THE STUDY OF PERCEPTION

Anthony J Greene

Chapter 1 Outline
I. 1. 2. 3. II. Why study perception? Perception is reality How we percieve. Historical Approaches Scientific Study of Perception: The Scientific Revolution: Hypothesis, Data & Theory Functionalism The problem of Perception: Psychophysics Evolution Structuralism Neuroscience
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1.

2.

Why Study Perception?

What we get from perception Perception is our only source of information: we have no knowledge, or experience except through perception Perception allows survival The utility of perceptual systems informs us about why they evolved
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The way we perceive

Perceptual systems are incredibleNothing man-made is even close The mechanisms of perceptual systems inform us about how they evolved Sensory enhancement (glasses, hearing aids), Sensory substitution
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A Song of Ourselves
Perception is not always veridical What we are able to perceive We are fundamentally perceptual beings Thought, memory and experience are perceptual (either directly or indirectly) Art, Music, Food, Physical Sensations etc.
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Lemon
A man makes a picture A moving picture. Through the light projected He can see himself up close. Man captures color, Man likes to stare, He turns his money into light To look for her; She is the dreamer, She's imagination. --U2 Anthony J Greene

Philosophical & Historical Approaches to Perception

Realism Subjectivism-e.g. Democritus, Plato Dualism-e.g. Descartes Materialism-e.g. Bacon Nativism-e.g. Plato Empiricism-e.g. Socrates
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Science
Derived from the Philosophies of Empiricism & Materialism Fact & Theory

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Fact & Theory

Facts must be observable (data) Theory = understanding Theory is not hypothetical Theory is broad, fact and hypothesis are narrow Theories must be consistent with all available (relevant) facts Theory guides the search for fact Facts are only important if they inform theory Theory is more important than fact The progress of theory is the purpose of science
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The Advancement of Theory

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Scientific Approaches to perception

Functionalism (purposes of perception)
1. Evolution 2. Psychopohysics

Structuralism (mechanisms of perception)

1. Neuroscience

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Perceptual Systems
Vision Object Identification/recognition Spatial Vision: Navigation & Motion Perception Audition Object Identification/recognition Object Localization Touch Object Identification/recognition Pain (detection of tissue damage) Proprioception Gustation & Olefaction Chemical detection and identification Nutrition & and poison avoidance
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Problem of Perception

1 2 3 4 5

Cornea Lens Retina Optic Nerve Brain

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Proximal vs. Distal Stimulation

Proximal Stimulus is upside down The brain is not looking at retinal pictures Proximal stimulus is 2 dimensional (Depth Perception) 3rd dimension is lost from distal to proximal, however we perceive in 3 dimensions How does then do we experience a 3rd dimension?
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Perceptual Experience Mirrors Distal Stimulation

1 Size Constancy 2 Shape Constancy 3 Position Constancy 4 Brightness Constancy 5 Color Constancy

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Size Constancy

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Size Constancy
If object moves 2x further away, the retinal image decreases by a factor of 2, but we do not perceive it to shrink

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Shape Constancy

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Position Constancy

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Brightness Constancy

A light meter would read that the right side of the panel is white and that the left side is gray Visual systems interpret them both as white
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Color Constancy

Under different ambient lighting conditions, the mondrian will reflect different frequencies (as measured by a light meter). e.g. green light reflected off a red surface would be read by a light meter as orange or yellow
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Brightness Constancy
Visual systems compensate for ambient lighting, so that under almost all conditions the colors appear stable There are instances when there does not exist a correspondence between distal image and perception (illusions and ambiguity)

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 Cases where our perceptual experience is inaccurate How does the brain get tricked?

