PMCHOLOy Chapter 5

sensory, AttentOnal $ Perceptual Processe

Knowing tne WOrLd

Organs 0llect LnforMation from the external wortd as well
as the bodu, nd tns forms the basLs of al
knowledae. Thls dlpends on 2
base pTOcesSes ; sena tion,
attentLon PerceptLOn .They are nterrela ted are

diff ele ments of 0qn Hon

Nature vaieies of Stimulus
sense ora Cn are cLLSo kn own as
enSOry receptors 0r
(nfo aatnerlng sustems BesLoes 5 erternal (enses -
siant, audio, s melL, tste touch We have 2 deep
Senses kLnesthetic esti bular system.
Qit thS later )

* SENSE MODALITIES
Sensatlon : (Mihal experieue of C stimul obje ct
reaistered by
ECLLn sense Orq an
hiqny specaltred
for ealna wIth Lnform ahon:
Senie nodaluty
functional limutahone D se Mse Modoal hec
Hunmans funuion
TO nohced, o stim ul e has to be Of
tntenlby noLa ntud e. The relahon ship
betwe¬n stmue (ne evokecd sensoons
NOw, to be moll ced, a sHmului requYer SOme Mnmom
to achvate th ls
tnreshold / lmen (AL)" AL Ls not
CUlle d albs Ol Wte
a fixecd pont )
SLuanons. SO we assessS Lt On tne io CSLS 0f a n0. Of

trudlS if50|e 04 trilis tne mnthen

the AL
NOw, lt's not posSlbie to notice al

cluff sth to differenh cl e between ihem.

Hence the d. smalle st difference in Yatue Of

neesiAYy to nohce taen
(DL). Here asc,
CaLLec diflerence tnresnold ien
1aken DL

Sensovu procesSes have many compone nuj stimls

Stm encodes electrI CCUl
pr cns
mpulse nenrOL pathways C0nnecting them to
Varios bran ce nters , ete Any stru cturOl Or
funchoncu defect| da(q e n the 0rgan /
pathy b r n area Lect d to partal or

’ KINESTHE TIC (Note tion itt t t btuot

Visual FensAttenen a Proene
jolnts, igame nts 3 musues)
qives u uto. about wcation of ousLo hly olevelop ¬d w/ the
body pava n eeajon to eQ ch d So/0 ln transatons ezternal woilC
’ VESTI8VLAR
wvelengin 380 to 70 nra
body
posuhon , movemwnt, aul.
nse cf þalan:e
get a sonse
helps
(ineu e u)
 Attentiona| Processes
Alarge no of S Mul upon Our 3ense 0raans
gim ultaneously but we dlont notice t hem at the

same ti ne The process through which certain stimul are

$eLected from aa aroup of 0 thers, Ls ye ferred to aS

alten thon. lt atatso veters se veral Otner processes

alert ness Teure,
etc.

Alertn ess referS to an n diviol ual's veaciness

to deal with Stmuu tnat appeaY lbefore tnem
C0ncentrati0n re ferS to focus ina of awaYeness On ertaln
Speutic 0b jet While ex cludin a otners or the moment.
Ln search, looks for specltied subse t
0f 0bj ets anO na Set 0f obj ects Attentionn all
tnese pro eses Yefers to effovt allo catton
Attentl0 has a fo u pot vnt
field of awareness s center0 cd on a p YtL Cul ar
tlcul
tni ng; tPs four | focal pont of attentiou) and C

frnge pont wnen object |event s aw ay ro m the

Center 0f areness tne Only vaquely
aware 0f tem )
process -0rien ted view
A View cdvLdes
attention Mto 2 types Select ve Suctaln ed
We attend to 2 dttf thngs at the ame
time Lt's calied divid ecd a tten t0n

Selective Attention
System can deal with Dnly a tew things at once,
We
select a few Stimu L from a
arae n0 Of
 FaLtorS affecting selecive Atteniion:

Tnese Ore related to the featuU res Of StiMuU. The slee,

fautors |ntenslty wM0ion )etl. are mp aet erm nantt
Larql brignt movna stlM ul easllyCatch 0uY
atton i0n. We also focu Move novel
modertely phots are
more focusod On tnan LManLmate photor.
Dhotos
Sudden
n tense aso olraw avol of atten hon

nternaI Thereare 2 ty pe:

