Perception
and
Consciousness
DDMP
INTRODUCTION
Perception and consciousness are foundational concepts
in cognitive psychology, encompassing how people
interpret sensory information and the nature of our
subjective experiences within the mind.
Perception and consciousness are critical components of
cognitive psychology, shaping our understanding of
human experience and behavior.
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Sensory and Perception
Given that cognition is often characterized in
terms of information processing, it makes
sense to say that cognition begins as soon as
“information” enters the cognitive system.
Perception is the process by which we
interpret and understand sensory
information from the world around us.
Sensation is a raw sensory data which is
associated with the physiological processes
that underlie information intake involving
our senses from the environment where
there are a lot of stimuli (e.g. seeing a
color).
Mechanisms of
Perception
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VARIOUS MECHANISM OF THE BODY TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT
RECEIVING MECHANISMS – include the receptors of
external stimuli – the sense organs. Psychologist now
believes that there are least a dozen distinct senses, all
of which are interrelated. However most psychological
researches have focused on vision and hearing – the
two sensory modes that are most conspicuous in
allowing to interact successfully with others and our
environment.
CONNECTING MECHANISMS – this includes the nervous
system, which is divided into two: central and
peripheral nervous system. It is where cognitive
processes are done.
REACTING MECHANISMS – include the muscles of the
body and the hormones of the glandular system. This 3
includes the muscular and glandular systems.
BEHAVIOR FORMATION
Process (General Overview):
Stimulus – these are the info/events from the internal and external
environment that stimulate an action potential.
Note: The presence of STIMULI implies the occurrence of SENSATION by
which specific stimuli are detected by sensory receptors or the sense
organs (receiving mechanisms) and transmitted to the brain.
Perception – the process by which sensations are organized into a meaningful
pattern or concept. It is the interpretation of sensation. This includes the
nervous system - CNS and PNS (connecting mechanisms).
Response – this includes the muscle of the body and the hormones of
glandular system (Reacting mechanisms). This is now the created BEHAVIOR
of the person.
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BEHAVIOR FORMATION
The Afferent division of the PNS detects stimuli and conveys action potentials to CNS.
The CNS interprets incoming information or messages and initiates action potential that
are transmitted through the efferent division to produce a response. The Efferent
division conveys response to Somatic NS to stimulate skeletal muscles and to Autonomic
NS to stimulate the cardiac and smooth muscle and the glands.
RESPONSE is always created and comes after the detection of specific STIMULUS. Hence,
called the “SR LAW.”
Messages and information detected by the receiving mechanisms are transmitted in the
form of nerve impulses created in the presence of nerve cell called NEURON.
Neuron – considered the basic structural unit of the nervous system. It specializes to
process, store, and transmit information throughout the body. It has various sizes and3
shapes depending on its function.
Sensory
Organs and
Transduction
Understanding how stimuli transform into
signals
Sensory organs convert physical stimuli into neural
signals
Understanding
Sensory Processing
Sensory processing involves two
primary approaches: bottom-up
processing and top-down processing.
Bottom-up processing refers to a flow of information
that proceeds from the stimulus to the neural activity
driven by this stimulus to its eventual identification.
Bottom-up processing is sometimes referred to as
data-driven processing because it refers to the
processes whereby the stimulus itself (i.e., the data)
leads to a sensible percept.
Top-down processing refers to the processes whereby
we bring to bear what we expect, what we know, and
what we experience from the surrounding context in
determining what it is we are sensing and subsequently
perceiving. Because it refers to the application of
concepts to perception, to-down processing is
sometimes dubbed conceptually driven processing.
Theories of Perception
Gestalt Principles of Perception
This involves set of rules that describe how we organize visual information. The key
principles are as follows:
Figure-Ground: The Rubin vase illusion highlights dual perceptions. The figure-ground
relationship defines how we differentiate objects from their backgrounds, enabling us
to focus on specific elements within visual fields
Proximity: The proximity principle suggests that objects close to one another or
grouped closely together are perceived as a group, influencing how we interpret
spatial relationships in visual scenes.
Similarity: Similar shapes and colors create unified visual patterns. The similarity
principle indicates that items sharing visual characteristics are grouped together by
our perception, allowing for efficient organization and interpretation of complex
images.
Continuity: We perceive continuous patterns and shapes.
Closure: We fill in the gaps to complete the shapes.
Symmetry: We perceive symmetrical elements as a whole.
Perception Theories
Ecological
Gibson's theory proposes that perception is a direct Implications:
process through environmental cues that occurs • Perception is active:
without the need for internal mental Perception is an active
representations or inferences.
process of exploration and
Key Points:
o Direct Perception: Perception is a direct,
discovery.
immediate experience of the environment. • Environment Shapes
o Affordances: Objects and environments offer Perception: The
possibilities for action (e.g. a chair affords environment plays a crucial
sitting). role in shaping our
o Optic Flow: The pattern of light and shadow perception.
that reaches the eye provides information
about the environment.
Perception Theories
Constructivist
This theory proposes that learners construct their Implications:
own understanding of the world through active • Learner-Centered: Focus
engagement and experience. on the learner’s experience
Key Points:
and needs.
o Active Learning: Learners are active
participants in the learning process.
• Hands-On Learning:
o Knowledge Construction: Learners construct Encourage experimentation
their own knowledge and meaning. and exploration.
o Contextual Learning: Learning is situated in a
specific context.
