transitional probability
the chance that one sound will follow another in a language.
ex. in English ‘q’ is almost always followed by ‘u’
statistical learning
people unconsciously learn patterns and regularities from their environment
head turning procedure
key figure: Saffran
used head turning procedure to test whether 8month old infants show statistical learning.
made inferences based on head turning behaviour, w/ the assumption that babies will face speakers for longer when hearing something they have preference for.
showed evidence for statistical learning
Helmholtz’s Theory of Unconscious Inference.
perception happens through unconscious inference—automatic, unconscious guesses that the brain makes based on past experiences. (i.e., top-down mechanisms)
likelihood principle
we perceive stimuli as representing the most likely objects or events
Structuralism
viewed perception as additive combinations of various basic sensations
Gestalt
a school of thought that rejected the structuralist approach.
viewed perception as a product of the mind grouping patterns according to laws of perceptual organization
laws of perceptual organization
rules that describe how humans automatically group visual elements into unified patterns or wholes to make sense of the world
phi phenomenon
occurs when still images are perceived as being in continuous motion when rapidly alternated across different locations.
implies that the structuralist view is problamatic
principle of good continuation
lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path possible.
law of Pragnanz
aka principle of good figure , or simplicity
every stimulus pattern is seen so the resulting structure is seen as simple as possible
principle of proximity
things that are close together in space tend to be grouped together
principle of similarity
similar things tend to be grouped together
perceptual segregation
brain separates a perceptual field into distinct objects and their backgrounds.
figural cues influence perceptual segregation of figure from ground
areas lower in the field of view are more likely to be perceived as a figure
may relate to the tendency for figures to occupy the lower portion of our visual field, with backgrounds being higher up
convex regions
i.e., regions that bulge outward more likely to be perceived as figure
physical regularities
many occur in our environment, which influence how our perceptual systems function
ex. vertical and horizontal lines are perceived more easily than lines of other orientations
oblique effect
vertical and horizontal lines perceived more easily than others
thought to be due to the fact that they occur more regularly
light from above assumption
because light comes from above in most environments, this leads to certain expectations about how shadows will form around objects with particular shapes
semantic regularities
refer to the characteristics typically associated with different types of scenes.
these often relate to actions or activities that are commonly undertaken in those scenes (ex. kitchens usually involve tools and equipment for cooking. )
scene schema
the knowledge of what a given scene normally contains.
Bayesian Inference
way to make decisions using probability. It starts with initial beliefs (priors) and changes them when new evidence comes in
feature detectors in V1
v1= primary receiving area for vision
tuned to respond to particular stimuli properties.
experience dependent plasticity
the brain’s capacity to change and adapt its structure and function throughout life in response to specific individual experiences, learning, and sensory inputs.
may lead some neurons to develop in a way that they respond best to whatever occurs regularly in the environment
expertise hypothesis
proposes that face-specific processing mechanisms are not unique to faces but are general mechanisms that are activated by any object category for which an individual has gained extensive expertise
