ASSIGNMENT- 3

Q1) Define and distinguish between sensation and perception?

A1) Sensation: Sensation in psychology is any concrete, conscious experience

resulting from stimulation of a specific sense organ, sensory nerve, or sensory
area in the brain. The word is used in a more general sense to indicate the whole
class of such experiences. In ordinary speech the word is apt to be ambiguous; it
is frequently used in such a way as to leave uncertain whether the speaker is
referring to the process of sensing or to whatever it is that is being sensed (e.g.,
the apparent painful stimulus, sound of a bell, or red glow of a fire).
The definition of sensation in terms of discriminative responses in living
organisms is analogous. When a stimulus impinges on a sense organ and the
organism responds appropriately, it is said that the stimulus has been sensed.
Nonetheless, a mentalistic definition of sensation is seen by many as basic to the
psychology of sensation.

Perception: Perception in humans, the process whereby sensory stimulation is

translated into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint
product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Perception refers to the way
sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced.
Perception involves both bottom-up and top-down processing. Bottom-up
processing refers to the fact that perceptions are built from sensory input. On
the other hand, how we interpret those sensations is influenced by our available
knowledge, our experiences, and our thoughts. This is called top-down
processing.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

(1) Perception is more complex than sensation. It is a fusion of sensation with

ideas.

(2) Perception involves selection of stimuli and combination of them into a

pattern. Sensation does not involves selection and combination.

(3) Sensations are the integral elements in perception. They are the simple
awareness of qualities e.g., colour, sound, taste, odour, heat, cold, etc. due to the
excitation of the sense-organs and interpretation of the meanings of sensations
in the light of past experience and awareness of objects in the environment, and
of their relations to one another.
Q2)Enlist all the senses and explain their role in human perception by
describing lowest and highest

A2) All the senses are:

 Touch
 Hearing
 Sight
 Smell
 Taste

Touch
Touch is thought to be the first sense that humans develop. Touch consists of
several distinct sensations communicated to the brain through specialized
neurons in the skin. Pressure, temperature, light touch, vibration, pain and other
sensations are all part of the touch sense and are all attributed to different
receptors in the skin.

Hearing
This sense works via the complex labyrinth that is the human ear. Sound is
funneled through the external ear and piped into the external auditory canal.
Then, sound waves reach the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. This is a thin
sheet of connective tissue that vibrates when sound waves strike it. The
vibrations travel to the middle ear. There, the auditory ossicles — three tiny
bones called the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup) — vibrate.

Sight
Sight, or perceiving things through the eyes, is a complex process. First, light
reflects off an object to the eye. The transparent outer layer of the eye called the
cornea bends the light that passes through the hole of the pupil. The iris (which
is the colored part of the eye) works like the shutter of a camera, retracting to
shut out light or opening wider to let in more light.

Smell
Humans may be able to smell over 1 trillion scents, according to researchers.
They do this with the olfactory cleft, which is found on the roof of the nasal
cavity, next to the "smelling" part of the brain, the olfactory bulb and fossa.
Nerve endings in the olfactory cleft transmit smells to the [Link] are known
as great smellers, but research suggests that humans are just as good as man's
best friend. The fact is the sense of smell is just as good in humans as in other
mammals, like rodents and dogs,
Humans have 400 smelling

Taste
The gustatory sense is usually broken down into the perception of four different
tastes: salty, sweet, sour and bitter. There is also a fifth taste, defined as umami
or savory. There may be many other flavors that have not yet been discovered.
Also, spicy is not a taste. It is actually a pain [Link] sense of taste aided in
human evolution, because taste helped people test the food they ate. A bitter or
sour taste indicated that a plant might be poisonous or rotten. Something salty or
sweet, however, often meant the food was rich in nutrients receptors.

Q3) What do you understand by threshold? Explain different types of threshold.

