Predicting an Individual's Perception of an Ambiguous Figure
The key concept we are investigating is perceptual set. For years
psychologists have studied this subject meticulously. Our aim is to
test whether perceptual set can influence the interpretation of an
ambiguous image. Overall perception from which perceptual set is
derived from has left a multitude of psychologists in disarray as to
whether there was any real answer to the nature vs. nurture argument,
which remains inconclusive due to ethical and methodological problems.
However Perceptual set is a debate which has already received many
investigations and therefore a platform in which to discover the inner
workings of experiments in all concepts of psychology.
A renowned study by Bugelski and Alampay (1961) is frequently used to
as an archetype of the influence of what psychologists call,
"Perceptual Set: A predisposition to perceive something in relation to
prior perceptual experiences."(Murch 1973, 300-301). They also in this
experiment indicated the importance of situational context, which is
less broader than perceptual set as perceptual set generally involves
long term prior experience(for instance cultural stereotypes), or
short term or situational factors.
[IMAGE] In 1973 Bugelski and alampay developed an experiment in which
groups of observers; were shown a basic line drawing, which was
designed to be open to interpretation, (ambiguous), this ambiguous
drawing can be construed either as a rat or man wearing spectacles.
The participants were shown, in advance one to four drawings on a
similar style. One group was shown drawings of human faces and the
second group was shown drawings of various animals. Also a control
group was shown just the ambiguous figure with no "…prior perceptual
experiences." I.e. no images were shown beforehand. The majority of
the control group, reported interpreting the ambiguous figure as a man
rather than a rat. In fact 81% of these interpreted the image as man,
compared to the group who were shown four animal pictures prior to the
ambiguous image, in which 100% of the group saw a rat. Subsequently
73%-80% of the group who saw in advance the human faces, saw a man
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. (2nd ed., p. 600). New York: Worth Pub.
In Beau Lotto’s Ted Talk “Optical Illusions Show How We See” we could appreciate how our perception can vary based on the context. He explained the importance that color has in our lives and all of the factors that can alter how we perceive a color, such as illumination. Lotto showed how the light that comes through our eyes could mean anything, however it is our brain’s job to give meaning to that information by using patterns, associations, knowledge from past experiences, etc.
Bordo and Berger put us in the position to realize we actually do make assumption of thing based off prior knowledge. Both authors argues that we make learning assumption towards images taken away from its originality, but this is because we allow ourselves to do so. This is not something we take the time out and think about; as a result, when viewing an image people might stop and actually question themselves.
different styles of imagery and the diction, can change the way the reader interprets the
The study of psychology began as a theoretical subject a branch of ancient philosophy, and later as a part of biological sciences and physiology. However, over the years, it has grown into a rigorous science and a separate discipline, with its own sets of guidance and experimental techniques. This paper aims to study the various stages that the science of psychology passed through to reach its contemporary status, and their effects on its development. It begins with an overview of the historical and philosophical basis of psychology, discusses the development of the various schools of thought, and highlights their effects on contemporary personal and professional decision-making.
Fred Edmund Jandt (2003), the word “stereotype” was first used to show the judgments made about individuals on the origin of their racial background. Today the expression is more commonly used to pass on to events made on the basis of a groups association. Psychologists have attempted to give explanations of stereotyping as errors that our brains make in the judgment of other people that are related to those mistakes our brains make in the view of illustration illusions. When information is blurred, the brain frequently reaches the incorrect conclusion. (p.77)
Muller-Lyer illusion is one of the most studied perceptual illusions experiment in cognitive psychology. The illusion experiment was created by Psychiatrist Franz Carl Muller-Lyer in 1889. The Muller-Lyer illusion reveals that when three horizontal lines with the same length are presented together. The first line has two outward wings at its end; the second doesn’t have wings; and the last line has two inward wings at its end. Muller-Lyer illusion says that the line with outward wings looks longer than the line without wings, and the other line with inward wings looks shorter than the one without wings. In our CogLab experiment, it is designed to have only a line with outward wings and another line that has no wings showing to the participants; their task was to choose which line is longer than the other in the experiment. In this experiment, the constant stimuli experimental method will keep the length of the line with outward wings constant throughout the experiment. The result will tell us participants’ judgments of physical length may be deluded by the presence of outward wings. Participants tend to perceive that the line with wings looks longer than a line without wings. (CogLab, Muller-Lyer Illusion, Cengage Learning)
In this specific “Implicit-association test” white individuals were asked to categorize a word that pops up on a computer screen as either positive or negative after a picture of either a black or white face showed up. The results showed that white individuals allocated negative words much faster to blacks than white faces.
