Chapter 8 - Attention and perception

Question 1

Attention

Answer 1

actively focusing on particular information while simultaneously ignoring other information

Question 2

Internal stimuli

Answer 2

information or sensations that originate from within the body

Question 3

External stimuli

Answer 3

information or sensations that originate from outside the body

Question 4

Sustained attention

Answer 4

focusing on one stimulus or task across a prolonged continuous period of time

Question 5

Distractions

Answer 5

internal or external stimuli that draw attention away from the current task

Question 6

Divided attention

Answer 6

splitting attention across two or more stimuli at one time

Question 7

Multitasking

Answer 7

the act of working on multiple tasks at one time

Question 8

Selective attention

Answer 8

exclusively focusing attention on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring all other stimuli or tasks

Question 9

Sensory stimuli

Answer 9

the raw pieces of information that are detected by the five senses

Question 10

Sensation

Answer 10

the process of receiving and detecting raw sensory stimuli via sensory organs and sending this information to the brain

Question 11

Perception

Answer 11

the process of selecting, organising, and interpreting sensory information

Question 12

Stages of visual perception

Answer 12

Sensation:
1. Reception - detecting and responding to incoming sensory info by sense organs
2. Tranduction - receptors change energy of sensory info into form that can travel to brain as action potentials
3. Transmission - sending sensory info to relevant areas of the brain

Perception:
4. Selection - paying attention to particular features of a stimuli that’s important to us
5. Organisation - when info reaches brain, it’s rearranged to make sense of it
6. Interpretation - past experiences motives, values & context are involved in the process to give stimulus meaning

Question 13

Visual sensory system

Answer 13

the network that is involved in the sensation and perception of visual stimuli, including the eyes, the brain and the neural pathways connecting them

Question 14

Visual perception

Answer 14

the process of becoming consciously aware of visual stimuli as a result of the interactions between the visual sensory system, and the individual’s internal and external environments

Question 15

Gustatory perception

Answer 15

the process of becoming consciously aware of flavour

Question 16

gStages of gustatory perception

Answer 16

1. when chewing, saliva breaks down food into tastants
2. tastants received by gustatory receptors in taste buds on tongue, mouth, throat, back of nose
3. tastants converted to a form that’s sent to brain as neural impulse, info about type & intensity of flavour goes to primary gustatory cortex

Question 17

5 basic tastes

Answer 17

• sweet
• sour
• salty
• bitter
• umami (meat, tomato, soy sauce)

Question 18

Tastants

Answer 18

the sensory stimuli received in the form of chemical molecules that can be tasted

Question 19

Primary gustatory cortex

Answer 19

a sensory area in the parietal lobe responsible for receiving and processing tastes

Question 20

Bottom-up processing

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Top-down processing

Answer 21

perception is driven by prior knowledge and expectations, moving from general knowledge to specific stimulus information

Question 22

Biological factors

definition

Answer 22

internal genetic and/or physiologically based factors

Question 23

Photoreceptors

Answer 23

the sensory receptors of the eye which receive light and convert this sensory information into a form that can be sent to the brain

Question 24

Rods

Answer 24

photoreceptors that allow someone to see in low levels of light

Question 25

Cones

Answer 25

photoreceptors that allow someone to see colour and fine details in well-lit conditions

Question 26

Visual acuity

Answer 26

the level of detail and clarity of vision

Question 27

Refractory errors

Answer 27

defects in the eye causing it not to bend light as it is supposed to, resulting in reduced visual acuity

Question 28

Myopia

Answer 28

short-sightedness due to the focal point of one or both eyes being located in front of, instead of on, the retina

Question 29

Depth Cues | definition

Answer 29

visual clues that allow someone to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge the distance and position of objects in their environment

Question 30

Monocular depth cues

Answer 30

rely on visual information perceived by just one eye

Question 31

Binocular depth cues

Answer 31

rely on visual information from both eyes

Question 32

Types of monocular depth cues: Accommodation

Answer 32

involving our lens bulging and flattening according to how far away an object is. - eye accommodates for distance - close-up - bulges - far away - flattens

Question 33

Types of monocular depth cues: Motion parallax

Answer 33

uses our perception of movement to help us gauge how far away things are. it helps us to measure depth: the less objects move, the further away they are

Question 34

Types of monocular depth cues: Pictorial depth cues | list

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Relative size

Answer 35

the relative size of objects to one another in our visual field helps us to judge distance. If two similar objects cast different-sized images on the retina, the object that casts the larger image is perceived to be closer, and the smaller one is perceived to be further away.

Question 36

Height in visual field

Answer 36

In our visual field, the closer objects are to the horizon line, the further away they appear. This means that their height in the visual field helps us to determine their distance.

Question 37

Linear perspective

Answer 37

Parallel lines within our visual field appear to gradually converge as they recede into the distance but are separate up close.

Question 38

Inerposition (overalap)

Answer 38

when objects overlap with one another, we perceive the object that is covered by another as being further away than the one obscuring it.

Question 39

Texture gradient

Answer 39

we rely on the use of texture to judge how far away objects are. The closer we are, the greater the detail of texture we can see.

Question 40

Binocular depth cues | list

Answer 40

- retinal disparity - convergence

Question 41

Retinal disparity

Answer 41

refers to the difference, or 'disparity', between the different images received on the retina of either eye. The closer an object is, the greater the disparity - objects appear at a midpoint for both eyes. - ^ brain takes images from both eyes and puts together to make a cohesive image - allows us to accurately see the distance of objects

Question 42

Convergence

Answer 42

When we look at things up close, our eyes turn inwards and eye muscles strain. The turning inwards is called convergence and the strain produces signals to our brain that something is up close

Question 43

Psychological factors | definition

Answer 43

internal factors pertaining to an individual's mental processes, including their cognition, affect, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes

Question 44

Visual perception principles

Answer 44

guiding rules that apply to incoming visual signals and determine how they are organised and interpreted - gestalt principles - visual constancies

Question 45

Gestalt principles

Answer 45

the guiding rules of perception that allows us to organise and group separate visual stimuli into a meaningful whole - the proximity principle - the similarity principle - the figure-ground principle - the closure principle

Question 46

The proximity principle

Answer 46

the proximity principle refers to our brain's tendency to group together items in an image based on their physical closeness to one another

Question 47

The similarity principle

Answer 47

reflects brain's tendency to group together parts of an image that are similar in some way. Elements of an image can be similar in their size, shape, colour, position and so on.

Question 48

The figure-ground principle

Answer 48

This principle involves our brain's tendency to see some figures as being at the front of an image - foreground & background

Question 49

The closure principle

Answer 49

refers to our brain's ability to mentally complete images that otherwise incomplete

Question 50

Visual constancies

Answer 50

our ability to perceive visual objects as staying the same, even though they may appear to change or do change in our sensation - shape - size - brightness

Question 51

Social factors

Answer 51

external factors relating to an individual's interactions with others and their external environment, including their relationships and community involvement

Question 52

Culture

Answer 52

the customs, behaviours, and values of a particular group in society

Question 53

Culture norm

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Biological factors

Answer 54

internal genetic and/or physiologically based factors - Age - has a biological influence on the way we perceive favour (decline in no. taste buds) - Genetics - has biological influence on way we perceive flavour & preferences - high tasters - medium taster - non-tasters

Question 55

Psychological factors (gustatory)

Answer 55

- appearance - can contribute to expectations of taste and therefore enjoyment & perception of its flavour - packaging - brand names, logos, image, familiarity & its association can influence the way we perceive flavour.