UNIT 2 Topic 2.1 - Perception Flashcards
(27 cards)
Perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense. It’s how we understand make meaning from the world around us
Bottom Up Processing
When perception starts at sensory input and your brain builds up the experience based on that raw data
Ex: What we see, hear or feel
Top-down Processing
When your brain uses what it already knows (memories, expectations) to interpret what you’re experiencing
Ex: if you see a chair you stubbed your toe on before and you avoid it so that you don’t get hurt again
Schemas
Mental frameworks or “shortcuts” that help us organize and interpret information
Ex: knowing how to order food in a new restaurant
Perceptual Set
A tendency to perceive things in a certain way based on expectations, experiences, or assumptions.
Ex: seeing a sequence of letters (like A,B,C,_) you’re most likely to see it as D
Context Effects
The setting or situation in which we perceive something can affect how we interpret it
Cultural Experiences
Cultural backgrounds can shape what and how we perceive things. Different cultures may focus on different details in same scene
Gestalt Psychology
A school of thought that looks at how we naturally organize pieces of information into meaningful wholes
Ex:walking down a hallway at school and seeing a friend’s face from afar despite people in front, shadows or lights/objects
Closure
A GESTALT principal here we fill gaps to create a complete, whole object
Ex: when reading a sign with missing letters (e.g., “C_AKE), you still read it as “CAKE”, your brain fills in the gaps
Similarity
We group similar looking objects together
Ex: when a group of people are wearing red, your brain groups them as one unit because of their similarity
Proximity
Things that are close together are seen as belonging
Ex: if 3 students sit close together at an end of the table and two other sit at the other side, your brain assume that the 3 students are part of the same friend group
Figure and Ground
A concept where we focus on one part of what we see (the FIGURE) and the rest becomes the background (the GROUND)
Ex: famous vase/faces illusions
Attention
The process of focusing on certain stimuli while ignoring others
Cocktail Party Effect
The ability to focus on one voice or message among many
Ex: hearing your name across a nose room
Inattentional Blindness
Failing to see visible things because your attention is else where
Change Blindness
When you don’t notice changes in visual scene because your attention was focus elsewhere
Ex: not seeing that someone swapped places with another person during a conversation
Binocular Depth Cues
Dues that use both eyes to judge depth, like how different each eye’s view is (RETINAL DISPARITY) or how the eyes turn inward for close objects (convergence)
Retinal Disparity
A binocular fue where the brain compares the slightly different images from each eye to judge depth
Convergence
A binocular cue based on how much the eyes move toward each other to focused on something close
Monocular Depth Cues
Depth cues you only need one eye for. These help us see depth in 2D images or when one eye is closed
Relative Clarity
Things that are clearer than usually perceived as being closer, while hazier things appear farther away
Relative Size
If we know two objects are about the same size, the one that looks smaller is perceived as farther away
Texture Gradient
The closer an object is, the more detail you see in its texture
Ex: DISTANT objects look SMOOTHER
Linear Perspective
Parallel lines appear to get closer together as they get farther away, creating a sense of depth
