Back to AI Flashcard MakerPsychology /GRE® Psychology Biological: Sensation and Perception Part 4
GRE® Psychology Biological: Sensation and Perception Part 4
This deck covers key concepts in sensation and perception, focusing on visual perception, depth cues, and various optical illusions.
What allows us to see different properties of an object from different angles but know it is still the same object?
Though an understanding of the object has to exist to begin with, the principle of shape constancy allows our brains to recognize that, even if we see a piano from behind instead of looking at its keys, it is still a piano.
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Key Terms
Term
Definition
What allows us to see different properties of an object from different angles but know it is still the same object?
Though an understanding of the object has to exist to begin with, the principle of shape constancy allows our brains to recognize that, even if we see...
Fill in the blanks: __________ __________ allows us to know that the color of an object does not change, even though the light hitting it does change.
Brightness constancy (or color constancy)
Eleanor Gibson terrified babies by pioneering what experiment? What does this experiment measure?
Gibson pioneered the visual cliff experiment, which measures depth perception in babies. A baby is placed on one end of a table and tries to cross to ...
Fill in the blanks: __________ ____ are used to perceive depth, and require use of both eyes, while __________ ____ only require use of one eye.
Binocular cues; monocular cues
What are examples of monocular cues?
• linear perspective • relative size cues • interposition cues • texture gradient • shadowing
Describe: linear perspective
Like in art class, it uses a point on the canvas for two lines to come together, representing distance.
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
What allows us to see different properties of an object from different angles but know it is still the same object? | Though an understanding of the object has to exist to begin with, the principle of shape constancy allows our brains to recognize that, even if we see a piano from behind instead of looking at its keys, it is still a piano. |
Fill in the blanks: __________ __________ allows us to know that the color of an object does not change, even though the light hitting it does change. | Brightness constancy (or color constancy) |
Eleanor Gibson terrified babies by pioneering what experiment? What does this experiment measure? | Gibson pioneered the visual cliff experiment, which measures depth perception in babies. A baby is placed on one end of a table and tries to cross to the other side. However, the middle of the table appears hollow, like a cliff, and babies who refuse to cross the cliff can perceive depth. |
Fill in the blanks: __________ ____ are used to perceive depth, and require use of both eyes, while __________ ____ only require use of one eye. | Binocular cues; monocular cues |
What are examples of monocular cues? | • linear perspective • relative size cues • interposition cues • texture gradient • shadowing |
Describe: linear perspective | Like in art class, it uses a point on the canvas for two lines to come together, representing distance. |
Describe: relative size cues | To represent distance, objects in photos or drawings tend to be larger the closer they are to the foreground. If something is in the distance, it is usually represented as being quite small. |
Describe: interposition cues | It signal to a viewer that an object obscuring the view of another object is closer to the viewer. |
Describe: texture gradient | Things in the distance are difficult to see clearly, and things close-up are more detailed, so fuzzy textures signal that an object or landscape is in the distance. |
Describe: shadowing | Shadowing uses light and darkness to signal to the viewer the location of objects. |
What are two binocular cues to help us perceive depth? | 1. binocular disparity (or retinal disparity) 2. convergence |
Why does binocular disparity tell us how far away an object is? | Our eyes are positioned apart from one another, so when one eye perceives something different about an object from the other eye, it tells us that the object must be close. If the object were far away, both eyes would perceive roughly the same thing. |
How does convergence signal how far away an object is? | The muscles that control the eyes send signals to the brain as they move, and the more the eye muscles converge (turn inward together), the closer an object must be. |
What muscles control the shape of the lens? | ciliary muscles |
Rods and cones are also known as what? | receptor cells |
In what part of the retina is visual acuity at its greatest? | The fovea, since it has the greatest concentration of cones in the eye, enabling perception of fine detail. |
How would nativists explain perception? | Nativists argue that perception is an innate ability, meaning that humans are born with the capacity to perceive the world around them without the need for extensive learning or experience. |
How would structuralists explain perception? | Structuralists would argue that perception is a result of bottom-up processing, meaning it begins with sensory input and builds up to form a complete perceptual experience. |
How would Gestalt psychologists explain perception? | Perception is a result of top-down processing, since the way people explain the world is by creating a system of organization. |
What type of illusion is this? | An ambiguous figure illusion. They are images that can be perceived differently depending on how they are seen. |
What kind of illusion is this? | A figure-ground reversal pattern illusion. These images can be perceived differently based on which part is seen as the foreground and which is the background (in this case, faces or a vase). |
What kind of illusion is this? | An impossible object illusion. Impossible objects are perceived as being real, even though there is no geometric way they can exist in reality. |
Why does the moon look smaller in the sky than it does on the horizon? | When the moon is on the horizon, we can compare its relative size to other familiar objects. However, when it is in the sky, we have nothing else to compare it to, creating the illusion that it is smaller. |
How are cartoons an example of the phi phenomenon? | Cartoons are a series of still images changed slightly and presented quickly to achieve a sense of fluid motion. The phi phenomenon states that we attribute apparent motion to a series of still images that differ slightly from one another. |
What is this illusion? | the Müller-Lyer illusion Though we know the lines are equal in length, we perceive the one with outward prongs as longer than the one with inward prongs. |
What type of illusion is this? | a Ponzo illusion Like the Muller-Lyer illusion, the lines in this example seem different in length, though they are the same. |