Define
Figure and ground
The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).
Proximity
The perceptual tendency to group together visual and auditory events that are near each other.
The perceptual tendency to mentally fill in gaps in a visual image to perceive objects as wholes.
Closure
Failing to notice changes in the environment
Change Blindness
Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.
Monocular depth cues
Bottom-Up processing
An approach where perception starts with sensory input and works up to the brain's integration of this information.
Top-Down processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawing on experience and expectations to construct perceptions.
The perceptual tendency to group together elements that seem alike.
Similarity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth by the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.
Convergence
A cue that allows determining the closeness of objects to an object of known size.
Relative Size
Gestalt Psychology
Emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.
Attention
The focusing of mental resources on select information.
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give meaning to our environment.
Perception
Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.
Binocular depth cues
A gradual change from coarse to fine texture signaling increasing distance.
Texture Gradient
Perceptual set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
Selective Attention
The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change.
Fixed Mindset
Tests designed to predict a person's future performance; the capacity to learn.
Aptitude tests
Cocktail Party effect
The ability to focus auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli.
Inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.
A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes.
Retinal disparity
Parallel lines appear to converge with distance.
Linear Perspective
A monocular cue for perceiving depth; hazy objects are seen as farther away than sharp, clear objects.
Relative Clarity