The human sense of sight is a very detailed and complex ability, which humans often take for granted. However, once they take time to think about it, they realize how complicated the process really is. The eye receives light from the outside with the cornea, which then travels through the nerves until the light reaches the brain. The brain processes this light into information about the outside world, and then the brain uses this information to decide how to respond. All this happens in less than half a second.(Robertson, 2012) The used information is then stored inside the brain for safekeeping in memories, though some images may still influence a person’s thoughts. The brain is the central hub for a person, used to give commands and store emotions felt, as well as many other uses. It is the most important organ in the body, and influences what the images sent from the eye are translated into.
All forms of art contain lies in some manner or another. This is so because humans often only regard their reality as the truth and all other realities as lies. Many refer to art as a reflection of life, while the counterclaim that life reflects art receives equal support. In either case, one of the aspects is “true”, while the other is “a lie”. This is such because the piece that is a reflection of the other is the one that is a lie; if art is reflecting life, and then art is a lie about life, whereas if life is reflecting art, then life is a lie about art. To exemplify this concept, it is easiest to consider a mirror. If I was to stand in front of a mirror, I know I am real thanks to sense perception. However, the image created by the mirror is fake, or a lie because it is constricted to the mirror, it cannot leave the mirror, and only contains two dimensions, unlike that of which it reflects. For this reason, art is a lie. The matter in which art brings us closer to the truth is that art forces us to consider our own lives through different scopes, often causing us to realize something different or new about ourselves.
He focuses on the psychology of viewing art and gives unique attention to the perception of color. According to Arnheim the absence of color deprives the most efficient element of discrimination (Arnheim, 1974, p. 330). He uses the example of cats and dogs because they are biologically color blind. These animals would be able to efficiently identify a rolling ball on a lawn if they could perceive color. Cats and dogs can only differentiate objects because of the different textures in their environment. This example shows the importance of having the ability to perceive color because it allows for us to discriminate our world properly. Arnheim also highlights one cannot assume that different people or different cultures have the same standards for what colors are alike or different (Arnheim, p. 332). Different cultures may distinguish colors of plants better than cultures who are more industrialize. A tribe that is heavily involved in agricultural may possess more words to describe the different hues of green in their crops more superiorly than differentiating different hues of blue. Although Arnheim states that the color person is the same across for individuals of different backgrounds, ages, and cultures. The differentiation of color can vary from different groups of people but the perception of color would generally by similar.
Several acheivements occurred in the development of cognitive psychology. The study of neuroscience brings us to what we know about cognition today. Cognitive psychology came from the criticisms and flaws of behaviorism. The focus of behaviorism is on observable behaviors, although cognitive psychology became a means to studying mental processes. Cognitive psychology can answer the questions behaviorism could not provide. Behavioral observations are key factors in cognitive psychology, and help with interpreting mental processes and behaviors. Through studying mental processes cognitive psychologists’ expanded psychology through and beyond observations. Behavioral observations helps researchers test cognitive theories. Behaviorists study observable behavior and cognitive psychologists study the mental processes. When studying these processes, researchers attempt to explain how unobservable processes interact with the observable behaviors and helping cognitive psychologists test their theories in
How first impressions are formed has been a subject of interest by many researchers in the area of psychology.
Our psychology class did an Empirical Research Assessment on perceptual set. The ERA consisted of showing people pictures of faces and then showing a picture of a face/rat. The same was then done to a different group of people using pictures of different animals and then the face/rat picture. The picture of the man/rat could neither be decided if it was a rat or a man. This experiment showed the deception of showing a person previous pictures influenced the decision on which the subject would make.
Appearances are much more than how something simply looks. An appearance is how something is viewed in various facets, including the physical, intellectual, and emotional traits of the given person. There are also different points of view when discussing appearances. There are the appearances we give ourselves, and the appearances we give to others. Even though these appearances define who we are to the naked eye, they are almost never the complete truth. People characterize us based on what they see, and not necessarily who we actually are. This false sense of truth masks reality, and deceives the beholder.