Psychology Chapter: Perception and Sensation

Questions and Answers

What does perception refer to?

The ability to remember experiences

Only visual recognition

Recognition of environmental stimuli

The set of processes to make sense of sensations (correct)

What does 'distal object' mean?

It refers to the object in the external world.

What is the focus of the questions of sensation?

Qualities of stimulation.

What do the questions of perception focus on?

Identity and form, pattern, and movement. Signup and view all the answers

What do the questions of cognition focus on?

Serve further goals. Signup and view all the answers

What is sensory adaptation?

The process by which receptor cells cease to fire to constant stimulation. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'Ganzfeld' refer to?

It means 'complete field' and describes an unstructured visual field. Signup and view all the answers

What are the main layers of neuronal tissue for the retina?

Ganglion cells, amacrine cells, horizontal cells, bipolar cells, and photoreceptors. Signup and view all the answers

What are rods and cones responsible for in vision?

Rods are responsible for night vision, and cones allow for color perception. Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'what/where hypothesis' propose?

The dorsal pathway is for location and motion, while the ventral pathway is for color, shape, and identity. Signup and view all the answers

Which approaches describe bottom-up theories?

Data-driven theories Signup and view all the answers

What are top-down theories driven by?

High-level cognitive processes and existing knowledge. Signup and view all the answers

What are the three things percepts are based on?

What we sense, what we know, and what we can infer. Signup and view all the answers

What do context effects refer to?

The influences of the surrounding environment on perception. Signup and view all the answers

What is the law of Pragnanz?

Organizing perceptual experiences into simplest forms Signup and view all the answers

What are the two fundamental approaches to explaining perception?

Constructive perception and direct perception. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Perception and Sensation

Perception involves recognizing, organizing, and interpreting sensations from the environment.
Distal object refers to an object in the external world.
Sensation questions focus on qualities of stimulation, like color brightness.
Perception questions focus on identity and form, asking if an object is recognized.
Cognition questions serve further goals like determining the edibility of an object.

Sensory Adaptation

Receptor cells undergo sensory adaptation, ceasing to respond to constant stimulation until a change occurs.
Ganzfeld, meaning "complete field" in German, results in loss of stimulus perception when exposed to uniform fields (i.e., red surfaces).

Retina Structure

Main retinal layers include ganglion cells, interneuron cells (amacrine, horizontal, bipolar), and photoreceptors.
Rods are long, thin, and responsible for night vision; cones are short, thick, and enable color perception, mainly in the fovea.

Visual Pathways

The dorsal pathway, or "where" pathway, processes location and motion; ventral pathway, or "what" pathway, processes color, shape, and identity.

Theoretical Approaches to Perception

Bottom-up theories: perception starts with stimuli through the eyes; data-driven theories.
Top-down theories: perception is influenced by cognitive processes and prior knowledge.
Direct Perception (Gibson's theory): suggests environmental information is sufficient for perception, negating the need for higher cognitive processes.
Template Theories propose stored templates for pattern recognition.
Feature-Matching Theories focus on matching features of patterns stored in memory.

Recognition Theories

Recognition-by-components Theory explains the perception of 3-D objects based on geometric shapes.
Global precedence Effect indicates the ability to distinguish global features from local features.
Constructive perception posits that cognitive processes and existing knowledge inform perception.

Contextual Effects on Perception

Context effects demonstrate how the environment influences perception.
Configural-superiority effect: recognizing objects in configurations is easier than isolated objects.
Object-superiority effect: target lines are recognized better within 3-D object drawings compared to 2-D patterns.
Word-superiority effect: identification of letters is easier in coherent words than nonsensical strings.

Representation Models

Viewer-centered representation bases perception on individual viewpoint; shape changes with angle.
Object-centered representation stores perceptions independent of viewer's perspective.
Landmark-centered representation is based on relationships to familiar items.

Gestalt Principles

Major Gestalt principles include figure-ground perception, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and symmetry.
The overarching law of Pragnanz emphasizes simplicity and order in perceptual organization.

Pattern Recognition Systems

Feature analysis system recognizes parts of objects; the configurational system specializes in larger patterns, particularly faces.
Expert-individuation hypothesis: visual expertise activates the fusiform gyrus during object examination.
Prosopagnosia indicates damage to the configurational system, leading to face recognition issues.

Perceptual Constancies

Perceptual constancy is maintaining perception despite sensory changes.
Size constancy ensures perceived size remains constant regardless of stimulus size changes.
Shape constancy maintains perception of shape despite changes in input.

Depth Cues

Monocular depth cues can be perceived with one eye; binocular depth cues involve information from both eyes.

Visual Impairments

Simultagnosia: inability to focus on multiple objects simultaneously.
Optic ataxia: impaired ability to guide movement visually, affecting reaching.

Modular Processes

Modularity involves specialized processes for specific tasks, integrating visual and auditory experiences.

Color Vision Deficiencies

Rod monochromacy (achromacy) indicates total color vision absence.
Dichromacy involves one malfunctioning color perception mechanism, causing color blindness types (protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia).

Fundamental Approaches to Perception

Constructive perception views perception as built from sensory data and cognitive input.
Direct perception emphasizes immediate sensory information without needing cognitive processing.

Agnosias

Agnosias are perceptual deficits associated with brain lesions, impacting form and pattern recognition.

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Description

Explore key concepts in perception and sensation, including how we recognize and interpret sensory information from our environment. This quiz covers topics such as sensory adaptation, the structure of the retina, and the distinct roles of rods and cones in vision. Test your understanding of how sensory processes influence our cognition.