Perception

HOW WESELECT, ORGANIZE, & INTERPRET OUR

SENSATIONS

© E.R. Degginger/Animals Animals

Example of Perception

• Say the thermostat is set at 72 (the “ideal” temperature)

• However, some peoples’ perception is that the room temp is “too cold” or “too warm”

Perception

Selective Attention focus of conscious

awareness on a particular stimulus

Basically, it is the ability to focus on some piece of sensory info & ignore others

Cocktail-party phenomenon

• cocktail party effect – describes the ability to

focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations.

• Form of selective attention.

Gestalt

• German word, meaning:– “form”– “whole”

• P. 236• How we organize visual

info into patterns & forms

Gestalt Psychology• Gestalt psychologists focused on

how we GROUP objects together.• We innately look at things in

groups and not as isolated elements.

• Proximity (group objects that are close together as being part of same group)

• Similarity (objects similar in appearance are perceived as being part of same group)

• Continuity (objects that form a continuous form are perceived as same group)

• Closure (like top-down processing…we fill gaps in if we can recognize it)

Depth Perception• Eleanor Gibson and her

Visual Cliff Experiment.• If you are old enough to

crawl, you are old enough to see depth perception.

• We see depth by using two cues that researchers have put in two categories:

• Binocular Cues• Monocular Cues

Binocular Cues (2 eyes)

• We need both of our eyes to use these cues.

• Retinal Disparity (as an object comes closer to us, the differences in images between our eyes becomes greater.• 3-D

• Convergence (as an object comes closer our eyes have to come together to keep focused on the object).

Monocular Cues p. 240• Used to judge distance.

You really only need one eye to use these

Size-Distance Relationship p. 244

Constancy

• Objects change in our eyes constantly as we or they move….but we are able to maintain content perception

• Shape Constancy• Size Constancy• Brightness Constancy

Perceptual Adaptation

• In vision, it’s the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Perceptual Set

• A mental predisposition to perceive 1 thing and not another

• Our first perceptual decision is what is the image in the figure and what is the background

ESP

• ExtraSensory Perception (ESP)– The controversial claim

that perception can occur apart from sensory input

• Telepathy – mind 2 mind communication

• Clairvoyance – remote events

• Precognition – Future events

Why do so many people believe in ESP?

• Our understanding of nature is incomplete– Still questions about the

world around us…

• Misinterpretations• Misperceptions• Poor memories• Selective recall

Is there Perception w/out Sensation?

• Is ESP a verifiable phenomenon?• Parapsychology:

– The study of para-normal events, including ESP & Psychokinesis

Conclusion about ESP: • No sound evidence for para-psychological

phenomena• No single individual who can demonstrate

psychic powers to independent investigators

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46umYA_4dM