Week 1: Introduction to Perception Flashcards
What is perception?
An active process where we select, organise and interpret information
It occurs after sensation
What is sensation?
A passive process where we bring information from the outside world into the body and brain
What things can alter perception?
Visual illusions
Brain damage
Atypical development
What is bottom-up perception?
This is innate and the same in all humans
Shaped by evolution
What is top-down perception?
Knowledge, thoughts and expectations can influence perception
It’s shaped by experiance and specific to the individual
How does the brain percepive a complex/ambigious image?
It has to identify a main feature and then relate the rest of the image to the background
Groups and seperates characteristics in complex images to recognise objects
What is the constructivist approach?
Top down
We construct our world from our past experiances
We filter out information during perception and construct our interpretation of reality
Can lead to incorrect interpretations
Is the constructivist approach top-down or bottom-up?
Top down
Is Gestalt theory top down or bottom up?
Bottom up
What is the Gestalt theory?
Starts with visual aspects that infleunce our perception and works it’s way up to higher order processes
Determined by an interaction between simple rules describing organisation
What are the 5 laws of the Gestalt theory?
Proximity Similarity Closure Continuity Pragnanz
What is the Gestalt law of proximity?
Objects near each other tend to be grouped together
What is the Gestalt law of similarity?
Items that are similar tend to be grouped together
What is the Gestalt law of closure?
Objects grouped together are seen as a whole
What is the Gestalt law of continuity?
Lines are seen as following the smoothest path
