Perception Flashcards
(53 cards)
1
Q
What is sensation ?
A
A stimulus detected in the environment and processed by sense receptors
2
Q
What is perception ?
A
The organisation and interpretation of sensory information
3
Q
What are visual cues ?
A
Feature of your environment that give us information abt out movement, distance and where thing are in relation to one another.
4
Q
What are the two types of depth cues ?
A
Monocular depth cues
Binocular depth cues
5
Q
What are monocular depth cues ?
A
They allow judgment of depth and distance using just one eye
6
Q
What are binocular depth cues ?
A
They allow judgement of depth and distance using both eyes.
7
Q
What are the 4 monocular depth cues ?
A
Height in plane
Relative size
Oculsion
Linear perspective
8
Q
What is height in plane ?
A
Objects that are higher up in the visual field appear to be further away
9
Q
What is relative size ?
A
When objects appear smaller in the visual field then known objects of a similar size
10
Q
What is occlusion ?
A
Objects that are behind or obscured by other objects are further away
11
Q
What is linear perspective ?
A
Lines that are parallel, like on a road or a railway track, appear to get closer together and come to a point in the distance
12
Q
What are the 2 types of binocular depth cues ?
A
Retinal disparity
Convergence
13
Q
What is retinal disparity ?
A
The closer an object is the bigger the difference in the two images. The further away the object is the smaller the difference in the two images
14
Q
What is convergence ?
A
If two things converge, they become closer together
15
Q
What are the 4 different visual illusions ?
A
Size constancy
Misinterpreted depth cues
Ambiguity
Fiction
16
Q
What is size constancy ?
A
The brains ability to perceive familiar objects as the same size, despite the changed in size of the image on the retina. For example if yous see your friend at a distance you know that it is not a tiny version of them, just that they are further away
17
Q
What is a misinterpreted depth cue ?
A
Depth cues help us perceive distance. When we have perceived distance, our bran uses size constancy. However, sometimes our brain interprets distance when it is not actually there.
18
Q
What a are examples of misinterpreted depth cues?
A
The ponzo illusion
Muller-lyer illlusion
19
Q
What is ambiguity ?
A
An ambiguous figure is when there are two possible interpretations of the same image, and the Brian cannot decide which one
20
Q
What is an example of ambiguity
A
The Neckar cube
21
Q
What is fiction ?
A
When a person perceives something in the image that is not actually her. This image or stimulus may suggest a certain aspect of the figure is present but it is not.
22
Q
What is an illusion as an example of fiction ?
A
The kaniza triangle
23
Q
What visual illusion does the ponzo illusion show ?
A
Size constancy
24
Q
What visual illusion does the muller-layer illusion show ?
A
Size constancy
25
What visual illusion does Rubin’s vase show ?
Ambiguity
26
What visual illusion does the Ames room show ?
Size constancy
27
What visual illusion does the kanizsa triangle show ?
Fiction
28
What visual illusion does the Neckar curve show ?
Ambiguity
29
Explain the muller-lyer illusion ?
The illusion occurs due to misinterpreted depth cues
This is because of the arrows at the end of the line
The arrow with the outward fins appears closer to us
The arrow with the inward fin appears further away
Our brain has made an error
30
AO1- Gibson direct theory of perception
The theory claims that perception happens directly. We perceive things accurate using sensory information from the environment and therefore sensations and perception are the same. Perceptual abilities are innate and do not have to be learnt through experience. Perception is based on current sensory information. An example of how the brain perceives information directly is optic flow. This is where the point we are moving towards stays stationary whilst the rest of the view seems to rush away from it. This sensory information directly informs our brain that we are moving. Gibson identified motion-parallax (a monocular depth cue used to judge speed of movement. Everything in our optic array provides enough information to judge depth, distance and movement without needing to make interferences using past experience. Perception is due to nature rather than nurture
31
AO3 - strength of Gibsons direct Theory of perception
It has real world application. Much of Gibson’s research that led to the development of the theory was based on experienced of pilots from the Second World War. Therefor the theory can explain how everyday perception of movement and depth can occur. The real world relevance of the theory enhances its use in explaining perception
32
AO3 - weakness of Gibson’s direct theory of perception
It struggles to explain visual illusions. Gibsons theory suggests that we will always perceive accurately without need for inference and past experiences. However visual illusions can trick the brain into misperception. This suggests that perception is more complex then what the theory implies
33
AO1 - Gregory’s constructive theory of perception
A lot of what we perceive in the world around us is incomplete, so our brain will often need to ‘fill in the gaps’ using inference. The brain uses the sensory information that is available in the environment to draw a conclusion about what our eyes are seeing. Most of the time the inference the brain makes will be correct but sometimes it is not. The brain has help when making inferences, in the form of visual cues and past experiences These help us to perceive things like depth, distance, and the size and shape of objects. Sometimes the way we interpret cues turns out to be wrong, which creates visual illusions.
34
AO3 - strength of Gregory’s constructive theory of perception
One strength of Gregory’s theory is that it has good support from studies that show cultural differences in perception. Research in different parts of the world has found that people interpret visual cues differently. This means that their different experiences have affected their perception, so this shows that nurture plays a key role in helping us understand the world around us.
35
AO3 - weakness of Gregory’s constructive theory of perception
Gregory’s theory cannot explain how perception gets started in the first place. Research has shown that babies have some perceptual abilities at birth. This suggests not all perception is the result of our experience.
