PERCEPTION

CHAPTER 2
PERCEPTION
›  Set of processes by which we recognize,
organize, and make sense of the
sensations we receive from environmental
stimuli
›  Encompasses many psychological
phenomenon
SENSATION TO REPRESENTATION
PERCEPTION
›  We do not perceive the world exactly as our
eyes see it
›  Our brain actively tires to make sense of the
many stimuli that enter our eyes and fall on
our retina
›  Perception does not consist of just seeing
what is being projected onto your retina, the
process is much more complex
›  Your brain processes visual stimuli, giving the
stimuli meaning and interpreting them.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF
PERCEPTION
JAMES GIBSON (1966, 1979)
JAMES GIBSON
›  Provided a useful framework for studying
perception
›  Introduced concepts of distal (external)
object, informational medium, proximal
stimulation, and perceptual object
DISTAL OBJECT
DISTAL vs PROXIMAL
DISTAL PROXIMAL
›  FAR OBJECT ›  NEAR OBJECT
›  situated away from ›  situated nearer to
the center of the the center of the
body or from the body
point of
attachment.
PERCEPTION
›  Imagine a tree falling
›  The event creates a pattern on an
informational medium (can be in the form
of sound waves)
›  Information comes into contact with the
appropriate sensory receptors of the eyes
›  Perception occurs when a perceptual
object is created in you that reflects the
properties of the external world
Perception
›  Occurs when the informational medium
carries information about a distal object
to a person
›  Person’s sense receptors pick up on the
information
›  Proximal stimulation occurs
›  Person perceives the object
PERCEPTION
›  PERCEPTION – Same color or sound
information, typically answers questions of
identity and of form, pattern, and
movement
›  Is the red thing an apple?
SENSATION
›  SENSATION – focuses on qualities of stimulation
›  Is that shade brighter than the red of an
apple?
›  Is that sound of that falling tree louder than
the sound of thunder?
›  How well do one person’s impressions of color
or sounds match someone else’s impressions
of those same colors or sounds?
COGNITION
›  Cognition – occurs as this information is
used to serve further goals.
›  Is this that apple edible?
›  Should I get out of this forest?
ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTUAL
EXPERIENCE
›  Distal Stimulus – the object in the external
world
›  Informational Medium – reflected light, sound
waves, chemical molecules, or tactile
information coming from the environment
›  Proximal Stimulus – representation of the distal
stimulus in sensory receptors
›  Perceptual Object – Mental representations
of the distal stimulus
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
SENSATION VS PERCEPTION
VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF
OBJECTS
›  Modality
›  DistalObject
›  Informational Medium
›  Proximal Stimulation
›  Perceptual Object
PERCEPTUAL CONTINUUM
VISUAL PERCEPTION
PERCEPTUAL CONTINUUM
›  MODALITY VISION –Sight
›  DISTAL OBJECT- Grandma’s Face
›  INFORMATIONAL MEDIUM – Reflected light
from Grandma’s face (visible
electromagnetic waves)
›  PROXIMAL STIMULATION – Photon absorption
in the rod and cone cells of the retina, the
receptor surface in the back of the eye
›  PERCEPTUAL OBJECT – Grandma’s face
AUDITORY PERCEPTION
AUDITION (Sound)
›  AUDITION- Sound
›  DISTAL OBJECT- A falling Tree
›  INFORMATIONAL MEDIUM-Sound waves
generated by the tree’s fall
›  PROXIMAL STIMULATION Sound-wave
conduction to the basilar membrane, the
receptor surface within the cochlea of
the inner ear
›  PERCEPTUAL OBJECT – A falling tree
OLFACTORY PERCEPTION
OLFACTION (SMELL)
›  OLFACTION- Smell
›  DISTAL OBJECT- Bacon being fried
›  INFORMATIONAL MEDIUM-Molecules released
by frying bacon
›  PROXIMAL STIMULATION – Molecular
absorption in the cells of the olfactory
epithelium, the receptor cells on the tongue
and soft palate, combined with olfactory
stimulation
›  PERCEPTUAL OBJECT – Bacon
GUSTATORY PERCEPTION
GUSTATION (TASTE)
›  GUSTATION - Taste
›  DISTAL OBJECT- Ice Cream
›  INFORMATIONAL MEDIUM-Molecules of ice
cream both released into the air and
dissolved in water
›  PROXIMAL STIMULATION – Molecular contact
with taste buds, the receptor cells on the
tongue and soft palate, combined with
olfactory stimulator
›  PERCEPTUAL OBJECT – Ice Cream
TACTILE PERCEPTION
TOUCH PERCEPTION
›  GUSTATION - Taste
›  DISTAL OBJECT- A Computer Keyboard
›  INFORMATIONAL MEDIUM-Mechanical
pressure and vibration at the point of contact
between the surface of the skin and the
keyboard
›  PROXIMAL STIMULATION – Stimulation of
various receptor cells within the dermis, the
innermost layer of skin
›  PERCEPTUAL OBJECT – Computer keys
SENSORY ADAPTATION
SENSORY ADAPTATION
›  Receptor cells adapt to constant
stimulation by casing to fire until there is a
change in stimulation
›  Through this, we may stop detecting the
presence of stimulus
GANZFELD EFFECT
GANZFELD EFFECT
›  Refers to an unstructured visual field.
