Handout 4
Sensation and Perception
Psychophysics: Psychophysics is the study of the relationship between stimuli and sensation, so
imagine a person is asked to determine when they can hear a frequency. Perception is an active
process of constructing sensations into a meaningful mental representation of the world.
Perceptions are based on simultaneous bottom-up and top-down processing. Complete percepts
are assembled out of small sensory features in “bottom-up” fashion guided by preexisting
knowledge applied “top-down” to help organize features into a meaningful whole.
Bottom up and top down: Top-down and bottom-up processing are two types of psychological
processes that influence perception.
Top-down processing Bottom-up processing
Top-down processing is the interpretation of Bottom-up processing is the sensory analysis
incoming information based on prior that begins with what our senses can detect
knowledge, experiences, and expectations
Top-down processing is influenced by while bottom-up processing depends on
internal factors external stimuli
Top-down processing is influenced by our Bottom-up processing is purely data-driven
available knowledge, our experiences, and our and requires no previous knowledge or
thoughts learning
For example, when a person is hiking at It takes place as it happens. For example, if
Yellowstone National Park and sees a black you see an image of an individual letter on
figure that is not moving 100 yards away, he your screen, your eyes transmit the
perceives the blurred figure as a grizzly bear information to your brain, and your brain puts
since that place is famous for its wildlife all of this information together
appearance
Gestalt principles
The Gestalt organizing principles are a set of rules that describe how humans perceive and
organize visual information into meaningful patterns and groups. Figure and ground is the most
basic perceptual organization. The following Gestalt principles also help organize sensations.
The Gestalt Principles are rules of composition and arrangement. They are based on the idea that
there is a natural way that objects, people, and things fit together in space.
1. According to the law of proximity, things that are close together seem more related than
things that are spaced farther apart. In the image at the top of the page, the circles on the
left appear to be part of one grouping while those on the right appear to be part of
another. Because the objects are close to each other, we group them together.
2. Similarity: The law of similarity states that similar things tend to appear grouped
together. Grouping can occur in both visual and auditory stimuli. In the image at the top
of this page, for example, you probably see two separate groupings of colored circles as
rows rather than just a collection of dots.
3. Continuation, or continuity: Perceptions tend toward simplicity and continuity. It is
easier to visualize a wavy line on a squared-off line than it is to see a complex row of
shapes.
4. Closure: Closure refers to the tendency to complete a figure, so that it has a consistent
overall form. It has one or more gaps, yet each is perceived as a recognizable figure.
5. Common region: stimuli that are found within a common area tend to be seen as a
group.
6. Law of Prägnanz: The law of prägnanz is sometimes referred to as the law of good
figure or the law of simplicity. This law holds that when you're presented with a set of
ambiguous or complex objects, your brain will make them appear as simple as possible.3
For example, when presented with the Olympic logo, you see overlapping circles rather
than an assortment of curved, connected lines.
Attention
It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what
seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of
consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal
effectively with others
Selective attention is the ability to select certain stimuli in the environment to process, while
ignoring distracting information. Selective attention is the ability to focus on certain components
of the environment by ignoring the rest or pushing them into the background. Examples of
selective attention include:
Listening to your favorite podcast while driving to work
Having a conversation with a friend in a crowded place
Reading your book on a public transport bus
Divided attention tasks allow us to determine how well individuals can attend to many sources
of information at once. Divided attention is a skill where you have to perform two or more tasks
at the same time, and attention is required for the performance of both or all the tasks. Examples
of divided attention include:
Checking email while listening in a meeting
Driving a car while carrying on a conversation with a passenger
Taking and remembering different orders from multiple tables as a restaurant attendant
