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Sensation
- Basic principles in perception o Absolute Threshold o Difference Threshold o Weber’s Law o Sensory Adaptation Description Examples
- Color Perception o Trichromatic Theory o Opponent Process Theory
Perception
- Law of compatibility
- Monocular Depth Perception cues o Relative size o Overlap o Linear perspective o Aerial perspective o Texture gradient o Motion parallax
- Gestalt Laws of Organization o Law of closure o Law of good continuation o Law of similarity o Law of proximity
- Perceptual Constancies o Size constancy o Shape constancy
Perception
- Top-down processing
- Bottom-up processing o Description of each o Examples of each
- Constructive process of perception o Examples
Perception
In order to make sense of information; we use two basic processes to help us perceive the world. These two processes work together and complement each other.
Bottom-Up Processing Top Down Processing
Information processing that emphasizes the importance of the sensory receptors in detecting the basic features of a stimulus in the process of recognizing a whole pattern;
analysis moves from the parts to the whole; also called data- driven processing.
Information processing that emphasizes the observer’s knowledge, expectations and other cognitive processes in arriving at meaningful perceptions;
analysis that moves from the whole to the parts; also called conceptually driven processing.
Most information processing involves both top-down and bottom-up processing.
Expectation or Belief
Prediction or recognition
The Whole Pattern
Clue Clue Clue Clue
You use bottom-up processing when…
You use top-down processing when…
- recognizing a pattern from the known parts and pieces without the picture of what the puzzle looks like. - recognizing a new part or piece of a puzzle from a known pattern.
- identifying the picture of a jigsaw puzzle as you assemble it piece by piece. - searching for pieces to fit a known picture in a jigsaw puzzle.
- TWA 800 crash: no one knew the reason why the airplane exploded: to discover the cause, they had to reassemble the pieces of the wreckage - Alaska Airlines flight out of Los Angeles was “flying upside down”. It was hypothesized that the jack screw in the rudder failed.
- If you display the symptoms: - Fever - Swollen glands - Sore throat - Red throat - If you have strep throat, then the throat swab test should be positive - If you have strep throat, then you should see white specks in the throat
- A person walks in with a green shirt, blue, green, yellow, red, green, black, green, green hat
What is going on?
- If today is St. Patrick’s Day, then what should you see?
- “Car Talk” •
Answers to a hypothetical True/False quiz
- T
- T
- F
- F
- T
- T
- F
- F
- T
- T
- ????
- ????
Example of Bottom-up Processing
- What is probably the pattern of True/False answers?
Example of Top-Down Processing
- What is the probably the answer to question #11 and #12?
In order to determine the whether the processes is top- down or bottom-up, we have to look at the thinking process.
Priming
- Priming can be effective if this process is repeated and presented for a short period of time, (which also prevents you from doing a careful analysis of the message).
- In advertising, you can be led to believe something through the process of priming (placement of advertising next to a story is important). Empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of subliminal messages is virtually non-existent. However, people tend to believe that subliminal messages exist in political and product advertising that cause them to purchase a particular product.
- People are persuaded not by subliminal messages, but the following strategies are used in advertising (both for political candidates and products). o Appeal to the emotions such as fear or desire o Repetition (saying it over and over, being redundant, and repeating oneself) and a brief exposure to the image o Classical conditioning (chapter 6) o Schemas (Chapter 7)
- Asking the “right” questions and choosing a topic to discuss is important to influence what others “see” and “don’t see” o Setting the agenda of any political organization is important to focus attention on particular issues and distract from others (remember the “defection” of Jim Jeffords in the Senate in 2001)?
Sublimininal Messages / Adverstising
- Generally, subliminal messages do not directly influence behavior.
- Generally, subliminal messages influence how you feel about a topic, individual, object, event, etc. for a short period of time. How you feel about a topic, individual, object, event, etc. can indirectly influence your behavior
What are specific examples of this phenomena in “real- life”?
What are examples of where the context affects our decision making process or perception of the social reality? We construct some interpretation of reality based on the context, not on an “objective reality”.
- Never follow a good act; try to follow a bad act o How would you like to have had to follow the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show? o Can you make a good movie sequel to an excellent movie?
- One of many strategies sales people will use when selling a house or car, many salespeople will show you a “lemon” first, before showing you the product they are trying sell.
- The 1970’s “Charlie’s Angels” study.
- Drug companies claim that it costs over $500 million to bring a new drug to market. A consumer group says the number is much closer to $100 million.
- Bail is set real high $1,000,000 for a misdemeanor, so $50,000 is a concession
- Is $85 million dollars a lot of money?
- “Would you like to contribute to the $100 charity? No, how about $10. Sure.
- $35 K – 50K bail in Hartford for protesting.
- Grocery workers in Southern California have been on strike for 4 months (as of January 2004). To discuss the issue, a commentator put the issue into context by describing the veteran worker (cashier?) as making up to $18/hour. Does this information (a) bias towards management, (b) bias towards the worker,
and (c) neither—it has no effect. Explain your answer.
