Sensation and Perception 5

Question 1

perception

Answer 1

method by which brain takes all sensations person experiences at any given moment and allows them to be interpreted in some meaningful fashion
some individually to it

Question 2

cocktail party effect

Answer 2

ability to focus attention on a specific stimulus while filtering out a myriad of other stimuli
hear what is important to you and filter out (innate) what perceive as less important stimulus

Question 3

size constancy

Answer 3

form of perceptual constancy
tendency to interpret object as always being the same size, regardless of distance from viewer or size of image casts on retina

Question 4

shape constancy

Answer 4

tendency to interpret shape of object as constant, even when changes on retina

Question 5

brightness constancy

Answer 5

tendency to perceive apparent brightness of object as same even when light conditions change

Question 6

gestalt principles of perception

Answer 6

tendency to group objects and perceive whole shapes
following
prox, sim, clos, contin, contig, common region (later)

Question 7

necker cube

Answer 7

problem = conflicting sets of depth cues, so viewer never sure which plane or edge in back and which in front

Question 8

figure-ground relationships

Answer 8

tendency to perceive objects or figures as existing on a background
reversible figures

Question 9

reversible figures

Answer 9

figure and ground seem to switch back and forth

Question 10

proximity

Answer 10

tendency to perceive objects that are close to one another as part of same grouping
nearness

Question 11

similarity

Answer 11

tendency to perceive things that look similar as being part of same group

Question 12

closure

Answer 12

tendency to complete figures that are incomplete

Question 13

continuity

Answer 13

tendency to perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex, broken up pattern

Question 14

contiguity

Answer 14

tendency to perceive two things that happen close together in time as being related
first event seen as causing second
ventriloquy

Question 15

common region

Answer 15

not one of original principles
palmer
tendency to perceive objects that are in a common area or region as being in a group

Question 16

depth perception

Answer 16

capability to see world in three dimensions
present in infants at young age
cues for perceiving depth = monocular cues and binocular cues

Question 17

visual cliff study

Answer 17

babies on table with pattern on half of top and bottom of other half, babies don’t want to go where pattern is on bottom, have some depth perception
gibson and walk

Question 18

monocular cues

Answer 18

depth cue
use of only one eye
aka pictorial depth cues bc artists can use cues to give illusion of depth to paintings and drawings
linear perspective, relative size, overlap, aerial perspective, texture gradient, motion parallax, accommodation

Question 19

binocular cues

Answer 19

depth cue
need both eye visual fields
convergene, binocular disparity

Question 20

linear perspective

Answer 20

tendency for lines that are actually parallel to seem to converge on each other
people assume converging lines indicate ends of lines are great distance away from where people are
m

Question 21

relative size

Answer 21

size constancy
objects that people expect to be of a certain size appear to be small and are, therefore, assumed to be much farther away
m

Question 22

overlap

Answer 22

aka interposition
if one object seems to be blocking another object, people assume blocked object is behind first one and, therefore, farther away
m

Question 23

aerial (atmospheric) perspective

Answer 23

farther away object is, hazier the object will appear to be due to tiny particles of dust, dirt, and other pollutants in the air
m

Question 24

texture gradient

Answer 24

used by artists to give illusion of depth in painting
close things distinctly textured, but farther things = texture smaller and finer
m

Question 25

motion parallax

Answer 25

discrepancy in motion of near and far objects
in car, trees go by quickly but mountain move slower
m

Question 26

accommodation

Answer 26

monocular but not pictorial
muscular cue
brain uses info about visual accommodation (lens changes shape or thickness in response to objects near or far away) as a cue for distance

Question 27

convergence

Answer 27

muscular cue
rotation of two eyes in sockets to focus on single object
object close = large convergence (almost crossing eyes)
object far = less convergence
b

Question 28

binocular disparity

Answer 28

bc eyes few inches apart, don’t see exact same image
brain interprets images on retina to determine distance from the eyes
if two images diff, object close, if two images similar, object farther away

Question 29

illusion

Answer 29

perception that doesn’t correspond to reality
distorted perception of something really there
sometimes based on early sensory processes, subsequent processing, or higher level assumptions made by visual system
color afterimages due to opponent processing in retina or lateral geniculate nucleus

Question 30

hermann grid

Answer 30

black squares, white lines, see gray blobs where white lines converge
one ex = responses of neurons in primary visual cortex that respond best to bars of light of specific orientation (simple cells)

Question 31

feature detectors

Answer 31

huber and wiesel
simple cells = respond best to bars of light of specific orientation
complex cells = respond to orientation and movement
end-stopped cells = respond best to corners, culture, or sudden edges
all three kinds collectively = feature detectors bc respond to specific features of stimulus
need straight edges for illusion to occur

Question 32

muller lyer illusion

Answer 32

try to determine if two lines same length
identical but one line looks longer than other (one w angles on end facing out)
people pull inward facing angles toward them like outside corners of building, and make outward facing angles stretch away
western cultures more susceptible to illusion
zulu not susceptible bc few straight lines in culture

Question 33

moon illusion

Answer 33

moon on horizon appears larger than moon in sky
ex = moon in sky alone, no depth cues, but on horizon, moon behind stuff, make horizon seem far away, moon farther away, magnify moon in mind (misapplication of size constancy

Question 34

apparent distance hypothesis

Answer 34

bc people know object farther away from them yet still appear large are large, magnify moon in mind

Question 35

autokinetic effect

Answer 35

small stationary light in dark room appear to move or drift bc no surrounding cues to indicate not moving

Question 36

stroboscopic motion

Answer 36

in movies

rapid series of still pictures seem to be in motion

Question 37

phi phenomenon

Answer 37

lights turned on in sequence appear to move

ex open signs, strings of light

Question 38

rotating snakes illusion

Answer 38

kitaoka

increase in brain activity in visual area sensitive to motion, greatest when w accompanied by guided eye movements

Question 39

enigma

Answer 39

levant
eye movements primary cause for illusory motion in enigma
microsaccades (tiny eye movements) directly linked to perception of motion