Expectation

• Define expectation

  A belief on what is likely to happen based on past experiences
• How does expectation effect perceptual set

  Can affect how much we attend to or notice things in the environment
• Describe Bruner and Minturn's study

  · Aimed to find out whether an ambiguous figure was seen differently if context of figure was changed

  · Independent groups design used where ppts presented with sequence of letters or sequence of numbers with same ambiguous figure in the middle. Could be seen as a B or 13, and ppts had to say and draw what they saw.

  · Those who saw sequence of letters more likely to report figure as B and ppts shown numbers said it was a 13.

  · Shows expectation of what the figure represented was affected by the context that the figure was presented in
• Evaluate Bruner and Minturn's study

  - Artificial task= ambiguous figure is designed to trick perception. Means the results lack validity

  - Independent groups design= differences in perception between groups may have been due to ppt variables instead of expectations

  +real life application= explains errors people make as the results suggest expectations can influence perception. Helps to explain why people make mistakes in real world
• who carried out a study into expectation

  Bruner and Minturn