Perceptual Set

5 Key excerpts on "Perceptual Set"

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  Einstein, Tagore and the Nature of Reality

  • Partha Ghose(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  The preceding results showed the involvement of a fronto-parietal network for goal-directed attention, whether to spatial or feature-based demands. In this case, the attentional modulation being studied was that of a top-down nature—the subject was made aware of an impending requirement for attentional allocation. This raises the question as to what networks are involved in stimulus-driven, bottom-up attentional recruitment—such as after the sudden appearance of a stimulus. It turns out that in this case, a somewhat different set of brain areas are involved—a more ventral set of structures in the frontal and parietal lobes of the right hemisphere as opposed to the dorsal bilateral set involved in goal-directed attention. This network is involved in directing our attention in an automated manner to a sensory stimulus that has either appeared suddenly or to which we need to suddenly allocate our attentional resources for greater scrutiny.

  Perceptual Set

  As discussed above, attention—or the lack of it—can modulate the perceptual experience to the point where we may not even see something so obvious as a person in a gorilla suit entering our visual field. Similarly, the nature and content of our prior experiences with a stimulus, which is retained in our memory systems, can produce compelling effects on how we perceive that stimulus. The phenomena that have been discussed thus far have led a group of psychologists and cognitive scientists to make a forceful case for a constructivist theory of perception, which stresses the role of knowledge and other cognitive operations in perception.

  We now complete our discussion of this issue by reviewing a set of causes that together affect the Perceptual Set —a tendency to experience stimuli based on a set of cognitive factors. There are four general factors that together influence the Perceptual Set: expectation, motivation, emotion and culture. The role of expectation

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  Human Aspects of Urban Form

  Towards a Man—Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design

  • Amos Rapoport(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Pergamon

    (Publisher)

  While all people see the world more or less the same way (Gibson 1968, p. 321) they structure it and evaluate it quite differently. Perception is a process involving the interaction of the perceiver and the environment and has always raised complex philosophical issues such as the mind-body problem, the nature of objective reality and the value of introspection. The current position stresses the continuum between sensation, memory and perception, applies information processing and relates perception and cognition (Haber 1968). It follows that perception is affected by the nature of the stimuli, the physiology of perception and the state of the organism - expectation, attention, motivation, selectivity or adaptation. Most current theories of perception stress this interactional aspect, and argue that it must link sensory, cognitive and conative aspects so that the perceptual properties of an object are a function of the way in which the stimuli coming from that object will affect the existing state of the organism (Werner and Wapner 1952). This involves notions of homeostasis, meaningful information, changes in schemata and noticeable differences. If both environ-ment and observer are important, then the various personal and cultural characteristics of the perceiver — for example his past history and experience, adaptation level, and cultural schemata - must be considered (e.g., Gregory 1969; Arnheim 1960). When trying to mail a letter, mail boxes will become very apparent, when hungry - restaurants, when driving — parking places, and as cognitive and emotive states change so will perception. There is also some evidence that culture affects perception (Segall et al 1966; Stacey 1969; Wober 1966) although these effects are less than for cognition or evaluation. 178 Importance and Nature of Environmental Perception 179 Those theories which include the effects of set, knowledge and learning see perception as a man—environment mechanism.

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  A Primer on Organizational Behavior

  • James L. Bowditch, Anthony F. Buono, Marcus M. Stewart(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  An underlying assumption made by perception theorists is that certain types of mental processes that operate in relatively simple visual and auditory situations similarly occur in more complex interpersonal situations. Thus, the ability to examine more complex forms of perception is based on our understanding of these relatively simple perceptual processes. There are a number of internal and external factors that influence the way in which we view the world around us. Before proceeding to an examination of these variables, however, it is necessary to identify two basic sources of perceptual variation: physio- logical limitations and cultural and environmental constraints. We are surrounded by data that are transmitted through our daily interactions with others, the Internet and media, educational experiences, family life and friendships, work experiences, and our socialization processes in general. The physiological aspect of perception defines the 41 42 Chapter 2 Perception, Attitudes, and Individual Differences limits of what we can actually see, hear, smell, and so forth of these data. Yet, even given these limitations, the information that is gathered by our senses does not enter our minds as raw or unprocessed data. Rather, people tend to interpret this information in a way that is congruent with their sets of beliefs, values, and attitudes, which are shaped by larger cultural and environmental experiences. Thus, perception is determined by the interaction among these psychological and broader sociocultural factors. BASIC INTERNAL PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZING PATTERNS Since people are continually subjected to a barrage of visual and auditory stimulation from the outside world, it is necessary to have an internal process or way in which all these data can be selected and organized into meaningful information.

