Psychology Chapter 6

Selective attention- the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus,

as in the cocktail party effect
Inattentional blindness- failing to see visible objects when our attention is
directed elsewhere
isual capture- the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses
!estalt- on organi"ed whole# emphasi"e information into meaningful wholes
$igure-ground- the organi"ation of the visual field into objects %the figures& that
stand out from their Surroundings %the ground&
!rouping- the perceptual tendency to organi"e stimuli into coherent groups
'epth perception- the ability to see objects in (-d although the images that strike
the retina are )-d# allows us to judge distance
isual cliff- a lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
*inocular cues- depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that
depend on the use of two eyes
+etinal disparity- a binocular cue for perceiving depth, by perceiving images from
the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity
%difference& between the two images, the closer the object
Convergence- a binocular cue to perceiving depth# the e-tent to which eyes
converge inward when looking at an object. /he greater the inwards strain, the
closer the object
0onocular cues- depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective,
available to either eye alone
Phi phenomenon- an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent
lights blink on and off in 1uick succession
Perceptual constancy- perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and
retinal images change
Perceptual adaptation- in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or
even inverted visual field
Perceptual set- a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other
2uman factors psychology- a branch of psychology that e-plores how people
and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be
made safe and easy to use
3-trasensory perception %3SP&- the controversial claim that perception can occur
apart from sensory input
Parapsychology- the study of paranormal phenomenon, including 3SP and
psycho kinesis
I. Perception
a. 'ef- the selection, organi"ation, and interpretation of sensations
b. Selective Attention
i. Cocktail party effect- "ooming into what is of greatest interest at
the moment
II. Perceptual Illusions-
a. helps us to understand the concepts involved in processing, organi"ing,
and interpreting info from senses4%e--visuals&
b. Visual capture-vision overrides other senses4e--thinking sound is
coming from the screen at movies.
III. Perceptual 5rgani"ation-
a. process of organi"ing sights, sounds, etc. into what we already know
through our e-periences.
b. Gestalt principle- form or wole
i. !arly form of psyc. tat stu"ie" ow we inte#rate piece" to
form a wole
ii. Important because tey brou#t te wole co#nitive $tinkin#%
or#ani&in#% arran#in#' concept to psycolo#y
c. (i#ure #roun"-
i. ten"ency to &oom in on a fi#ure an" put it on a back#roun"
ii. Pro)imity-e-. People sitting6standing by each other-assume they
are together
iii. Similarity-grouping like things together
iv. Continuity4continuation of the 7line8
v. Closure4tendency to fill in the gaps
vi. Correcte"ness4tendency to 7fi-8 things-e--rounded corners on a
triangle
d. 'epth Perception4tendency to see things in (' so that we can judge
distance.
i. Seems in to partly innate-babies on the cliff e-periments.
ii. *inocular cues-our ) eyes see ) different things9retinal disparity-
brain weaves the ) together to give a good estimate of different
objects-similar to using (' photography which uses ) different
cameras
iii. +onocular cues-adjusting to using just one eye to judge distance
or relative height9relative clarity %closing one eye to see more
clearly&4in art, closer objects appear clearer and than objects in a
distance4true skill of great artists.
:. ,inear perspective-convergence of lines at a distance-e-.
+unway
e. +otion Perception
i. Pi penomena-when two adjacent stationery lights blink off and
on in such 1uick succession that an illusion of movement is created
4/imes S1uare
ii. Stroboscopic movement-1uick, successive, briefly flashed
images as in animated cartoons.
f. Perceptual Constancy-perceiving objects correctly regardless of
distance, light, angle9e-. ; horse is a horse of course, of course,
regardless of where you stand in relation to the horse.
IV. Interpretations
a. Critical period in perceptual development-use it or lose it.
i. Color and figure ground are all that seem to be innate.
ii. Immanuel <ant9perceptual understanding comes from inborn ways
of organi"ing sensory e-periences. If there is no e-posure, neural
connections in the brain will not be formed.
b. Perceptual a"aptations-with time, humans can adapt to all kinds of
topsy-turvy if they have to-e-. =pside down glasses. %Some other animals
cannot adapt&
c. Perceptual set-mental predisposition to hear or see things that are not
there.9e-. S3> in the clouds in ?ion <ing6;laddin myths6@i"ard of 5"
i. -set has value in that it enhances our ability to read and understand
conte-t cues6 not good when we tend to stereotype what we
see6hear6read %see e-amples&
. 3SP, perception apart from sensory input
a. /erminology,
i. Clairvoyance- seeing things
ii. /elepathy- passing information through thoughts
iii. Precognition- perceive6 predict future events
b. most scientists are skeptical about 3SP
c. people want to believe in it