Perception-
the process of organizing, interpreting, and selectively extracting sensory information.
Innate:-
features or traits that exist from birth.
Perceptual organization:
processes used to group sensory elements together.
Figure-ground perception:
tendency to differentiate target stimuli from back-ground stimuli.
Law of Pragnanz:
the tendency to perceive the simplest form possible; certain stimulus elements just seem to belong together.
Closure:
the tendency to fill in missing information from a perceptual array; to fill in the gaps.
Laws of grouping:
the tendency to perceive similar or proximal stimuli as belonging together.
Binocular disparity:
depth cue based on difference in images as the image reaches each of the two eyes.
Convergence:
depth cue based on the tension of the muscles that control eye movement.
Stereopsis:
comparison of retinal disparity by overlaying images in each eye.
Motion Parallax:
depth cue based on the rate objects move when our head moves.
Elevation:
depth cue based on height in the visual field; typically, objects higher in the field are interpreted as farther away.
Interposition:
nearby objects obscure or block parts of faraway objects.
Linear perspective:
parallel lines appear to converge as they move farther away.
Aerial perspective:
atmospheric haze causes distant objects to appear bluish
Relative brightness:
nearby objects tend to be seen as brighter, even when objects farther away are the same size.
Texture gradient:
depth cue based on the texture gradient provided by regularly sized objects in the environment.
Ecological theory of perception:
Gibson’s theory emphasizing information in the external (distal) stimulus.
Auditory localization:
ability to locate direction and distance of a sound source; usually a result of sound waves reaching each ear at different times.
Size constancy:
perceived size remains constant despite a change in retinal size, so changes in the distance of an object do not alter how large or small we think it is.
Distal stimulus:
the stimulus of an object as it actually exists in the real world.
Proximal stimulus:
the image of a distal stimulus on the retina.
Size-distance invariance hypothesis:
says that size judgments are made by comparing the size of the retinal image with perceived distance.
Shape constancy:
we see shapes as remaining the same despite changes that occur at the retina.
Lightness constancy:
perceived lightness stays the same despite changes in the level of illumination.
Albedo:
the proportion of light reaching a surface that is reflected back to the eye.
Autokinetic effect:
illusory movement of a point of light in a dark environment; a single point of light appears to move.
Stroboscopic movement:
illusory movement produced by the successive presentation of still images; motion pictures are produced through this phenomenon.
Phi phenomenon:
when two successively presented lights are seen as a single moving light.
Pattern Perception:
recognition of familiar forms such as faces, pictures, and objects.
Prototype:
central tendency of a category that contains the essential features of the category.
Prototype-matching theory:
a theory of pattern perception that claims that recognition involves comparison to prototype pattern; the closer the pattern to the prototype, the easier it is to recognize the stimulus.
Feature-analysis theory:
a theory of pattern perception that claims that patterns are represented and recognized by distinctive features.
Recognition by components:
this theory of pattern perception claims that patterns are represented by a relatively small set of simple shapes.
Fourier analysis:
analysis of a stimulus into its component sine waves.
Bottom-up processing:
information processing from receptors (bottom) to higher centers in the brain.
Top-down processing:
information processing from higher perceptual centers to lower centers such as receptor sites.
Set:
an expectancy, preconceived idea, or orientation that influences how a stimulus is processed.
Attention:
a cluster of integrated events and processes that determine which stimuli receive further processing.
Selective attention:
the ability to focus consciousness on a single event in the environment while ignoring other stimuli.
Dichotic listening:
concurrent presentation of two auditory messages.
Stimulus variables:
characteristics of the objects themselves, such as intensity, that can affect attention.
Organismic variables:
processing characteristics of the organism or perceiver that determine which stimuli gain attention.
Divided attention:
ability to monitor two events presented simultaneously.
Automatic processing:
processing that does not require conscious attention.
Controlled processing:
processing that requires conscious attention.
Human factors psychology:
area of psychology that focuses on the human-machine interface and studies ways to make it easier for women and men to work with machines.
Perceptual learning:
improvement in the ability of a person to extract information from the environment and make use of it.