{actors
MOHIVatioMal to ct ors : ReLate t0 0ur bol0 qu Or sou Cl
needs while taking an exam, studento focus
On tMe eram not on Otier Studentt

Cooniive tators (nclude factors liee lntevert ,attitu de

We pouy attenhon to tin qqs we
find interea ting: repavctoYy iet generates
mentu StCUt e t0 Oct
1 the n dividuo 0 reapend to ne ind
imu encude pther
Tneories e seleetive Atteni°or
fLLter tneory developed by Broad bent ( 1956). ACrdtng
to tniS tneory, many stimie enter 0ur body slmutane ousty
and tnrouah the ch0Yt term memory enter the
Selectve fulter whch allows only one Chmuus to
puss for nigh trer level Of pro cecting 0thers are scveened
visioN
FHer - attenuation theory bevelo ped by Triesman (1962) by
mo difying Broad bentS tneory
tneoru ACCOTainq
ng to thic tteory;
theory, tne seletive titer doesne conmpletey bloce anu
shmui it just atten ucte (wearens) their ctrength
Hence, some simui get throuqn the fiter Eq. personalu
relerant stmui
S t h i ( yor name) can
Con be
oe no thced eren
Ow strength.

Nuttimode tneovy i devlopecl oy by Jonnston $ tteinz C198).

AtHention is a flexible System nat ollow Selecti Dn
St mulus Dver Ofners at 3 staqes . Sfaqe 1 the

Sensory represenotons (V
vIMat,
i l uclinon,eto ) tt seM anti
t Stoye 2; the se man tic representc hons
d
Cen nUm e ) construuroi and t St cLqe 3 b0th
tne ropresescion ton ciO wnen. Sune, thu
menil etert requed
+ Sustuined Attenion
mOre one necl w1tn oentr uion t reters to ouY
OubilWty mointon cutt enlion object euen
du otiom

FaLOs ntuenung Sustoined Attenicn

The Sense
moceuily atteted. Peu toumane

whentheyre
larity 0f stimuli is also au fautor. ntense long -10 shing
stimui ttt taititare sustained attent'o n esult in
better perfovmOn ce
 Te mporal wncert ainty 9inuli appear g+
reoular Pntervals ot tYme, t neyre atten ded b etter than
when tney appear at irregular intervals.

Spatial uncert ainty : ftimuli that appear at a fixed

ave m0re atteMal d, tuan those which appea7 to
place
random [0cCahovs
DIVIDED ATTE N TION

Dn cert ain otUasions attenton an be all ocated to

tn an tuing at the
POssible only with hqhly
hiahly prached autwines,
lbe cause they become aLmost auto ah require
Less atten hon to pertovm new Or LeSS
Lpractied activih'es.

AUtOMariC processina
() oCCUrs w<o inten t'on
(u) taKes place wnonseiDusly
very tIttle to no th ughi proesse

span o4 AttentiOy
Our attentio a limited capacity - The no of objc ce
has
one Can attend to at a brief exposure (
fraction
of a ceond) is perceptuQl span' or
TVis can be letermined by the
(attenton span.
instru ment
max
Ctacnistorcope'
MiIer has reported tnat
vares WItni at a t me. TVat
tne veaon why condiions. plater have
WI th rome aLona bet.
 Page No.
Attention Deflit Hypé ractivity bisorder Date:
YOUVA

Case Study : ADH

f0un d amona chilcl ren of
more prlmary
n lbos tnaM qrls. characterised by /mpulsivity
exessVe mo}Or activtty to attlnd. If not
Managed proplrly lt may persit into adolesce nt
adult years. Such hilcdren are hianlu
alstra(h ble, have a
nard time
sho difficulties
tneve's Mo defut (n
ther Lntelliatnce
Tnere?s no biotoqu(Cl basls found et, t ha
however, been dounente d witn detary farors,
icularly food tolour1ng
particularly sOu0 psyCho lo acat fa Ctors
( v YOn MeMt, tamils pat noLo g y) auount fo Y ADH D
vmove reliably
Tre at ment Adrua, talled RÍtalin , s widelu used,
decreases hyper ativity Ivve CLses attent0M
atte pan :
But , t doesn't ure nas negatve Stde eff ects tie
SuppressiOn n or mal aronth of hegnt $ wetCnt.
Be navi 0ur mcn age met posiiye
)

