Gibson's Direct Theory of Perception

• Gibson's Direct Theory of Perception

  Suggests that the environment gives us all the information required for perception
• Direct Perception

  Sensation and perception are the same thing. The eyes detect everything we need to judge depth, distance and movement. We don't need past experience.
• Optic Flow Patterns

  • When moving, the point we are moving towards stays stationary and everything else rushes away from it. This is detected by our eyes which tells the brain that we are moving, so we know the speed and direction that we are travelling in.
• Motion Parallax

  • This is another monocular depth cue which tells the brain the speed we are moving. When we are moving, objects closer in our visual field appear to move faster than objects further away.
• The Influence of Nature

  Our ability to perceive is inborn – we don't need to learn it. The eyes detect fine changes in light, texture, movement and depth so we can understand distance and depth.
• Evaluation

  • Real World Meaning (strength) - Has real world meaning as research was based on the experience of pilots from the Second World War.This makes it more relevant to explain how we perceive the world on a daily basis.
  • The Theory Stuggles to Explain Illusions (weakness) - Gibson proposed that we will always perceive accurately whereas illusions trick the brain into misperception. This suggests there is more to perception than his theory suggested.