Perception
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Perception
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Perception
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Perception
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Perception
Questions
1. Define Perception.
2.
OUTLINE the human eye.
3.
What is colour processing and state the two main reasons why colour vision is of value to us?
4.
Explain Gibson’s theory of direct perception.
5.
List different types of research methods to study infants for Perceptual development.
6.
Define resonance.
7.
What was the opponent-process theory?
8.
Describe the process of lateral inhibition.
9.
Name the two important independent channels within the retina-geniculate-striate system.
10. What are the assumptions made by the Constructivist theory on Perception?
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Perception
Answers
1. In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing
sensory information. It is a task far more complex than was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was proclaimed that
building perceiving machines would take about a decade, but, needless to say, that is still very far from reality. The word
perception comes from the Latin perception-, perceptio,, meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession,
apprehension with the mind or senses." Methods of studying perception range from essentially biological or physiological
approaches, through psychological approaches through the philosophy of mind and in empiricist epistemology, such as that
of David Hume, John Locke, George Berkeley, or as in Merleau Ponty's affirmation of perception as the basis of all science
and knowledge.
There are two basic theories of perception: Passive Perception (PP) and Active Perception (PA). The passive perception
(conceived by René Descartes) is addressed in this article and could be surmised as the following sequence of events:
surrounding to input (senses) to processing (brain) to output (re-action). Although still supported by mainstream
philosophers, psychologists and neurologists, this theory is nowadays losing momentum. The theory of active perception has
emerged from extensive research of sensory illusions with works of Professor Emeritus Richard L Gregory in a lead. This
theory is increasingly gaining experimental support and could be surmised as dynamic relationship between “description” (in
the brain) back and forward between senses back and forward between surrounding.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception
2. The ability to see is dependent on the actions of several structures in and around the eyeball. The graphic below lists many
of the essential components of the eye's optical
system.
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When you look at an object, light rays are reflected from the object to the cornea, which is where the miracle begins. The
light rays are bent, refracted and focused by the cornea, lens, and vitreous. The lens' job is to make sure the rays come to a
sharp focus on the retina. The resulting image on the retina is upside-down. Here at the retina, the light rays are converted
to electrical impulses which are then transmitted through the optic nerve, to the brain, where the image is translated and
perceived in an upright position!
Think of the eye as a camera. A camera needs a lens and a film to
produce an image. In the same way, the eyeball needs a lens
(cornea, crystalline lens, vitreous) to refract, or focus the light and a
film (retina) on which to focus the rays. If any one or more of these
components is not functioning correctly, the result is a poor picture.
The retina represents the film in our camera. It captures the image
and sends it to the brain to be developed. The macula is the highly
sensitive area of the retina. The macula is responsible for our critical
focusing vision. It is the part of the retina most used. We use our
macula to read or to stare intently at an object.
Source: http://www.stlukeseye.com/Anatomy.asp
3. The Colouring process is what has been developed by the colour vision due to the cones in the retina which is sensitive to
colour which makes colours visible. The two main reasons why colour vision is very valuable to individuals are:
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Perception


Detection: helps to distinguish between two objects or more in a background.
Discrimination: helps the individual make individual characterisations of objects.
4. Gibson's theory is known as an ‘ecological’ theory: with background, horizons, other objects, etc. all playing a part.
Unlike Gregory and the Gestalt theorists, Gibson sees real movement as a vital part of perception. Movement has often
been overlooked in the psychologist's laboratory and visual perception experimentation.
Gibson first developed his theory during WW2 when he was given the task of preparing training films for pilots. From this
he developed a theory of optic flow patterns, based on a fixed point towards which the pilot is moving which appears
motionless. The rest of the visual environment is moving away from that point, flowing over and around the viewer.
Gibson then developed his theory into a general theory of visual perception which has three key ideas:

Optical Array

Textured Gradients

Affordance
Source: http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~kbroom/Lectures/gibson.htm
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Perception
5. The different types of research methods to study infants for
Perceptual development are:

Behavioural Method.

Preference Method.

Habituation Method.

Eye-movement Method.

Physiological Method.

Visual reinforcement method.
6. Resonance is simply a method of detection of invariant information. A simply way of explaining how it works is by giving the
example of a radio. The radio receives electromagnetic radiation from various radio trasmitters depending on what frequency
you are tuned into. These electromagnetic radiations are transformed into words and music via the term resonance.
7. Richard Solomon (1980) has developed a theory of motivation/emotion that views emotions as pairs of opposites (for
example, fear-relief, and pleasure-pain). The opponent-process theory states that when one emotion is experienced, the
other is suppressed. For example, if you are frightened by a mean dog, the emotion of fear is expressed and relief is
suppressed. If the fear-causing stimulus continues to be present, after a while the fear decreases and the relief intensifies.
For example, if the dog didn't move, your fear would decrease and relief that the dog didn't attack would increase. If the
stimulus is no longer present, then the first emotion disappears and is replaced totally with the second emotion. If the dog
turns and runs, you are no longer afraid, but rather feel very relieved.
Solomon and Corbit (1974) analyzed the emotions present when skydivers jump from planes. Beginners experience
extreme fear as they jump, which is replaced by great relief when they land. With repeated jumps, the fear decreases and
the post-jump pleasure increases. This process may explain a variety of thrill-seeking behaviours. It has also been proposed
as a model of drug addiction. The drug initially produces pleasurable feelings, but then a negative emotional experience
occurs. Eventually, the drug user takes drugs not for their pleasurable effects, but to avoid withdrawal symptoms. The
opponent-process theory is an attempt to link emotional states with motivation.
Source: http://www.dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch10/opponent.mhtml
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8. The process of lateral inhibition is a digital image processing system is disclosed that uses a camera, a monitor and a
computer which models the inhibition, energy normalization, and noise suppression processes in a generic retina. The
retinal computer program enhances edges, eliminates brightness variations in a scene for a given object and background,
and suppresses noise to the extent that objects were extracted from noise. The model uses many parameters which can
be extensively adjusted in an attempt to achieve the optimum image.
Source: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5033103.html
9. The two important features of the retina-geniculate-striate system:

The Parvocellular (P) pathway

The Magnocellular (M) pathway
10. The assumptions made by the Constructivist theory are:

Perception is an active and constructive process.

Perception is not directly given by the stimulus input.

Perception may be eluded due to error.
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