What is the difference between
sensation and perception?
•Sensation is gathering
info from the
environment via your
senses.
•Perception is
understanding what is
being sensed!
What do we call it when there is a
mismatch between sensation and
perception – when we misinterpret
the info?
What are geometric illusions?
• Our perception of size is
distorted.
• E.g. the top yellow line appears
longer than the bottom yellow
line.
What are Ambiguous figures?
• When an object
can be seen in
more than one
way. Do you
see a man
playing the
saxophone or a
womans face?
What are fictions?
• When you see
something that is not
there. E.g. the white
triangle
What is shape constancy?
• The ability to perceive
the shape of an object
even if it’s seen from
different angles
Rectangle
Rectangle Still a
flipping
rectangle!!!!
What is colour constancy?
Red lighting
Green lighting
• We can still tell what colours are in different
lighting, e.g. you can see the blue squares even
when under red or green lighting.
What is depth perception?
• The ability to perceive the world in 3D.
What are the 5 depth cues that
your brain uses to perceive in 3D?
Linear perspective
Superimposition
Height in the
plane
overlapping
Texture gradient
Relative size
What do you need to say if the
exam question asks you about
CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY
How do your expectations
influence your perception here?
Limitations with constructivist
theory
INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES – rarely
do we disagree with people about
what we see but we all have different
past experiences.
Newborn babies – no past experience but
can still perceive, e.g. imaginary cliff
Learning – if past experience causes
perception then after learning how an
illusion works it should cease to fool us but
this is not the case!
The Nativist theory
• Bottom up processing
• Immediate or direct – no past
experience needed
See it first then the
brain registers it.
What are these?
Haber & Levin (2001)
Haben & Levin’s conclusion
• They could tell the distance and size of the
real world fixed size objects because they
relied on their PAST EXPERIENCE of
these objects.
• The other objects could vary in size so
they couldn’t rely on their past experiences
in the same way.
• Supports CONSTRUCTIVIST theory.
The limitations!!!!!
•9 sample size too small
•Male gender bias
•Students not
representative
Other forms of subliminal
messaging include:
1/3000th second image, sales of
coca cola increase at cinema
When Italian music was played
over tanoy in supermarkets, sales
of Italian wine increased.