1. Perception Chapter 8, Section 3

2. Perception Allows us to confront changes in the environment; this allows us to adapt to change. The brain receives information from the senses and organizes/interprets it into meaningful experiences.

3. Gestalt Closure: Tendency to group according to enclosed or completed figures rather than open/incomplete parts. Continuity: Tendency to see smooth, continuous contours rather than discrete, disrupted shapes. Proximity: Tendency to group together those elements that are close to each other. Similarity: Tendency to group together those elements that are similar in appearance. Simplicity: Tendency to perceive a pattern in the simplest, most organized manner-foundation of Gestalt psychology.

4. Figure-Ground Perception Ability to discriminate properly between a figure and its background. Perceptual Inference When our brains “fill in the gaps” on what is missing from sensory stimuli. Example: You hear a dog barking, and you can deduce that it’s a dog and not a rhinoceros. Often depends on experience.

5. Learning to Perceive Active involvement in one’s environment is important for accurate perception. Influenced by our needs, beliefs, and expectations. –When we want something, we are more likely to see it. Perceptual Set-Prepares you to see what you want to see. –Example: Backward Masking

6. Depth Perception Ability to recognize distances and 3D. –Develops in infancy. Monocular cues –Relative Height: Objects that appear farther away from another object are higher in your plane of view. –Interposition: Overlapping of image which causes us to view the object in its entirety to be closer. –Light and Shadows: Brightly lit objects seem closer.

7. Depth Perception, (cont’d) Monocular cues, (cont’d) –Texture-Density Gradient: The farther removed the object is, the less detail we can identify. –Linear Perspective: Parallel lines converge when stretched into the distance. –Motion Parallax (Video)

8. Monocular Cues

10. Depth Perception, (cont’d) Binocular cues –Convergence: Your eyes turn inward to look at nearby objects. (Finger) –Retinal Disparity: Each eye receiving a slightly different image. (Finger)

11. Constancy/Illusions Constancy Illusions –Created when perceptual cues are distorted so that our brains cannot correctly interpret size, space, and depth. Muller-Lyer Illusion –Two lines that have the same length appear different when “arrows” are pointed in different directions. Ponzo Illusion –Two lines that have the same length appear different when placed in context with converging lines.

12. Muller-Lyer IllusionPonzo Illusion