Psychology Chapter 5

the process that detects stimuli from your body and your environment

the process that organizes stimuli into meaningful objects and events

the process by which sensations are organized into meaningful shapes and patterns

when you focus on an object it stands out from its surroundings

is what you focus on

everything else

you group objects that are similar together

group nearby objects

perceive straight or curving lines as continuous, flowing patterns

similiar objects are linked as a single unit

close the gaps in a figure and percieve it as a whole

similar objects move together in the same direction

the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally

depth cues that require information form both eyes

depth cues that require information from only one eye

• important monocular cue
• when one object blocks your view of another, you perceive the partially hidden object as more distant

• important monocular cue
• familiar objects that cast small retinal images are perceived as distant, objects that make large retinal images are perceived as near

• important monocular cue
• if you assume that two objects are similar in size, you perceive that object with the larger retinal image as being closer

• important monocular cue
• objects you see closer to the horizon are perceived as farther away 

• important monocular cue
• objects that are farther away change in their surface texture from rough, clear features to fine, unclear features

• important monocular cue
• you perceive objects that appear to be hazy as farther away than sharp, clear objects

• important monocular cue
• when something converges or comes together you percieve the convergence as increasing distance

• important monocular cue
• brighter objects are closer
• different degrees of light and shadow on an object provides clues about the object's three-dimensional shape

• important monocular cue
• a change in position of an object caused by motion
• driving in a car: closer objects move behind you, further away objects slow and move in your direction

• percieving objects as not changing even though there is constantly changing sensory information
• size consistency
• shape consistency

• an expectation that creates a tendency to interpret sensory information in a particular way
• influenced by your culture and experiences

a misperception of physical reality caused by misapplluing one or more perceptual principles

• misperceiving the length of lines when either inward or outward facing "wings" are placed on the ends of the lines
• fashion designers rely on this principle to make women's legs appear longer when wearing high-cut bathing suits

an example of misapplying the momcular distance cure of linear perspective

the illusion of movement produced by a rapid pattern of stimulation of different parts of the retina

When the moon appears to be about 1^1/₂ times larger when near the horizon than when high in the sky

the processing of information that is below your threshold of conscious awareness

the ability to perceive events in the world without using the normal senses

the field that studies ESP and other paranormal phenomena