Psychology Chapter 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Selective attention- the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect Inattentional blindness- failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere Visual capture- the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses Gestalt- on organized whole; emphasize information into meaningful wholes Figure-ground- the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their Surroundings (the ground) Grouping- the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups Depth perception- the ability to see objects in 3-d although the images that strike the retina are 2-d; allows us to judge distance Visual cliff- a lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals Binocular cues- depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes Retinal disparity- a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by perceiving images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object Convergence- a binocular cue to perceiving depth; the extent to which eyes converge inward when looking at an object. The greater the inwards strain, the closer the object Monocular cues- depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone Phi phenomenon- an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession Perceptual constancy- perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change Perceptual adaptation- in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field Perceptual set- a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other Human factors psychology- a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use Extrasensory perception (ESP)- the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input Parapsychology- the study of paranormal phenomenon, including ESP and psycho kinesis
I. Perception a. Def- the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensations b. Selective Attention
i. Cocktail party effect- zooming into what is of greatest interest at the moment II. Perceptual Illusionsa. helps us to understand the concepts involved in processing, organizing, and interpreting info from senses—(ex-visuals) b. Visual capture-vision overrides other senses—ex-thinking sound is coming from the screen at movies. III. Perceptual Organizationa. process of organizing sights, sounds, etc. into what we already know through our experiences. b. Gestalt principle- “form” or “whole” i. Early form of psych. that studied how we integrate pieced to form a whole ii. Important because they brought the whole cognitive (thinking, organizing, arranging) concept to psychology c. Figure groundi. tendency to zoom in on a figure and put it on a “background” ii. Proximity-ex. People sitting/standing by each other-assume they are together iii. Similarity-grouping like things together iv. Continuity—continuation of the “line” v. Closure—tendency to fill in the gaps vi. Correctedness—tendency to “fix” things-ex-rounded corners on a triangle d. Depth Perception—tendency to see things in 3D so that we can judge distance. i. Seems in to partly innate-babies on the cliff experiments. ii. Binocular cues-our 2 eyes see 2 different things=retinal disparitybrain weaves the 2 together to give a good estimate of different objects-similar to using 3D photography which uses 2 different cameras iii. Monocular cues-adjusting to using just one eye to judge distance or relative height=relative clarity (closing one eye to see more clearly)—in art, closer objects appear clearer and than objects in a distance—true skill of great artists. 1. Linear perspective-convergence of lines at a distance-ex. Runway e. Motion Perception i. Phi phenomena-when two adjacent stationery lights blink off and on in such quick succession that an illusion of movement is created —Times Square ii. Stroboscopic movement-quick, successive, briefly flashed images as in animated cartoons.
f. Perceptual Constancy-perceiving objects correctly regardless of distance, light, angle=ex. A horse is a horse of course, of course, regardless of where you stand in relation to the horse. IV. Interpretations a. Critical period in perceptual development-use it or lose it. i. Color and figure ground are all that seem to be innate. ii. Immanuel Kant=perceptual understanding comes from inborn ways of organizing sensory experiences. If there is no exposure, neural connections in the brain will not be formed. b. Perceptual adaptations-with time, humans can adapt to all kinds of topsy-turvy if they have to-ex. Upside down glasses. (Some other animals cannot adapt) c. Perceptual set-mental predisposition to hear or see things that are not there.=ex. SEX in the clouds in Lion King/Aladdin myths/Wizard of Oz i. -set has value in that it enhances our ability to read and understand context cues/ not good when we tend to stereotype what we see/hear/read (see examples) V. ESP: perception apart from sensory input a. Terminology: i. Clairvoyance- seeing things ii. Telepathy- passing information through thoughts iii. Precognition- perceive/ predict future events b. most scientists are skeptical about ESP c. people want to believe in it
