What You See is What You

1
What You See is What Youve Learned

• Talya Brooks and Rada Lowery

2
Background Continued

• Perceptual Constancies characteristics of
  objects stay the same even though sensations may
  change
• Ex Shape Constancy
• Size-Constancy perceive a familiar object as
  being the same size, regardless of distance
• Questions leading to study
• Is size-constancy learned or born?
• What experiences allow us to have these
  abilities?

3
Background

• Sensation Refers to the information you are
  constantly receiving from your environment
  through your senses.
• Ex Slamming a door or a car going by.
• Perception Refers to how we take a large amount
  of sensations and create meaning to them.
• Ex Figure-ground, used to divide sensations into
  figure and ground relationships.

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Explanation of Study

• In 1962, Anthropologist Colin Turnbull studied
  the life and culture of the BaMbuti Pygmies.
• Primary method of research was naturalistic
  observation.
• Kenge and Turnbull found Ishango National Park
  and they saw buffalo in the distance which looked
  very small like insects.
• Turnbull brought Kenge closer to the buffalo and
  Kenge believed it was magic that made them bigger
  when getting closer to them.
• Perceptual constancies and size-constancy was
  needed to understand that the buffalo was the
  same size as it had been farther away.

5
Findings and Conclusions

• Certain skills we have are necessary for our
  survival, but everyones development is not in
  the same situations
• They are learned by experienceinfluenced by our
  culture and environment
• Some of the perceptual abilities we have may be
  present at birth ?they are given by nature
  without having to learn anything
• Turnbulls study has concluded that
  size-constancy is learned rather than being born
  with it.

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Historical Significance

• The study addressed the question of the influence
  of biology vs. environment on our behavior
• It influenced the field of anthropology

7
Blakemore Cooper Study

• They raised kittens in the dark the only
  difference was the exposure to either vertical or
  horizontal stripes
• When they were taken out of the dark, the ones
  who had been exposed to certain lines responded
  to those lines
• Cats ability to see wasnt hurt but some of the
  perceptual abilities were affected