Unit 2 - Perceptual Organization

Question 1

Before considering the design of written communication, it is appropriate to discuss aspects of the .This might affect

Answer 1

receiver’s perceptual behaviour
(written communication = text, pictures, graphs)
- this might affect how the message could be perceived and recognized

Question 2

what 2 features are important in perceptual behaviour?

Answer 2

1) The ways in which the eyes are made to move over the presented information and then begin the process of reception
2) how the observer integrates andorganizes the information. This is the process of perception

Question 3

which requires more active processes: listening to a lecture or reading a course textbook?

Answer 3

reading textbook
- it’s possible to hear speech and sounds quite passively, especially without a response needed
- reading words and pictures is a very active process

Question 4

describe perception in the context of eye movements

Answer 4

• since we require the center area of the retina, near the fovea, the eyes constantly have to be moved to bring parts of the displayed material into view
• visual scanning during reading is characterized by a succession of fast movements and stationary periods
• the fast jerks - saccades
• stationary points - fixations
  (even during fixation periods the eye makes relatively small tremors)

Question 5

visual scanning during reading is characterized by a _

Answer 5

succession of fast movements and stationary periods

Question 6

what are fast eye jerks called?
what are stationary points called?

Answer 6

saccades, fixations

Question 7

the 2 important parametersof saccadic movements that relate to reading efficiency are the _ and _

Answer 7

the duration of each fixation and the number of fixations required

Question 8

the average length of a saccade appears to be _

Answer 8

~2 degrees of visual angle (or about 8,12-point character spaces)

Question 9

for skilled readers, the average fixation duration is _

Answer 9

~200-250 ms
- but, there’s a great deal of individual variation

Question 10

describe the individual variation in fixation duration/saccade length

Answer 10

even for a single person reading, saccade lengths often range from 2-18 character positions or more, and fixation durations range from 100-500+ ms

Question 11

describe perception in the context of eye movements - reading

Answer 11

• left to right
• the eye’s movements also include a third characteristic, regressions
• a regression is a movement in the opposite direction to the normal saccadic scan
• occurs ~10-20% of the time in skilled readers
• occurs when the reader has difficulty understanding the text, misinterprets it, and/or when the reader overshoots the next fixation target

Question 12

a regression is _

Answer 12

a movement in the opposite direction to the normal saccadic scan

Question 13

describe perceptual organization and visual searching

Answer 13

• the way our eyes move over printed material, then, influence the extent to which the material will be received
• it has been argued by Rayner (1977) that eye movements are controlled by the observer’s cognitive processes occuring at the time
• this process monitoring hypothesis, then, suggests some form of complex interplay between our perception and understanding of what is being read and eye movement control during reading

Question 14

it has been argued by Rayner (1977) that_

Answer 14

eye movements are controlled by the observer’s cognitive processes occuring at the time

Question 15

one theory to explain how we organize our perceptual world is from _

Answer 15

the 1920s from German Gestalt School of Psychology

Question 16

The Gestaltist’s predictions regarding perceptual organization provide _. What is the theory?

Answer 16

somevery simple suggestions as to how textual (and other) information should be arranged for easy perception

Question 17

What is the theory of Gestaltists?

Answer 17

Theory: individual stimuli are grouped together during perception into wholes or Gestalts

Question 18

describe wholes/gestalts

Answer 18

these gestaults posses features of their own that are not obvious from an examination of their individual parts
- eg. book (the whole book is an entity in itself, it has meaning to you as a book)
- the book is comprised of different features, don’t see the object in this way & we see it as a ‘whole’
- the words or pages themselves to not imply the book - it is the whole book that implies ‘a book’

Question 19

one of the main aims of Gestalt Psychologists has been to_

Answer 19

specify the principles by which individual items are combined into larger, organized wholes

Question 20

name the 7 gestalt principles

Answer 20

• proximity
• similarity
• continuity
• closure
• figure-ground
• common fate
• symmetry & order

Question 21

define proximity

Answer 21

close objects are perceived as a group

Question 22

define similarity

Answer 22

similar objects are perceived as a group

Question 23

define closure

Answer 23

we complete missing parts

Question 24

define symmetry & order

Answer 24

symmetrical and orderly elements are perceived as a group

Question 25

define common fate

Answer 25

objects moving together are perceived as a group

Question 26

define figure-ground

Answer 26

we perceive objects in the foreground or back

Question 27

define continuity

Answer 27

elements on a line or curve are related

Question 28

what are some common mistakes to avoid when applying gestalt theory that we discussed in class?

Answer 28

• if phone apps not grouped properly, take more time
• in maps can result in getting lost

Question 29

Gestalt psychology suggests that _ (perceptual organization review)

Answer 29

humans don’t focus on separate components but instead tend to perceive objects as elements of more complex systems
- how we perceive objects, shapes, and forms as whole entities rather than separate parts

Question 30

out mind organizes _into _ following the Gestalt principles

Answer 30

sensory inputs, meaningful wholes