PERCEPTION more likely to attend to, very much

perceived and are less forgotten.

However, repetition without variation
Learning Objectives: becomes monotonous and dull which
results to boredom and not being
• Give examples of gestalt principles, attended to anymore.
including the figure-ground
relationship, proximity, similarity, • Contrast in the stimulus – a difference in
continuity, and closure color, shape, size from those that are
ordinarily found in the environment may
• Define the basic terminology and basic likely be attended to or very much
principles of multimodal perception perceived by the perceiver.
• Give examples of multimodal and • Movement of the stimulus – a moving
crossmodal behavioral effects object can get more attraction than a
Gestalt principles of perception non-moving object.

literally means “form” or “pattern” • Change in the stimulus – our attention is

more focused to an object that is
Gestalt Psychology - its use reflects the idea constantly changing in form, size, color,
that the whole is different from the sum of its or shape as a result of lighting effect or
parts movement characteristics of these
objects.
• Messages that are sent to the brain,
through the senses, are interpreted by Internal Factors – motives of the perceiver,
the brain. It gives meaning to the training, experiences attitudes, interest and
messages it receives. attention.

• Perception is preceded by sensation. • Motivation – the perceiver is highly

selective due to his motives. He
• Individual behavior is affected by his perceives only those that can fit his
perception. motives. Those stimuli that can fit one’s
needs and desire.
• Our perception is selective.
• Training of the perceiver – a perceiver
Perception is Influenced by Several Factors
with a higher degree of educational
External Factors – intensity of the stimulus, background and training would perceive
repetition if the stimulus, contrast, movement, an object differently. Training enables
and change in the stimulus. one to have an easier, more accurate
perception than the one with less or no
• Intensity for the Stimulus – the more
training at all.
intense the object or sensation is, the
more it is attended to and perceived. • Experience of the perceiver – a
Excessive intensity may be distracting perceiver who has a wider experience of
and unpleasant. an object and event would have a clearer
and better perception.
• Repetition of the stimulus – when a
stimulus is repeated more often, it is
 • Mental Set – when a person’s mind is
focused or directed to an object or
event. That person is able to understand
and perceive clearly what is being
perceived.

• Interest and Attitude – when a person • Continuity - the tendency to perceive

repeats or continuously he is interested things as simply as possible with a
perform a thing, he is interested. continuous pattern rather than with a
Attitude – our view to understand the complex, broken-up pattern.
situation or object in relation to what we
fell about it.

Gestalt Principles

• Figure–ground - the tendency to

perceive objects, or figures, as existing • Contiguity - the tendency to perceive
on a background. two things that happen close together in
time as being related.
• Reversible figures - visual illusions in
which the figure and ground can be
reversed.

• Similarity - the tendency to perceive

things that look similar to each other as
being part of the same group.

• Proximity - the tendency to perceive

objects that are close to each other as
part of the same grouping. IllUSIONS

Learning Objective:

• Explain how and why psychologists use

illusions

WHY ILLUSIONS?

Creation and testing of perceptual illusions has

been a fruitful approach to the study of
• Closure - the tendency to complete perception—particularly visual perception—
figures that are incomplete. since the early days of psychology. People often
think that visual illusions are simply amusing
tricks that provide us with entertainment. Many Light and Size Illusions
illusions are fun to experience, but perception
scientists create illusions based on their
understanding of the perceptual system. Once
they have created a successful illusion, the
scientist can explore what people experience,
what parts of the brain are involved in
interpretation of the illusion, and what variables
increase or diminish the strength of the illusion.
Scientists are not alone in this interest. Visual
artists have discovered and used many illusion- Depth is not the only quality in the world that
producing principles for centuries, allowing them shows how we adjust what we experience to fit
to create the experience of depth, movement, the surrounding world. Look at the two gray
light and shadow, and relative size on two- squares in the figure below. Which one looks
dimensional canvases. darker?

Depth illusion - the ability to perceive the world Which gray square appears darker?
in three dimensions. Most people experience the square on the right
as the darker of the two gray squares. You’ve
probably already guessed that the squares are
actually identical in shade, but the surrounding
area—black on the left and white on the right—
influence how our perceptual systems interpret
the gray area. In this case, the greater difference
in shading between the white surrounding area
and the gray square on the right results in the
experience of a darker square.

