9. Perceptual Illusions Illusions provide good examples in understanding how perception is organized. Studying faulty perception is as important as studying other perceptual phenomena. Line AB is longer than line BC.
10. Tall Arch In this picture, the vertical dimension of the arch looks longer than the horizontal dimension. However, both are equal. Rick Friedman/ Black Star
12. 3-D Illusion It takes a great deal of effort to perceive this figure in two dimensions. Reprinted with kind permission of Elsevier Science-NL. Adapted from Hoffman, D. & Richards, W. Parts of recognition. Cognition, 63, 29-78
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15. Grouping After distinguishing the figure from the ground, our perception needs to organize the figure into a meaningful form using grouping rules.
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22. Monocular Cues Relative Clarity: Because light from distant objects passes through more light than closer objects, we perceive hazy objects to be farther away than those objects that appear sharp and clear.
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33. Size-Distance Relationship Both girls in the room are of similar height. However, we perceive them to be of different heights as they stand in the two corners of the room. Both photos from S. Schwartzenberg/ The Exploratorium
34. Ames Room The Ames room is designed to demonstrate the size-distance illusion.
35. Lightness Constancy The color and brightness of square A and B are the same. Courtesy Edward Adelson
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43. Perceptual Set (a) Loch ness monster or a tree trunk; (b) Flying saucers or clouds? Other examples of perceptual set. Frank Searle, photo Adams/ Corbis-Sygma Dick Ruhl
44. Schemas Children's schemas represent reality as well as their abilities to represent what they see. Schemas are concepts that organize and interpret unfamiliar information. Courtesy of Anna Elizabeth Voskuil
45. Features on a Face Students recognized a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger faster than his actual photo. Face schemas are accentuated by specific features on the face. Kieran Lee/ FaceLab, Department of Psychology, University of Western Australia
46. Eye & Mouth Eyes and mouth play a dominant role in face recognition. Courtesy of Christopher Tyler
47. Context Effects Is the “magician cabinet” on the floor or hanging from the ceiling? Context can radically alter perception.
48. Cultural Context To an East African, the woman sitting is balancing a metal box on her head, while the family is sitting under a tree. Context instilled by culture also alters perception.
OBJECTIVE 1 | Describe the interplay between attention and perception.
OBJECTIVE 2 | Explain how illusions help us understand some of the ways we organize stimuli into meaningful perceptions.
OBJECTIVE 3 | Describe Gestalt psychology's contribution to our understanding of perception.
OBJECTIVE 4 | Explain the figure-ground relationship and identify principles of perceptual grouping in form perception.
OBJECTIVE 5 | Explain the importance of depth perception, and discuss the contribution of visual cliff research to our understanding of this ability.
OBJECTIVE 6 | Describe two binocular cues for perceiving depth, and explain how they help the brain to compute distance.
OBJECTIVE 7 | Explain how monocular cues differ from binocular cues, and describe several monocular cues for perceiving depth.
OBJECTIVE 8 | State the basic assumption we make in our perceptions of motion, and explain how these perceptions can be deceiving.
OBJECTIVE 9 | Explain the importance of perceptual constancy.
OBJECTIVE 10 | Describe the shape and size constancy, and explain how our expectations about perceived size and distance to some visual illusions.
OBJECTIVE 11 | Discuss lightness constancy and its similarity to color constancy.
OBJECTIVE 12 | Describe the contribution of restored-vision and sensory deprivation research in our understanding of the nature-nurture interplay in our perceptions.
OBJECTIVE 13 | Explain how the research on distorting goggles increases our understanding of the adaptability of perception.
OBJECTIVE 14 | Define perceptual set, and explain how it influences what we do or do not perceive. Right half the class should close their eyes and the left half of the class should see the saxophonist for about 20 seconds. Then the left half of the class should close the eyes and the right half should see the woman’s face. All of them should then write their responses while watching the middle picture. Responses are compared to show perceptual set.
All what we perceive not only comes from the environment but also from our minds. Schemas or concepts develop through experience.
Portrait artists understood the importance of this recognition and therefore centered an eye in their paintings.
OBJECTIVE 15 | Explain why the same stimulus can evoke different perceptions in different contexts.
OBJECTIVE 16 | Describe the role human factors psychologists play in creating user-friendly machines and work settings.
OBJECTIVE 17 | Identify the three most testable forms of ESP, and explain why most research psychologists remain, skeptical of ESP.