36
What is perceptual set ?
The tendency of our brain to notice or prefer certain aspects of the sensory environment.
37
What are the four factors effecting perceptual set ?
Culture
Motivation
Emotion
Expectation
38
What is culture ?
Culture refers to the beliefs, attitudes and expectations that surround us
39
What is motivation ?
The forces that drive our behaviour
40
What is emotion ?
A strong feeling or odd that has important motivational properties
41
What is expectation ?
A belief about what is likely to happen based on past experience
42
AO1 - culture as a role in perceptual set
Hudson aimed to investigate if people from different cultures interpreted information in pictures differently. He showed 2D drawings which showed and antelope, an elephant and a man with a spear, to people from different cultures and educational backgrounds. Hudson asked ‘ which is nearer, the man, elephant or antelope ? ‘ many participants Replied the elephant. Black and white schooled participants were more likely to perceive debt than the unschooled participants. Results indicated that cultural differences affect perceptual set because participants from different cultures perceived depth cues differently
43
AO1- weakness of research asa a factor affecting perceptual set
The studies were conducted a long time ago (50 years ago) and may be poorly designed. For example early cross-cultural studies did not us control groups. This may have resulted in findings that showed much bigger differences in western and non western cultures than there actually were. This reduces th internal validity of the research into culture as a factor effecting perceptual set
44
Gilchrist’s and Nesburgs study
Aim: to investigate what effect food deprivation would have on the perception of food related picture and weather food appears brighter when participants are hungry
Method: 26 people volunteered to go without food for 20 hours (experimental group) the control group were not food deprived. Participants were shown a slide of a meal eg spaghetti for 15 seconds. Then the projector was tuned off and back on showing the same slide but dimmer. Participants were asked to adjust the lighting so that the image looked the same as before.
Results: participants in the experimental group adjusted the lighting more indicating they had perceived the pictured of food as brighter than they actually were. This did not occur with the control group
Conclusion; this suggests that hangers is a motivating factor that affects perception.
45
AO3 - strength of Gilchrist’s and Nesberg’s study into motivation as a factor affecting perceptual set
One strength is similar studies have found similar results. Sandford deprived participants of food for varying lengths of time and then showed them ambiguous pictures. The longer the participants had been deprived of food, the more likely they were to perceive the pictures as representing food – for instance, a brown blob was more likely to have been perceived as a hamburger. This increases the validity of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s results.
46
AO3 - weakness of Gilchrist’s and Nesberg’s study into motivation as a factor affecting perceptual set
A problem with studies in this area is that they are unethical. This is because depriving participants of food and water could cause them to feel uncomfortable. This is an issue as you should not do this in psychological research.
47
AO1 - McGinnis study (research) into emotion being a factor affecting perceptual set
8 make and 8 female participants were shown a series of words flashed on a screen ad were told to say the word out loud as they recognised it. Some word were neutral others were mildly offensive. Participants level off arousal was measured. Offensive words produced bigger changes in participants GSR than th neurotransmitter words and also took longer to recognise then the neutral words. In conclusion emotion is a factor affecting perceptual set.
48
AO3 - strength into emotion being a factor affecting perceptual set
One strength of research into emotion as a factor affecting perception is that it is based on an objective measurement of emotion. This is because the method was a lab experiment which uses scientific methods such as galvanic skin response to test anxiety responses. This produces results that are much less open to bias than other perceptual studies that are based on self-report methods and participants opinions, increasing the internal validity of the research into emotion.
49
AO3 - weakness into emotion being a factor affecting perceptual set
One weakness of research into emotion as a factor affecting perception is that in this study, delayed recognition may be more to do with embarrassment opposed to defence. The conclusion was that the participants
'blocked out' the words due to their emotion but it might simply be that they hesitated due to embarrassment. This suggests that awkwardness is a potential extraneous variable that could have reduced the internal validity of the McGinnie's research into the impact emotion has on perception.
50
Bruner and Minturn’s study
Aim: To investigate whether expectation affects perceptual set. For example, if you anticipate you will see a particular object is that what you will see when shown an ambiguous figure.
Method: Using an independent groups design, participants were shown the sequence of letters (from top to bottom of diagram) or the sequence of numbers (from left to right).
In each case the stimulus in the middle was the same.
Participants reported what they saw.
Results: The group that was shown the sequence of letters were more likely to draw the ambiguous figure as a letter 'B'. The group that was shown the sequence of numbers were more likely to draw the figure as a '13'.
Conclusion: expectation does influence perceptual set. Altering the context in which visual information is presented can lead to changes in the way that
51
AO3: weakness expectation as a factor affecting perceptual set
One weakness of the study is that an ambiguous figure was used to test expectation, which is not something we often come across in everyday life as ambiguous figures are designed to ‘trick’ participants into making errors. Therefore, studies of expectation and perceptual set may have little to tell us about everyday perception which means the results may lack validity.
52
AO3: strength expectation as a factor affecting perceptual set
One strength of this study is that it can explain errors that people make, for example, when soldiers misidentify an aircraft as an enemy plane because that is what they expect to see. This therefore shows the importance of context and expectation in perception and helps us understand (and avoid) errors of judgement.
53
Motion parallax
When we are moving the visual image we receive changes
Close objects move quicker
Far objects move slower
The slower an object is moving the further the distance
