PSYCHOLOGY

Perceptual Interpretation

Nature vs. Nurture

Kant - innate/nature (born with- inherited)

Locke - learn by experience/nurture (blank slate)

Nurture sculpts what nature has endowed

Restored vision studies*Patients with cataracts from birth & later removed could identify figure from ground & sense color - so this suggests some perceptual abilities are innate

*But could NOT recognize sight objects or shapes-suggests critical period for sensory perceptual development

Sensory Restriction:Blakemore & Cooper, 1970

Kittens raised with exposure to horizontal lines later had difficulty perceiving vertical bars

Selective blindness to the lines they were not exposed to

Perceptual InterpretationPerceptual Adaptation(vision) ability to adjust to an artificially displaced visual fieldprism glasses/distortion goggles demo

How do our beliefs, expectations, etc. shape interpretation?

Perceptual Seta mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not anothergreatly impacts what we perceive

Unscramble the words

1. LULB EXAMPLE BULL2. CALEM3. NUKKS4. SEUMO5. BAZER6. EAP

Unscramble the words

1. NORC Example CORN2. NOONI3. MATOOT4. PREPPE5. TEBE6. EAP

Perceptual Set What you see in the center is influenced by perceptual set

PERCEPTUAL SET

Ex. Loch Ness monster Ex. Cheer up vs. gear up in the pilot

Ex. Backmasking when told what to listen for

Ex. Picture of costume ball vs. Trained seal

Old lady vs. young lady

Perception & Schemas

Schema - formed concepts created from experience Schemas help determine our perceptual set

Ex. What do you expect to see in an office based on prior experience with offices?

What do you expect to see, hear, etc.Ex. anagrams

Perceptual Set: Schemas

Flying Saucers or Clouds?

Context Effects

Context Effects: Talking about fruit… likely to hear peel instead of wheel; cults & sects or cults & sex

Context creates expectation that influences our perception or interpretation

Ex. Rabbits in box pictureEx. Students don’t recognize teachers at store

Ex. Handout 15-1 #3

What do they teach us?

Perceptual sets, schemas, & context effect show how experience helps us construct perception

CultureEmotion Sterotypes

Perception and the Human FactorHuman Factors Psychology

explores how people and machines interact

explores how machine and physical environments can be adapted to human behaviors

Perceptual Set: Human Factors

Actualdescent

path

Pilot’s perceiveddescent path

Altitude looksthis much higher

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2Distance from runway (miles)

10

8

6

4

2

0

Altitude(thousands

of feet)

Extrasensory Perception?

Extrasensory Perception (ESP) controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input1. Telepathy - mind to mind comm.2. Clairvoyance - perceiving remote events

3. Precognition - perceiving future events

TermsParapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP & Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis - mind over matter Scientific research is not strong, skepticism exists