PerceptionA personal way of knowing

What is perception?

Perception - The awareness of things through our five senses ● sight ● sound ● touch ● taste● smell

Primary Knowledge

Most primary knowledge which we pick up as we experience more things can be gained through perception. We have the ability to learn from our mistakes which can easily link to the perception of different situations.

Perceptual illusions

http://artofrylee.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/schusters_clevis.jpg

Perception consists of two elements:

Sensation — provided by the world

Interpretation — provided by our minds

Visual illusions involve interpretation

ContextWe tend to judge things in different ways by looking at the overall context.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Grey_square_optical_illusion.PNG

http://people.kzoo.edu/ggregg/images/bor13-r.jpg

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_02/a_02_p/a_02_p_vis/a_02_p_vis_1n.jpg

A and B are exactly the same color!

Figure and groundWhen we look at something, we highlight certain aspects of the scene (figure) and place other parts of it in the back(ground).

http://mesosyn.com/mental8-8q.jpghttp://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/00/8d/a8008da4c6d29e56cee8eaf395f5ea2d.jpg

Visual groupingWe seek meaning in what we see by grouping things into shapes and patterns.

http://www.moillusions.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Mysterious-Dalmatian-Optical-Illusion.jpg

http://www.biomotionlab.ca/Demos/BMLwalker.html

ExpectationsExpectation influences experience.

http://cloudfront7.ia.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/paris-in-the-spring3@2x.png

Unconscious

Many of our perceptions of the world happen at an unconscious level. Constantly making unconscious inferences about our experiences.

Examples of Unconscious

- Sight- seeing the world upside down

- Image in the bathroom mirror

- person walking towards you

- the world as blobs of color

Selectivity

Count the number of times the white team passes the ball in this video.

Everyone who counts correctly will be granted a surprise!

Selectivity of perception● Our minds would overload on information if our

perception was not selective.● Personal interests/moods act as filters.● Contrast and intensity are important factors.

Example:-Bomb vs. Ticking clock

● We have evolved to be sensitive to moving objects.● emotions can alter your perception of things.

Examples:-Love-Fear

Seeing and Believing

—Believing is seeing

Beliefs affect our perception● Science● History ● Art

Eye-Witness Testimony● Unreliable● Memory ● Reconstructe

d

Appearance vs Reality

Though our perception is a great source of knowledge, we can at times misinterpret and fail to notice things we see and remember.

Confirmation by Another SenseA way to distinguish appearance from reality is to use another sense to confirm what something is.

CoherenceAnother way to discern appearance from reality is through coherence. If something you see doesn't fit within your overall experience of the world, then you’re probably mistaken

Independent Testimony

The final way to determine appearance from reality is to get the testimony of another person.

Ultimate Reality

What is there when we strip away the interpretation that our sense-organs impose on us?

Our experiences are subjectiveColors, sounds and tastes do not exist out

there independent of our experience of these sensations.

Physical vs Experienced Sensation● Experienced

sound - the actual crash that we hear

● Physical Sound - vibrations in the air

Theories of Reality

Common-sense Realism: The way we perceive the world mirrors the way the world is.

Problems with Common Sense RealismVariability of Perception - More plausible

that the object doesn’t change, but our perception does.

Scientific RealismThere is an ultimate reality, but it isn’t what we experience.

PhenomenalismBeyond our experience of reality, there is nothing to be said.