Perception and Attention

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Perception and Attention

• Perceptual Organization
• Selective Attention
• Change Detection
• Visual Neglect
• Exam Prep Notes

Todays Music Selections
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Perceptual Organization Gestalt Grouping
Principles

• Proximity
• Similarity
• Closure
• Continuity
• Connectedness or Common Movement

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Objects near each other tend to be seen as a unit
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Similarity
Objects similar to each other tend to be seen as
a unit
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Closure
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Continuity
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Figure and Ground
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Perceptual Organization Summary

• Gestalt laws help us to organize the visual scene
  into units
• Figure-ground relationships help to define
  important parts of the visual scene

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Selective Attention

• selective screening out irrelevant visual
  information

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Change Detection
If we say that a thing is great or small by its
own standard of great and small, then there is
nothing in all creation which is not great,
nothing which is not small Chuang Tzu (circa
400-300 BC)
The Brain is a Relative Change Detector
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Contralateral Neglect
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Attention Summary
There is too much information to perceive all at
once Attention enhances some info and filters
out other info Unattended info is not perceived
(somewhat) Attention deficits can reduce the
persons ability to perceive even when attention
is directed at the stimulus
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Exam Prep Notes

• Approx - 1 hour
• During class hour and in this room
• Split Book and Lecture
• Book
• Focus Questions
• Less emphasis on biology (you should know brain,
  neuron, and eye)
• Names and dates less important content and
  themes more important
• Mostly Multiple Choice, maybe some matching,
  maybe a bit of T/F

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Key Ideas

• Grouping principles simplify the complex visual
  environment
• Attention can be directed, effectively screening
  out irrelevant information
• The brain is a relative change detector
• Dramatic changes in the visual environment can
  easily go undetected
• Attention deficits can prevent perception of
  important information