Perception

Question 1

Define perception

Answer 1

the organisation and interpretation of sensory information by the brain in order to understand the world around us.

Question 2

Define sensation

Answer 2

the physical stimulation of sense receptors by the environment, such as light striking the retina or sound waves being processed by the ear

Question 3

What does the Ponzo illusion look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 3

”””/___\
/ \
/ ___ \
/ \

A misinterpreted depth cue

Question 4

What does the Müller-Lyer illusion look like and what sort of illusion is it?

Answer 4

\     /      
  \ /      
   |      /|\
   |       |
   |      \|/
  / \       
/    \

Misinterpreted depth cue

Question 5

What does Rubin’s vase look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 5

The silhouette of two people’s face a few cm apart with the space in between them looking like a vase

Ambiguous Figure

Question 6

What does the Ames Room look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 6

Looking through a viewing window, you see what looks like a normal, squared room. In reality the room shape is a trapezoid with the furthest corner away from you and slightly lowered. This creates the illusion that the person closest to you is significantly taller.

Misinterpreted depth cue

Question 7

What is a Binocular depth cue?

Answer 7

Cues that are only detected when both eyes are used

Question 8

Define Convergence

Answer 8

It’s to do with how hard the eye muscles have to work to view objects. The closer an object is, the harder the eye muscles have to work, and this gives the brain information about depth and distance

Question 9

What is meant by Height in plane?

Answer 9

is that objects higher up in the visual field will appear further away

Question 10

What is meant by linear perspective?

Answer 10

is when parallel lines converge(come together) in a way that suggests distance

Question 11

What is meant by Monocular depth cues?

Answer 11

Perceptual cues that can be detected with one eye

Question 12

Define occlusion

Answer 12

describes the fact that objects obscure(hide) or are in front of others appear closer to us

Question 13

What is meant by relative size

Answer 13

refers to the fact that smaller objects in the visual field appear further away

Question 14

What is meant by retinal display?

Answer 14

The way that the left and the right eye view slightly different images. The size of the difference gives the brain information about depth and distance

Question 15

What is meant by Visual constancies?

Answer 15

Our ability to see an object as the same even if the actual image received by the idea has changed, for example as we get closer to it or move around it

Question 16

What is meant by visual clues?

Answer 16

Visual information from the environment about movement, distance and etc

Question 17

What is meant by ambiguity?

Answer 17

The way in which some images or stimuli can be perceived in more than one way, as in the example of the Necker Cube

Question 18

What is meant by fiction?

Answer 18

When a figure is perceived even though it is not part of the image or stimulus present, as in the example
of the Kanizsa triangle

Question 19

What is meant by Misinterpreted depth cues?

Answer 19

The brain sees a depth cue in the picture, creating an impression of distance, and mistakenly applies the tile to size constancy

Question 20

What is meant by size constancy?

Answer 20

The brains ability to perceive familiar objects as the same size, despite changes in the size of the image on the retina

Question 21

What is meant by visual illusions?

Answer 21

The unconscious ‘mistakes’ of perception. In fact they are not really mistakes, but are normal, relatively consistent phenomena which are subject to regular rules of perception

Question 22

What does the Ponzo illusion look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 22

A railroad track/lines that seem parallel but slowly converge which makes them appear a distance away

Misinterpreted depth cue

Question 23

What does the necker cube look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 23

A cuboid which can be perceived as ‘pointing up’ or ‘pointing down’ and can usually be flipped by the person seeing it

Ambiguous figure

Question 24

What does the Kanizsa triangle look like and what type of illusion is it?

Answer 24

We see an equilateral triangle with gaps exactly halfway through the lines. Slightly behind these we see circles with a section cut out of it (pac-man). This creates the illusion of another equilateral trainable upside down.

Fiction

Question 25

What was Gibsons direct theory of perception?

Answer 25

Perception happens directly and that we do not need to try on past experiences and expectations to
fill missing gaps(nature)

Question 26

What are some evaluations of Gibsons direct theory or perception?

Answer 26

• A strength is validity as it was developed using research with pilots in the real world
• A weakness is opposing theories as Gregory’s theory contradicts the theory entirely
• A strength is supporting research as Gibsons and Walk(1960) provide similar results with infants

Question 27

What is meant by Direct theory?

Answer 27

The argument that the rich
information in the visual array is all the brain needs to perceive the world around it. Perception is the same as sensation.

Question 28

What is meant by Motion parallel?

Answer 28

A type of monocular depth cue that provides the brain with important information to do with movement. Objects that are far away appear to move more slowly as we move than objects that are close to us

Question 29

What is meant by nature?

Answer 29

Refers to those aspects of behaviour that are inherited. It’s doesn’t simply refer to traits or abilities present at birth but to any ability determined by genes

Question 30

What was Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception?

Answer 30

That we past experiences to interpret the world around us and that perception is the same as sensation. Hence we CONSTRUCT our perception

Question 31

What are some evaluations or gregory’s constructivist theory of perception?

Answer 31

• A strength is supportive research from studies that show cultural differences in perception-Segall et al
• A weakness is conflicting evidence as visual illusions were designed to trick you and aren’t realistic examples of perception
• A weakness is opposing theories as Fantz 1961 suggests infants prefer human faces to random patterns

Question 32

What is meant by constructivist theory?

Answer 32

The argument that we make sense of the world around is by building our perceptions based partly on incoming data and partly using clues from what we know about the world

Question 33

What is meant by inference?

Answer 33

A process that involves taking information in front of you and drawing a conclusion about what it means based on other things you know. For example, you may see someone smiling and infer they are happy but they actually stepped on something sharp and are grimacing in pain

Question 34

What is meant by nurture?

Answer 34

Refers to those aspects of behaviour that are acquired through experience

Question 35

What is meant by perceptual set?

Answer 35

a tendency or readiness to notice certain aspects of the sensory environment whilst ignoring others. Set is affected by several factors including culture, emotion, motivation and expectation

Question 36

What is meant by culture?

Answer 36

reveres to the beliefs and expectations that surround us. We are not conspicuous of living in a culture such as a fish is not aware it lives in water. Yet us strongly influenced us

Question 37

Describe Hudsons study(1960)

Answer 37

Aim:to investigate how differ cultures interpret depth cues

Method: Hudson showed 2D drawings, showing a man with a spear, an elephant on a hill and an antelope, and asked the participants: What do you see? What is the man doing? Which is nearer out of the man, elephant or antelope? The participants were in 4 groups with each group being educated or uneducated and black or white

Results: Both schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than both unschooled participants but white schooled participants were more likely to perceive depth than black schooled participants

Conclusion: Culture provides a substantial difference in perception of depth because of the access to different resources. For example in the apartheid, white children had more access to books and magazines which affects ability to interpret 2D images