Downloaded by Joy

VISUAL PERCEPTION

Perception- Perception is the set of processes by which we recognize, organize,

and make sense of the sensations we receive from environmental stimuli.
(Goodale, 2000a, 2000b; Kosslyn & Osherson, 1995; Marr, 1982; Pomerantz,
2003).

From Sensation to Representation

“We do not perceive the world exactly as our eyes see it. Instead, our
brain actively tries to make sense of the many stimuli that enter our
eyes and fall on our retina.” Your brain processes the visual stimuli,
giving the stimuli meaning and interpreting them.

Some Basic Concepts of Perception

James Gibson - provided a useful framework for studying perception.

He introduced the concepts of distal (external) object, informational medium,

proximal stimulation, and perceptual object.

• Distal (far) object -is the object in the external world.

• Informational medium- could be sound waves, as in the sound of the
falling tree. The informational medium might also be reflected light,
chemical molecules, or tactile information coming from the
environment.
• Proximal (near) stimulation- occurs (i.e., the cells in your retina absorb the
light
waves).
• Perceptual object (i.e., what you see) is created in you that
reflects the properties of the external world.

“Perception occurs when the informational medium carries information

about a distal object to a person. When the person’s sense receptors pick
up on the information, proximal stimulation occurs, which results in the
person’s perceiving an object.”

➢ Different processes address different questions. Questions of sensation

focus on qualities of stimulation. Cognition occurs as this information is
used to serve further goals. We never can experience through vision,
hearing, taste, smell, or touch exactly the same set of stimulus
properties we have experienced before.
Sensory adaptation- receptor cells adapt to constant stimulation by ceasing to
fire until there is a change in stimulation. Through sensory adaptation, we may
stop detecting the presence of a stimulus.

Seeing Things That Aren’t There, or Are They?

Sometimes we perceive what is not there. Other times, we do not perceive
what is there. And at still other times, we perceive what cannot be there. The
existence of perceptual illusions suggests that what we sense (in our sensory
organs) is not necessarily what we perceive (in our minds).
How Does Our Visual System Work?
Light is electromagnetic radiation that can be described in terms of
wavelength. Humans can perceive only a small range of the wavelengths
that exist; the visible wavelengths are from 380 to 750 nanometers.
Vision begins when light passes through the protective covering of the eye.
• Cornea, is a clear dome that protects the eye. The light then
passes through the pupil, the opening in the center of the
iris. It continues through the crystalline lens and the vitreous
humor
• Vitreous humor- is a gel-like substance that comprises the majority
of
the eye.
• Light focuses on the retina where electromagnetic light
energy is transduced that is, converted into neural
electrochemical impulses
• Vision is most acute in the fovea, which is a small, thin region of the
retina, the size of the head of a pin. When you look straight at an
object, your eyes rotate so that the image falls directly onto the
fovea
• First layer of neuronal tissue—closest to the front, outward-facing
surface of the eye is the layer of ganglion cells, whose axons
constitute the optic nerve.
• Second layer consists of three kinds of interneuron cells. Amacrine
cells
and horizontal cells make single lateral (i.e., horizontal)
connections among adjacent areas of the retina in the middle
layer of cells.
• Bipolar cells -make dual connections forward and outward to the
ganglion cells, as well as backward and inward to the third layer of
retinal cells.
• Third layer of the retina- contains the photoreceptors, which convert
light energy into electrochemical energy that is transmitted by
neurons to the brain.
• Photo pigments- chemical substances that react to light and
transform
 physical electromagnetic energy into an electrochemical neural
impulse that can be understood by the brain.
• Rods- are long and thin photoreceptors. They are more highly
concentrated in the periphery of the retina than in the fovea
region.
 • Cones are short and thick photoreceptors and allow for the
perception of color. They are more highly concentrated in the
fovea region than in the periphery of the retina.
• Visual cortex- contains several processing areas. Each area handles
different kinds of visual information relating to intensity and
quality, including color, location, depth, pattern, and form.
Pathways to Perceive the What and the Where
What are the visual pathways in the brain?
• A pathway in general is the path the visual information takes from its
entering the
human perceptual system through the eyes to its being completely
processed.
Dorsal pathway- is also called the where pathway and is responsible for
processing location and motion information.
Ventral pathway- is called the what pathway because it is mainly responsible for
processing the color, shape, and identity of visual stimuli
What pathway -can be found in the ventral stream and is responsible for the
identification of objects.
How pathway- is located in the dorsal stream and controls movements in
relation to the objects that have been identified through the “what” pathway.

There are different views on how we perceive the world. These views can be
summarized as bottom-up theories and top-down theories.
➢ Bottom-up theories describe approaches where perception starts
with the stimuli whose appearance you take in through your eye.
➢ Top-down theories, according to which perception is driven by high-level
cognitive processes, existing knowledge, and the prior expectations
that influence perception.

