• ______________ processing refers to how the physical
characteristics of stimuli influence their interpretation.
• Top down
• Bottom up
• Para psychological
• Interdisciplinary
Bell Work
• Sensation refers to how we detect physical energy
from the environment and encode it as neural
signals. Sensory analysis works at the entry level
and is called “bottom-up” processing.
• Perception refers to how we select, organize (into
schemas), & interpret sensory information.
Perception, which draws on our experience &
expectations, is called “top-down processing.
Signal Detection
• Signal detection studies indicate that
thresholds depend not only on the strength
of the stimuli but also on experience,
expectations, motivation, & alertness.
Thus, thresholds are not constant.
•
Subliminal Stimuli
– Subliminal stimuli, which are below the absolute
threshold, are detected less than half the time.
– Experiments show that under certain conditions, a weak
stimulus may reach part of the brain where it evokes a
feeling but not conscious awareness.
– Claims that subliminal stimulation may lead to thought
persuasion have not been supported by evidence,
however. While subliminal messages may have a fleeting
effect on thinking, they do not have an enduring effect on
behavior.
• Sharpness of vision
Acuity
– In nearsightedness, the eyeball is longer than normal,
causing light rays to converge in front of the retina. So,
the image falls in front of the retina.
– In farsightedness, the eyeball is shorter than normal,
causing light rays to reach the retina before they have
converged to produce a sharp image.
• The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
• The word 'Gestalt' means 'form' or 'shape'. For Gestalt
psychologists form is the primitive unit of perception.
When we perceive, we will always pick out form.
Gestalt
• When you look at a) you see (a man + a man) + a table;
when you look at b) you see (a man + a table) + a man.
• Things which are close together in space or time tend to
be perceived as grouped together. Thus, if you want your
audience to associate the product with the presenter, put
them close together; if you want them to perceive two
ideas as associated, present them in close proximity.
Proximity
• This appears to be confirmed by experiments conducted
by Staats and Staats ( 1958) in which words were
presented auditorially to subjects immediately after the
visual presentation of a name of a nationality. The words
presented auditorially had either positive or negative
connotations (e.g. vacation, gift, bitter, failure). Dutch
was systematically paired with positive words, Swedish
with negative ones. When tested afterwards, subjects
rated Dutch more positively than Swedish.
Similarity
Closure
Continuity