answer 19

size of the image that is recieved by the retina. the larger the image, the closer it is

Question 20

perceptual constancies

Answer 20

perceiving an object as remaning stable and constant despite any changes that may occur to the actual image

Question 21

size constancy

Answer 21

percieving an object as remaining the same size, just moving closer or further away

Question 22

shape constancy

Answer 22

perceiving an object as the same shape, despite the shape that is cast on the retina, just moving closer or further away

Question 23

perceptual set

Answer 23

the readiness to perceive something how we expect it to be. Makes us more likely to interpret object or event in a predetermined way

Question 24

factors influencing perceptual set

Answer 24

contect, motivation, emotional state, past experience, culture

Question 25

culture

Answer 25

the way of life of a particular community or group that sets it apart from other communities and groups

Question 26

sensation

Answer 26

the process of recieving and detecting raw sensory information via our sensory organs and sending it to the brain

Question 27

perception

Answer 27

the process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory information to be able to understand it

Question 28

muller lyer illusion

Answer 28

the misinterpretation of two lines of equal length, each with different shaped ends. One line has arrowheads and each end, while the other has feathertails.

Question 29

muller lyer link to depth cues

Answer 29

convergence - arrowheads cause eyes to turn inwards, perceiving line as closer
size constancy - feathertail line is perceived as further away

Question 30

muller lyer link to social factors

Answer 30

culture - influenced by familiarity with modern, western building designs (regular rectangular shapes with right angles)

Question 31

extraneous variables

Answer 31

participant variables, placebo effects, experimenter effect, order effects (practice & boredom), non standardised instructions

Question 32

strengths and limitations of between subjects

Answer 32

no order effects, quick inexpensive and appropriate for larger groups

assumes that variation between participants is similar for both groups

Question 33

strengths and limitations of within subjects

Answer 33

individual differences do not influence results

susceptible to order effects

Question 34

counterbalancing

Answer 34

used to overcome the order effect. The order of conditions is split, so potential order effects are averaged out

Question 35

strengths and limitations of mixed design

Answer 35

provides richer understanding of what is being investigated

more difficult to carry out and produces results that can be more difficult to analyse

Question 36

perceptual process - sensation

Answer 36

reception, transduction, transmission

Question 37

reception

Answer 37

initial detection of stimulus in the environment. Eye focuses light onto retina.

Question 38

transduction

Answer 38

energy is recieved by retina and converts into a form that can be sent to the brain via optic nerve

Question 39

transmission

Answer 39

sending information in electrical impulses along the optic nerve

Question 40

perceptual process - perception

Answer 40

selection, organisation, interpretation

Question 41

selection

Answer 41

specialised cells select and filter out visual signals according to certain perceptually important features

Question 42

organisation

Answer 42

brain uses principles (gestalt and depth) to group fragmented signals together

Question 43

interpretation

Answer 43

process of giving meaning to visual information so that we can understand what we are looking at