Gibson’s Theory of Direct Perception

➢ Direct perception- the information in our sensory receptors,
including the sensory context, is all we need to perceive
anything.
➢ Ecological perception-environment supplies us with all the information we
need
for perception, this view is sometimes. In other words, we do not need
higher cognitive processes or anything else to mediate between our
sensory experiences and our perceptions.
Neuroscience and Direct Perception
• Neuroscience also indicates that direct perception may be involved in
person perception. About 30 to 100 milliseconds after a visual
stimulus, mirror neurons start firing. Mirror neurons are active both
when a person acts and when he or she observes that same act
performed by somebody else.
Template Theories
• Template theories suggest that we have stored in our minds myriad
sets of templates. Templates are highly detailed models for patterns we
potentially might recognize.
Feature-Matching Theories
• According to these theories, we attempt to match features of a pattern
to features stored in memory, rather than to match a whole pattern to a
template or a prototype.
The Pandemonium Model- One such feature-matching model has been called
Pandemonium (“pandemonium” refers to a very noisy, chaotic place and
hell). In it, metaphorical “demons” with specific duties receive and analyze
the features of a stimulus.
• “Image demons” -receive a retinal image and pass it on to “feature
demons.” Each feature demon calls out when there are matches
between the stimulus and the given feature.
• “Cognitive (thinking) demons.”- The cognitive demons in turn shout out
possible patterns stored in memory that conform to one or more of the
features noticed by the feature demons.
• “Decision demon” -listens to the pandemonium of the cognitive demons.
It
decides on what has been seen, based on which cognitive demon is
shouting the most frequently.
Neurons that can recognize a complex object are called gnostic units or
“grandmother cells” because they imply that there is a neuron that is capable
of recognizing your grandmother.

Two kinds of visual cortex neurons

• Simple cells
• Complex cells
Which were believed to differ in the complexity of the information about stimuli
they processed.
Recognition-by-Components Theory
 • The recognition by components theory explains our ability to
perceive 3-D objects with the help of simple geometric shapes
Geons- Irving Biederman (1987) suggested that we achieve this by
manipulating a number of simple 3-D geometric shapes. They include
objects such as bricks, cylinders, wedges, cones, and their curved axis
counterparts
Recognition-by-components (RBC) theory- quickly recognize objects by
observing the edges of them and then decomposing the objects into
geons. The geons also can be recomposed into alternative arrangements.
Constructive perception- the perceiver builds (constructs) a cognitive
understanding (perception) of a stimulus. The concepts of the perceiver and his
or her cognitive processes influence what he or she sees.
Intelligent perception- because it states that higher-order thinking plays an
important role in perception. It also emphasizes the role of learning in
perception.
The percepts are based on three things:
•What we sense (the sensory data),
•What we know (knowledge stored in memory), and
•What we can infer (using high-level cognitive processes).
Context effects -are the influences of the surrounding environment on
perception
Configural-superiority effect -(Bar, 2004; Pomerantz, 1981), by which objects
presented in certain configurations are easier to recognize than the objects
presented in isolation, even if the objects in the configurations are more
complex than those in isolation.
Object-superiority effect -in which a target line that forms a part of a drawing of a
3-D object is identified more accurately than a target that forms a part of a
disconnected 2-D pattern.
Word-superiority effect -indicates that when people are presented with strings
of letters, it is easier for them to identify a single letter if the string makes
sense and forms a word instead of being just a nonsense sequel of letters.
Extreme top-down position -would drastically underestimate the importance
of sensory data.
Extreme bottom-up position -would not allow for any influence of past
experience or knowledge on perception.

Viewer-Centered vs. Object-Centered Perception

Viewer-centered representation -is that the individual stores the way the object
looks to him or her. Thus, what matters is the appearance of the object to the
viewer (in this case, the appearance of the computer to the author), not the
actual structure of the object. The shape of the object changes, depending on
the angle from which we look at it.
Object-centered representation -is that the individual stores a representation of
the object, independent of its appearance to the viewer. In this case, the shape
of the object will stay stable across different orientations.
Landmark-centered representation -information is characterized by its
relation to a well-known or prominent item.
Gestalt approach to form perception -that was developed in Germany in the
early 20th century is useful particularly for understanding how we perceive
groups of objects or even parts of objects to form integral wholes.
It was founded by Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1968),
and Max Wertheimer (1880–1943) and was based on the notion that the
whole differs from the sum of its individual parts.
Law of Prägnanz -We tend to perceive any given visual array in a way that most
simply organizes the different elements into a stable and coherent form.
Other Gestalt principles include figure-ground perception, proximity, similarity,
continuity, closure, and symmetry. Each of these principles supports the
overarching law of Prägnanz.
Figure-ground -what stands out from, versus what recedes into, the
background. You probably first will notice the light-colored lettering of the word
figure.
Symmetry -requires that features appear to have balanced proportions around a
central axis or a central point.

