PERCEPTION

(Definition, Principles of Perceptual Organization, Perceptual Constancies, Depth Perception- Monocular

and Binocular cues and Illusion)

Perception is a constructive process by which we go beyond the stimuli that are presented to us
and attempt to construct a meaningful situation.
The process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impression in order to give
meaning to their environment.
Gestalt laws of organization: A series of principles that describe how we organize bits and
pieces of information into meaningful wholes. Gestalt psychologists searched for rules by which
the brain organizes fragments of sensory data into gestalts (from the German word for whole),
or meaningful forms. In pointing out that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, these
researchers showed that we constantly filter sensory information and infer perceptions in ways
that make sense to us.
Basic Processes in Perceptual Organization
Figure and Ground: Figure, as the part of the visual field that has meaning, stands in front of the
rest and always seems to include the contours or edges that separate it from the less relevant
ground, or background.
Contours: Contours are formed whenever a marked difference occurs in the brightness or colour
of the back ground. Contours give shape to the objects in our visual world because they mark an
object off from another or from the background. Contours determine shape but they themselves
are shapeless.
Form Perception: To distinguish figure from ground, our perceptual system must first identify
stimulus elements in the environment. We tend to group certain elements together more or less
automatically. In the early 1900s, several German psychologists began to study how this happens.
They concluded that people perceive sights and sounds as organized wholes. These wholes, they
said, are different from, and more than, just the sum of individual sensations, much as water is
something more than just an assortment of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Because the German
word meaning (roughly) whole figure is Gestalt , these researchers became known as Gestalt
psychologists. They proposed a number of principles, or Gestalt laws, that describe how
perceptual systems group stimuli into a world of shapes and objects
Some of the most enduring of these principles are the following:
1. Proximity. The closer objects or events are to one another, the more likely they are to be
perceived as belonging together.
2. Similarity. Similar elements are perceived to be part of a group.
3. Continuity. Sensations that appear to create a continuous form are perceived as belonging
together.
4.Closure : We tend to fill in missing contours to form a complete object. The tendency to fill in
missing contours can be so strong that you may see faint connections that are not really
5. Common fate. Objects that are moving in the same direction at the same speed are perceived
together. Choreographers use the principle of common fate when they arrange for several dancers
to move in unison, creating the illusion of waves of motion or of a single object moving across the
stage

6. Law of good figure: There is a tendency to organize things to make a balanced or symmetrical
figure that includes all parts. People will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images as
the simplest form possible.
7. Law of continuation: the tendency to perceive a line that starts in one way as continuing in the
same way Elements arranged on a line or curve are perceived to be more related than elements not
on the line or curve.
PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
The perception of objects as constant in size, shape, color, and other properties despite
changes in their retinal image.
Size Constancy : Objects appear to remain about the same size, no matter what changes occur in
the size of their retinal image. The farther away an object is, the smaller the image is on the retina.
Yet we know it is still the same size. E .g Moon Illusion
Shape Constancy: Refers to the ability to perceive the true shape of an object despite variations
in the shape of its retinal image .e g. When a door is closed and you stand in front of it the image
on your retina is approximately rectangular. But when you open the door it will become
trapezoidal on your retina.
Brightness Constancy: An object appears to be of same color and brightness, despite the change
in illumination or lighting E.g. your house appears to be in the same color at noon as it does at
dusk.
Visual Depth Perception: Monocular Cues and Binocular Cues
Depth perception: the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike
the retina are two -dimensional; allows us to judge distance.
Monocular Cue: Monocular cues are available to one eye. These are the kinds of cues that give
a landscape painting depth. Although you normally look at such a painting with both eyes open, in
this case depth perception is not arising because of retinal disparity. Close one eye and look at the
painting. The perception of depth will remain.
1. Relative Size : If two objects are roughly the same size, the object that looks the largest will
be judged as being the closest to the observer.
2. Texture Gradient: When you are looking at an object that extends into the distance, such as a
grassy field, the texture becomes less and less apparent the farther it goes into the distance.
3. Aerial Perspective: Objects that are farther away seem to be blurred or slightly hazy due to
atmosphere.
4. Linear Perspective: Parallel lines appear to meet as they travel into the distance. For example,
the outer edges of a road seem to grow closer and closer until they appear to meet. The closer
together the two lines are, the greater the distance will seem.
5. Overlap (or Interposition): When one object overlaps another, the object that is partially
obscured is perceived as being farther away.
6. Shadows : Shadows are differences in illumination gradients. These tend to help us see
rounded surfaces as convex or concave.
7. Motion Parallax : When you move your head the objects in your visual field move relative to
u and to one another Objects nearer to you than the spot at which you look at the Fixation point
move in the direct opposite to the direction in which your head is moving
It has to do with relationship between movement and distance When riding in train or car near
objects rush past you /distant objects seem to move with you

