Chapter 3

Question 1

Define perception

Answer 1

The process of taking sensory information and interpreting it meaningfully

Question 2

What is the central problem of perception

Answer 2

Explaining how we attach meaning to sensory info

Question 3

What two things do cognitive psychologists seek to understand in terms of perception

Answer 3

how people learn and understand object’s function
role of learning in perception

Question 4

What are distal stimuli

Answer 4

Objects in the real world

Question 5

What is a proximal stimulus

Answer 5

Received information, registered by the senses

Question 6

What is a percept

Answer 6

The meaningful interpretation of a proximal stimulus

Question 7

What is the gestalt approach

Answer 7

stimuli close in space and time grouped into patterns/wholes with properties that individual stimuli lack

Question 8

What is a simpler way of describing the gestalt approach

Answer 8

Interpreting the stimulus arrays as consisting of objects and backgrounds

Question 9

What are the five gestalt principles of organization

Answer 9

proximity
similarity
good continuation
closure
common fate
(Perceive Some Girl Called Caroline)

Question 10

What is the principle of proximity

Answer 10

leads us to group together objects that are nearer to each other

Question 11

Principle of similarity

Answer 11

We perceive elements that are similar in groups

Question 12

Principle of good continuation

Answer 12

We group together objects that would form a continuous straight or curved line

Question 13

Principle of closure

Answer 13

We perceive objects as closed, complete figures, even when we have to mentally “fill in the gaps” to do so

Question 14

Principle of common fate

Answer 14

Elements that move together will be grouped together

Question 15

What do the five gestalt principles of organization make up

Answer 15

Law of pragnanz

Question 16

What are the three theories of the bottom-up processes

Answer 16

Template matching
Featural analysis
Prototype matching

Question 17

What is bottom up processing?

Answer 17

Distal stimulus -> processing

Question 18

What is template matching

Answer 18

pattern recognition happens by comparing stimulus pattern to mental images of patterns until match is found

Question 19

What are the three problems with template matching

Answer 19

have to store large set of templates
Recognizing new objects
Recognizing variations on an object, such as a sentence written in different handwriting

Question 20

What is featural analysis

Answer 20

Assumes we analyze a stimulus into parts called features in order to recognize the whole

Question 21

What is the benefit of featural analysis

Answer 21

Fits neurological evidence for feature detectors in the retinas of some animals. Certain cells respond strongly to borders between light and dark and are called edge-detectors

Question 22

Who founded featural analysis

Answer 22

Hubel and Wiesel

Question 23

How did Hubel and Wiesel study featural analysis

Answer 23

Stimulus shown to cat with a recording electrode in the visual area of brain

Question 24

Who founded the theory of object recognition

Answer 24

Biederman

Question 25

Describe the object of recognition

Answer 25

People segment objects into simple geometric componenets combined to form common objects

Question 26

What are simple geometric components known as

Answer 26

Geons

Question 27

What are the three limits of featural models

Answer 27

No definition of what is/isn’t a feature different sets of features for different objects - how can we know which set to use? If same set of features applies to all objects, then large list of possible

Question 28

Describe prototype matching

Answer 28

Sensory input is matched to an idealized representation in memory (prototype) Perfect match not required, and relationship between features is important

Question 29

What is the prototype effect in face recognition

Answer 29

Tendency to recognize the face corresponding to the central value of a series of seen faces, even when this central value/prototype has not been seen

Question 30

What are the limits of bottom-up theories

Answer 30

dont explain context effects. Accuracy and length of time needed to recognize objects vary with context

Question 31

What is the context effect

Answer 31

Context in which a pattern/object appears sets up certain expectations in the perceiver

Question 32

What is the theory of top-down processing directed by

Answer 32

Expectations derived from context (expectation -> distal stimuli)

Question 33

How are top-down processes and bottom-up processes related

Answer 33

Interact in order to allow you to perceive objects

Question 34

What are the three theories of top-down processes

Answer 34

David Marr's theory Perceptual learning Word superiority effect

Question 35

What are the four aspects of David Marr's theory

Answer 35

Input image -> primal sketch -> 2.5D sketch -> 3D model representation

Question 36

What is the input image

Answer 36

Perceived intensities

Question 37

What is the primal sketch and what dictates it

Answer 37

Blobs, edges, vertical lines, curves, boundaries Bottom-up processes

Question 38

What is the 2.5D sketch and what dictates it

Answer 38

Local surface orientation/discontinuities, in depth/in surface orientation Bottom-up processes

Question 39

What is the 3D model representation and what dictates it

Answer 39

3D models hierarchically corganized in terms of surface and volumetric primitives Bottom up processes with top down processes incorporated

Question 40

What is perceptual learning

Answer 40

Process by which the ability of sensory systems to respond to stimuli is improved through experience

Question 41

How does perceptual learning occur

Answer 41

Through sensory interaction with the environment as well as through practice in performing specific sensory tasks

Question 42

What do perceptually practiced individuals learn

Answer 42

What aspects of the stimulus to attend to

Question 43

What happened in the Gibson perceptual learning study

Answer 43

Over time, participants learned to recognize copies of original stimulus, through learning to pay attention to features that they had not noticed earlier

Question 44

Who was Eleanor Jack Gibson

Answer 44

American psychologist who focused on reading development and perceptual learning in infants

Question 45

What is an example of top-down processing

Answer 45

The word superiority effect

Question 46

How are faces perceived

Answer 46

In a holistic manner, rather than as a collection of features

Question 47

What is the constructivist approach to perception

Answer 47

The proximal stimulus doesnt contain all information needed to identify it. So, observers use their knowledge to fill gaps

Question 48

What is the direct perception theory

Answer 48

World offers so much info that there is little need to construct representations and draw inferences

Question 49

What is direct perception theory also known as

Answer 49

Gibson Theory

Question 50

What is the classical bottom up view

Answer 50

Matching the event or stimulus with what has been stored in memory; meaning is deducted

Question 51

What is Gibson's direct perception

Answer 51

The richness of the stimulation, or higher order pattern is sufficient for perception; meaning is derived

Question 52

What is a key element to Gibson's direct perception theory

Answer 52

Action possibilities

Question 53

What are action possibilities

Answer 53

Potential for action is derived directly from stimulation without significant intermediate stages involving memory or inferences

Question 54

What is Gibsons theory in terms of light/retina

Answer 54

Light hitting retina contains highly organized info requiring little or no interpretation. Info exists not merely in the environment, but in the animal-environment ecosystem