Sensation and Perception

teacup turquoise
The sensory data that are normally required to see a cup are not present in this stimulus – and yet we perceive a cup. Would we perceive it if we hadn’t been raised in a coffee-drinking society?

We tend to assume in everyday life that we perceive the outside world exactly as it is. In reality, however, there are many physical energies that we are not equipped to detect. Furthermore, we organise and interpret the information we receive based on our past experience and other psychological factors. Our perceptions are therefore our own personal representations of the physical energies that batter our senses at every turn.

The sensory data that our sensory organs receive are at that stage meaningless; only when our brain receives the electrochemical energy that is sent to it from each set of sensory receptors can we begin to organise this information and make sense of the bewildering environment around us.

Yet every day we conjure meaning from the cacophony of sound, the blazes and flickers of light, the chemical compounds and the physical taps, nudges and thumps that we encounter. This is an indication of our astonishing perceptual gifts, yet in some respects I find the perceptual oddities and surprises, along with the errors that we make, more intriguing. Mistakes are always more revealing than perfection.

– Ms Green

book2, clipartlord, pdRead

television with play button

 

Watch

tablet_PC_2

Activities

folder5

Downloads

Examples of Visual Stimuli

Bec, Emily and James

This stimulus illustrates the Gestalt principle of closure, since most English speakers can read it despite the missing elements. (Designed by Bec, James and Emily)

clock by ngoc

Ngoc designed this visual stimulus to illustrate the principle of closure. You could also argue that the principle of similarity is at work.

Convergence and Retinal Disparity two times Roslyn Green

How retinal disparity works: If you focus on my two faces from a distance of 5-10 centimetres (crossing your eyes slightly might help), you may discover after a while that you have fused the two images into another, spookily three-dimensional one in the middle. This procedure works better when the image is on paper, so you can also try printing this version: download paper version here.

teacups improved gestalt similarity

This stimulus illustrates the Gestalt principle of similarity. We perceive the red saucers and their “cups” as belonging to a group.

gestalt proximity

We perceive  the the dots as columns rather than rows as a result of the Gestalt principle of similarity.

Green illusion

An illusion: In the context of the gradual change of colour gradient in the background rectangle, the block of green in the foreground is perceived as having a gradual colour gradient too, yet in reality it is a solid block of colour like the green rod at the bottom.

Jesus in snow drawn by me

If you perceive this as a man’s face, you must be applying the Gestalt principles of figure-ground and closure at least. If you interpret the face as that of Jesus, then your cultural background or artistic experience is also coming into play and influencing your perception. (This is a simplified version of the original stimulus, which may be viewed here.)

FullSizeRender (13)

This stimulus, designed by Jude, can be organised and interpreted in more than one way, as either a mouth with rather narrow teeth or as a forest behind a meadow. You notice yourself switching back and forth between the alternative interpretations, which indicates that this is a successful ambiguous stimulus. Would you be more likely to perceive a mouth if you had just kissed someone? Would you be more likely to see the trees if you were a nature-lover?

Sam boat Sam alien

Sam’s stimulus is organised and interpreted differently, depending on which way up you look at it. The figure on the left could be a boat in rocky waters, while the figure on the right could be an alien – or a psychology teacher.

Kate

Kate’s stimulus provides an example of the principle of closure. We perceive a head, a face and dark glasses, even though none of these features is completely represented.

Althea

Althea’s visual stimulus is perceived as complete circles and lines, even though none of the circles have a complete contour. This demonstrates once more our tendency to apply the closure principle in order to perceive wholes.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *