UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY

By
Robert S. Feldman
PERCEPTION
 PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION:
CONSTRUCTING OUR VIEW OF THE WORLD
 Gestalt Laws of Organization
 The brain creates a perception that is more than simply the sum of available
sensory inputs
 PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION:
CONSTRUCTING OUR VIEW OF THE WORLD
 Figure-Ground Relationship

 The concept of figure-ground

relationship explains why this image
can be perceived either as a vase or as
a pair of faces
 GESTALT LAWS OF ORGANIZATION

 Closure
 Closure suggests that we will perceive
a complete circle and rectangle rather
than a series of segments
 GESTALT LAWS OF ORGANIZATION

 Proximity
 The Gestalt principle of proximity
suggests that you see (a) one block of
dots on the left side and (b) three
columns on the right side
 GESTALT LAWS OF ORGANIZATION

 Similarity
 When looking at this array of dots, we
likely perceive alternating rows of
colors
 We are grouping these dots according
to the principle of similarity
 GESTALT LAWS OF ORGANIZATION

 Simplicity
 When we observe a pattern, we
perceive it in the most basic,
straightforward manner that we can.
 TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP
PROCESSING
 top-down processing Perception that
is guided by higher-level knowledge,
experience, expectations, and
motivations.
 bottom-up processing Perception
that consists of the progression of
recognizing and processing
information from individual
components of a stimuli and moving
to the perception of the whole.
 DEPTH PERCEPTION:
TRANSLATING 2-D TO 3-D

 depth perception The ability to view the world in three dimensions and to
perceive distance.
 PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY

 perceptual constancy Our understanding that physical objects are unvarying and
consistent even though sensory input about them may vary.
 PERCEPTUAL ILLUSIONS:
THE DECEPTIONS OF PERCEPTIONS
 visual illusions Physical stimuli that consistently produce errors in perception.