ch. 4 Flashcards
(19 cards)
sensations
basic, immediate experiences that a stimulus (such as sound) elicits in a sense organ (such as the ear)
perception
process of interpreting, organizing, and often elaborating on sensations
transduction
process by which sensory organs transform mechanical, chemical, or light energy into the electrochemical energy that is generated by neurons firing
* before we can perceive our environment, all sensory input must be transformed into neural activity that can be processed by the brain
synesthesia
a condition in which one type of sensory stimulation evokes the sensation of another, like the ability to hear flavors or see sounds
figure
the part of an image on which we focus our attention
figure ground discrimination
you see stuff bc you can separate objects from the background
illusory contours
a line/boundary that doesn’t really exist
Gestalt laws of grouping
proximity: objects close together are perceived as belonging together
similarity: similar objects are perceived as belonging together
good continuity: objects that continue a patter are grouped together. we want to interpret things that make the most continuous sense
closure
perceptual organizing principle that we tend to perceive incomplete figures as complete
we close figures to make the simplest possible figure
common fate
objects that move together are perceived as belonging together, i.e. common fate
binocular cues
visual cues for depth/distance that depend on both eyes working together
what are the two binocular cues
binocular disparity (for depth) + convergence (for distance)
stereopsis
when you merge the 2 disparate images into 1 (at a distance)
binocular disparity
you see 2 disparate images simultaneously, leads to stereopsis in the brain.
* is a binocular cue for depth
convergence
the two eyes must converge/rotate towards the inside to perceive objects closer than 25 ft. the closer the object, the more rotation, the more eye strain
* is a binocular cue for distance
what are the monocular cues for distance?
overlap/interposition, linear perspective, relative size, texture gradients, aerial perspective, motion parallax
what is a monocular cue for depth?
height on a plane / elevation above horizon
distance b/w an object above the horizon tells us ab distance. higher above the horizon = closer
Gibson’s theory of direct perception
a theory of perception that argues that all information necessary for perception is available to the sensory system and no cognitive processing is necessary to complete the perceptual process
stereogram
optical illusions of depth created from flat, 2-D images