A3) In Psychophysics, sensory threshold is the weakest stimulus that an
organism can detect. Unless otherwise indicated, it is usually defined as the
weakest stimulus that can be detected half the time, for example, as indicated by
a point on a probability curve.
Types of Threshold
 Absolute threshold
 Difference threshold
 Recognistion Threshold
 Terminal threshold

Absolute threshold :In neuroscience and psychophysics, an absolute

threshold was originally defined as the lowest level of a stimulus – light,
sound, touch, etc. – that an organism could detect. Under the influence of signal
detection theory, absolute threshold has been redefined as the level at which a
stimulus will be detected a specified percentage (often 50%) of the time. The
absolute threshold can be influenced by several different factors, such as the
subject's motivations and expectations, cognitive processes, and whether the
subject is adapted to the stimulus.
Difference threshold :In the branch of experimental psychology focused
on sense, sensation, and perception, which is called psychophysics, a just-
noticeable difference or JND is the amount something must be changed in
order for a difference to be noticeable, detectable at least half the time (absolute
threshold). This limen is also known as the difference limen, difference
threshold, or least perceptible difference.
Recognition threshold: the level at which a stimulus can not only be detected
but also recognised.
Terminal threshold: the level beyond which a stimulus is no longer detected.
Q4) Explain the process of perception.

A4) The process of perception begins with an object in the real world, known as
the distal stimulus or distal object. By means of light, sound, or another physical
process, the object stimulates the body's sensory organs. These sensory organs
transform the input energy into neural activity—a process called transduction.
This raw pattern of neural activity is called the proximal stimulus. These neural
signals are then transmitted to the brain and processed. The resulting mental re-
creation of the distal stimulus is the percept. To explain the process of
perception, an example could be an ordinary shoe. The shoe itself is the distal
stimulus. When light from the shoe enters a person's eye and stimulates the
retina, that stimulation is the proximal stimulus. The image of the shoe
reconstructed by the brain of the person is the percept. Another example could
be a ringing telephone. The ringing of the phone is the distal stimulus. The
sound stimulating a person's auditory receptors is the proximal stimulus. The
brain's interpretation of this as the "ringing of a telephone" is the percept.

The different kinds of sensation (such as warmth, sound, and taste) are called
sensory modalities or stimulus modalities.

Q5) Explain monocular and binocular cues in perception.

A5) Monocular cues:

Monocular cues are essentially the cues that allow us to see depth using just one
eye, or to detect how near or far an object is in relation to our position with one
eye.
Monocular cues play an important role in detecting depth. It uses one eye and
image can be presented in two dimensions.
As such, many of the monocular cues are used in art to create an illusion of
depth in a two-dimensional space.
Monocular cues are actually a collection of cues that help us see an object
properly using just one eye. These are as follows: –
1. Absolute Size, not knowing the size of an object is problematic for us, in
such cases, the smaller object is considered at a greater distance than larger
objects at the same location.
2. Motion Parallax, it describes the way stationary objects appear to be moving
at different speeds against a background when we observe it moving.

3. Familiar Size, familiarity with the size of objects helps us determine how far
away they are from us.

4. Texture Gradient, the amount of detail we can see easily on an object when it

is close to us; when far we can’t see the detail.

5. Reach Trajectory, it shows direction bias during monocular viewing,

especially in the approach phase. This bias is consistent with the presence of
esophoria in monocular viewing. Esophoria is present when occluded eye
deviates medially and exophoria is present when occluded eye shifts temporally.

6. Relative Size, size does matter; by knowing how big two objects are in
relation to each other, how far away they are from each other and we can be
figured.

7. Linear Perspective, parallel lines seem to converge at a distance; the farther

they are, the closer they seem to us.

8. Natural Effects, like heat haze, water vapor, dust, sand, and fog, can affect
our vision, especially at longer distances.

9. Interposition, when an object partially overlaps or obscures another object; it

helps us to put the distances of objects in order of the nearest one first.

10. Aerial Perspective, objects at larger distances from us are affected by

natural scattering of light and form less of a contrast with their background;
making it harder to gauge a distance between the two and us.

11. Accommodation refers to the amount of work our eye muscles like ciliary

muscles have to do to focus on an object.
12. Shading and Lighting, the nearer an object is to light, its surface appears to
be brighter. In a group of objects, darker objects tend to appear farther away
than the brighter objects.

13. Depth from Motion, as an object moves closer, its size increases in the eyes
of an observer; this helps determine the pace of its movement and its distance
from us.

