Monthly Archives: February 2015

Lesson 2: Cognition

Earlier within the semester we have touched basis to learn about a topic on cognition and basically the beginning of psychology. We learned how science has made its contribution and how we’ve come to have different forms and theories of psychology today. We have ran into, Behaviorist to Gesalts, to Clinical to Cognition and how we believe the brain and people may view things. Within my short exert I will touch a little more on this topic add more of an different aspects.

Although, we have talked about cognition and it’s development into the world one person we did not mention at all is, Sigmund Freud and his contributions. We all know that his work may be controversial and discredited but that should not disregarded to the fact that he was a great break for many psychologists. Especially within the topic of behaviorist when it comes to why his clients performed the way did not feel the need to speak about him as a topic, regardless of his work used taken into consideration.

Sigmund Freud was the first psychologist to actually develop how a person felt but on a psycho sexual level. He believed that children all before the age of 5 basically understood different levels and experienced particular walks of life to prepare them for the world ahead. Nevertheless, we all know why Freud’s ways were questioned because children did not just develop on a psycho sexual way and his idea could not be fully credited as a real phenomenon to say the least this is how children develop in life. That’s where other psychologist/scientist came along to “tweak” and alter his idea and involve but mainly view it from a different perspective.

Behaviorist came into play to portray that humans did not just learn from sex but from behavior and from their environments as well. We came to grasps from John Locke that we were clean slates and that we experience what we do and develop solely how we are and it forms us then But nevertheless, we have used and encountered different forms to describe how a person can be. We have learned from personality, to neurological, to behavioral to cognition, each providing in their own way how a person can be broken down and described as in genres.

Overall, cognition has come a long way and has originated from many ideas but their are some people to attribute for that. Personally, there should just  be recognition for doors that were presented and opened and used but that is just my feelings. I may just be one person but I will guarantee that if asked by another they will agree Sigmund Freud had a part whether mentioned in the text or not.

Congenital Word Blindness

When my son was four years old he still couldn’t write a single letter, nothing that resembled remotely something from the alphabet.  After a year of private preschool, he still couldn’t recognize letters, tell you their sounds, or write or spell his name.  Starting kindergarten was a huge thing, I pulled his teacher aside and told her his issues, and she assured me that most kids couldn’t write their name.  I explained it wasn’t just that, he couldn’t form letters and no matter what I did he couldn’t remember his alphabet.  Again I was patted on the shoulder and told he’d get it, and he did, but only because of how he was taught.

It wasn’t until they started doing spelling tests and trying to read at the end of the year did everything start to fall into place for me.  While he finally figured out his alphabet, thanks to the multi-sensory way he was taught, he couldn’t put them together to form a word.  His spelling was very phonetic despite going over them over and over again.  Everything he wrote was backwards, mirror writing they called it, but it was excessive.  His spelling tests were all failing because he would write the words out of order and backwards, though sometimes spelled right.  It took a year, and nearly flunking out of first grade before we got the answer I knew in my gut was true.  He was dyslexic.

Dyslexics are top down processors, he can see the big picture.  When a bottom up reader is reading they rely on print, on their stored concepts of words.  Most often it’s required to be able to think both in the bottom up and top down processes.  But my son, when he reads he relies on context, on the big picture, instead of his on stored concept.    His IQ is above average but there is a noticeable gap between his incredible vocabulary and his inability to read or write.  He can solve nearly any verbal math problem, he takes great pride in how he can find ways around road blocks that come up in his life.  If you asked him to write it down, or explain how he got the math answer, he simply cannot.  He tells me it’s just there, he just knows, his artistic ability is amazing, while he couldn’t physically learn to peddle a bike until he was six years old, he can paint a picture beautifully and stay in the lines.  There is a lot I plan to learn that pertains to him, and to figure out exactly how his brain works, and hopefully ways to explain this to those that simply don’t understand.

 

Resources

Aaron, P. G. “Chapter 5.” Dyslexia and Hyperlexia: Diagnosis and Management of Developmental Reading Disabilities (Neuropsychology and Cognition). 1989 ed. Springer, 1989. 174-175. Print.

