2. Imperfect Senses
How are our senses imperfect?
!
Limited Range:
Our senses pick up a limited
range of signals (and their
range and sharpness is not as
well developed as the senses
are in some other species).
!
Recall: the weakest amount of
a stimulus we can detect is
called the absolute threshold.
There are 3 muscles in a
human ear: humans can
hear 64-23,000 Hz.
!
Dogs have 18 muscles in
their ears: dogs can hear
higher pitched sounds and
can detect a frequency
range of 67-45,000 Hz.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. Color-Blindness
There are cones in the retina of the eye that respond
to a specific range of light wavelengths.When some or
all of a person’s cones do not function properly, he/she
is said to be color-blind or color-deficient. This is
hereditary, and affects 7% of males and .4% of females.
13. Imperfect Senses
How are our senses imperfect?
!
Context Clues:
Our brains use context to
determine meaning. This
means that we compare what
we see (or hear, smell, etc.)
to the surrounding
environment and our past
experiences.
!
How can this lead to
misinterpretation?
!
!
!
!
!
Our brains compare
objects in the environment
to determine size.
14. Top-Down Processing
Top-down processing suggests that we form our perceptions
starting with a larger object, concept, or idea before working our
way toward more detailed information. In other words, top-down
processing happens when we work from the general to the specific.
Example: instead of processing
each letter of a word, you read
the word as a whole.Your
brain looks for familiar
patterns and uses context and
prior knowledge to
understand overall meaning.
15. Top-Down Processing
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't
mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit
pclae.The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it
wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not
raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
If you can tell what these words
are supposed to be, your brain is
using top-down processing. It is
focusing on the word as a whole
and the context of the sentence in
order to understand meaning.
16. Bottom-Up Processing
Example: The first time you touched fire, the
signal was sent from the environment to
your brain, and you pulled your hand away -
this is bottom-up processing! (The next time
you saw fire, you perceived it as hot before
feeling the heat: this is top-down processing.
Bottom-up processing is the opposite: it suggests that we form our
perceptions starting with individual details or components before
working our way to an understanding of the whole. Bottom-up
processing does not use context or prior knowledge to form
understanding, but it uses a direct stimulus: an individual image,
smell, taste, or sound directly helps your brain create understanding.
17. Top-down & Bottom-Up
Imagine you are in your house at night in the dark.
When you hold out your hands in front of you to feel
for furniture and walls, you are using bottom-up
processing. You must use direct stimuli from the
environment to help form your understanding of the
room in the dark.
When you try to remember what the room looks like
during daytime, and use that prior knowledge to help
you navigate the house in the dark, you are using top-
down processing. The concept you already have in
your mind of the full house layout is helping form your
understanding of the room in the dark.
18. Pre-attentive Process
The unconscious accumulation and processing of
information from stimuli in the environment.
Attentive Process
The accumulation of information by actively and
consciously considering only one part of a stimulus at a
time. Attentive thinking is slower, because the brain
must consider one piece of information at a time…
Let’s try it out!
19. Say the colors:
!
Green Red Orange
Yellow Blue Green
Purple Red Blue
Orange Yellow Green
Red Blue Purple
the Stroop Task
Pre-attentive!
20. the Stroop Task
Say the colors:
!
Green Red Orange
Yellow Blue Green
Purple Red Blue
Orange Yellow Green
Red Blue Purple
Attentive!
21. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Closure:
We tend to ignore breaks in a
figure, and instead focus on an
overall form.
1
22. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Proximity:
We perceive elements that are
closer together as grouped
together.
2
23. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Similarity:
Elements that are similar in
appearance we also see as
grouped together.
3
24. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Continuity:
Lines are seen as following
the smoothest path.
4
25. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Simplicity:
When we observe a pattern, we
perceive it in the most basic,
straightforward way we can.
5 !
!
!
!
!
!
You likely see a diamond
shape with two lines on
the sides before you see
the letterW and letter M
satcked on top of each
other.
M
M
26. Gestalt Laws
A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces on information into meaningful wholes.
Foreground/Background:
We can identify a figure from
the background. (This ability is
related to “simplicity”).
5b
28. Astronaut Manual
Read assignment instructions on the Psych website.
Use
Module 8
(page 89)
and
Module 11
(page 116)
to help you
complete this
assignment.
