sensation
process our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies
perception
process of organizing and interpreting sensory information
bottom-up processing
starts at sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing
top-down processing
constructs perceptions from the sensory input by drawing on our experience and expectations
selective attention
The focusing on conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
change blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment
transduction
converting one form of energy into another that your brain can use
binocular cues
depth cues like retinal disparity that depend on the use of two eyes.
absolute threshold
minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
depth perception
Binocular cues for perceiving depth, the greater the difference between the two images, the closer the object.
monocular cues
available with either eye alone, a depth cue such as linear perspective or interposition
closure
the illusion of seeing an incomplete stimulus as though it were whole
Gestalt
an organized whole, our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
Weber’s Law
to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
sensory adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
figure ground
the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings.
perceptual constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change
perceptual set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
Cocktail Party Effect
ability to attend to only one voice among many voices
proximity
tendency to group nearby things together
retinal disparity
binocular cue for perceiving depth
relative size
with two objects that are similar size, the one that casts a smaller image on the retina is perceived as further away
interposition
if one object partially blocks our view of another we perceive it as closer
