Perception and Stuff

• an organized whole
• Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

• proximity
• similarity
• continuity
• connectedness
• closure

We group nearby figures together

We group similar figures together

We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

the ability to see objects in 3D although the images that strike the retina are 2D

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

• a binocular cue for perceiving depth
• By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance--the greater disparity (difference) allows us to judge distance

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

a mental predisposition to perceive on thing and not another