Bernstein et al., Psychology, 6/e Learning Objectives

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Psychology, Sixth Edition
Douglas A. Bernstein - University of South Florida and University of Southampton
Louis A. Penner - University of South Florida
Alison Clarke-Stewart - University of California, Irvine
Edward J. Roy - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Learning Objectives
Chapter 5: Perception

Define perception. Compare and contrast perception and sensation. (see introductory section)
Discuss the debate among the constructivist, computational, and ecological viewpoints as to how perception works. (see Three Approaches to Perception)
Define psychophysics and absolute threshold. Explain the influence of noise and response criterion on perception. (see Psychophysics)
Define subliminal and supraliminal stimuli. Discuss the debate about the degree to which people's behavior can be influenced by subliminal perception. (see Absolute Thresholds: Is Something Out There?; see also Thinking Critically: Can Subliminal Stimuli Influence Your Behavior?)
Define and describe signal-detection theory. Be sure to include sensitivity to stimuli and response criterion in your answer. Describe how information can change the response criterion. (see Signal Detection Theory)
Describe Weber's law. Define difference threshold and just-noticeable difference (JND). Explain the equation JND = KI. (see Judging Differences: Has Anything Changed?)
Describe Fechner's law. (see Magnitude Estimation: How Intense Is That?)
Describe the two basic principles of perceptual organization: figure-ground and grouping. Define and give examples of proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, common fate, synchrony, common region and connectedness. (see Organizing the Perceptual World)
Discuss how auditory scene analysis organizes our perception of sounds. (see Auditory Scene Analysis)
Define and describe depth perception. (see Depth Perception)
Describe the stimulus cues that influence depth perception. Your answer should include interposition, relative size, height in the visual field, texture gradient, linear perspective, and motion parallax. (see Depth Perception)
Describe the cues to depth provided by accommodation, convergence, and binocular disparity. (see Depth Perception)
Describe the cues used to perceive motion. Your answer should include looming, the brain's ability to sense the position of the eyes and head, and the illusion called stroboscopic motion. (see Perception of Motion)
Define perceptual constancy. Give examples of size, shape, and brightness constancy. (see Perceptual Constancy)
Describe the impact of culture on perception. (see Culture, Experience, and Perception)
Compare and contrast bottom-up processing and top-down processing. (see Recognizing the Perceptual World)
Explain how feature analysis works in bottom-up processing. (see Bottom-Up Processing)
Discuss the influences on top-down processing. Your answer should include expectancy, motivation, and schemas. (see Top-Down Processing)
Define network processing. Explain the parallel distributed processing models of pattern recognition. (see Network Processing)
Describe an infant's perceptual abilities. (see Linkages: Perception and Human Development)
Define attention. Describe the research on the covert shifting of attention. (see Attention)
Describe the influences that determine the ease of directing or dividing our attention. (see Directing Attention; see also Divided Attention)
Explain parallel processing. (see Attention and Automatic Processing
Describe the influence of perceptual studies on the development of aviation and computer displays. (see Applications of Research on Perception)





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