Chapter 3
Sensation and Perception
Basic Principles Sensation receiving stimulus energies from the external environment
Perception organizing and interpreting sensory information
Visual Perception organizing and interpreting visual signals Dimensions: - shape - depth - motion - constancy
Visual Perception: Shape Gestalt Psychology – perceptions are naturally organized according to certain patterns – whole is different from the sum of the parts
Figure-Ground Relationship
Gestalt Principles
Visual Perception: Depth the brain constructs perception of 3D from 2D images processed by the retina
Visual Perception: Depth Pictorial Cues •familiar size •height in the field of view •linear perspective •overlap •shading •texture gradients
Motion Perception Apparent Movement: perceive a stationary object as moving
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Visual Perception: Constancy Perceptual Constancies – recognition that objects do not physically change despite changes in vantage point and viewing conditions – sensory information (retinal image) changes, but perceptual interpretation does not
Size, Shape, and Color Constancies
Contours objective = real subjective = generated by your brain
Illusions when our perception does not match the true physical characteristics of an object
Perceptual set we see what we expect to see
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