PRINCIPLES OF PERCEPTION

Perceptual Inference• Definition: When we fill-in holes between our sensations

to develop a perception.• Perceptual Inference depends on experience

• Ex. Our brain helps cover movie goofs / continuity errors

Gestalt• A pattern formed based on organizing bits of info into

more meaningful wholes• Ex. The story of the blind men and the elephant.

Gestalt Principles• Closure: we “close” open objects

Gestalt Principles• Continuity: More likely to continue patterns, rather than

disrupted ones

Gestalt Principles• Similarity: Similar objects are grouped, dissimilar ones

stick out.

Gestalt Principles• Proximity: Objects close together are perceived as one

object

Figure-Ground Perception• An object is separated from its background• Visually, one area is dark, other is lighter.• Hearing, able to pick out a melody from the rest of the

song, one person’s voice in a crowd.

Figure-Ground

Learning to Perceive • Senses are Nature, Perception Acquisition is nurture.

• Ex. Babies learn to perceive the difference between a human face and a blank oval.

• Needs and wants will make us more likely to perceive objects• Ex. hungry people can more readily perceive food.

Constancy• We perceive objects the same way, regardless of changes

in conditions• Ex. A stapler is perceived as being the same even if lighting and

your angle towards it are different.

Illusions• Incorrect perceptions, misrepresenting physical stimuli

Illusions• The legendary works of M.C. Esher

ESP (Extrasensory Perception)• The belief that humans have additional senses beyond

the ones we readily acknowledge• Ex. speaking to the dead, etc.