Theoretical Approaches to Perception Processes

Theoretical Approaches to Perception Processes Cognitive psychologists differ in their views on the processes involved in perception. Outline two theoretical approaches to perception and provide empirical support for each. Introduction Explanations of perception seek to explain and better understand the process that facilitates the transformation of sensory information from the environment into the experience of objects, sounds, and movement. One of the most established fields of psychological research, studies in perception range from basic recognition of shape, colour, and form, to the more complex relationship between, motion, attention and performance (Eysenck, 2005). In the early 1900’s, a group of psychologists sought to show how people organize fields of information during perception, memory, and thought (eg: Duncker, 1945; Koffka, 1935; Kohler, 1940; J. M. Mandler G. Mandler, 1964; Wertheimer, 1945/ 1982. In Barsalou, 1992). Since then, the distinctions between the work of cognitive and perception psychologists have become less obvious, with cognitive and behavioural approaches increasingly being used in the effort to understand the complex process of visual perception. As experimental approaches ha ve brought about more refined empirical techniques, a greater number of theories have developed in order to help explain the phenomenon. This essay focuses on James Gibson’s theory that perception and action are very closely related. Gibson first put forward this theory more than fifty years ago (Eysenck, 2005). The second theory under discussion is the Constructivist approach, which posits that experience formed in memory assist the observer in making informed judgements about the size, shape, form, etc of an object. Gibson (1979) first brought into discussion the term ‘direct perception’ relating to the idea that we pick up enough information from the visual environment to form a conscious version of what we see and that we do not need to use higher levels of cognitive processing in order to understand the visual world (Cardwell et al, 2004). Part of Gibson’s theory maintained that perception depends upon the existence of a number of cues which inform the brain about the size, shape, and texture of objects, and the distance away from the observer that they lie. Gibson’s work is unique as he based his findings on experiments conducted outside of laboratory conditions although still very much within a controlled environment with measurable results. Part of Gibson’s work has helped develop new technological features at airports to help pilots develop their depth perception, while the application of his flow patterns idea has been incorporated into the constructions of roundabouts to create the illusion for drivers that they are accelerating on their approach and thus making them slow down (Cardwell et al, 2004). The applicability of these theories to real-life situations increases their relevance and causes them to be an attractive explanation as to how we perceive our visual environment. Gibson (1979) expounded upon what he meant by ‘direct’: â€Å"So when I assert that perception of the environment is direct, I mean that it is not  mediated by retinal pictures, neural pictures, or mental pictures. Direct perception is the activity of getting information from the ambient array of light. I call this a process of information pickup that involves the exploratory activity of looking around, getting around, and looking at things. (1979, p.147) Gibson posited that it was in the nature of light as an optic ray that facilitated our understanding of objects and material reality. Gibson’s studies of observation he claimed were founded upon his experiences in World War II. When carrying out aviation experiments, Gibson concluded that the laboratory approach to the study of depth perception could not be suited to improving a pilots ability to land an airplane, and that it was necessary to study perception outdoors into the natural environment. According to Goldstein (1981, p.191), in Gibson‘s ‘ground theory’ visual space ‘is defined not by an object or an array of objects in the air (as occurs for depth cues such as interposition, relative size, etc.) but rather is defined by the ground, a continuous surface or array of adjoining surfaces.’ Gibson’s texture gradient suggests that there exists a rate of change in texture density. For example, a the gaps in a rail track appear to get closer together the greater the distance over which they are perceived (Eysenck, 2005). Gibson measured his findings in real life situations of perception where the observer is not stationary in a laboratory and ‘observing’ rather, Gibson believed in the importance of the observer being active, constantly moving their eyes, head and body in relation to the environment (Goldstein, 1981). Gibson’s work has been continuously investigated by other researchers who have been keen to establish its strengths and weaknesses. For example, Greenberg and Donnell (1972) found that the ‘weakness of stripes or straight contours does have some touch points in research on infant and adult perception.’ (In Pick and Gibson, 1979, p.71). While very young infants preferred to look at checks over stripes (Greenberg and Donnell, 1972), MacKay and Jeffreys (1973) recorded that adults looking at parallel lines in contrast with lines that had corners or breaks in them, showed more visually evoked potential for the checked an broken lines, but was relatively small for the parallel lines (Ibid). Whereas Mayzner and Habinek (1976) found in tachistoscopic experiments that the ‘threshold is much lower for detecting contours that change in direction than it is for detecting those that do not’ ( Mayzner Habinek, 1976. In Pick and Gibson, 1979, p.71). These forms of empirical research have dated well as they highlight basic dichotomies between shapes and forms and how they are perceived by the human eye and thus translated as information by the brain. There is not much scope for disproving Gibson’s theories rather, the challenge of his work lies in whether his explanations of perception are enough to explain the complexity of understanding the material world. Gibson also made an insightful point as to the nature of research and theory of perception that ‘the starting point of perceptual research and theory depends critically on the language used to describe the information available for perception’ (Carlson, 1997, p.76), and that psychologists are thus apt to partially self-define the objectives and results of their own experiments. In ostensible contrast to Gibson’s work, the Constructivist approach places less emphasis on the nature of the visual stimulus itself and focuses on the implications of stored memories (Cardwell et al, 2004). Past experience thus shapes and informs present experience. Gibson’s idea that perception is founded upon cues provided by the object itself is reversed in this approach to understanding perception, where perception is effectively constructed by the memory. Gregory expounded upon Gibson’s theory by experimenting with the idea that visual stimuli are basic ‘starting points’ upon which the observer makes informed guesses about their meaning (Cardwell et al, 2004). Constructivist theory has received much empirical support, beginning in the early 20th century with the work of Tichener (1914). Boring (1946) worked with, and altered these experiments, to produce the well-known 1941 Holway and Boring experiment. Here, participants observed the size of a disk, from varied distances. Holway and Boring sought to reduce the number of distance cues available to participants, and found that the more that cues â€Å"reduced†, the poorer the size perceptions recorded. Boring concluded that perception needed a cores stimulus, and a mediating context informed by cues. Size perception thus relies upon a perceived distance that allows the observer to make informed judgements. In such laboratory experiments there exists the hypothesis that certain illusions persist in our perception of the world this was a crucial element of the Constructivist theory. Gibson criticised the empirical research for these approaches, highlighting their artificiality and inapplicability to real-life. Furthermore, if perception is analogous to our making judgements and decisions this would not explain how precise perception is ie: if Constructivist theory is correct then we would make many more mistakes in how we perceive the world. To conclude, neither approach is meant to be an alternative to the other rather they are used in conjunction with each other, and the type of processing employed will depend on the type of visual stimulus present in front of the observer. In her discussion about the relevance and scope of cognitive theory, Disessa quotes Marton who has heavily criticised the efforts of cognitive science to explain human experience (Disessa, 1993). Disessa goes on to say that ‘whether for systematic or accidental reasons, cognitive science has not done particularly well at illuminating the structure of experience.’ (1993, p.261). If cognitive approaches are to ultimately succeed, then they need to focus more on explaining consciousness itself (Barsalou, 1992), rather than the mechanisms which define consciousness. Other explanations have attempted to identify the behavioural aspects of sensory experience which indirectly inform the observer as to the nature of their experience. For exam ple, Ludwig (1999) suggests that as well as being able to perceive shapes visually and through touch, we also gain information through other sensory modes. He gives the example of knowing through smelling the scent of a mango that the fruit of the smell’s origin is round; here, shape is not perceived by a visual judgement, but is inferred from ‘the character of ones sensory experience and collateral information that an object of a certain shape caused it.’ (Ludwig, 1999, p. 29). There will no doubt continue to be variations and expansions upon the work of Gibson, and of the older constructivist theories yet the fundamental precepts of each theory remain as integral to the study of perception as they did over fifty years ago. The relationship between the static or stationary observer and the material world will ultimately rely upon the distance, texture, and shape of the perceived object, while the degree to which perception relies upon past experience is yet to be fully understood. References Barsalou, L.W. (1992) Cognitive Psychology: An Overview for Cognitive Scientists. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Boring, E. G. (1946). Perception of objects. American Journal of Physics, 14, 99-107. Cardwell, M; Clark, L; and Meldrum, C. (2004) Psychology. London: Collins. Carlson, R.A. (1997) Experienced Cognition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Disessa, AA. (1993) Cognitive Responses. Cognition and Instruction, vol 10. Issue: 3, p.261. Eysenck, M.W. Keane, M.T. (2005). Cognitive Psychology: A Student’s Handbook, (5th Ed) Hove: Psychology Press. Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Goldstein, E.B. (1981) The Ecology of J. J. Gibsons Perception. Leonardo, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 191-195. Holway, A. H., Boring, E. G. (1941). Determinants of apparent visual size with distance variant. American Journal of Psychology, 54, 21-37. Ludwig, K. (1996). Shape Properties and Perception. Philosophical Issues, Vol. 7, pp. 325-350. Pick, A.D, and Gibson, E.J. (1979) Perception and Its Development: A Tribute to Eleanor J. Gibson. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Titchener, E. B. (1914). A textbook of psychology. New York: Macmillan.

