Chapter 3 – Perception

Instructions: Using your textbook, complete the definitions/questions in italics, highlighted in yellow. Keep in mind it is your responsibility to learn all the information presented here – not just the parts you complete. They take the place of a traditional lecture and guide you through what you need to know for exams.

If at any point you are confused about the meaning of a question, please do not hesitate to reach out!

As you complete the definitions, keep in mind that copying directly from the textbook is not your best bet. You need to be able to apply these definitions. A good rule to remember is this – if you can’t explain a term/theory/etc., in your own words to another person, you don’t really understand it. Don’t be a copy machine – be a thinker!

For your grade on this assignment – you will separately turn in typed answers to questions indicated at the end of the assignment. Leave the question in your answers to make them easier to grade.

Psychology Demonstrations, Tutorials, and Other Neat Stuff

Interactive demonstrations related to sensation and perception, with more illusions and explanations.

http://www.uni.edu/walsh/tutor.htmlGeneral information on perception https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46umYA_4dMI.The Nature of Perception – Define –

Carefully read through pages 59-64. I don’t have a particular question for this section, but I think it sets up the rest of the chapter exceedingly well.

II.Why Is It So Difficult to Design a Perceiving Machine?

A.The Stimulus on the Receptors Is Ambiguous

1.Inverse projection problem – Define –

B.Objects Can Be Hidden or Blurred – Thoroughly explain both problems. WILL BE TURNED IN FOR GRADE.C.Objects Look Different from Different Viewpoints

1.Viewpoint invariance – Define –

D.Scenes Contain High-Level Information – What does this mean?

III.Information for Human Perception

A.Processing

1.Bottom-up processing – Define –

2.Top-down processing – Define –

Bottom-up vs Top-down processing – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJy5_p_LAhQa.Perceiving Objects – Why do we perceive those blobs differently in different pictures?

b.Hearing Words in a Sentence

1)Speech segmentation – Define –

Speech segmentation example – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THlTRbdwKyk2)Transitional probabilities – Define –

3)Statistical learning – Define –

What happened in the Saffran study? What were the results? Provide plenty of detail! WILL BE TURNED IN FOR GRADE.IV.Conceptions of Object Perception

A.Helmholtz’s Theory of Unconscious Inference

1.One of Helmholtz’s contributions to perception was based on his realization that the image on the retina is ambiguous. Helmholtz’s question was, How does the perceptual system “decide” that this pattern on the retina was created by overlapping rectangles?

a.Likelihood principle – Define –

b.Unconscious inference – Define –

B.The Gestalt Principles of Organization

Perception and Interaction -E-chapter that discusses and provides examples for the Gestalt laws. HYPERLINK “http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/genpsyperception.html” http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/genpsyperception.html

1.Gestalt approach – Explain –

The History of Gestalt Psychology -The contributions of famous Gestalt psychologists. http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/gestalt.html2.Apparent movement – Define –

Brain games – Apparent motion – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKqF9xN0_q4a.What 2 conclusions did Wertheimer draw from existence of apparent movement?

Simulated Motion Perception-Students can participate in an original study on motion perception. http://www.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/ags/wbski/DSD/blink/eStart.htmlApparent Motion of the Sun (Time: 4:25) -Though a little different than the traditional examples of apparent motion and the definition presented in the text, this video provides a different type of apparent motion with regard to the movement of the earth, sun, and stars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U46xCJlOSis3.Principles of perceptual organization – Explain –

The Gestalt Principles -Examples of Gestalt concepts presented through visual design. http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htmAnother video on gestalt principles – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FryaH599ec0a.Principle of good continuation – Explain –

b.The law of pragnaz, AKA principle of good figure, AKA principle of simplicity – Explain –

c.Principle of similarity – Explain –

Interesting article on principle of similarity and design – https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/05/improve-your-designs-with-principles-similarity-proximity-part-1/A variety of videos exploring Gestalt principle of perception.http://youtu.be/Vx3pxdzWg3Y (Psychology Perception Video, Time: 1:45)

http://youtu.be/nxKcpfFvuf8 (Gestalt Principles of Perception, Time: 4:13)

http://youtu.be/m8OBqPwgtYU (Law of Pragnanz, Time: 2:05)

4.Taking Regularities of the Environment into Account – Explain regularities in the environment.

a.Physical regularities – Define –

1)Oblique effect – Define –

Research article on oblique effect – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00426989050023972)Light-from-above assumption – Define –

b.Semantic regularities – Explain –

C.Bayesian Inference – Bayesian inference was named after Thomas Bayes (1701–1761), who proposed that our estimate of the probability of an outcome is determined by two factors: (1) the prior probability, or simply the prior, which is our initial belief about the probability of an outcome, and (2) the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome. This second factor is called the likelihood of the outcome.

Compare and contrast Bayesian inference and Helmholtz’s idea. WILL BE TURNED IN FOR GRADE.V.Neurons and Knowledge About the Environment

A.Neurons that Respond to Horizontals and Verticals – Why are there more neurons that respond to horizontals and verticals?

B.Experience-Dependent Plasticity – Explain –

VI.Perception and Action: Behavior

A.Movement Facilitates Perception – How?

VII.Perception and Action: Physiology

A.What and Where Streams

1.Brain ablation – Define. How do these studies work? –

2.What happened in the Ungerlieder and Mishkin study? What were the results? WILL BE TURNED IN FOR GRADE.3.Perception and Action Streams – What happened in the Milner and Goodale study? What were the results? WILL BE TURNED IN FOR GRADE.Detailed lecture from Goodale on visual perception – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te4xmwI1Y_k4.Mirror Neurons – Define –

Mirror neurons – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGYKcqzG_7M5.Mirror neuron system – Define –

Questions to Turn In – Just submit this part of the assignment to Moodle.

1.Objects Can Be Hidden or Blurred – Thoroughly explain both problems. 2 points.2.What happened in the Saffran study? What were the results? Provide plenty of detail! 2 points.3.Compare and contrast Bayesian inference and Helmholtz’s idea. 2 points.4.What happened in the Ungerlieder and Mishkin study? What were the results? 2 points.5.What happened in the Milner and Goodale study? What were the results? 2 points.