When your eyes are exposed to a uniform
field of stimulation, you will stop
perceiving that stimulus after a few
minutes and see just a gray field instead.
›  This is because your eyes have adapted
to the stimulus
MENTAL PERCEPT
›  Mental representation of a stimulus that is
perceived
›  Without it, you could not meaningfully
grasp what you previously had sensed
DALLENBACH’S COW
EXISTENCE OF PERCEPTUAL
ILLUSIONS
SOME THOUGHTS
›  Sometimes, we perceive what is not there
›  Other times, we do not perceive what is
there
›  Other times, we perceive what cannot be
there
PERCEPTION
›  The
way we represent these objects will
depend in part on our viewpoint in
perceiving objects
Visual System
THE HUMAN EYE
HOW VISUAL SYSTEMS WORK
›  Precondition for vision is the existence of light
›  Light passes through the protective covering
of the eye (Cornea)
›  Light passes through the pupil
›  Continues through the crystalline lens and
vitreous humor
›  Eventually, light focuses on the retina where
electromagnetic light energy is transduced
(converted)
TERMS TO REMEMBER
›  CORNEA – Clear dome that protects the
eye
›  PUPIL – opening in the center of the irus
›  VITREOUS HUMOR – gel-like substance that
comprises the majority of the eye
›  RETINA – where electromagnetic light
energy is transduced
›  FOVEA – small, thin region of the retina,
the size of the head of a pin
RETINA
LAYERS OF THE RETINA
LAYERS OF THE RETINA
LAYERS OF THE RETINA
›  Layer 1 – Layer of ganglion cells whose
axons constitute the optic nerve
›  Layer 2 – Consists of three kinds of
interneuron cells (Amacrine Cells and
Horizontal Cells, Bipolar cells)
›  Layer 3 - Photoreceptors
MORE TERMS TO REMEMBER
›  Ganglion Cells – axons constitute the optic
nerve
›  Bipolar Cells – make dual connections
forward and outward to the ganglion cells
and backward and inward to the third layer
of retinal cells
›  Photoreceptors – convert light energy into
electrochemical energy that is transmitted by
neurons to the brain (Rods and cones)
MORE TERMS TO REMEMBER
›  Photopigments – chemical substances
that react to light and transform physical
electromagnetic energy into an
electrochemical neural impulse that can
be understood by the brain
›  Rods – long and thin photoreceptors,
more highly concentrated in the
periphery of the retina than in the foveal
region. Responsible for night vision and
are sensitive to light and dark stimuli
MORE TERMS TO REMEMBER
›  Cones – short and thick photoreceptors
and allow for the perception of color;
more highly concentrated in the foveal
region than in the periphery of the retina
›  Optic Nerve – made up of axons of the
ganglion cells in the eye
›  Optic Chiasma – made up of optic nerves
of the two eyes joined at the base of the
brain
HOW YOUR EYES WORK
MORE TERMS TO REMEMBER
›  VisualCortex – contains several
processing areas; each area handles
different kinds of visual information
relating to intensity and quality, including
color, location, depth, pattern, and form.
