Influence of Expectations on Perception Discussion

By completing this discussion, you will demonstrate that you are able to:

• Define and explain visual perceptual processes, such as “top-down” and “bottom up” processing, Gestalt principles of form perception, figure-ground, binocular and monocular cues to depth, color vision, and the “what-where” paths role in object recognition
• Explain how experience, expectation, context, and emotions can influence perception
• Organize and accurately present material, and
• Apply APA formatting within the text and for end-of-text references, when appropriate

Instructions:

Before your initial posting, do the following:

• Find six (6) participants for your study. These could be friends, family members, or fellow students. You might tell them you need their help for a small study for your psychology class. You will be working with each of your participants individually; you do not want to try this study with a group of participants!
• Read through the two stories you will be using for this experiment. Read three (3) of your participants Story 1 and three (3) of your participants Story 2.
• After reading Story 1 or Story 2, show your participants the image. Allow your subject to look at the image for 5-10 seconds. Remove the image from sight.
• Ask them the following questions and tally the answers.
  • Did you see a woman?
  • Did you see a seal?
  • Did you see a hat?
  • Did you see a whip?
  • Did you see a car?
  • Did you see a fish?
  • Did you see a ball?
  • Did you see a child?

In your initial posting, answer the following questions:

• What is the most commonly reported item seen? The least reported?
• Are there differences in answers based on which story the participants read?
• How would you explain the results based on what you have learned about events that alter our perceptual experiences? Be sure to discuss, where appropriate, concepts such as top-down processing, bottom up processing, Gestalt principles of form perception, figure-ground, binocular and monocular cues to depth, and the “what-where” paths role in object recognition. You might also consider how experience, expectation, context, and emotions can influence perception.