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  The Sources of Value

  • Stephen C. Pepper(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • University of California Press

    (Publisher)

  The Anticipatory Set 64 mind's eye, and no image could be a clear composite of them all. An idea is a set of cognitive references, and almost always differs in the range of its references from any image attached to it. The term concept' comes closer, but this has certain limited logical connotations. It would be strained, for instance, to speak of the concept of a proper name. A concept ordinarily refers to a logical class. A new term is needed, and 'anticipatory set' is a good descriptive term that has gained some acceptance. We shall presently discuss an apprehensive set, which func- tions in aversions in a manner comparable to that of anticipatory sets in appetitions. The general term cognitive set' could be used to cover the two. A cognitive set may be defined as a set of references entertained or acted upon by an organism in a manner which shows that it is open to error. Any element in the behavior of an organism which may be corrected as a false try is a cogni- tive set. It is the modifiable element in behavior. An instinctive drive is not modifiable and so cannot be in error. The geologist could not change his thirst. It would be senseless to assert that his thirst drive was in error. But his idea that water would quench it, or the idea that climbing a hill would give him a clue to the location of water, might have been in error, and would have been open to modification, for these are cognitive sets. An anticipatory set is a cognitive set conducive to the attain- ment of a purposive goal. It is a characteristic element in appeti- tions and is essential to their successful achievement. Any ex- tensive appetitive act includes a whole series of anticipatory sets referring to a sequence of objects or situations which, when acted upon, are expected to lead the organism to the quiescence pat- tern of the drive. They fill the gap between the initiation of the drive and the goal of the drive.

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  Psychology

  Modules for Active Learning

  • Dennis Coon, John Mitterer, Tanya Martini, , Dennis Coon, John Mitterer, Tanya Martini, (Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  In contrast, positive emotions can broaden the scope of attention (Huntsinger, 2013). For example, posi-tive emotions can affect how well people recognize people from other races. In recognizing faces, a consistent other-race effect occurs. This is a sort of “They all look alike to me” bias in perceiving persons from other racial and ethnic groups. In tests of facial recognition, people are much better at recognizing faces of their own race than others. But when people are in a positive mood, their ability to recognize peo-ple from other races improves (Blandón-Gitlin et al., 2014). Perceptual Expectancies What is a perceptual expectancy? If you are a runner in the starting blocks at a track meet, you are set to respond in a certain way. If a car backfires, runners at a track meet may “jump the gun.” Likewise, past experience, motives, context, or suggestions may create a perceptual expectancy (set) that prepares you to perceive in a certain way. As a matter of fact, we all frequently jump the gun when perceiving. In essence, an expectancy is a perceptual hypothesis that we are very likely to apply to a stimulus—even if applying it is inappropriate. Perceptual Sets often lead us to see what we expect to see. For example, let’s say while driving, you just made an illegal lane change (or texted on your cellphone!?). You then see a flashing light. For an instant, you think, “Rats, busted,” and expect the police car to pull you over. But then you realize that it was just a car with a vivid turn signal. Most people have had similar experiences in which ex-pectations altered their perceptions. To observe percep-tual expectancies firsthand, perform the demonstration described in ➤ Figure 21.1 . Perceptual expectancies are frequently created by sug-gestion. In one study (wine snobs, take note), participants given a taste of a $90 wine reported that it tasted better than a $10 wine.

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