rlinforeement Structured Le aY nlna mnlns es the

problem tpo.
TYaning m th e use 0f veroal self
Lnstru (h0ns (stop thine and then do) auo helps
* PERCEPTLAL fROCESS ES
Sensing s0 mething d0eint provde ue WIth any un ders tand
a bout it: Ne procesS it ure ne 9 ve
me aniG to t by using our tearninq, memory,
emoth0 Ms, etc. Tne process bu which we cecoani2e,
inerprot or ave eann a to the infoY maoproviclP
oy cense or aans Caue d perception. This per ception
Snt just an nterpretation 0f thinas as they are,
but by our pont of
 Approahes in Percepn'on
ProcessLng
rnedea tnat re oanlh0n beglnS From the pOvts , which serve
as tne basts fOr re COgnihoM 0f the w nole is
re
lbo ttoM - up pro Uessna: ( 1dentifying tur, four leg, eyes,ec
S0 0n then identtfy t as oa dog) the no hon that
recognihon begns fro m tne whole wnich leads
identifiah on DF top - dowy
protessng
Tne o0ttom- up tays eMpnarus on fea turec 0f
ousidevs pereption as a poaTt Ot the mental
while tne top down Lays eVnpnacUs On
perceiver COnsid ere percepnon as a proCess DE rec ogninion
(30th the prouerer
pr0 erser nteratt wltn eccn ot ne r to provtd e
with a n underCtanding 0f the WOrId .

(StiM ulu$ sensory h=Ate

)=AHenHon => (eNS toraim), 1ea-nisg yeertprig
reeptori) (Memory $ otner
rttesttt
THE PERLEI VER *
JUst
Ore nt passiVe. Tney aYe creative G try to
understand the eXternal WOrtd
their 0Wn Way
Motv atfon
Tne needs des ires Ofof aa perceiver tro
st ngls influen ces
ptvcep on. Tney perceve
Sometna tnat will caticfu tneir need
Expetations pereeptu al
The expetations
a bo ut wnat we miant percee elso
nfluence or percepthon. we have a strona tendeny
to see what We exp
et to se eve n wnen th e re sultr
dont acrately reflect exterat reality
 Cogni've StylesNT
i0gnitive style reters to a cons(st@nt
consist ent wau 0f deatÉng wit
OUr environ ment Tnis affects the way uwe perceLVe the
iron nent There ave several toonitive syles
A omonone is the cied
dependen fie ld mdependent tyle F.D. peo ple perceive
18217e the external world un its t0tality eun a qloool or
hois tic wan, While f.D People percelve tne external
N91O WOrt d bu
by brea king ito nto swal|erunic, iein an
Analuric or ditfe rentiated manner.09l
9101032
An item to t0st the fie Ld Tnose who LoCate tne A n th
dependent or ncependent picture faster
Ognitive stye wnile tne ot neve

cuiturar 6ackqround
Expeviene
Diff expevie nces opp0rtoniie
avouilaole to people, wn ditt.
Cultural settings atso intl vene
tne pere ptl on. Eskimos
Mave
wnicn we would nt be alole t do.A

Principtei 0f Perceptual oroanization

0uroVIUalfleld i a collection 0fdiff. elem ents. HOwever,
We perceive tnese
elemets Organise d wholpr Or
C0n plete objects The prDcess 0f
orqanisl na a visu al
f1e1d into meaMingtul Whotes is known as torm
plrception
VHOhGestaLk means o rea lar tiguYe 0Y a fo rm.
tr est altsuch 0lo gistss Cpro
Kö hler, KOFfka
nminent0nes nclu de
We percel ve Werthetme) AcLOrdivmqq to them,
ditf sti wnui as twhole
on Yaani se d
 defuni tepor n. Theu oeLLeve tnat
arvies
Orm an objet es n lts Whole, which cc
(s

OiFferen t from the sum of their parts fOr eg. a

PtowerI POt W/ flowers a floWer pot w[o flowerc
OYe both a Wnote but nave dife confiqurahonc.
Our cerelorall processe are always
towards
OrLentedtowards the percepthon of qo0d fqure or
pragnqnz Tne Mos t primte oraani2ah on takes
place n the form oF q fiqure - qround seqreqahon.
when We 100K at SOMethna, certoLnaspects
Stand 0ut Separat e entiies: $ Otherc dont
tne un i birds stand o ut,
tne sky per ceived as tne backaround

