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Perception:
selecting, organizing and
interpreting our
sensations
Selective Attention
Definition: the focusing of conscious awareness on a
particular stimulus.
i.e. - our conscious attention is selective
We may know that alternative interpretations are
possible, but are able to experience only one at a
time.
When we focus our awareness on something, it is only
a limited aspect of all we experience
Selective Attention
Relative clarity We
perceive hazy objects
as farther away than
clear objects
Texture gradient coarse
defined textures are
perceived as closer
than fine indistinct
textures.
Linear perspective Lines are perceived as getting farther away when they
converge.
Relative height areas that are higher up in your visual field
are perceived as farther away. Lowest objects in our field
of vision generally seem the closest.
Relative Motion objects that move faster are perceived as closer
Perceived
lightness
changes with context
When Constancy Fails
Illusions experiences in which
our perceptions are at odds with
what we know as physical reality
Illusions remind us that
perception is a higher level
process than sensation!
Illusions
Which line
appears longer?
A few classic geometrical illusions.
(A) Are the vertical and horizontal lines the same length? (B) Is the brim
of the hat as wide as the hat is tall? (C) Are the two horizontal lines the
same length? (D) Are the two horizontal lines the same length? (E) Are
the two diagonals part of the same line? (F) Are the long diagonal lines
parallel? (G) Are the two center circles the same size?
Old or young
woman?
Perceptual Set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Influenced by experience, culture, and context
Flying saucers or
clouds?
Perceptual Set
Doyou notice
anything wrong
with these
photos of
actress Julia
Roberts?
Perceptual Set
Perceiving is Believing -
Crash Course Psychology #7