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GCSE Psychology > unit 2 - perception > Flashcards

unit 2 - perception Flashcards

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1
Q

sensation

A

physical stimulation of the sensory receptors is processed by sense receptors which our brain interprets to lead to perception

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2
Q

perception

A

the organisation and interpretation of sensory information

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3
Q

what is the difference between sensation and perception

A

sensation is the detection of a stimulus in the environment

perception is the brain interpreting and understanding these sensations

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4
Q

visual cues

A

features of the environment that give us information about movement, distance etc.

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5
Q

visual constancies

A

seeing objects as the same despite seeing them from different angles and distances

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6
Q

give two examples of binocular depth cues

A

retinal disparity

convergence

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7
Q

what is retinal disparity

A

each eyes sees things differently as they are positioned about 6cm apart on the face
retinal disparity is the difference between the left and right eye’s view which the brain receives to give information about depth and distance

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8
Q

what is convergence

A

our eyes converge/become closer together when objects get closer to us
muscles around our eyes work harder when objects are close and this information is sent to the brain to give information depth and distance

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9
Q

give four examples of monocular depth cues

A

height in plane
relative size
occlusion
linear perspective

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10
Q

what is height in plane

A

objects that are higher up in the visual field appear to be further away

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11
Q

what is relative size

A

smaller objects in the visual field appear further away

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12
Q

what is occlusion

A

objects that are in front of other appear closer to us whilst objects behind other objects seem further away

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13
Q

what is linear perspective

A

when parallel lines converge in the distance, the point at which they come together is perceived to be further away

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14
Q

what are the 4 main explanations for visual illusions

A

size constancy
misinterpreted depth cues
ambiguous figures
fiction

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15
Q

describe size constancy as an explanation for visual illusions

A

the brain perceives familiar objects as a constant size despite the size of the image they produce on a our retina changing with distance

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16
Q

describe misinterpreted depth cues as an explanation for visual illusions

A

objects in the distance that appears smaller are scaled up by our brain so that they look normal size
sometimes the brain perceives distance where there isn’t any which creates a visual illusion

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17
Q

describe ambiguous figures as an explanation for visual illusions

A

a type of visual illusion where there are two possible interpretations of the same image, and the brain cannot decide which one to choose

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18
Q

describe fiction as an explanation for visual illusions

A

a type of visual illusion that causes the brain to perceive something that is not there

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19
Q

give 6 examples of visual illusions

A 
Ponzo illusion
Müller-Lyer illusion
Necker cube
Kanizsa triangle
Ames room
Rubin's vase
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20
Q

explain Ponzo’s illusion

A

MISINTERPRETED DEPTH CUES
converging lines creates the illusion of distance - the brain uses SIZE CONSTANCY and mentally scales up the more distant line and scales down the closer line

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21
Q

explain Müller-Lyer illusion

A

MISINTERPRETED DEPTH CUES
ingoing fins are shaped like the outside of a building and outgoing fins are shaped like the corner of a room stretching away from us
this gives the illusion of distance and so we mentally scale up the line that appears further away (outgoing fins) so it appears longer

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22
Q

explain Necker cube

A

AMBIGUOUS FIGURES

the same image of the cube can be perceived as pointing upwards to the right or downwards to the left

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23
Q

explain Kanizsa triangle

A

FICTION

illusory contours create the impression that a second triangle is overlapping the first one

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24
Q

explain Ames room

A

MISINTERPRETED DEPTH CUE

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25
Q

explain Rubin’s vase

A

AMBIGUOUS FIGURE

the image can either be perceived as a vase or two faces staring at each other

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26
Q

describe Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception and the 4 main parts

A

proposes that we use past experience to make sense of the world around us
perception is a construction - the brain uses incoming information from our eyes as well as using information that we already know about the world
inference - the brain uses sensory information that is available and then fills in the gaps, past experience allows us to infer what should be there
visual cues - when making inferences, features of the environment gives the brain information about depth, distance etc.
past experience - perception depends on experience which is learned, the more we interact with the world, the more sophisticated our perception becomes

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27
Q

give 3 evaluation points of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception

A

STRENGTH - supported by research in other cultures
WEAKNESS - explains visual illusions but may not tell us much about wider world
WEAKNESS - doesn’t explain how perception begins

