Chapter 4
Perception
Perception
• Bottom-up processing: individual elements of the
stimulus are combined into a unified perception
• Top-down processing: sensory information is
interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts,
ideas, and expectations
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2011
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Perception
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2011
4
The Role of Attention
• Attention involves two processes:
– Focusing on certain stimuli
– Filtering out other incoming information
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2011
5
The Role of Attention
• Inattentional blindness: the failure of
unattended stimuli to register in
consciousness
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2011
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The Role of Attention
• Stimulus characteristics that affect attention:
– Intensity
– Novelty
– Movement
– Contrast
– Repetition
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2011
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The Role of Attention
• Personal factors that affect attention:
– Motives
– Interests
– Threats to well-being
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2011
8
Organization and Structure
• Gestalt principles: argues that the whole is
more than the sum of its parts
• Figure-ground relations: the organization of
stimuli into a foreground figure and a
background
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2011
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Organization and Structure
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2011
10
Organization and Structure
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2011
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Organization and Structure
• Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization:
– Law of Similarity: similar elements will be
perceived as belonging together
– Law of Proximity: elements that are near each
other are likely to be perceived as part of the
same configuration
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2011
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Organization and Structure
• Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization:
– Law of Closure: people tend to fill in gaps in
incomplete figures
– Law of Continuity: people link individual elements
together to form a pattern...