Perceptual Organization Gestalt-Looking at the BIG picture- instead of focusing on the smaller parts – the focus is on the “whole”. 4 types of Gestalt Organization Similarity- Grouping things that look like each other Proximity- The closer items are too each other, the more likely we are to group them Closure- The Brain fills in any gaps in our perceptual field (why we don’t see our blind spots) because it prefers a complete picture to bits and pieces Continuity- Once a moving object has been noticed- the brain assumes it will continue moving in that direction

Visual Cliff Experiment DEPTH PERCEPTION Ability to see in 3D and acurately judge distances. Depth perception is a vital skill- catching something thrown at your face, driving at a safe distance, how far away the poisonous snake is… Early Psychologists wanted to know if this was a function of nature or nurture.. Visual Cliff Experiment Visual Cliff #2

Depth Perception cont. There are both Binocular and Monocular clues to depth 2 Binocular Clues – Retinal Disparity and Convergence Retinal Disparity- Retinas in the eyes are about 2 -3 inches apart so each eye sees a slightly different view – Our brain takes the two images and combines them into one with the differences allowing it to account for depth (better for close-up environments) Convergence – the brain tracks the amount of muscle tension in the eyeballs needed to track an object as it moves closer- the greater the tension the closer it is. The difference between the two eyes tells the brain where and how far the object is.

Clarity, height, linear perspective Monocular Clues 4 Monocular Ways 1. Relative- when we see things larger or smaller than they are IRL- we can determine their approx. distance 2. Texture Gradient- Objects that are close are seen in detail, while farther objects get smoothed out and blurred. 3. Visual Overlap- Objects blocking out other objects tells us which is closer 4. Relative Motion- closer objects appear to move faster than farther objects even when moving at the same speed. cars on the road Clarity, height, linear perspective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zgHLXev3x0 - embed this video

Visual Constancy 3 Types of Constancy 1. Size Constancy – the brain expects size of an object to remain constant, even if it appears to change 2. Lightness Constancy (color too)- the brain expects the visual lightness/color of object remains constant despite lighting conditions 3. Shape Constancy – the brain expects the shape of objects to remain constant despite differences in angle of view

Context Perceptual Set- The brain’s interpretation of an event/object based on previous experiences, information or mental expectations Horror Film Romantic Comedy Psychological Thriller Teen Scarefest