PATHWAYS TO PERCEIVE THE
WHAT AND WHERE
›  Pathway
– the path the visual information
takes from its entering the perceptual
system through the eyes to its being
completely process
VISUAL HYPOTHESES
WHAT/WHERE PATHWAYS
›  Information from the primary visual cortex
in the occipital lobe is forwarded to
fasciculi (fiber bundles):
›  Dorsal Pathway – called the where
pathway and is responsible for processing
location and motion information
›  Ventral Pathway – called the what
pathway; responsible for processing the
color, shape, and identity of visual stimuli
 Visual Pathways in the Brain
“what”
›  Temporal
lobe lesions
in monkeys
›  Canindicate where
but not what

“where”
›  Parietal lobe lesions
in monkeys
›  Canindicate what but
not where
WHAT/HOW HYPOTHESIS
›  Two pathways refer not to what things are and to where
they are but to what they are and to how they function
›  Argues that spatial information about where something is
located in space is always present in visual information
processing
›  What differs between the two pathways is whether the
emphasis is on identifying what an object is, or, instead, on
how we can situate ourselves so as to grasp the object
›  Best supported by evidence of processing deficits: There
are deficits that impair people’s ability to recognize what
they see and there are distinct deficits that impair people’s
ability to reach for what they see (How)
PATHWAYS
›  What Pathway – can be found in the
ventral stream and is responsible for the
identification of objects
›  How Pathway – located in the dorsal
stream and controls movements in
relation to the objects that have been
identified through the what ppathway
DIFFERENT VIEWS ON HOW WE
PERCEIVE THE WORLD
›  Bottom-Up Theories – describe approaches
where perception starts with the stimuli whose
appearance you take in through your eye;
data driven or stimulus driven theories
›  Top-Down Theories – Perception is driven by
high-level cognitive processes, existing
knowledge, and the prior expectations that
influence perceptions; when people expect
to see something, they may see it even if it is
not there or is no longer there
BOTTOM-UP THEORIES
BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING
THEORIES
›  DirectPerception
›  Template Theories
›  Feature-Matching Theories
›  Recognition-by-components Theory
HOFFDING FUNCTION
›  How we connect what we perceive to
what we have stored in our minds
›  Named after Harald Hoffding
Direct Perception
›  Gibson’s Theory of Direct Perception
›  The information in our sensory receptors,
including the sensory context is all we need
to perceive anything
›  The environment supplies us with all the
information we need for perception
(environmental perception)
JAMES J. GIBSON
JAMES J. GIBSON
›  Believed that in the real world, sufficient
contextual information usually exists to make
perceptual judgments
›  Claimed that we need not appear to higher-level
intelligent processes to explain perception
›  Believed that we use this contextual information
directly
›  We use texture gradients as cues for depth and
distance; these aid us to perceive directly the
relative proximity or distance of objects and of
parts of objects
TEMPLATE THEORIES
›  Suggest that we have stored in our minds
myriad sets of templates
›  We recognize a pattern by comparing it
with our set of templates
›  We then choose the exact template that
perfectly matches what we observe
›  Templates – highly detailed models for
patterns we potentially might potentially
recognize
Template Theories
compare to templates in memory until a match is found

– Problem of imperfect
matches
TEMPLATE MATCHING THEORIES
›  Belong to the group of chunk-based
theories that suggest that expertise is
attained by acquiring chunks of
knowledge in long-term memory that can
later be accessed for fast recognition
›  Fail to explain some aspects of the
perception of letters
Feature-Matching Theories
›  Alternative explanation of pattern and
form perception
›  We attempt to match features of a
pattern to features stored in memory,
rather than to match a whole pattern to
template or a prototype.