Ben&Jerry Business Problems

As Bob the new CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, we believe that the following factors currently pose the most critical problem to the firm. Firstly, our internal x-factors namely manufacturing, inventory management, research and product development are in dire need of improvement. Currently, Ben & Jerry’s is highly dependent on Dreyer’s for production of its ice cream; up to 40% of Ben & Jerry’s total ice cream is produced by Dreyer’s. Ben & Jerry’s high dependency on Dreyer’s hasn’t been solved due to its inability to open and operate its third factory in St.  Albans, Vermont.This was due to the lack of understanding of the complex automated manufacturing systems which led to the adoption of simpler proven processes. Bob was hired to solve this problem due to my expertise in manufacturing and distribution in the food industry, even though his work experience in several aggressive management style corporations remain a concern due to the fact that ben&jerry’s is one of the most famous conservative social enterprise.However, this social enterprise was being criticized for corporate activities from damaging tribal cultures till other smaller issue, these issues could damage the brand reputation and sales further in the future. There are also several other x-factors apart from manufacturing which must also be solved. In my perspective, the firm’s R&D department is in need of improvement as the firm currently relies solely on the founder’s ideas and tastes, neglecting altogether the formal market research on the development of new flavors. This has led to problems of shortages and overstocks of particular flavors.Another serious problem within the firm is the 7:1 ratio, causing the firm to fail in attracting competent professionals and incentivizing mid-level employees from working hard and earning a promotion. The number one external problem facing the firm is the naturally slow growth in this hig her competition industry and the shifting demand within the super-premium ice cream segment towards the premium ice cream and frozen yoghurt segment. From the figures in exhibit 4, the frozen yogurt per production increased approximately 73% from 1. 34 in 1989 to 2. 32 quarts in 1994.We can clearly see that this increase in production has been primarily to meet the growing demands of more health-conscious consumers. The effect of more value-conscious consumers can also be seen in the shifting demand from the super-premium ice cream segment to the premium ice cream segment. Therefore we believe that we should merge or takeover a key player in the premium ice cream segment in order to enter the growing premium market, as seen in exhibit 6, and better utilize our existing cash and assets which has been unproductive for the past several years, as seen in exhibit 2.Moreover, this will help us in dealing with the possible threat of Unilever buying Haagen-Dazs in an attempt to dominate the ice cream market. If this deal happens to go through, Haagen-Dazs will exceed us in every aspect including channels of distribution, marketing, and operations. Therefore, we believe that negotiations with Unilever are crucial at this moment in time. The higher competition has induced firms to advertise more, thus eating a substantial portion of the profits.In 1994, we spent $6 million on advertising alone, causing expenses to jump significantly resulting in a net loss for the first time in the firm’s history. If the competition wasn’t so high and we didn’t have to spend $6 million on ads, our firm would still have been able to absorb the cost of the write off without incurring a net loss. The higher competition in recent years causes the profit margin in the industry to fall with merging or taking over will improve our company reduce our operating costs, thus, higher profit margin.