28
Q

describe a strength of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception

A
  • the theory has good support from studies that show cultural differences in perception
  • research is different parts of the world has found that people interrpet visual cues differently
  • this suggests that their different experiences have affected their perception and perception is learned
29
Q

describe two weakness of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception

A
  • Gregory’s use of visual illusions to support his theory is a weakness
  • they are artificial 2D images that are deliberately designed to fool us so his theory may not tell us much about perception in the real world
  • Gregory’s theory can’t explain how perception begins in the first place
  • research (Fantz) showed that babies have some perceptual abilities at birth, preferring human faces over random patterns
  • this suggests that perception is not all the result of our experience
30
Q

describe Gibson’s direct theory of perception and the 4 main parts

A

suggests that the environment gives us all the information we need for perception
direct perception - sensation and perception are the same thing, we don’t need past experience to interpret what we see
optic flow patterns - when moving, the point which we are moving towards remains stationary and everything else moves away from it, this is detected by our eyes and tells our brain that we are moving so we know our speed and direction of travel
motion parallax - a monocular depth cue which tells the brain the speed at which we are moving - objects closer in our visual field appear to move faster than objects further away
influence of nature - our ability to perceive is innate

31
Q

give 3 brief evaluation points of Gibson’s direct theory of perception

A

STRENGTH - the theory has real world meaning
STRENGTH - scientific evidence from studies of babies
WEAKNESS - struggles to explain visual illusions

32
Q

describe two strengths of Gibson’s direct theory of perception

A
  • the study has real world meaning as the research was based on the experience of pilots from the second world war
  • this makes it more relevant to explain how we perceive the world on a daily basis
  • the theory is supported by scientific evidence in terms of the role of natures
    Gibson and Walk’s study found that very few infants would crawl off a visual cliff suggesting that they were born with an ability to perceive depth which shows that some perception is innate
33
Q

describe one weakness of Gibson’s direct theory of perception

A
  • the theory struggles to explain visual illusions
  • Gibson proposed that we will always perceive accurately but illusions trick the brain into misperceptions which suggests that there is more to perception than his theory suggested.
34
Q

what are the 4 factors that can affect perception

A

expectation
motivation
culture
emotion

35
Q

perceptual set

A

the tendency of our brain to notice certain aspects of the sensory environment more than others

36
Q

culture

A

the social world that surrounds you

37
Q

who investigated the effect of culture on perceptual set

A

Hudson

38
Q

aim of Hudson’s study

A

to find out whether people from different cultural/education backgrounds perceived depth cues in 2D images differently

39
Q

method of Hudson’s study

A
  • showed 2D drawings to South African participants (native black people who were either schooled or unschooled and white people of European descent who were either schooled or unschooled)
  • participants had to say which animal the man was trying to spear
  • the spear pointed to an elephant and an antelope by depth cues suggested that he was really pointing at the antelop
40
Q

results of Hudson’s study

A

despite the picture using height in the visual field and relative size, many believed the spear to be pointing towards the elephant
schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than unschooled participants
white schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than black schooled participants

41
Q

conclusions of Hudson’s study

A

people from different educational/cultural backgrounds use depth cues differently and have a different perceptual set supporting Gregory’s theory that perception (depth cues in this case) is learned

42
Q

give three brief evaluation points of Hudson’s study

A
  • WEAKNESS the instructions may not make sense
  • WEAKNESS some of the participants may have been confused by seeing drawings on paper
  • WEAKNESS the research is from a long time ago and may be poorly designed
43
Q

explain the 3 weaknesses of Hudson’s study

A
  • instructions may not have made sense due to a language barrier meaning translations of the methods may have been unclear which affects the validity of the results
  • some of the participants may have been confused seeing drawings on paper because when they were shown images on familiar materials such as cloth, they gave different answers ; showing that representation affects results
  • the research is from a long time ago and may be poorly designed as early cross cultural studies of perception often did not include proper control group which causes the results of cross cultural differences in perception to lack validity
44
Q

who investigated the effect of emotion on perceptual set

A

McGinnies

45
Q

aim of McGinnies’ study

A

to see whether things that cause anxiety are less likely to be noticed than things that are emotionally neutral