SELFRIDGE’S FEATURE-
MATCHING MODEL
SELRIDGE’S FEATURE-
MATCHING MODEL
›  We recognize patterns by matching
observed features to features already
stored in memory
›  We recognize patterns for which we have
found the greatest number of matches
PANDEMONIUM MODEL
PANDEMONIUM
›  Refers to a very noisy, chaotic place and
hell
FOUR DEMONS OF THE
PANDEMONIUM MODEL
›  Image demon – receive a retinal image and
passes it on to feature demons
›  Feature demon – calls out when there are
matches between the stimulus and the given
features. These matches are yelled out at demons
to the next level of hierarchy
›  Cognitive demon – shout out possible patterns
stored in memory that conform to one or more of
the features noticed by the feature demons
›  Decision Demon – listens to the pandemonium of
the cognitive demons; decides on what has been
seen based on which the cognitive demon is
shouting most frequently
GLOBAL PRECEDENCE EFFECT
Global Precedence Effect
›  The
“Global Precedence Effect” (GPE) is a
well-established phenomenon
characterised by a global advantage
(global response times that are faster than
local response times) and an interference
effect from global distractors during
identification of local targets but not vice
versa.
LOCAL PRECEDENCE
APPROACH
LOCAL PRECEDENCE EFFECT
›  Happens when letters are more widely
spaced, as in panels, the effect reversed
›  Participants more quickly identify the local
features of the individual letters than the
global ones, and the local features
features interfere with the global
recognition in cases of contradictory
stimuli
GNOSTIC UNITS
›  Neurons that recognize a complex
objects
›  Also known as grandmother cells because
they imply that there is a neuron that is
capable of recognizing your grandmother
 PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
FOR FEATURES
› Hubel & Wiesel (1979)
›  Simple cells – bars/edges
›  Complex cells – bars/edges
detect bars of particular
orientation
›  Hypercomplex cells --
particular colors (simple and
complex cells), bars, or
edges of particular length or
moving in a particular
direction
LINE ORIENTATION AND CELL
ACTIVATION
RECOGNITION-BY-
COMPONENTS THEORY
›  Developed by Irving Biederman (1987(
›  We quickly recognize objects by
observing their edges and then
decomposing the objects into geons.
›  Geons can be recomposed into
alternative arrangements.
›  Explains how we recognize the general
classification for multidinous objects
quickly, automatically, and accurately.
GEONS AND OBJECTS
TOP DOWN THEORIES
(Constructive Approach)
›  Constructive Perception – the perceiver builds
(constructs) a cognitive understanding
(perception) of a stimulus
›  The concepts of the perceiver and his/her
cognitive processes influence what he/she
sees.
›  The perceiver uses sensory information as the
foundation for the structure but also uses
other sources of information to build
perception (Intelligent Perception)
INTELLIGENT PERCEPTION
›  Statesthat higher order thinking plays an
important role in perception
›  Emphasizes the role of learning in
perception
THEORY OF CONSTRUCTIVE
PERCEPTION
›  Proposed by Jerome Bruner
›  States that during perception, we quickly
form and test various hypotheses
regarding percepts based on:
›  What we sense (sensory data)
›  What we know (knowledge stored in
memory)
›  What we can infer (using thinking)
›  What we expect
THEORY OF CONSTRUCTIVE
PERCEPTION
›  Links human intelligence even to fairly
basic processes of perception
›  Perception comprises not merely a low-
level set of cognitive processes, but
actually a quite sophisticated set of
processes that interact with and are
guided by human intelligence
CONSTRUCTIVISTS
›  During perception we quickly form and test
various hypotheses regarding percepts
›  Percepts are based on
›  What we sense (sensory data)
›  What we know (knowledge stored in memory)
›  What we can infer (using high level cognitive
processes)

›  What
you perceive is shaped, at some level,
by what you know and what you think
CONTEXT EFFECTS
›  Not explained fully by bottom-up (data
driven) theories
›  Influences of the surrounding environment
on perception
CONFIGURAL-SUPERIORITY
EFFECT
›  Objectspresented in certain
configurations are easier to recognize
than the objects presented in isolation,
even if the objects in the configurations
are more complex than those in isolation.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS
CONFIGURAL SUPERIORITY
EFFECT
›  Subjects more readily perceive
differences among integrated
configurations comprising multiple lines ©
than they do solitary lines (a).
›  Lines in the panel (b) are added to the
lines in panel (a) to form shapes in panel
©, thereby making panel © more complex
than panel (a).
OBJECT SUPERIORITY EFFECT
›  A
target line that forms part of a drawing
of a 3-D object is identified more
accurately than a target that forms part a
part of a disconnected 2-D pattern.