Analysis of a Key Passage in One Hundred Years of Solitude Essay

The chosen passage is an extract from Gabriel Marquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. This passage was chosen because it is the final pages of the story that describe the great tragedy of the town of Macondo. At this point, the novel seems to become clear and everything that happens in between is justified. The passage describes the great prophecy of Melquiades. It reveals that all of the elements of the Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a Family’s lives were predicted down to the most trivial details. It is the exact antithesis of an existentialist novel, where the characters themselves are responsible for everything that happens to them. Marquez instead demonstrates the idea of an overall fate and destiny that lures you into its shadows and leads you down its dark trail. The ending may seem as an equivocation, but it is so much more. Marquez’s use of nature throughout the novel is ironic, because it is nature that eventually murders the town of Macondo, expunging all memories of it. Marquez’s use of a third person point of view is very essential to the novel’s understanding, because we are able to stand on the outside, and look down upon 100 years worth of time. Throughout this time, the characters are blissfully unaware of their future, living for moments alone. We as readers however, are able to decipher the cyclical writing through Marquez’s writing styles and techniques. The Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as were a huge part of the foundation of their town, Macondo. They built a civilization out of nothing, a wondrous place indeed. But little did they know that the town, along with themselves, was destined for doom. As the Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a family began to deteriorate, so did the society in which they lived. From generation to generation, the same things happened over and over again. Each new generation of the family seemed to repeat the same mistakes as their predecessors. This happened in accordance to Macondo’s deterioration until the town â€Å"†¦was already a fearful whirlwind of dust and rubble being spun about by the wrath of the biblical hurricane†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rquez, p.416). Marquez uses this metaphor of a whirlwind to demonstrate how things kept going round and round, enclosed within a powerful force that is impossible to escape. This comes off as peculiar because when Jose Arcadio Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a died, nature showed its condolence with a shower of flowers. Nature was kind to Jose Arcadio Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a, because he did not have detrimental intentions. By the end of the novel, the story is corrupt with jealousy, hate, and lust. Therefore Nature had no sympathy for them. One such instance of the cyclical philosophy in the novel is Marquez’s usage of the Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a family tree. The confusion that is created with the repetition of names and personalities is intentionally concocted by Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rquez in order to illustrate the idea that identity is not important and not present in the novel. By using the same names through all six of the generations, he illustrates the Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½as’ desire to stay the same and resist change. Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rquez’s stylistic choice makes it difficult to distinguish between characters with similar names, but this is merely to show that it simply does not matter. No matter what their name is, or which generation they are in, they’re destined for the same things. This is why most of the Jose Arcadias were tough and fighters, while most of the Aurelianos had an interest in science and art. Colonel Aureliano Buendà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a for instance, grew tired of the war and became highly interested in poetry. This is in fact a bigger metaphor to represent the actual people of society. Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rquez conveys that people, and ultimately society, never learn from their mistakes. This is the sole cause of their downfall. Because Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rquez writes in magical realism time is essential to the story, but along with time, he also utilizes the motifs of amnesia and nostalgia. Part of the reason why things were always repeated, and people never questioned it, was because of the amnesia that swept over the people of every generation. After even the most memorable and life-changing experience of the Banana Plant Massacre, the people lost all memory that it ever even existed. Their willingness to believe what was told to them shows their lack of individuality and thought. In fact, they had to put up a sign reminding themselves that God even existed. If a person does not have any recollection of a past event, then ‘doing it again’ would seem to them, only the first time. This could explain the constant repetition that the town encounters. This would allow no margin for repent or a lesson to be learned.

The Portrayal of Society in Of Mice and Men and The...

World literature; self taught language Hungarian: After reading the two books for my world literature, of mice and men and the outsider I decided I will compare the two books on the topic choice; portrayal of society in the literature studied. This includes points such as: Meursault and Lenny not being accepted in society for who they are because they are different then others; another point would be there is a lot of violence within societies. The rest will be presented further on in my essay. But before presenting my points id like to give you a brief idea of the two books and their writers. The book of mice and men is a fiction written by john Steinbeck (1902-1968). John Steinbeck writes mainly short stories and novels, he was born†¦show more content†¦The book of mice and men tries to make the reader feel pain towards Lennys bad luck, but at the same time throughout the book the author helps us feel the ups and downs of leading a life like that of George and Lenny. Steinbeck was really keen on describing the settings of every scene in details so that we can see the place where the story takes place. He uses very old type of southern American language, to make the fact that the book is set at that certain time period more real and also to make us understand what kind of people George and Lenny are. This is quite similar to Steinbecks writing style when compared to other books written by John Steinbeck, when looking at the themes that Steinbeck often likes to use in his books. The outsider is written by Albert Camus (1913-1960). Albert Camus was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. His works had strong revolutionary tendencies and had a lot of philosophy in them. After moving to France Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation was a columnist for the newspaper Combat. He was a member of LEquipe, an Algerian theatre group, whose quot;collective creationquot; Rà ©volte dans les Asturies (1934) was banned for political reasons. Some examples of Alberts work: theShow MoreRelatedMigrant Workers as Outsiders in Of Mice and Men Essays604 Words   |  3 Pages‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novel written by John Steinbeck. The novel is set in the 1930s, where the Great Depression years occurred and had a huge impact of many lives in California. California was struggling not only with the economic problems of the Great Depression but the severe labour strife too. ‘Of Mice and Men’ has an explicit context, because of the social and political events during the 1930s America. This also creates the climate of the novel. Hardship and homelessness ran through the Read MoreSteinbeck And Etgar Kerets Of Mice And Men1394 Words   |  6 Pages Is love or loss the ultimate sacrifice? Is companionship necessary? 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