46
Q

method of McGinnies’ study

A

8 male and 8 female students were shown neutral and offensive ‘taboo’ words which flashed on a screen
after each word was shown, participants had to say it aloud
the amount of emotional arousal was measured through galvanic skin response (GSR) which records the electrical changes in the skin

47
Q

results of McGinnies’ study

A

participants took longer to say offensive words like ‘bitch’ and ‘penis’ than neutral words such as ‘apple’ or ‘dance’
taboo words also produced bigger changes in the GSR than neutral words

48
Q

conclusion of McGinnies’ study

A

emotion affects perceptual set

perceptual defence is used by the brain when confronted with words that are offensive or cause anxiety

49
Q

give 3 brief evaluation points of McGinnies’ study

A

STRENGTH - used an objective measurement of emotion
WEAKNESS - delayed recognition may be more to do with embarassment than defence
WEAKNESS - studies in this area are contradictory

50
Q

describe one strength of McGinnies’ study

A

the study used an objective measurement of emotion
they used a scientific method, the galvanic skin response to test biological anxiety responses which produces results that are less open to bias than rating scales, for example

51
Q

describe two weakness of McGinnies’ study

A

delayed recognition may be more to do with embarrassment than defence
participants may have hesitated in giving their response as they were uncomfortable repeating rude words in a study suggesting that awkwardness may have been an EV

studies in this area have contradictory results because sometimes they suggest we are more likely to notice emotional material and sometimes we are less likely
what they do not tell us is why perceptual defence occurs in some situations and why perceptual sensitisation occurs in others
this makes it difficult for psychologists to draw firm conclusions

52
Q

who investigated the effect of motivation on perceptual set

A

Gilchrist and Nesburg

53
Q

aim of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

to find out if food deprivation affects the perception of pictures of food

54
Q

method of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

two groups of students (independent groups) ; one deprived of food for 20 hours and a control group who were not hungry
students were shown four slides each showing a meal, each for 15 secs
the picture was shown again but dimmer and participants had to adjust the lighting to make it look the same as it did before

55
Q

results of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

participants perceived the food as brighter the longer they were deprived of food for
the control group didn’t perceive the food as brighter

56
Q

conclusion of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

being deprived of food increases perceptual sensitivity

shows that hunger is motivating factor that affects the way in which food related imaged are perceived

57
Q

give three brief evaluation points of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

STRENGTH - similar studies have found similar results
WEAKNESS - studies in this area are unethical
WEAKNESS - not like everyday life

58
Q

describe one strength of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

similar studies have found similar results
Sanford deprived participants of food and showed them ambiguous pictures ; the longer they were deprived of food, the more likely they were to see food
this increases the validity of this study’s results

59
Q

describe two weaknesses of Gilchrist and Nesburg’s study

A

studies in this area are unethical because depriving participants of food and water could cause them to feel uncomfortable.
you should not do this in psychological research

this study was unlike everyday life because participants were asked to judge pictures of good rather than real food making it harder to apply the results to situations in the real world

60
Q

who investigated the effect of expectation on perceptual set

A

Bruner and Minturn

61
Q

aim of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

to find out whether an ambiguous figure was seen differently if the context of the figure was changed

62
Q

method of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

an independent groups design was used where participants were either presented with a sequence of letters or a sequence of numbers with the same ambiguous figure in the middle
this figure could be perceived as the letter B or the number 13
participants had to report and also draw what they saw

63
Q

results of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

those who saw a sequence of letter were more likely to report the figure as being the letter B and were also more likely to draw a ‘B’
if shown numbers, they were more likely to say it was the number 13 and drew ‘13’

64
Q

conclusions of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

expectation of what the figure represented was affected by the context that the figure was presented in

65
Q

give 3 brief evaluation points of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

STRENGTH - the study has real life application
WEAKNESS - used an artificial task
WEAKNESS - there were individual difference between groups

66
Q

describe one strength of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

the study has real life application
it can explain errors that people make as the results suggest that expectations can influence perception, which helps to explain why people make sometimes serious mistakes on tasks in the real world

67
Q

describe two weakness of Bruner and Minturn’s study

A

the study used an artificial task
ambiguous figures are designed to specifically trick perception which causes the results to lack validity

there were individual difference between groups because an independent groups design was used
this is an issue as differences in perception between the groups may have been due to participants variables rather their expectations

GCSE Psychology (8 decks)

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