Binocular cues.
Binocular cues are defined as the ability of both of our eyes to perceive an
object in three-dimensional space. It’s much easier for our brains to accurately
calculate the depth and distance of objects when we use both eyes.
These cues are based on different images that our two separate eyes produce.
Binocular cues are a collection of cues that help us see an object properly using
both eyes. These are as follows: –
1. Retinal Disparity also called binocular parallax, that refers to the fact that
each of our eyes sees the world from a slightly different angle, which is
triangulated by the brain to figure out the correct distance
2. Binocular Convergence refers to the amount of rotation our eyes have to do
in order to focus on an object. It enables us to determine how near or far things
are away from us. A proprioceptive sense, it is the amount of inward rotation
our eyes have to do in order to focus on an object.

Advantage of Binocular Cues

1. Binocular cues allow us to take advantage of a spare eye. Even if one is lost
or damaged there is still another one left.
2. it gives us the scope of a much wider field of view.
3. Retinal disparity and binocular convergence can be used to distinguish the
variation in distance.
4. It allows us to partially see an object behind an obstacle.
5. It allows binocular summation that helps improve contrast sensitivity,
brightness perception, visual acuity, and also flicker perception.
6. Binocular viewing can happen at different stages of information processing
and can have a cumulative effect on an overall improvement in the performance
of fine motor skills.
7. The binocular summation is one factor that results in faster reaction times
when we are viewing something using both our eyes.
8. Binocular viewing also helps activate a more direct cortical path for planning,
reaching and grasping of movements.

Q6) What do you understand by Depth perception? Is it learnt or innate?

Explain with giving suitable example.

A6) Depth Perception

Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions,
coupled with the ability to gauge how far away an object is. Depth perception,
size, and distance are ascertained through both monocular (one eye) and
binocular (two eyes) cues. Monocular vision is poor at determining depth.
When an image is projected onto a single retina, cues about the relative size of
the object compared to other objects are obtained. In binocular vision, these
relative sizes are compared, since each individual eye is seeing a slightly
different image from a different angle.

Depth perception relies on the convergence of both eyes upon a single object,
the relative differences between the shape and size of the images on each retina,
the relative size of objects in relation to each other, and other cues such as
texture and constancy. For example, shape constancy allows the individual to
see an object as a constant shape from different angles, so that each eye is
recognizing a single shape and not two distinct images. When the input from
both eyes is compared, stereopsis, or the impression of depth, occurs.

Monocular Cues:Monocular cues provide depth information when viewing a

scene with one eye.

Motion parallax

When an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationary

objects against a background gives hints about their relative distance. If
information about the direction and velocity of movement is known, motion
parallax can provide absolute depth information. This effect can be seen clearly
when driving in a car. Nearby things pass quickly, while far off objects appear
stationary.
Kinetic depth effect
If a stationary rigid figure (for example, a wire cube) is placed in front of a
point source of light so that its shadow falls on a translucent screen, an observer
on the other side of the screen will see a two-dimensional pattern of lines. But if
the cube rotates, the visual system will extract the necessary information for
perception of the third dimension from the movements of the lines, and a cube
is seen. This is an example of the kinetic depth effect. The effect also occurs
when the rotating object is solid (rather than an outline figure), provided that the
projected shadow consists of lines which have definite corners or end points,
and that these lines change in both length and orientation during the rotation.

Perspective

The property of parallel lines converging in the distance, at infinity, allows us to

reconstruct the relative distance of two parts of an object, or of landscape
features. An example would be standing on a straight road, looking down the
road, and noticing the road narrows as it goes off in the distance.

Relative size

If two objects are known to be the same size (e.g., two trees) but their absolute
size is unknown, relative size cues can provide information about the relative
depth of the two objects. If one subtends a larger visual angle on the retina than
the other, the object which subtends the larger visual angle appears closer.

Familiar size

Since the visual angle of an object projected onto the retina decreases with
distance, this information can be combined with previous knowledge of the
object's size to determine the absolute depth of the object. For example, people
are generally familiar with the size of an average automobile. This prior
knowledge can be combined with information about the angle it subtends on the
retina to determine the absolute depth of an automobile in a scene.

Absolute size

Even if the actual size of the object is unknown and there is only one object
visible, a smaller object seems further away than a large object that is presented
at the same location.