Binocular Cue:
Convergence: Because the eyes are located a short distance apart, they must converge, or rotate
inward, to project an objects image on each retina. The brain receives information about this
movement from the eye muscles and uses it to help calculate an objects distance. The closer the
object, the more the eyes must converge, which sends more intense stimulation to the brain.
Focusing on more distant objects requires less convergence and creates less feedback from the eye
muscles. To experience feedback from your eye muscles, hold up a finger at arms length and try
to keep it in focus as you move it toward your nose. Second, because of their differing locations,
each eye receives a slightly different view of the world.
Retinal Disparity: The difference between the two retinal images of an object is called . For any
particular object, this difference gets smaller as distance increases. The brain combines the two
images, processes information about the amount of disparity, and generates the impression of a
single object having depth as well as height and width. This impression of depth is created by 3-D
movies and some virtual reality systems by displaying to each eye a separate image of a scene,
each viewed from a slightly different angle
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets
sensory stimulation.
EBBINGHAUS ILLUSION (illusion of size) : A
larger background always makes the objects , in its
frame of reference , look smaller in comparison to a
smaller background where they will be perceived as
larger

The Mller-Lyer Illusion (Illusion of length ) : Despite the fact that the line segments are of
equal length, the lower line segment appears to be longer. One theory is that
we interpret the figures in three dimensions. The upper image is seen as the
outside edge of a box, while the lower image is seen as the inside edge of a
box. Since it is assumed that the two solid objects rest on the same surface,
the outside edge appears closer to the viewer than the inside edge. The more
distant line is then interpreted as larger, to correct for the difference in
apparent distance.
The Ponzo Illusion (Illusion of Perspective) : The Ponzo illusion was first demonstrated in
1913 by an Italian psychologist named Mario Ponzo. The Ponzo illusion (named after the Italian
psychologist Mario Ponzo) is a famous example of how equal length lines can be perceived as
having different

lengths. The lower of the two horizontal line segments appears to be shorter than the upper one.
One explanation for this is that the sloping lines create the same impression of depth as, for
example, railway lines. A line of a certain length is perceived as being longer the further away you
think it is. The phenomenon shows how the visual system tends to treat figures as three
dimensional.
Horizontal-vertical Illusion:

The vertical-horizontal illusion is the tendency for observers to

overestimate the length of a vertical line relative to a horizontal line that has the same length. In
perception of vertical line, the vertical movements of the eye is supposed to produce more
muscular strain as compared to horizontal movement in perception of horizontal line. The greater
degree of strain , thus felt may cause horizontal vertical illusion resulting in the perception of the
vertical line as longer .
Illusion of Movement:
Auto kinetic Illusion: Apparent motion of a single point of light or a small object when presented on
a dark field and observed continuously. This long stare causes the eye muscles to become tired,
causing a slight involuntary movement of the eyeball. Movement of our eye muscles may create a
false perception of the movement of the spot-light.
Stroboscopic Motion: The illusion of movement is provided by the presentation of a rapid
progression of images of stationary objects. (Motion pictures do not really consist of images that
move; rather the audience is shown 16 to 22 pictures per second. Each frame differs slightly from
preceding one. Showing the frames in rapid succession provides the illusion of movement.
Phi Phenomenon: In 1912 Wertheimer(Gestalt ) discovered the phi phenomenon, an optical
illusion in which stationary objects shown in rapid succession, transcending the threshold at which
they can be perceived separately, appear to move .

Induced Motion: occurs when motion of one object causes a nearby stationary object to appear
move e g: Moon usually appears stationary in the sky. However, if clouds are moving past the moon
on a windy night, the moon may appear to be racing through the cloud,. In this case, movement of
larger object (clouds covering large area) makes smaller, but actually stationary , moon appear to
move.