Visual Perception - Perceptual Set And Illusions Flashcards
What is the difference between physiological and psychological factors of a perceptual set?
Physiological: how our eyes, nervous system and brain physically process information
Psychological: mental processes including context, motivation, emotional state, past experience and cultural factors.
Define: perceptual set
Our predisposition to perceive something in accordance with what we expect it to be.
What are the psychological factors of a perceptual set?
Context, past experience, motivation, emotional state and culture
What is context in perceptual set and provide an example? How can it lead to inaccurate interpretations?
The setting or environment in which a perception was formed
Eg if you saw a bright in the sky a) in outback Australia or b) on New Year’s Eve you’d probably interpret it as a) a shooting star or b) fireworks
Leads to inaccurate interpretations if something is out of context
What is motivation in perceptual set and provide an example?
Processes with activate behaviours that lead to achieving goals, influences visual perception when we see only what we want to see instead of the real image
Eg watching a football game from two teams perspectives
What is emotional state in perceptual set and provide an example?
Is how we are feeling, eg child scared of the dark thinks a shadow is a ghost
What is past experience in perceptual set and provide an example?
Personal experiences from our past
What is culture in perceptual set and provide an example?
The differing lifestyles of different groups of people
Eg. Malawi people had experiences with dogs but didn’t recognise them as dogs
Define: visual illusion
A consistent misinterpretation of real sensory information
Name two famous types of illusions?
Müller-Lyer illusion (two lines with feather tails) and Ames Room
Biological perspective in Muller Lyer illusion?
Eye movement theory
Because the entire feather tailed line appears bigger than the arrow head, we use more eye movement and therefore perceive it as bigger (although this theory was rejected)
Neuroimaging
Cognitive perspective in Muller Lyer illusion?
Incorrect application of size constancy
Perceive feather tail as being further away than arrowhead
As they are the same size we perceive further away object (feather tail) as being bigger, applying size constancy.
However they not any further away from each other.
Behavioural perspective in Muller Lyer illusion?
Carpented world hypothesis
Because of angles in carpented world, we perceive the feather tail as being further away and the arrow head as being closer.
Therefore, the line which is further away is perceived as being bigger
Socio-cultural perspective in Muller Lyer illusion?
Zulu tribe in Africa live in circular houses, therefore are unaffected by illusion because of no familiarity with the angles of the carpented world
Aboriginal Australians from both carpented and non carpented backgrounds interpreted illusion similarly - suggests the illusion is altered based on race/education rather than environment