Aerial perspective
Due to light scattering by the atmosphere, objects that are a great distance away
have lower luminance contrast and lower color saturation. Due to this, images
seem hazy the farther they are away from a person's point of view. In computer
graphics, this is often called "distance fog". The foreground has high contrast;
the background has low contrast. Objects differing only in their contrast with a
background appear to be at different depths. The color of distant objects are also
shifted toward the blue end of the spectrum (e.g., distant mountains). Some
painters, notably Cézanne, employ "warm" pigments (red, yellow and orange) to
bring features forward towards the viewer, and "cool" ones (blue, violet, and
blue-green) to indicate the part of a form that curves away from the picture
plane.
Accommodation

This is an oculomotor cue for depth perception. When we try to focus on far
away objects, the ciliary muscles stretch the eye lens, making it thinner, and
hence changing the focal length. The kinesthetic sensations of the contracting
and relaxing ciliary muscles (intraocular muscles) is sent to the visual cortex
where it is used for interpreting distance/depth. Accommodation is only
effective for distances greater than 2 meters.

Occultation

Occultation (also referred to as interposition) happens when near surfaces

overlap far surfaces. If one object partially blocks the view of another object,
humans perceive it as closer. However, this information only allows the
observer to create a "ranking" of relative nearness. The presence of
monocular ambient occlusions consist of the object's texture and geometry.
These phenomena are able to reduce the depth perception latency both in natural
and artificial stimuli.

Curvilinear perspective

At the outer extremes of the visual field, parallel lines become curved, as in a

photo taken through a fisheye lens. This effect, although it is usually eliminated
from both art and photos by the cropping or framing of a picture, greatly
enhances the viewer's sense of being positioned within a real, three-dimensional
space. (Classical perspective has no use for this so-called "distortion," although
in fact the "distortions" strictly obey optical laws and provide perfectly valid
visual information, just as classical perspective does for the part of the field of
vision that falls within its frame.)

Texture gradient
Fine details on nearby objects can be seen clearly, whereas such details are not
visible on faraway objects. Texture gradients are grains of an item. For
example, on a long gravel road, the gravel near the observer can be clearly seen
of shape, size and colour. In the distance, the road's texture cannot be clearly
differentiated.

Lighting and shading

The way that light falls on an object and reflects off its surfaces, and the
shadows that are cast by objects provide an effective cue for the brain to
determine the shape of objects and their position in space.
Defocus blur

Selective image blurring is very commonly used in photographic and video for
establishing the impression of depth. This can act as a monocular cue even
when all other cues are removed. It may contribute to the depth perception in
natural retinal images, because the depth of focus of the human eye is limited.
In addition, there are several depth estimation algorithms based on defocus and
blurring. Some jumping spiders are known to use image defocus to judge depth.

Elevation

When an object is visible relative to the horizon, we tend to perceive objects

which are closer to the horizon as being farther away from us, and objects
which are farther from the horizon as being closer to us. In addition, if an object
moves from a position close the horizon to a position higher or lower than the
horizon, it will appear to move closer to the viewer.

Binocular cues

Binocular cues provide depth information when viewing a scene with both eyes.
Stereopsis, or retinal (binocular) disparity, or binocular parallax
Animals that have their eyes placed frontally can also use information derived
from the different projection of objects onto each retina to judge depth. By
using two images of the same scene obtained from slightly different angles, it is
possible to triangulate the distance to an object with a high degree of accuracy.
Each eye views a slightly different angle of an object seen by the left and right
eyes. This happens because of the horizontal separation parallax of the eyes. If
an object is far away, the disparity of that image falling on both retinas will be
small. If the object is close or near, the disparity will be large. It is stereopsis
that tricks people into thinking they perceive depth when viewing Magic
Eyes, Autostereograms, 3-D movies, and stereoscopic photos.
Convergence

This is a binocular oculomotor cue for distance/depth perception. Because of

stereopsis the two eyeballs focus on the same object. In doing so they converge.
The convergence will stretch the extraocular muscles. As happens with the
monocular accommodation cue, kinesthetic sensations from these extraocular
muscles also help in depth/distance perception. The angle of convergence is
smaller when the eye is fixating on far away objects. Convergence is effective
for distances less than 10 meters.
Shadow Stereopsis
Antonio Medina Puerta demonstrated that retinal images with no parallax
disparity but with different shadows are fused stereoscopically, imparting depth
perception to the imaged scene. He named the phenomenon "shadow
stereopsis". Shadows are therefore an important, stereoscopic cue for depth
perception.[21]
Of these various cues, only convergence, accommodation and familiar size
provide absolute distance information. All other cues are relative (i.e., they can
only be used to tell which objects are closer relative to others). Stereopsis is
merely relative because a greater or lesser disparity for nearby objects could
either mean that those objects differ more or less substantially in relative depth
or that the foveated object is nearer or further away (the further away a scene is,
the smaller is the retinal disparity indicating the same depth difference.)