Youll see el ther the white

part, wnich lo0Ks lk e
Vase the black paTt
Looks (ike 2 facec

I. Fiquve har a detinite

torm, wnile backaround 's
RVBIN'S vASE Nrelativels fov m)ess

2. Fiaure is more Oro) antseds. tna backro und.

3 Ct nas O clear contour (0ut lune) wnile background
On tourless

4 Fiaure Stands 0ut from the baCk aro un d.

5 1qure
aPpears MÌre clear, li mited $ relatve ly
nearer While the back aro und
unclear, unlmlted
app earc Telately
away from us
 Page No.:
prinu ples YOUVA
Figures Date:

Prinlple Proxim i t u 9 2

bectsthat ave Cloce toqetner in

00 Space Or tl e are
perceive d
|00 as belomqi ng toge tner or as
a qroup
00 vbebs022 This doesnt look tÙke

a squ re patter n of dots, but

as Sernes Ot co[umns o f dots.

2- Princçple of Simitaritu
et
0bects tMat ave similar
percelVe d os a qroup

aitevna hng columns

0f c Ycles a nd sauares.

3: Principle of Cont inuitu

We tevmd to perceive0bjecte
as belo Mana toge t nerif
tneappear to foY M
P C0ntMu0us patternHere,
we dentlfy ab cd as 2
wYNE unes, ratner tnan sau a, b
b d aye sepavat e tinee.

h. Prin ple 0f Sm al[necs

Smauer Ovea tend to oe
seen a flqures aqatnst a
lavaer back aYÌ und Heve,
wesee a b\ac Cvoss
Yather than a whiHe
5- The prnci ple 0f sy mmetry
Symnetrical or eas tend

batkrounds.

Principle ot Surrounded ness

he area surrounded by
otners teu d o loe
perceired as fiourec.
This Lo0ks Like Giqurec
oA ratner tuancIFT'
(Buto e you see th e
wordyouualwals
7 Principte 0f ClOSure
tl0st see it )
he tend to fill the aaps
in sti mu lation $ pevcer ve
the objects as wnole,
ratn er tnan separate
parts:

* PERGEPTION 0f SPACE. DEPTH $ DISTANCE

The visuol fieldo or surtace in which
thingie xis-, move or can
be plaLed. & Ca ca led space. we live in a 3D space. we
see things ar2D fiqurer tru- 0ur percerve
OuY eyes. But e still percelve
it /M 30D spaco .lt-0ccUrs du 8 to
our albllity to transfer a
20
retin al ISI OV into a 30 percephon § this procecs
ú cale d distane| depth peruep hon
ln peroeiving depth, we depend on
sOwcts of M0. caised cuee. One ty pl u caled
bino ular ues beawse tney
Ofher 4 monoculaY
reqwre botn eyee whie the
ue G tney ollow
witn perceve
deptn fust one eye
 Cues
Nonocular cues(Psychologcal Cuec)
These ae effective, wnen obje ts are viewed with ouly one eyes
and ave otten ured loy aricts to induce deptn in 2D pet vnitinq s.
MOnce, tneyre pictoriat Cues
-tetative
1.

The sjze of retinal in age

Oullo ws sus to jud ne dist
based On ou past $
present experience, with
s(milar objeds. we tend to
perceive an olb j ut fartnln
away, wnen it appecr smal,
and otocr wnen 1t appearC

2- (nterporition or Overlcappin
Winen sOme portion of the 0lojet
(s covered loy another objet, the
overtapped objeLt i oVsiclere d
farther o waM wnereas the
obi. th at eoverc t, appeays
nelrer.

3- LineaY Perspective
DStOunt objts appeaY 0
lbe cloSer to oetner, tnan
tne nerer oloj. Eg. d4 unesn
appeow t0 Onverge with
inreauing ist. The more
the ine c0n veraes the
fwrtn ev owoy th e4
appeas
4- Aeria! ptYspeceive
Air has duct $ moisture ,
wwn maves octont obis
Lo0k hazy or lolurry -
Hence, if tne atmosphere
uleaY, the ob ceemcLlorer
tnan it tne atMosphere u
nazy
5 tiqut. Shade
ln uot, S0ne part oe
niginithted some loeonn e
darker. HIghlignts $ chadous
provicle ue with into. alout
n objs distance.

6 ReLative neignt
Laraer obitcts are perceived

obj-s o lbeina cma Me.

