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Psychology Chapter 6

I. This chapter discusses various topics related to visual perception including selective attention, perceptual illusions, and organizational processes. II. It explores concepts like gestalt principles, figure-ground perception, and depth perception. It also examines motion perception, perceptual constancy, and factors that influence perceptual development. III. The chapter analyzes theories of perceptual interpretation and adaptation. It also discusses the topics of perceptual set and debates surrounding the existence of extrasensory perception.

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19K views3 pages

Psychology Chapter 6

I. This chapter discusses various topics related to visual perception including selective attention, perceptual illusions, and organizational processes. II. It explores concepts like gestalt principles, figure-ground perception, and depth perception. It also examines motion perception, perceptual constancy, and factors that influence perceptual development. III. The chapter analyzes theories of perceptual interpretation and adaptation. It also discusses the topics of perceptual set and debates surrounding the existence of extrasensory perception.

Uploaded by

cardenass
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Psychology Chapter 6

• Selective attention- the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus,


as in the cocktail party effect
• Inattentional blindness- failing to see visible objects when our attention is
directed elsewhere
• Visual capture- the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses
• Gestalt- on organized whole; emphasize information into meaningful wholes
• Figure-ground- the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that
stand out from their Surroundings (the ground)
• Grouping- the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
• Depth perception- the ability to see objects in 3-d although the images that strike
the retina are 2-d; allows us to judge distance
• Visual cliff- a lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
• Binocular cues- depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that
depend on the use of two eyes
• Retinal disparity- a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by perceiving images from
the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity
(difference) between the two images, the closer the object
• Convergence- a binocular cue to perceiving depth; the extent to which eyes
converge inward when looking at an object. The greater the inwards strain, the
closer the object
• Monocular cues- depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective,
available to either eye alone
• Phi phenomenon- an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent
lights blink on and off in quick succession
• Perceptual constancy- perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and
retinal images change
• Perceptual adaptation- in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or
even inverted visual field
• Perceptual set- a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other
• Human factors psychology- a branch of psychology that explores how people
and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be
made safe and easy to use
• Extrasensory perception (ESP)- the controversial claim that perception can occur
apart from sensory input
• Parapsychology- the study of paranormal phenomenon, including ESP and
psycho kinesis

I. Perception
a. Def- the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensations
b. Selective Attention
i. Cocktail party effect- zooming into what is of greatest interest at
the moment
II. Perceptual Illusions-
a. helps us to understand the concepts involved in processing, organizing,
and interpreting info from senses—(ex-visuals)
b. Visual capture-vision overrides other senses—ex-thinking sound is
coming from the screen at movies.
III. Perceptual Organization-
a. process of organizing sights, sounds, etc. into what we already know
through our experiences.
b. Gestalt principle- “form” or “whole”
i. Early form of psych. that studied how we integrate pieced to
form a whole
ii. Important because they brought the whole cognitive (thinking,
organizing, arranging) concept to psychology
c. Figure ground-
i. tendency to zoom in on a figure and put it on a “background”
ii. Proximity-ex. People sitting/standing by each other-assume they
are together
iii. Similarity-grouping like things together
iv. Continuity—continuation of the “line”
v. Closure—tendency to fill in the gaps
vi. Correctedness—tendency to “fix” things-ex-rounded corners on a
triangle
d. Depth Perception—tendency to see things in 3D so that we can judge
distance.
i. Seems in to partly innate-babies on the cliff experiments.
ii. Binocular cues-our 2 eyes see 2 different things=retinal disparity-
brain weaves the 2 together to give a good estimate of different
objects-similar to using 3D photography which uses 2 different
cameras
iii. Monocular cues-adjusting to using just one eye to judge distance
or relative height=relative clarity (closing one eye to see more
clearly)—in art, closer objects appear clearer and than objects in a
distance—true skill of great artists.
1. Linear perspective-convergence of lines at a distance-ex.
Runway
e. Motion Perception
i. Phi phenomena-when two adjacent stationery lights blink off and
on in such quick succession that an illusion of movement is created
—Times Square
ii. Stroboscopic movement-quick, successive, briefly flashed
images as in animated cartoons.
f. Perceptual Constancy-perceiving objects correctly regardless of
distance, light, angle=ex. A horse is a horse of course, of course,
regardless of where you stand in relation to the horse.

IV. Interpretations
a. Critical period in perceptual development-use it or lose it.
i. Color and figure ground are all that seem to be innate.
ii. Immanuel Kant=perceptual understanding comes from inborn ways
of organizing sensory experiences. If there is no exposure, neural
connections in the brain will not be formed.
b. Perceptual adaptations-with time, humans can adapt to all kinds of
topsy-turvy if they have to-ex. Upside down glasses. (Some other animals
cannot adapt)
c. Perceptual set-mental predisposition to hear or see things that are not
there.=ex. SEX in the clouds in Lion King/Aladdin myths/Wizard of Oz
i. -set has value in that it enhances our ability to read and understand
context cues/ not good when we tend to stereotype what we
see/hear/read (see examples)
V. ESP: perception apart from sensory input
a. Terminology:
i. Clairvoyance- seeing things
ii. Telepathy- passing information through thoughts
iii. Precognition- perceive/ predict future events
b. most scientists are skeptical about ESP
c. people want to believe in it

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