Final Project Post

Nicole DelCorioProfessor Mark Berg

June 12, 2010

No object is mysterious, the mystery is your eye.

-- Elizabeth Bowen

General Overview of Perception:

The psychology of Perception intensely engages the relationship of our senses as well as our conscious mind. Our Perception of the world is based upon the judgments' instilled upon us, and the environment in which we live.

This class has allowed me to become more attentive of the nature of my own perceptual experiences. After taking this class, I have begun to look at the world around me in a totally different perspective, and appreciate all the beauties in the world that I never saw before!

We encounter perception in our everyday lives; for example, when you look out the window, you are “perceiving” exactly what the environment bestows. Therefore, everything we see, hear, smell, feel, and taste is created by the mechanisms of our senses.

General Overview of Perception:

The way we distinguish and interpret things everyday, has to deal with our perception. This class will teach you that perception does not just happen, however it is the end result of complex “behind the scenes” processes, many of which are not available to our awareness.

We perceive things in steps; which is known as the perceptual process. This process determines our experience of and reaction to stimuli in the environment. Therefore, I have learned that Stimulus, Electricity, Experience, and Knowledge pave the way for our perception.

Therefore, perception is all around you, no matter what! So, the next time you’re taking a walk, stop and look around you. Why do you see things the way you do?

General Overview of Perception:

Not only will you gain knowledge of the field of perception, you will learn factual information of the various disorders that can greatly affect the perception of your environment. For instance, you will learn that there is a disorder in which you cannot recognize faces, or a color deficiency disorder that comes in three forms.

You will also understand and decode the countless receptors that send signals to the brain; that allow us to recognize people, places, and objects. You will also gain knowledge of the various methods to scan the brain activity in certain areas, through procedures such as PET, CAT or MRI scans.

Favorite Part:

The whole study of perception was exceptionally remarkable, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about perceiving motion, color, objects and scenes. However, the chapter that really grabbed my attention was “Perceiving Depth and Size.” I found myself eager to do further research on some of the information in this chapter.

I was intensely fascinated in the fact that our retina is basically our “powerhouse” of vision; it allows us to appreciate that perceiving depth is two-dimensional, and determining where objects are located!

I was intrigued by what is known as the “cue approach to depth” which enables us to focus on identifying information in the “retinal image that is correlated with depth in the scene.”

Favorite Part:

Ever since I was younger, I have always been fascinated by visual illusions. This chapter exposed visual illusions immensely, and why we interpret these illusions. Are these illusions tricks of our vision, brain or both?

The chapter, “Perceiving Depth and Size” caught my attention from the graphics associated with: The Ponzo Illusion – Objects of the same size appear different in size

because of depth information provided by the converging railroad tracks that make the one object seem farther away. (Railroad Track Illusion)

The Ames Room – Causes two people of equal size to appear very different in size; based on the construction of the room. (So interesting that is why I did my blog on this topic.)

Thumb technique - Provides a way to determine the exact visual angle of any object in the environment. Therefore, a small object that is close to the eye (thumb) and a larger object that is farther away can have the same visual angle!

Favorite Part: (Creative)

I wanted to put the “thumb technique” to the test! Therefore, I went out into my neighborhood, and took pictures to speculate as to whether or not this phenomenon was truthful.

Therefore, I adjusted my hand and fingers so that large objects around town would fit just between them!

When I did this, objects such as a flagpole, firehouse, and water-tower fit between this space! Therefore, the space between my fingers had the same visual angle as those larger constructions!

Favorite Part: (Creative)

Fire Hall Flagpole

They fit!

Favorite Part: (Creative)

The Water-Tower, the largest object I chose, fit distinctly between my fingers. This experiment was tested in Holway and Boring’s experiment!

Conversely, objects with the same visual angle create the same- sized image on the retina, no matter where they are located.

Water- Tower

Extension

Our perception of the world, objects, attention, and color are all mechanisms that we encounter everyday. Perception of a certain object can be easily missed, if we are not looking for it!

Perception can be applied to our everyday world; while we are driving, singing, talking, or walking. The way we perceive things (or lack thereof) is explained by our inattentional blindness. We must perceive our vision onto the most important aspect, such as driving, and not texting, or we may miss a child running out in front of us.

In addition, I now will now look at walls, and building corners differently and determine if they are the same length. (Muller-Lyer) Perception is something that will always stick with me now and everything that I see!