M5 - Perception PDF - Midterm Notes

PSY101INT Midterm Notes #2 Perception: Visual, Auditory Perceptions and ESP SENSATION PERCEPTION passive process of bringing active process of selecting, organizing, information from outside world into and interpreting th...

PSY101INT Midterm Notes #2 Perception: Visual, Auditory Perceptions and ESP SENSATION PERCEPTION passive process of bringing active process of selecting, organizing, information from outside world into and interpreting the information brought the body and to the brain by the senses raw experience process of interpreting sensations anything passing to the senses making them meaningful Sensation results when any of the sense organs are stimulated. For a sensation to occur, there must be receptors, which are specialized cells that respond to stimulus. Receptors sense organs located at various parts of the body, Stimulus on the other hand is anything inside or outside the body which initiates activity of some kind Different characteristics of sensation includes: Specificity of Sensory Stimulation, Transduction as the Transmission Process to the Brain, for example, You don’t see light as a light because it transforms color, Energy from stimuli cannot go directly to the brain, Light, sound and other kinds of energy from outside world are not able to travel through the nerves, and the brain cannot “understand” what they mean, and The process of converting stimuli into codes of electrochemical impulses that the neurons can carry and the brain understands is called transduction. Lastly, Thresholds are smallest amount of a stimulus that can elicit a response and approximate at which a stimulus becomes strong enough to produce a response in an individual. There are two types of threshold, first is the Absolute Threshold which is the point where something becomes noticeable to our senses. It is the softest sound we can hear or the slightest touch we can feel. Absolute threshold is minimum tolerance. Second is Difference Threshold which is the amount of change needed for us to recognize that a change has occurred and is referred to as the just noticeable difference. The fourth characteristic of sensation is Interrelatedness of the Senses, if you don’t have the sense of smell, you don’t have also a sense of taste. Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment by processing information that is contained in visible light. In vision the figure is usually in front or on top of what we perceive as background. The background “flows” around the shape of the figure; it has not edged of its own. We interpret the contours that we perceive as part of the figure rather than as part of the background. Principles of Perceptual Organization: 1.) Figure and Ground Relationship. We tend to organize stimuli into central or “foreground” figure and a background. 2.) Contour is a boundary between a figure and their grounds that separate figure from ground also enable the individual to organize stimuli into patterns. 3.) Grouping. The Gestalt psychologists were also interested in the principle of perceptual organization that causes us to perceive separate stimuli as parts of larger wholes. How people perceive a well-organized pattern or whole, instead of many separate parts, is a topic of interest in Gestalt psychology. According to Gestalt psychologists, the whole is different than the sum of its parts. They suggested that we group and interpret stimuli perceptually in accordance with four laws: similarity, proximity, closure, and continuity. The law of similarity states that when parts of a stimulus configuration are perceived as similar, they will also be perceived as belonging together given a choice by the brain, you will select the simplest and most stable form to concentrate on. Example, If we see a row of small triangles, we tend to perceive them as a row or line. We are less inclined to regard them as separate triangles, but we are more inclined to view them as a line of triangles. Law of Proximity says that elements that are near each other are perceived as a line or a group. Law of closure states that any stimuli that might suggest a continuous, closed contour can be automatically organized into a figure by human perceptual processes. The law of continuity holds that we link individual elements so they form a continuous line or pattern that makes sense to us. Camouflage or contrast, the principles of perceptual organization are used. Camouflage is important to some animals in that their coloration which blends in with their background may hide them from predators. Lastly, Law of Pragnanz where a stimulus will be organized into a good figure as possible. An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people. First, Illusion in the Perception of Distance, the two lines of the same length with arrowhead which point inward in one case and outward in the other. Most people over estimate the length of the line when the arrowheads flare outward. Secondly, Illusion in the Perception of Motion, this is experienced when we witness a motion picture. A succession of still image, appearing in slightly different positions one after the other at a suitable rate, gives this illusion, known as the “phi-phenomenon”. Lastly, The Perception of Depth, the conversation of two-dimensional information into three dimensions to give people a perception of depth is based on the fact that people utilize a large number of cues or features of the environment, which are related to depth. After image is an optical experience which happens to persist after the removal of the stimulus. For instance, a person looking intently and longer at bright object, will still continue to see the image of the object after it has been removed. There are two kinds of after image the positive and the negative. Positive after image is seen just as it was before the image is removed. Everything about the color, brightness