COG - Influences on Perception Lesson

Learning Targets:

• Explain how Gestalt psychology's principles, such as closure, figure-ground, proximity, and similarity, contribute to the way humans organize and interpret their perceptions.
• Describe the role of selective attention in shaping our perceptions.
• Discuss how our expectations, surrounding contexts, motivations, and emotions affect the way we perceive the world.

Courtesy of the AP psychology course and exam description, effective fall 2024. (n.d.). Links to an external site.

 

Exploring the Role of Internal and External Factors in Perception

How do we understand and interpret the world surrounding us? Our perception, the way we make sense of our environment, is significantly influenced by internal factors, such as our attention, expectations, motives, emotions, and external sensory information and context. These internal factors, known as top-down processing, can shape how we perceive things based on our prior experiences and beliefs. For instance, if someone fears dogs due to a childhood incident, their perception of a friendly dog running towards them may be skewed by their internal fear and past experiences, leading them to perceive the situation as threatening. On the other hand, external factors, referred to as bottom-up processing, involve processing sensory information from the environment to construct our perceptions. An example of bottom-up processing would be when we see a traffic sign while driving; we instantly recognize the shape and color, influencing our immediate perception and understanding of the road rules without deep cognitive processing. When these internal and external factors interact, they play a crucial role in shaping our perception of the world and how we make sense of the information we receive.

Understanding Perceptual Principles in Gestalt Psychology

Psychologist Max Wertheimer was a trailblazer in the field of perception within Gestalt psychology, emphasizing the importance of perceiving objects as complete entities rather than disjointed components. The figure-ground relationship, a critical perceptual principle, explores how we differentiate between objects in our line of sight, with the figure being the prominent and significant element. At the same time, the ground serves as the less distinct backdrop. By studying feature detectors, researchers have discovered how the brain reacts differently to figure and ground stimuli. Gestalt psychologists also investigated how visual elements are structured into patterns, shapes, and forms, asserting that humans perceive stimuli as cohesive groups rather than individual parts. This exploration identified principles that dictate how patterns and forms are organized into coherent objects.

Take a moment to watch this video on Gestalt principles of organization.

 

After reading this lesson and watching the video on Gestalt Principles, please take a moment to test your knowledge by matching the image with the correct principle.

Understanding Selective Attention in Shaping Perceptions

Selective attention is the cognitive process by which our awareness focuses on a specific aspect of our environment, like a spotlight illuminating one particular detail while filtering out other distractions. Selective attention plays a crucial role in shaping how we perceive the world around us. For instance, instead of the cocktail party effect, let's consider a classroom scenario. Imagine trying to focus on your teacher's explanation while also browsing social media on your phone. Despite thinking we can multitask effectively, our brains are actually wired to focus on one thing at a time. What captures our attention in these situations are the things we prioritize as important. The cocktail party effect refers to our ability to selectively attend to a single conversation in a noisy environment, like a crowded party, even with multiple conversations happening simultaneously.

Understanding Inattentional Blindness

Inattentional blindness can significantly impact our perceptions by causing a type of "blindness" to certain aspects of our environment. Change blindness is a common occurrence stemming from inattention, where changes in the environment go unnoticed. When our attention is focused elsewhere, we may experience inattentional blindness, leading us to overlook visible objects. This phenomenon highlights our ability to hone in on specific areas of our surroundings, sometimes to the detriment of noticing other details. An example of inattentional blindness is when individuals fail to observe changes after a brief interruption, a phenomenon that can also be referred to as change blindness.

The "Gorilla Experiment" conducted by Simons and Chabris in 1999 demonstrated the phenomenon of inattentional blindness, where individuals focusing on a specific task fail to perceive unexpected stimuli in their environment. In the study, participants were asked to count the number of passes made by basketball players in a video. Despite a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene, beating their chest, and remaining visible for a significant period, about half of the participants failed to notice the gorilla. This oversight underscores how our attentional focus can lead to missing salient details or events that are outside the scope of our primary task, highlighting the impact of inattentional blindness on perception and awareness in real-world scenarios.

Expectations, Context, Motivation, and Emotion

Understanding Schemas and Perceptual Set

Schemas and perceptual sets are internal factors that heavily influence how we perceive the world around us. Through our experiences, we develop certain expectations that create perceptual sets, which are mental patterns and assumptions shaping how we interpret incoming information. For example, if someone expects a new restaurant to have amazing food based on reviews, they may perceive the flavors to be richer than they actually are, showcasing the impact of perceptual set on taste perception. Similarly, our expectations can also influence what we hear. For instance, if we are told a song is by a famous artist, we might be more inclined to believe we enjoy it, showcasing how perceptual set affects auditory experiences. These perceptual sets are largely determined by our pre-existing schemas, which are mental frameworks that guide our understanding of the world. As we encounter new information, these schemas play a crucial role in how we apply top-down processing to interpret ambiguous stimuli, showcasing the intricate interplay between our internal factors and external perceptions.

In the image below, do you see an old woman's face or young woman's profile?

Context, Motivation, and Emotion

Our perceptions of the world are influenced by various external factors such as contexts, experiences, and cultural expectations. Context plays a significant role in shaping our interpretations, as the same situation can be perceived differently depending on the environment in which it occurs. For instance, a crowded subway train may evoke feelings of claustrophobia in one person while instilling a sense of excitement in another. Motivation also plays a crucial role in how we interpret the world around us. For example, someone who is highly motivated to succeed may perceive challenges as opportunities for growth, while another individual lacking motivation might see the same challenges as insurmountable obstacles. Additionally, emotions heavily influence our perceptions, as our emotional state can color how we view and react to situations. For instance, a person feeling joyful is more likely to interpret a situation positively, whereas someone experiencing anger may perceive the same situation in a more negative light. Ultimately, understanding how context, motivation, and emotion interact to shape our perceptions can provide valuable insight into the complexities of human behavior.

 

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