Q7)Explain movement perception by giving various examples.

A7) When an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationary
objects against a background gives hints about their relative distance. If
information about the direction and velocity of movement is known, motion
parallax can provide absolute depth information. This effect can be seen clearly
when driving in a car. Nearby things pass quickly, while far off objects appear
stationary. Some animals that lack binocular vision due to their eyes having
little common field-of-view employ motion parallax more explicitly than
humans for depth cueing (e.g., some types of birds, which bob their heads to
achieve motion parallax, and squirrels, which move in lines orthogonal to an
object of interest to do the same.
Depth from motion
When an object moves toward the observer, the retinal projection of an object
expands over a period of time, which leads to the perception of movement in a
line toward the observer. Another name for this phenomenon is depth from
optical expansion. The dynamic stimulus change enables the observer not only
to see the object as moving, but to perceive the distance of the moving object.
Thus, in this context, the changing size serves as a distance cue.[8] A related
phenomenon is the visual system's capacity to calculate time-to-contact (TTC)
of an approaching object from the rate of optical expansion – a useful ability in
contexts ranging from driving a car to playing a ball game. However,
calculation of TTC is, strictly speaking, perception of velocity rather than depth.

Q8) Explain Gestalt view of perception by describing various laws given by it.

A8) Gestalt Principles are principles/laws of human perception that describe

how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex
images when we perceive objects. “Gestalt” is German for “unified whole”. The
first Gestalt Principles were devised in the 1920s by German psychologists Max
Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler—who aimed to understand how
humans typically gain meaningful perceptions from the chaotic stimuli around
them. They identified a set of laws which address the natural compulsion to find
order in disorder. According to this, the mind “informs” what the eye sees by
perceiving a series of individual elements as a whole. The whole is other than
the sum of the [Link] principles are often referred to as the "laws of
perceptual organization." However, it is important to note that while Gestalt
psychologists call these phenomena "laws," a more accurate term would be
"principles of perceptual organization." These principles are much
like heuristics, which are mental shortcuts for solving problems.

Law of Similarity
The law of similarity suggests that things similar things tend to appear grouped
together. Grouping can occur in both visual and auditory stimuli. In the image
above, for example, you probably see the groupings of colored circles as rows
rather than just a collection of dots.

Law of Pragnanz
The word pragnanz is a German term meaning "good figure." The law of
Pragnanz is sometimes referred to as the law of good figure or the law of
simplicity. This law holds that objects in the environment are seen in a way that
makes them appear as simple as possible.3You see the image above as
overlapping circles rather than an assortment of curved, connected lines.

Law of Proximity
According to the law of proximity, things that are near each other seem to be
grouped together. In the above image, the circles on the left appear to be part of
one grouping while those on the right appear to be part of another. Because the
objects are close to each other, we group them together.

Law of Continuity
The law of continuity holds that points that are connected by straight or curving
lines are seen in a way that follows the smoothest path. Rather than seeing
separate lines and angles, lines are seen as belonging together.

Law of Closure
According to the law of closure, things are grouped together if they seem to
complete some entity. Our brains often ignore contradictory information and fill
in gaps in information. In the image above, you probably see the shapes of a
circle and rectangle because your brain fills in the missing gaps in order to
create a meaningful image.

The Law of Common Region

This Gestalt law of perceptual organization suggests that elements that are
grouped together within the same region of space tend to be grouped together.

For example, imagine that there are three oval shapes drawn on a piece of paper
with two dots located at each end of the oval. The ovals are right next to each
other so that the dot at the end of one oval is actually closer to the dot at the end
of a separate oval. Despite the proximity of the dots, the two that are inside each
oval are perceived as being a group rather than the dots that are actually closest
to each other.