Attention and
Perceptual
Constancies
Selective attention plays a
crucial role in filtering
sensory information, allowing
us to focus on specific stimuli
while maintaining perceptual
constancies, ensuring stability
in our perceptions despite
varying conditions.
Attention and Perceptual Constancies
Perceptual Constancies refer to the tendency to perceive objects as
unchanging despite changes in sensory input.
Examples:
Size constancy: Perceiving objects as remaining the same size despite
changes in distance.
Shape constancy: Perceiving objects as maintaining their shape despite
changes in orientation.
Color constancy: Perceiving objects as maintaining their color despite
changes in lighting.
Brightness constancy: Perceiving objects as maintaining their brightness
despite changes in illumination.
Selective attention plays a crucial role in filtering sensory information,
allowing us to focus on specific stimuli while maintaining perceptual
constancies, ensuring stability in our perceptions despite varying conditions.
Understanding Consciousness
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Defining Consciousness
Exploring Levels and States of Awareness
Consciousness encompasses various states, including wakefulness, sleep, and
altered states, highlighting the complexity of human awareness and its
significance in understanding cognitive processes and perceptions.
Consciousness (Gazzaniga, 1980) – is a state or quality of being aware of
internal thought processes or of external objects, states, or facts. Example
conscious processes or experiences are eating, drinking, playing, courtship,
etc.
We are Conscious (Silverman, 1979) when we can perceived our
environment, our own thoughts and feelings, and those of others when we
can describe these to them.
To become Conscious (Hilgard, 1982) is to be alert and active, as when you
are awaken from sleep; it means to know oneself and to be aware of one’s
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surroundings.
Theories of
Consciousness
Explained
The Global Workspace Theory
posits that consciousness arises
from shared information across the
brain or neural networks.
While Integrated Information
Theory suggests that consciousness
is a measure of integrated
information within the system.
Exploring
Consciousness:
Phenomenal vs.
Access
Understanding the distinction
between phenomenal and access
consciousness reveals essential
insights into subjective
experience and cognition, while
also highlighting the Hard
Problem of explaining
consciousness's nature in
philosophical discourse.
Phenomenal
Consciousness:
This refers to the subjective,
qualitative nature of conscious
experience, or the “what it’s
like” aspect of experience, such
as sensation or the feeling of
something.
Examples are: a) hearing
music or the subjective
experience of melody and
rhythm when listening to a
song; b) feeling pain, the
unpleasant sensation when
you touch a hot stove.
Access
Consciousness:
This refers to the ability to access
and use information from our
mental states, such as
perception, memory and
reasoning, to guide behavior and
decision-making. This requires
higher-order thought.
Examples are: recalling a
certain memory, solving math
problem, having
conversation.
Interrelation of Perception and
Consciousness
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Understanding
Perception and
Awareness
Perceptual awareness highlights
our conscious recognition of
stimuli, while unconscious
perception operates beneath our
awareness. This distinction reveals
how much of our processing occurs
without conscious thoughts
shaping our experiences.
Perceptual Awareness VS
Unconscious Perception
Perceptual awareness allows us to consciously experience and interpret
sensory information or events from the environment.
Examples: Recognizing a friend’s face, hearing a bird sing, tasting food,
noticing signs.
Unconscious perception refers to the processing of sensory information without
conscious awareness. A perception occurs without awareness, influencing
behavior and decision-making processes.
Types:
Subliminal messages: Subliminal stimuli are sensory inputs that occur
below the threshold of conscious perception, influencing thoughts and
behaviors without individuals being aware of their presence or impact.
Ex. Visual cues in ads (brief images or words flashed in ads), Audio cues in
stores (low-volume messages or music to influence shopper behavior)
Unconscious perception
Types:
Priming Effects: Exposure to a stimulus affects subsequent responses
without conscious awareness.
Examples:
a. Word Association. Exposure to a word (e.g. yellow) influences response
to a subsequent word (e.g. banana).
[Link] priming. Exposure to words related to elderly people (e.g. Oldie)
influences walking speed.
c. Emotional priming. Exposure to emotional words (e.g. happy, or sad)
influences facial expression.
[Link] priming. Exposure to a word (e.g. doctor) influences response
to a related word (e.g. nurse).
[Link] priming. Exposure to an image (e.g. a cat) influences response to
a subsequent image (e.g. a kitten).
Unconscious perception
Examples:
Blindsight: Responding to visual stimuli without consciously seeing them. It
refers to a condition where individuals can respond to visual stimuli
without conscious awareness, highlighting the brain's ability to process
information outside of awareness.
Example: Avoiding obstacles while walking, detecting movement, pointing
to stimuli)
Change blindness: Failing to notice changes in a visual scene.
Example: Switching actors (failing to notice when an actors is replaced by
another person in a scene), altering a map or altering an already approved
budgetary proposal of a particular department or institution)
Habituation: Decreased response to a repeated stimulus without conscious
awareness.
Example: Getting used to the sound of a ticking clock or traffic outside,
feeling a watch on your wrist or a ring in your finger, not noticing the TV
when you’re focused on a book or your phone.
Exploring Subconscious Perception Phenomena
Neural
Correlates of
Consciousness
Understanding the neural
correlates of consciousness
involves exploring brain activity
during perception tasks,
demonstrating how specific neural
mechanisms contribute to
perceptual awareness and
influence cognitive processes in
everyday experiences.
"Perception shapes our reality and
consciousness."
"Understanding this interplay enhances cognitive psychology."
Conclusion
"Perception shapes our reality
and consciousness."
"Understanding this interplay enhances cognitive psychology."