PSYC 4031 Chapter : Chapter 5 Book
Document Summary
We can simply consider shape or form to be an area set off from the rest of what we see because it has one or more edges. Thus, the shape of your book is determined by a particular arrangement of edges. A perceptual constancy occurs when we perceive a distal stimulus as remaining roughly unchanged in spite of changes in the proximal (retinal) stimulus. Shape constancy means that an object appears to stay the same shape despite changes in its retinal image. The very earliest stages of visual experience, which analyze data from the sensory receptors, must involve bottom-up (data driven) processing. The data arrive and set into motion the process of recognizing various shapes. Top-down (conceptually driven) processing emphasizes the importance of the observers" concepts in determining perception. In top-down processing, observers have expectations and concepts about how the world is organized. They believe that certain objects are likely to be found in certain situations.