Benary Cross

Here is another example below. The two

triangular figures are identical in shade, but the
triangle on the left looks lighter against the dark
background of the cross when compared to the
triangle in the white area on the right.
Müller-Lyer illusion - illusion of line length that is • Perception - the method by which the
distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning sensations experienced at any given
corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of moment are interpreted and organized
equal length to appear to be different. in some meaningful fashion.

• Size constancy - the tendency to

interpret an object as always being the
same actual size, regardless of its
distance.

• Shape constancy - the tendency to

interpret the shape of an object as being
constant, even when its shape changes
Ame’s room illusion on the retina.

• Brightness constancy – the tendency to

perceive the apparent brightness of an
object as the same even when the light
conditions change.

Illusions of Motion: Three examples of shape constancy are shown

here. The opening door is actually many different
autokinetic effect - a small, stationary light in a shapes yet we still see it as basically a rectangular
darkened room will appear to move or drift door. We do the same thing with a triangle and a
because there are no surrounding cues to circle – although when we look at them from
indicate that the light is not moving. differently shaped images on our retina, we
experience them as a trisngle and a circle
stroboscopic motion - seen in motion pictures, in
because of shape constancy.
which a rapid series of still pictures will appear to
be in motion.

phi phenomenon – lights turned on in a

sequence appear to move.
 size appear to be small and are, therefore,
assumed to be much farther away.

This illusion is called the Ebbinghaus illusion,

created by Hermann Ebbinghaus, one of the
early founders of experimental psychology. It is
shown again below.

In this version of the illusion, most people see

the circle on the right as larger than the one on
the left. The two orange circles are exactly the
same size. The Ebbinghaus illusion again Interposition (overlap) - the assumption that an
illustrates the tendency of our perceptual object that appears to be blocking part of
systems to adjust our experience of the world to another object is in front of the second object
the surrounding context. and closer to the viewer.

Monocular Cues

• Monocular cues (pictorial depth cues) –

cues for perceiving depth based on one
eye only.

1. Linear perspective – the

tendency for parallel lines to
appear to converge on each
other. 4. Aerial perspective - the haziness that
surrounds objects that are farther away
from the viewer, causing the distance to
be perceived as greater.

5. Texture gradient - the tendency for

textured surfaces to appear to become
smaller and finer as distance from the
viewer increases.

6. Motion parallax - the perception of

motion of objects in which close objects
appear to move more quickly than
Relative size - perception that occurs when objects that are farther away.
objects that a person expects to be of a certain
 7. Accommodation - as a monocular clue, BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING
the brain’s use of information about the
Starts with incoming stimulus
changing thickness of the lens of the eye
in response to looking at objects that are • Requires no previous knowledge or
close or far away. learning
Binocular Cues

• Binocular cues - cues for perceiving

depth based on both eyes.

1. Convergence - the rotation of

the two eyes in their sockets to
focus on a single object, Top down - helps us recognize patterns, and
resulting in greater convergence these patterns are useful because they help us
for closer objects and lesser understand, simplify on how to interact with the
convergence if objects are world
distant.
Bottom up – helps us create environment that
2. Binocular disparity - the triggers us to create right actions that improve
difference in images between our lives.
the two eyes, which is greater
for objects that are close and Applying Psychology
smaller for distant objects. • Extrasensory Perception (ESP) - claim of
Factors that Influence Perception perception that occurs without the use
of normal sensory channels such as
sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell.

– Telepathy - claimed ability to

read another person’s thoughts,
or mind reading

– Psychokinesis – power to move

objects or break them.

– Clairvoyance - supposed ability

to “see” things that are not
actually present.
TOP-DOWN PROCESSING – Precognition - supposed ability
to know something in advance
h_me of its occurrence or to predict a
future event.
• Uses experience and information
• Parapsychology - the study of ESP,
• Using contextual or general knowledge
ghosts, and other subjects that do not
normally fall into the realm of ordinary
psychology.