COGNITIVE PROCESS
PERCEPTION
INTRODUCTION
• Definition of Perception
• Perception is the process by which the
cognitive system constructs an internal
representation of the outside world.
INTRODUCTION
• Key issues in perception
• Perception is not an accurate representation of
the reality
• Instead, perception is an interpretation of the
sensory input
• Senses may deceive us
• One and the same input may be interpreted in
different ways
INTRODUCTION
Definition of Perception
• Perception is the process by which the cognitive system
constructs an internal representation of the outside
world.
• ‘constructs’
• it is an active process
• not like a photograph
• ‘representation’
• it may be different to reality
• A bit like an artist painting
• From Sensation to Perception
• Vision as example:
• Light → Eye → Retina → Rods & Cones (receptors) → neural
activity → primary visual cortex (lines and edges) →
successively higher visual areas
• From Sensation to Perception
• however, previous “high-level” knowledge can influence our perception
Although physically identical, the middle letter is once read as “H”
and once as “A”. Knowledge of words shaped our perception.
• From Sensation to Perception
• Influences on perception by knowledge, expectations, etc. is
called “top-down” modulation
• “higher level” brain areas influence neural processing in lower
level perceptual areas
TOP-DOWN & BOTTOM-UP
• The processor is influenced in part by both the
current stimulus & prior knowledge
• Bottom-Up: perception is based on physical
characteristics of stimulus (stimulus-driven)
• Top-Down: perception is based on knowledge or
expectations (knowledge-driven)
SUMMARY: TOP-DOWN & BOTTOM-UP
• Bottom-up processing
• Perception may start with the senses
• Incoming raw data
• Energy registering on receptors
• Top-down processing
• Perception may start with the brain
• Person’s knowledge, experience, and expectations
Goldstein, 2010
PSYCHOPHYSICS
• Psychophysics
• Relationship between physical stimuli and their
perception
• Absolute threshold (detection threshold)
• Relative threshold (just noticeable difference)
• Scaling
• 1. Detection threshold
• What is the minimum strength of a physical stimulation so that
we notice its presence?
• Example: absolute auditory threshold
• 2. Relative threshold (jnd)
• smallest detectable difference between two stimuli
• also called just-noticeable difference (jnd)
• The level of brightness the screen;
• the amount of sugar to a cup of tea
• Scaling
• How does the perceived intensity change with a change of the physical
stimulus?
• It is not linear:
• A light twice as intense does not lead to the subjective perception of a
light twice as bright
GESTALT THEORY
• Gestalt psychology
• emerged early 20th century
• Gestalt psychology
• “Principle of Totality”. One should investigate the whole
percept, i.e. taking into account all possible parts
• “Gestalt” (German): essence or shape of an entity's complete
form
• Gestalt psychology
• provides a description of perceptual principles
• does not explain perceptual mechanisms
• Principle of “Prägnanz”
• German: simplicity
• Principle of Prägnanz means that sensory input is processed in
a way which results in a percept which is simple, stable, regular,
orderly, and/or symmetric
• Principle of “Prägnanz”
• (Principle of simplicity or
good figure)
• Every stimulus pattern is seen
so the resulting structure is as
simple as possible
Figure 3.19 The Olympic symbol is perceived as five circles (a), not
as the nine shapes in (b).
Gestalt Principles Of Perceptual Organization
• Law of Proximity
• Objects close together form a group
Gestalt Principles Of Perceptual Organization
• Law of Similarity
• Similar visual elements form a group
Gestalt Principles Of Perceptual Organization
• Law of Closure/Completion
• Objects are perceived as whole even if they are not complete
Gestalt Principles Of Perceptual Organization
• Law of Continuity
• We tend to perceive objects as forming smooth continuous
patterns
Gestalt Principles Of Perceptual Organization
• Law of Figure-Ground segregation
• We tend to structure the visual field into two parts: a figure and a ground
Rubin Illusion (~1915)
Stimuli which can be
perceived
in two different ways
SUMMARY
• Gestalt theory
• Describes the organising principles that guide perceptual
processes
• Gestalt theory – Criticism
• Nicely describes the organising principles that guide perceptual
processes
• But does not explain why these principles exist
• Does not provide a model of perceptual processing
• No reference to depth perception
DEPTH PERCEPTION
• Depth perception
• The world is projected onto the eye as two-
dimensional image
• How can we create a three-dimensional percept by
two two-dimensional images?
• Depth perception
• The ability to see the world in 3 dimensions and
detect distance
• Vision only has a 2-dimensional view
• We take flat (2D) images and create a 3 dimensional
view
Visual system aided by depth cues
• Binocular: requires two eyes
• Monocular: requires only one eye
• Binocular cue 1: Binocular disparity
• The eyes view the world from a different angle
• Larger object distance → Less disparity
• Binocular cue 2: Convergence
• The closer an object, the more the eyes rotate inwards (towards the nose)
to focus the object
• Eye muscles provide information on convergence
Monocular Depth Cues
• Interposition
• Linear perspective
• Texture gradient
• Aerial perspective
• Motion parallax
INTERPOSITION
• When one object covers another, we perceive it as being
closer in depth.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
• Parallel lines converge in distance
TEXTURE GRADIENT
• Uniform elements of texture become smaller and more
compressed with distance.
ATMOSPHERI C PERSPECTIVE
(AERIAL PERSPECTIVE )
• Objects that appear hazier
tend to be perceived as
farther away.
• We perceive clearer objects
as closer, and blurry objects
as farther away.
MOTION PARALLAX
• When we are moving, distant objects look like they
are moving slower.
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
• How do we perceive objects as maintaining the same shape
and size when their image on our retina is constantly
changing?
• Shape constancy
• Size constancy
◼Size constancy
To perceive objects
as remaining the
same size even
when their images
on the retina are
continually growing
or shrinking
▪ Shape constancy
To perceive an object as
retaining its same shape even
though when we view it from
different angles, its shape is
continually changing its image on
the retina.
• The door is perceived as the same shape
• The actual objects are radically different