and other details are exactly the picture of the original. Positive after images are evident when the bright stimulus is immediately followed by dark after field. Negative after image is when the color or brightness of the object is a compliment or opposite of the original. Auditory Perception Besides the interpretation of sound, auditory perception is concerned with the location of the source of sound. Two factors to considered are the distance and direction, 1.) Perception of Distance where as rule, the louder the sound, the “nearer the source” and 2.) Perception of Direction: Time differential- present when the sound reaches one ear earlier than the other, Intensity differential- present when the sound stimulate the ear closer to the sound more strongly, Ripple- occurs when the sound reaches the ear at different points. Set and Peception Set or perceptual set is a readiness to perceive in a certain manner. It is a way of interpreting stimulation which is determined largely by past experience. Past Experience is influential in the development of personal traits particularly, attitudes, values, interests, and prejudices, and thus it has inescapable influence on the way we are prepared to perceive the world. Context is the immediate situation also is influential in determining what we perceive. Group pressure influences individual judgment. Haptic Perception Haptic is a Greek word (Hapne) meaning sense of touch. This is the earliest sense to develop in fetus, and the development of the infant’s haptic sense and how this relates to the development of others sense like vision. Perception of Time It is said that time can be perceived either longer or shorter. When one is busy and deeply engrossed in his work, time seem to be shorter. But when one is not doing anything, or waiting for someone or something, or the work he is engaged in is boring, time is perceived to be longer. One oftentimes hears this expression the “eternity of waiting” or the “longest hour”, the “longest minute”, or the “longest day”. When one is having an enjoyable company, it seems the time is too short but when one is in pain time seems to be too long. Perception depends on the sensory stimuli, past experiences, present feeling, desires, attitudes and goals. But one has to pay attention to those perceived sensations. Attention is the perceptual process of choosing a stimulus that once has to attend to. According to Ribot, as cited by Amparo and Tuason attention is the anticipating behavior or postural set for a stimulus. Attention can be voluntary, involuntary habitual, and selective. Voluntary attention requires effort and concentration on a required work. It directs energies to the completion of the work. Involuntary attention requires the potency of the stimulus. For instance, to catch one’s attention, one has to use bright light, movement of the objects, increasing the size of an object, increasing the volume of sounds as used in advertisement. Manipulation of motives and needs is also a means of arousing attention. Take for instance wearing bright colored dresses, display of cars, jewelries or use of every expensive cell phones, trinkets in the nose or navel. These are means of calling attention for social recognition or status. Habitual attention comes from constant practice. Putting voluntary attention to one’s daily routine becomes habitual. Selective attention is a process in perception wherein the person chooses a stimulus to listen to. For instance, in one of your travels to the province, your seatmate started to relate her many travels to other countries. Suddenly you overhead somebody at the back mention your former classmate’s name who dropped out of college to get married and live in the province, this called your attention. You lost track of what your seatmate was telling you because your attention was focused on the one talking behind you. The she nudged you and you just say “Sorry, but I was engrossed in the beautiful sceneries.” Extra Sensory Perception ESP is most commonly called the "sixth sense." It is sensory information that an individual receives which comes beyond the ordinary five senses sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It can provide the individual with information of the present, past, and future; as it seems to originate in a second, or alternate reality. Four phenomena of ESP: first is Telepathy, refers to the transfer of thoughts between individuals. Scientific consensus does not view telepathy as a real phenomenon. According to the prevailing view among scientists, telepathy lacks replicable results from well-controlled experiments. Telepathy is a common theme in modern fiction and science fiction, with many superheroes having telepathic abilities. Second is Clairvoyance refers to the perception of objects or events that are not available to the senses. It is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses. It is very different from telepathy in that the information is said to be gained directly from an external physical source, rather than being transferred from the mind of one individual to another. Third is Psychokinesis, the ability to influence movement of material bodies by the power of thought alone. Examples: projecting an imaginary image on unexposed photographic film to make the image merge when the film is developed, making a plant grow taller through mental means and/or ability to produce fire through mental concentration. Lastly, Precognition, is the ability to predict the future. Examples of precognition covers premonition, foresight, and second sight. Parapsychology is the study of ESP, presents an interesting challenge to science. The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir. It was adopted by J.B Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research in order to indicate a significant shift toward experimental methodology and academic discipline.