Attention and Perception (Chapter 8)

Question 1

attention

Answer 1

is the process of focusing on specific stimuli whilst ignoring and therefore excluding others.

Question 2

selective attention

Answer 2

focusing our mental resources on one stimulus at the exclusion of other stimuli.

Question 3

divided attention

Answer 3

splitting attention across two or more stimuli at the same time.

Question 4

sustained attention

Answer 4

also known as vigilance, involves maintaining a high degree of attention over a prolonged period.

Question 5

bottom-up processing

Answer 5

perception is determined by incoming sensory info, moving from specific stimulus info to general knowledge.

Question 6

top-down processing

Answer 6

perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge (schemas) to specific stimulus info.

Question 7

what are the stages of perception?

Answer 7

selection
organisation
interpretation

Question 8

what is selection

Answer 8

choosing relevant features

Question 9

what is organisation

Answer 9

when selected features are regrouped

Question 10

what is interpretation

Answer 10

when organised sensory info is understood and given meaning

Question 11

schema

Answer 11

our pre-existing mental ideas relating to a given concept that helps us organise and interpret new info

Question 12

salient

Answer 12

distinctive, prominent or important

Question 13

perception

Answer 13

is the process by which we interpret and give meaning to sensory info.

Question 14

visual perception

Answer 14

meaningfully interpreting visual stimuli

Question 15

gestalt principles

Answer 15

a set of principles that allow us to organise and group separate visual stimuli into a meaningful whole.

Question 16

what are the 4 gestalt principles?

Answer 16

figure-ground
closure
similarity
proximity

Question 17

figure-ground

Answer 17

the tendency to perceive some figures as being at the front of an image (foreground) and others as falling into the background.

Question 18

closure

Answer 18

tendency to mentally complete images that are otherwise incomplete.

Question 19

similarity

Answer 19

the tendency to perceive parts of the visual image that have similar features as belonging together in one group, unit or ‘whole’

Question 20

proximity

Answer 20

the tendency to group items in an image based on their physical closeness to one another

Question 21

binocular depth cues

Answer 21

depth cues that rely on information from both eyes.

Question 22

what are the two binocular depth cues?

Answer 22

retinal disparity and convergence

Question 23

retinal disparity

Answer 23

refers to the difference or disparity between the different images received on the retina of either eye.

Question 24

convergence

Answer 24

when the brain detects depth from changes that occur In the eye muscle.

Question 25

monocular depth cues

Answer 25

cues to assist the perception of depth that only requires information from one eye.

Question 26

what are the three monocular depth cues?

Answer 26

- accommodation - pictorial depth cues - motion parallax

Question 27

motion parallax

Answer 27

when the perception of movement is used to gauge how far away things are.

Question 28

accommodation

Answer 28

when the brain receives info about the lens changing, and uses this info to infer the distance of an object from the eye.

Question 29

pictorial depth cues

Answer 29

monocular depth cues that allow us to perceive depth/distance in a two-dimensional image

Question 30

what are the 5 pictorial depth cues?

Answer 30

- linear perspective - relative size - interposition - texture gradient - height in visual field

Question 31

linear perspective

Answer 31

is based on the apparent convergence of parallel lines as the lines recede into the distance

Question 32

relative size

Answer 32

the tendency to perceive the object that makes a larger retinal image as being closer than the object that produces a smaller retinal image

Question 33

interposition/ overlap

Answer 33

indicates that if one object partially obscures the retinal image of another object, then it must be closer to the observer.

Question 34

texture gradient

Answer 34

the tendency to perceive objects with less detailed surface features as being further away than objects with more detailed surface features.

Question 35

height in visual field

Answer 35

indicates that objects that are closer to the horizon are perceived as being further away from the observers

Question 36

visual constancies

Answer 36

principles that help maintain the perception of the world as stable despite changes cast onto the retinal image.

Question 37

visual perception principles

Answer 37

the rules that are applied to assist in making consistent meaning to visual information

Question 38

what are the three types of visual constancies?

Answer 38

size, shape and brightness

Question 39

size constancy

Answer 39

involves recognising that an object's actual size remains the same despite changes in the size of the retinal image

Question 40

shape constancy

Answer 40

is the tendency to perceive the shapes of objects as being stable despite changes to the shape of an object as cast on the retina.

Question 41

brightness constancy

Answer 41

is the tendency to visually perceive an object as being the same despite it appearing a different colour/shade

Question 42

perceptual set

Answer 42

the predisposition to perceive an object in a way that is consistent with our expectations.

Question 43

biological factors that affect visual perception

Answer 43

accommodation convergence pictorial depth cues

Question 44

psychological factors that affect visual perception

Answer 44

visual constancies gestalt principles pictorial depth cues

Question 45

social factors that affect visual perception

Answer 45

cultural norms

Question 46

cultural norms

Answer 46

a standard, value or rule that outlines an appropriate behaviour or experience within a culture

Question 47

gustatory perception

Answer 47

is a multisensorial process that relies on info from both our taste buds and our sense of smell

Question 48

taste buds

Answer 48

located around papilla on the tongue and contain taste receptors

Question 49

biological factors that affect taste

Answer 49

age and genetic

Question 50

how does taste sensation work?

Answer 50

chemical molecules from food combine with the saliva on our tongues and stimulate the taste receptors within our taste buds

Question 51

why does ageing affect our taste?

Answer 51

sensitivity to taste diminishes as we age

Question 52

how do genetics affect taste?

Answer 52

some people are supertasters and have an increased sensitivity to taste and other people are non-tasters and have a decreased sensitivity to taste.

Question 53

psychological factors that affect taste

Answer 53

appearance food packaging

Question 54

how does appearance affect the taste?

Answer 54

colour and shape when colours are changed accurate assessment of flavours is lowered and are perceived as having something wrong. round shapes are perceived to be sweet whereas cornered shapes are perceived to be more bitter and savoury

Question 55

how does food packaging affect the taste?

Answer 55

it can give the impression of higher quality food and therefore a better taste.

Question 56

Social Factors that Affect Taste

Answer 56

culture

Question 57

how does culture affect the taste?

Answer 57

different cultures are accustomed to different flavours.

Question 58

depth perception

Answer 58

the ability to interpret the world as 3-dimensional.