When e expeut 2 oloj:s to
be 0f tln e caMesize tue're
not, tne larger will applar
Cos er smaUter wil o ppeC

4. Texture araclient
Tne vis uCl Field naving more
clensity
trtn eY
 MOtIOn Parall ar
a kinetio onoclas we not a pictomial We. t
Ows whn Olbj at cutf. olst. nove t aIfF. rela tive
speed. [he dlisHOtntobjs appean to ove
lowiy
than the obis that Ore close For @a. when
the dist ant ob moves am d the
near by 0b) Pass ( move n opp dureCLon )

Binocwlar (Pnysol0qical cues )

Retin al 0r Binocular Dis parity

Rerinal disparty oCLurs be use tne 2 ees have dit. locahons
nead.=> they separat ed hovizontaly by a
dist. ot ahout Thus, tn eacn eye. the lwaqe
diff. and tne ditf betweln the
called retin aL dis pavity: As ouspaYity Less for diitan t
Objlls MOre for near 0lo].s, the lovain interprets
arge rer'nal dit pavity to me an close Obj. a smau
retinaI digparity 10 dist ant objet:

2 cOnveraence
Wnen We See a neavby 0loj Our eyes converge tnw ard
lbrina the A qroup of
Musles send messoaes, to tne bOln a bout tne deqree
de qree On verQence decreas es ae the obj
moves Ow the 0 bsover. The WOre your ey es
turn in ward or nearer tne olbjet appears
in space
3 ALLOmno d atOn
Tnis Yefers to fme proesr by whicn we focus the im aqe on
the the help of mucle thee
thicunlss ofthe eye tens. The
dilunon 0vtvachon 0f LenS provides the cue for distance
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCIES
we form a st alble
plYcepton ch ana
the StIVnulahon Sensovy receptovc ThLS is Caled
percoptua constany
size Con stancy
The furtneraway ,n olbiect is, tne smauer ii tne im age.
But the pevceiv ed Size of olojects rem aiMs relatively
un changed wvthin imits This
witn ch anges
taued sze cou tany
in dist , sl20 0f retinat

Sape Constancy
n our percepton, the shapes of famiu ar obie Cts
rem ain
les pite any ch anges tn their
OventOnon OULs o callod foym cOMstan
6right ness Constancy
ViSual olbjects
their dl ecre e of
whiteness, CYeuness Or btackness, even Eh e
a mot of physlal
eneYqu ref Ce cted trom them,
changes
Onsideraoly
ILLUSIONS *
Misperceptions Yerultnq fro m msnterpretalon of nto
r ecelvP d bu
seniory 0raana we kown: i wsior.
They result from
Knd of experne
T ,they'e aur wwww 'prniie
SOvme pereptuat ae univercal
Ond omd m al vn ivtdualu and thee iwio
Caled permomet
iwnion as they don't anoe with erperienu
Onvevgl
 $o me 0tnes M
oviducle
t mdiv d u . Thece one ccued
perconal iwL on
Creo metricat
MLer Luer
Al Of u une A as cnovt er than B,aLt nouah
pereei ve
b0th Wnes ove eaual ú ezper en ce d
even by cicA ven annals

Vevtic HOV20 nt u (wion

Althouogu b0th unes
we pereive the vernCal
Lonaer than the
hovzantal Wne.

Apparent Movement IllusLon

This llusio ú liperie nced wnen come mohonleri picturea
Ore projected ot ter anothev at an appropriote
)
rate. ALso referred to as phi- pnenonmenon SuceesSLOn
of licverng elechiccl uants also aenerate tnis
illusion, but bni g htness, si2e, spautial qap s temporal
Onia u y Of ciFF. uan ts ls inmp to be tne ane
4hroughout to expenence SOvne knd of moti On.

Experience of iuuuLons noicate that pe0ple dont

always percee ve the Word it s but ney
ts cOnstrueh'on.
 SOtIo- CULTURAL INFLVENCES ON PERCEPION *

Afvican sulbje Cts shoWareater susleptulouits to hori20n tal -

Vertio Western uoi@ts howed

qreater SUseptlouty to MuLer- Luer ills O
LIVLng
Livina in dense PovesEs the African culojects reqularty
experie nced verricaity devetoped a ten deny D
Overesth mate it Westerners
chavctersed loy riant nales developed a tend eny to
nderesn mOte the length of Lnes
noswe.
T uqaerts that tne nania of percep hon
Learn4 difterently ditt ret tral
ovd 0xperences setting