Two Different Pattern Recognition Systems

Feature analysis system -First system specializes in recognition of parts of
objects and in assembling those parts into distinctive wholes.
Configurational system- specializes in recognizing larger configurations. It is
not well equipped to analyze parts of objects or the construction of the
objects. But it is especially well equipped to recognize configurations.
Face recognition occurs, at least in part, in the fusiform gyrus of the temporal
lobe. This brain area responds intensely when we look at faces but not when
we look at other objects. There is good evidence that there is something
special about recognition of faces, even from an early age.
Expert individuation hypothesis- According to this theory, the fusiform gyrus is
activated when one examines items with which one has visual expertise.
Imagine that you are an expert on birds and spend much of your time
studying birds. It is expected that you could differentiate among very similar
birds and would have much practice at such differentiation.
Prosopagnosia -the inability to recognize faces would imply damage of some
kind to the configurational system. Somebody with prosopagnosia can see
the face of another person and even recognize if that person is sad, happy, or
angry. But what he fails to recognize is whether that person being observed is
a stranger, his friend, or his own mother.
Perceptual constancy -occurs when our perception of an object remains the
same even when our proximal sensation of the distal object changes.
Two of the main constancies:
1. Size constancy -is the perception that an object maintains the same size
despite changes in the size of the proximal stimulus. The size of an
image on the retina depends directly on the distance of that object from
the eye. The same object at two different distances projects different-
sized images on the retina.
An example of size constancy is the Müller-Lyer illusion
2. Shape constancy -is the perception that an object maintains the same
shape despite changes in the shape of the proximal stimulus. An
object’s perceived shape remains the same despite changes in its
orientation and hence in the shape of its retinal image.

Depth Perception
Depth -is the distance from a surface, usually using your own body as a
reference surface when speaking in terms of depth perception. This use
of depth information extends beyond the range of your body’s reach.

Depth Cues
• Monocular depth cues -can be represented in just two dimensions and
observed with just one eye. They include texture gradients, relative
size, interposition, linear perspective, aerial perspective, location in
the picture plane, and motion parallax.
 • Binocular depth cues -based on the receipt of sensory information in
three dimensions from both eyes. Binocular depth cues use the
relative positioning of your eyes.
➢ Binocular disparity -your two eyes send increasingly disparate
(differing)
images to your brain as objects approach you. Your brain interprets
the degree of disparity as an indication of distance from you.
➢ Binocular convergence -your two eyes increasingly turn inward as
objects approach you. Your brain interprets these muscular
movements as indications of distance from you.
Binocular neurons -The neurons integrate incoming information from both
eyes to form information about depth. The binocular neurons are found in
the visual cortex.
Agnosias and Ataxias
• The what/how hypothesis is best supported by evidence of
processing deficits: There are both deficits that impair people’s
ability to recognize what they see, and deficits that impair
people’s ability to reach for what they see (how).
Difficulties Perceiving the “What”
People who suffer from an agnosia have trouble to perceive
sensory information. Agnosias often are caused by damage to the
border of the temporal and occipital lobes or restricted oxygen flow to
areas of the brain, sometimes as a result of traumatic brain injury.
There are many kinds of agnosias. Not all of them are visual.

Simultagnosia - Disturbance in the temporal region of the cortex. In

simultagnosia, an individual is unable to pay attention to more than
one object at a time.
Prosopagnosia -results in a severely impaired ability to recognize
human faces. A person with prosopagnosia might not recognize her or
his own face in the mirror. This fascinating disorder has spawned much
research on face identification, a “hot topic” in visual perception.
Difficulties in Knowing the “How”
Optic ataxia -which is an impairment in the ability to use the visual
system to guide movement. People with this deficit have trouble
reaching for things.

Anomalies in Color Perception

• Color perception deficits are much more common in men than in
women, and they are genetically linked. However, they can also
result from lesions to the ventromedial occipital and temporal
lobes.
• Rod monochromacy -also called achromacy. People with this
condition
have no color vision at all. It is thus the only true form of pure color
blindness. People with this condition have cones that are
nonfunctional. They see only shades of gray, as a function of their
vision through the rods of the eye.
• Dichromacy -only two of the mechanisms for color perception
work, and
one is malfunctioning. The result of this malfunction is one of
three types of color blindness (color-perception deficits).
• The extreme form of red-green color blindness is called
protanopia. The
other types of color blindness are: deuteranopia (trouble seeing
greens), and tritanopia (blues and greens can be confused, but
yellows also can seem to disappear or to appear as light shades of
reds).