OBJECT SUPERIORITY EFFECT
WORD SUPERIORITY EFFECT
WORD SUPERIORITY EFFECT
›  Indicates
that when people are
presented with strings of letters, it is easier
for them to identify a single letter if a string
makes sense and forms a word instead of
being just a nonsense sequel of letters
WORD SUPERIORITY EFFECT
›  House
›  Huseo
CONSTRUCTIVE/INTELLIGENT
PERCEPTION
›  Shows the central relation between perception
and intelligence
›  According to this viewpoint, intelligence is an
integral part of our perceptual processing
›  We do not perceive simply in terms of what is out
there in the world. We perceive in terms of the
expectations and other cognitions we bring to our
interaction to the world
›  In this view, intelligence and perceptual processes
interact in the formation of our beliefs about what
it is that we are encountering in our everyday
contacts with the world at large.
TAKEN TO THE EXTREME
›  TOP DOWN POSITION
›  drasticallyunderestimate the importance of
sensory data.
›  We would be susceptible to gross
inaccuracies of perception
›  We frequently would form hypotheses and
expectancies that inadequately evaluated
the sensory data available
›  Highly error-prone and inefficient
TAKEN TO THE EXTREME
›  BOTTOM UP POSITION
›  Would not allow for any influence of past
experience or knowledge on perception
›  Why store knowledge that has no use for
the perceiver
HOW THE THEORIES GO
TOGETHER
BOTTOM UP THEORIES TOP DOWN THEORIES
›  Emphasize
the ›  Emphasize the
completeness of importance of prior
information from knowledge in
the receptors combination with
relatively simple
themselves and ambiguous
information from
sensory receptors.
FORMS THAT MENTAL
REPRESENTATION TAKES
›  Viewer Centered Representation – the
individual stores the way the object looks
to him or her; what matters is the
appearance of the object to the viewer,
not the actual structure of the object
›  Object Centered Representation – the
individual stores a representation of the
object, independent of its appearance to
the viewer
LANDMARK CENTERED
REPRESENTATIONS
›  Characterized
by its relation to a well-
known or prominent item
THE PERCEPTIONS OF GROUPS
(GESTALT LAWS)
›  Gestalt approach to form perception
›  Developed in Germany in the early 20th
century
›  Useful for understanding how we perceive
groups of objects or even parts of objects
to form integral Wholes
›  Founded by Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler,
and Max Wetheimer
›  Based on the notion that the whole differs
from the sum of its individual parts
LAW OF PRAGNANZ
›  We tend to perceive any given visual
array in a way that most simply organizes
the different elements into a stable and
coherent form.
›  We do not merely experience a jumble of
unintelligible, disorganized sensations
›  We tend to perceive a focal figure and
other sensations as forming a background
for the figure on which we focus.
GESTALT PRINCIPLES TO FORM
PERCEPTION
›  Figure-Ground
›  Proximity
›  Similarity
›  Continuity
›  Closure
›  Symmetry
FIGURE GROUND
FIGURE GROUND
›  When
perceiving a visual field, some
objects (figures) seem prominent, and
other aspects of the field recede into the
background (ground)
PROXIMITY
PROXIMITY
›  Whenwe perceive an assortment of
objects, we tend to see objects that are
close to each other as forming a group.
SIMILARITY
SIMILARITY
›  Wetend to group objects on the basis of
their similarity
CONTINUITY
CONTINUITY
›  We
tend to perceive smoothly flowing or
continuous forms rather than disrupted or
continuous ones.
CLOSURE
CLOSURE
CLOSURE
›  We
tend to perceptually close up or
complete objects that are not, in fact,
complete
SUMMETRY

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SYMMETRY
›  We tend to perceive objects as forming
mirror images about their center
›  When we view the configuration of
assorted brackets, we see the assortment
as forming four sets of brackets, rather
than eight individual items, because we
integrate the symmetrical elements into
coherent objects
RECOGNIZING PATTERNS AND
FACES
›  Martha Farah – suggests humans have
two systems for recognizing patterns
›  Pattern Recognition Systems
›  Feature Analysis System – specializes in
recognition of parts of objects and in
assembling those parts into distinct whole
›  Configurational system – specializes in
recognizing larger configurations; most
relevant to the recognition of faces