Illusions

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Illusions

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Perceptual Ambiguity
One proximal stimulus produces many perceptual experiences Perceptual experience is not just a function of what hits the eye The man bent over his guitar

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The Man With The Blue Guitar

A shearsman of sorts. The day was green. They said, "You have a blue guitar, You do not play things as they are." The man replied, "Things as they are Are changed upon the blue guitar." And they said then, "But play, you must, A tune beyond us, yet ourselves, A tune upon the blue guitar Of things exactly as they are." --Wallace Stevens.
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Psychophysics
Psychophysics: The science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and psychological (subjective) events Fechner (18011887) invented psychophysics, thought to be the true founder of experimental psychology
Pioneering work relating changes in the physical world to changes in our psychological experiences

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Psychophysics (contd)
Weber (17951878) discovered that the smallest change in a stimulus, such as the weight of an object, that can be detected is a constant proportion of the stimulus level: Webers Law

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Psychophysics (contd)
JND (Just Noticeable Difference): The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or the minimum change in a stimulus that can be correctly judged as different from a reference stimulus. Also known as difference threshold Two-point threshold: The minimum distance at which two stimuli (e.g., two simultaneous touches) can be distinguished
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Psychophysics (contd)
Fechners Law: Relationship between stimulus magnitude and resulting sensation magnitude is exponential.
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Psychophysics (contd)
Stevens Power Law: Relationship between stimulus magnitude and resulting sensation magnitude. Exponent can be positive, zero, or negative.
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Evolution
Some species sense energies that humans cannot: Bees see ultraviolet lights Rattlesnakes sense infrared energy Dogs and cats can sense sounds with higher frequencies Birds, turtles, and amphibians use magnetic fields to navigate Elephants can hear very lowfrequency sounds, which are used to communicate Anthony J Greene

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Darwinian Evolution
Variation Every species has enormous diversity Sexual reproduction insures diversity by recombining genes into new combinations Variability allows a species (not an individual) to survive

Conch
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Darwinian Evolution
Selection reproduction of the fittest Differential survival advantage Differential reproduction advantage No selection pressure after the age of reproduction
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Tarsier

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Evolution of Accuracy and Acuity in Perception

Strong Selection Pressure for accurate perception. At every stage of evolution, organisms with better perception gained a differential survival advantage Better acuity Larger range of detectable stimuli Consistent representation of distal stimulus Illusions Don't Occur in Natural Scenes -Selection pressure for perceptual systems not to be tricked (e.g. black light)
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Evolutionary Tree of Life

We can think of variation as branching And selection as pruning
There is no distinction between micro- and macro-evolution.

Species alive today are the tip of the branch, not the top of a ladder.
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Neuroscience: Review of Physiology

Central Nervous System (CNS) Consists of the brain and spinal cord Communicates with the Periphery (anything other than the brain and spinal cord)
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Nerves
Efferent- outflow (CNS to Periphery) Afferent- inflow (Periphery to CNS) Neurons Motor - Associated with muscles (efferent) Sensory - Associated with sense receptors (afferent) Interneuron - Rest of the CNS - Makes up pathways between motor and sensory neurons and the CNS. Most of brain.
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Cerebral Cortex
White Matter Vs. Gray Matter Fissures & Sulci 1 Central Sulcus 2 Lateral (Sylvian) Fissure 3 Longitudinal Fissure Lobes 1 Temporal Lobe - Auditory Cortex - Language Processing - Object Identification (Visual-Auditory-Tactile) 2 Occipital Lobe - Visual Cortex 3 Parietal Lobe - Somatosensory Cortex - Spatial Perception (VisualAuditory-Tactile) 5 Frontal Lobe - Motor Cortex - Behavior Control - Planning/Strategy
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Cerebral Cortex
White Matter Vs. Gray Matter

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Corpus Collosum

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Corpus Collosum

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Cerebral Cortex
Central Sulcus

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Cerebral Cortex
Lateral Fissure

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Cerebral Cortex
Longitudinal Fissure

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Cerebral Cortex
Temporal Lobe

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Cerebral Cortex
Occipital Lobe

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Cerebral Cortex
Parietal Lobe

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Cerebral Cortex
Frontal Lobe

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Neurons
The Basic Neuron

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Neurons
The Synapse

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Neurons
The Action Potential

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Perceptual Processes

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Perceptual Processes

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