Topic 8 & 9

• What is perceptual set?

  a temporary readiness to perceive something in accordance with what we expect it to be
• What does context mean as a factor of influencing perceptual set?context refers to the setting or environment in which a perception is made
• What is motivation?


  motivation refers to the processes which activate and sustain purposeful or goal directed behaviour, can influence our expectations
• What's the influence of past experiences

  Past experiences refers to our personal experiences throughout out lives including everything we learn intentionally and unintentionally
• What is memory?


  Memory refers to the process of storing what we see in a meaningful way
• What are social factors?

  involves influences from external social environments in which we interact with others
• What is culture?


  the way of life a particular community or group that sets it apart from the other communities and groups
• What are Gestalt principles?

  refers to ways in which we organise the features of a visual stimulus by grouping them to perceive a whole, complete form
• What is figure ground?

  Figure ground is when we organise visual information by dividing a visual stimulus into a 'figure' which stands out from the 'ground' which is its surroundings
• What is closure in the gestalt principle?

  closure is the perceptual tendency to mentally 'close up' fill in' or ignore gaps in a visual image and to perceive incomplete objects as complete (whole)
• What is similarity?


  involves the tendency to perceive parts of a visual stimulus that have similar features such as size shape, etc as belonging together in a group or whole
• What is proximity? 


  Proximity ( nearness) is the tendency to perceive parts of a visual image which are positioned close together as belonging together in a group
• What is gustatory perception?

  Gustatory perception ( taste perception) is meaningfully interpreting sensations to generate taste
• how does biological factors impact gustatory perception?

  Taste perception starts with the physical stimulation of taste receptors cells located within the taste buds in the mouth
• What are biological factor that affect gustatory perception?

  Genetics, age, number of taste receptors, physical health
• How does genetics impact gustatory perception?

  Genetics play a role in determining how sensitive we are to bitterness, sweetness, umami and other tastes but also the number of taste buds we have
• How does age influence gustatory perception?

  As we age our sense of taste can decline and we are less sensitive to the 5 sense but we also loose tastebuds as we age
• What is Gustatory perception?

  gustatory perception ( taste perception) is meaningfully interpreting sensations to generate taste
• Describe biological factors that influence gustatory perception

  taste perception starts with the physical simulation of taste receptors in taste buds biological factors include genetics, age, number of test receptors
• What role does genetics play in gustatory perception?


  genetics play a role in determining how sensitive we are to bitterness, sweetness and other tastes due to genetic make up and number of taste buds
• What role does age play in gustatory perception?

  As we age our taste can decline and we are less sensitive to the 5 tastes, we start loosing taste buds as we age
• How does memory influence our gustatory perception?

  As we age we learn and remember what different food taste look and taste like through direct experience or learning from others. This can help us identify food and predict how it will taste and restrict our diet
• How does food packaging and appearance influence our gustatory perception?

  Our perception of taste can influence our perceptual set ( what we expect the food to taste like )
• How does culture influence our gustatory perception?

  The food we like and grow up with can influence us and the food our family exposes us to. This also influences our attitude to healthy food and junk food around us.
• What is a visual illusion?

  A visual illusion is a misconception of external visual stimuli that occurs as a result of distortion or mistaking when interpreting the stimuli
• Describe why visual illusion occurs

  Occurs due to perceptual distortion this involves inconsistency between a perceptual experience and physical reality
• Describe the Muller-lyer illusion

  The muller-lier illusion is a visual illusion in which one of two lines of equal lengths that have opposite shaped ends are incorrectly perceived as being longer than the other
• What is the carpenter world hypothesis in relation to muller-layer illusion?

  this proposes that the illusions occur because the familiar architectural features in the 3D world we live such as corners and angles and lines used to judge distance and depth
• What is contradicting visual cues in relation to muller-lyer illusion?

  Ross day proposes that the illusion provides visual cues that contradict each other, we see one stimuli overall longer than the other generalising it to the individual lines
• What is the Ames Room illusion?

  the Ames room illusion involves people appearing smaller or larger depending on where they're standing in the unusual constructed room
• How does the Ames room illusion work?

  the Ames room illusion involves a trapezium shaped room where one side is longer and higher and when viewed using one eye the room appears rectangular
• What is the theory behind the Ames room illusion?

  when observing a person on the right corner of the bak room the image of the person the retina is larger because the person is twice as close to the observer compared to someone who is standing on the back left corner
• What is the spinning dancer illusion?

  The spinning dancer can be interpreted as spinning clockwise or counter clockwise
• What is theory behind the spinning dancer illusion?

  The illusion has been explained in terms of the lack of depth cues to distinguish between the front and back of the silhouette
• What does context mean as a factor of influencing perceptual set?

  refers to the setting or environment in which a perception is made
• What is depth perception?

  the ability to accurately estimate the distance of objects therefore perceive the world in three dimensions
• what are binocular depth cues?

  the use of both eyes working together in order to provide information to the brain about depth and distance
• What is convergence?


  involves the brain detecting and interpreting depth or distance from changes in tension in the eye muscles that occurs when two eyes turn inwards to focus on objects that are close.