Perception

Perception

1. Sensation vs Perception

   • S = process of detecting presence of stimuli by sensory organs
   • P = recognition, integration and interpretation of raw sensory info.

2. Theories of perception

   • Bottom up
     • physical characteristics of a stimuli
     • suggests a realist view on the world
     • using visual information we can determine the use of objects
   • Top down
     • effect of past experience
   • top down vs bottom up
     • bottom up suggests information is drawn directly from sensorial data
     • top down combines sensorial data with psychological constructs

3. measuring perception

   • qualitative
   • quantitative

4. perception in clinical practice

   • Attention
     • attention can change perception
   • Emotion/psychopathology
     • depression can change perception of information
   • Expectations
     • expectations of symptoms can lead to ignoring of potentially serious ones
   • motivation
   • age

5. Attention

   • looking is not always the same as seeing
   • inattention blindness
     • foveally presented changes are not picked up

6. Attention bias

   • focusing attention on one stimulus reduces capacity to focus on others
   • links to addition, emotion and motivation