MODULE 3: LESSON 2 AND 3
June 29
TODAY'S MESSAGE
We are in the middle of Module 3 today. We are also in the Grace Period for Module 2 -- The last day for this grace period is on Friday of this week so make sure to get those late assignments in.
TODAY'S ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Review Lesson 2 Notes on sensation and cognition.
2. Watch the Crash Course Video in the practice session. Then complete the Lesson 2 Practice Activity (forum) based on what you learned in the video.
3. Complete the Lesson 2 Assignment on Sensation and Cognition. In this assignment you will select two concepts from the list and describe how those terms have influenced your interaction with the world around you.
4. Review Lesson 3 Notes on perception.
5. Complete the Lesson 3 Practice Activity
6. Complete the Lesson 3 Assignment.
TEACHER TALK 1
Although related, sensation and perception play two complementary, but different roles in how we interpret our world. Sensation is the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This information is sent to our brains in raw form. This is where perception comes into play, perception is the way we interpret these sensations and therefore make sense of everything around us. (http://allpsych.com/psychology101/sensation_perception.html)
To get an idea of how this works check out the chart below. FYI: the “distal object” is the sensation and the “perceptual object” is the perception. In the 1st example, sight is the sensation and the perception, the point at which we “see” and then recognize the object, is the computer screen.
Here are some examples of sensation:
Sensing (seeing) the light reflected by an object vs. perceiving what the object is
Sensing (feeling) the wind vs. perceiving the fan blowing on you
Sensing (hearing) the sound vs. perceiving your music playing
Sensing (feeling) the cold weather vs. perceiving it is winter time
Sensing (tasting) something sweet vs. perceiving that you are eating cake
Sensing (hearing) a loud ring vs. perceiving that its your door bell
Sensing (smelling) an odor vs. perceiving that it is garbage in your trash can
It is easy to get sensation and perception. The TeacherTube video in today’s practice activity does a great job of explaining each. Make sure you watch all of it! Not only does it help to clear up any confusion it is pretty entertaining.
TEACHER TALK 2
LESSON 3: PERCEPTION
One of the terms you learned about today was Gestalt psychology. This is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. When trying to make sense of the world around us, Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not simply focus on every small component.
Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems. This school of psychology played a major role in the modern development of the study of human sensation and perception.
Have you ever noticed how a series of flashing lights often appears to be moving, such as neon signs or strands of Christmas lights? According to Gestalt psychology, this apparent movement happens because our minds fill in missing information. This belief that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts led to the discovery of several different phenomena that occur during perception.
In order to better understand how human perception works, Gestalt psychologists proposed a number of laws, including:
- The Law of Similarity
- The Law of Common Fate
- The Law of Proximity
- The Law of Continuity
- The Law of Closure
- Law of Symmetry
The law of similarity suggests that similar items tend to be grouped together. If a number of objects in a scene are similar to one another, you will naturally group them together and perceive them as a whole.For example, a series of circles or squares stacked together will be viewed as a series of columns rather than just individual shapes.
The law of proximity suggests that objects near each other tend to be viewed as a group. If you see a number of people standing close together, you might immediately assume that they are all part of the same social group. At a restaurant, for example, the host or hostess might assume that people seated next to each other in the waiting area are together and ask if they are ready to be seated. In reality, they may only be sitting near each other because there is little room in the waiting area or because those were the only open seats.
Gestalt psychology also helped introduce the idea that human perception is not just about seeing what is actually present in the world around us. Much of what we perceive is heavily influenced by our motivations and expectations.
In the last lesson we learned about sensation and perception. How we take in sensations through our 5 senses and then how our brain interprets these sensations. The interpretation is our perception. Sometimes our brain misinterprets the sensations creating an inaccurate perception. An optical illusion purposely deceives our brain, manipulating our perception of reality.
Popular theories of visual perception are Gestalt theories/laws. Your notes cover specific laws, such as Law of Closure, Similarity, Continuity, Figure to Ground, etc... But, let’s be honest, sometimes these laws are confusing and hard to remember. So if you start to get confused hit the default button by remembering this simple concept: our brain is constantly attempting to make visual and psychological order out of chaos.
Check out the Animoto below to view a 30 second video about Gestalt laws of perception and perception in general. Often, visual images help to cement concepts in our mind.
Ads serve one purpose -- encouraging customers to buy the advertised product or service. The Gestalt principle, based in simplicity, states that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Marketers know that people recall what they see in far higher percentages than what they hear or read. Whether in a print ad or televised commercial, viewers must identify and respond to that whole, remember it and desire it.
Advertisers use the Gestalt process when reducing the product to a basic design theme, logo or slogan. People will mentally process the visual information to create a mental image that:
- is symmetrical
- contains the simplest shapes possible
- contains the fewest number of shapes
SHOUT OUT:
IMPORTANT DATES THIS WEEK
7/1: Start Module 4 (Development Over the Lifespan); Start Module 3 Grace Period; End Module 2 Grace Period.
CONTACT ME
Text/Call: 919.602.5075
E-mail: christopher.watson@ncpublicschools.gov
Text anytime between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
NCVPS Psychology
CITATIONS
Today's Assignments (Book Icon Orange, David Peters, Wikpedia Education Program Case Studies.pdf, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Teacher Talk (Red Silhouette - Teacher, Ben from Openclipart, Openclipart, Creative Commons CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license)
Shout Out (callout-quote-bull-speaking-bubble, Pixabay, Pixabay, CCO Public Domain license)
Important Dates This Week (Blank Calendar Page Icon, Jackaranga, Jackaranga, GNU Free Documentation License)
Contact Me (Smart phone mobile phone, Pixabay, Pizabay, CCO Public Domain)