The Magnificent Machine

Daniel Angelis

Psych256 Blog Post 1

2/1/2015

In my English course for this semester I have been tasked with selecting a field site in order to perform an ethnographic study.  In order to complete an ethnographic study one must interview members of the subculture in order to obtain a complete picture of the culture.  My interaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th used many of the concepts discussed in this course, which included top-down processing, the Gestalt Laws of Perception, and Naturalistic Observations.

On Friday, I was performing naturalistic observations of my subculture at the Bike Stop in center city Philadelphia.  I am introverted and thus apprehensive initiating conversations.  However, I summoned the courage to interview one of the first members of my subculture.  Naturalistic observations involve observing members of my subculture within their environment.  I used top-down processing in selecting my interviewee as a result of using the preliminary research regarding my subculture, which is the leather subculture within the LGBT community.  This means that I had to be able to use the prior information I learned in my research about the subculture in order to select a genuine member of the subculture (Goldstein, 2011, pp. 52).  For example, I learned that sadism, masochism, fetishism, and symbolism play a large role in the leather subculture.  Therefore, I was able to select a DS (Dominant Submissive) couple enter the Bike Stop.  This was indicated by the fact that the dominant member of the dyad was donned in leather straps with the submissive member of the dyad in tow by a chain leash who was also wearing leather straps and a leather mask shaped like a dog’s head.  Had I not been able to recognize these things using top-down processing I could have selected a person that was not a genuine member of the subculture.

In addition to top-down processing, I also needed to use bottom-up processing.  This means that my brain must be able to recognize the geons within the leather straps and shape of the leather dog mask in order to connect this information with my prior knowledge in top-down processing.  Meaning I had to be able to process the information received by my eyes and processed by the occipital lobe in my brain (Goldstein, 2012, pp. 50). 

Once my brain has processed my external stimulus from my environment at the Bike Stop and connected this with my prior knowledge about my subculture I am ready to make the decision to approach the member of my subculture.  In doing so, a signal from my motor cortex instructs the muscles in my mouth to begin speaking.  Speech is produced by the Broca area of my temporal lobe and the speech I hear from the selected member of my subculture is processed by the Wernicke area of my temporal lobe (Goldstein, 2012, pp. 32-33).

Finally, it was very easy to see how this seemingly simple process leading to the preceding interaction described above is quite complex.  In addition to the simple areas of the brain I mention here for the purpose of completing this blog, many parts of my brain are in use at once, which is referred to as distributed processing.  I am in aww of the brain’s ability to process information using the many dendrites and synapse found within it.

Works Cited

Goldstein, E.B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Print.

In text-citation: (Goldstein, 2011, pp. 52), (Goldstein, 2012, pp. 50), (Goldstein, 2012, pp. 32-33).

Perceptions of “Magic Eye” Images

Have you ever pressed your nose against a book to look at a picture and then slowly pull the book away trying to see the hidden image? When I was younger one of my favorite books didn’t have more than a few words but was filled with very colorful pages that appeared as simple random designs. You were instructed to stare at the center of the page, or hold it to your nose and slowly move the page away from your face, until what looked like a three dimensional picture would emerge from the beautiful pages. Time and time again I would be amazed as the image that wasn’t there just moments before popped out of the page. I would contemplate how it was possible that a picture of random colors could house an image the whole time that I couldn’t see. These images were the first thing that came to my mind when I read the text on perception.

Perception consists of using both bottom-up and top-down processing. In order to reveal how bottom-up and top-down processing work to reveal these hidden images we first have to look at how these images are created. This relates to Gestalt’s law of perception that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There are many parts that make up one larger picture which is what we see upon initial views. The hidden images that I used to look at were in “Magic Eye” books which used a method elaborated on from the original dot stereogram. In order to create these magic eye images computer programming was used. They would start with a three dimensional image, grayscale the image, and then finally overlay the image with a two dimensional image. The two dimensional image would be created of a pattern that was then repeated and manipulated to create the desired perception of depth. If you break the image down into its original components, this shows the bottom-up processing because we are looking at the individual parts that make up the image rather than the whole of the image presented. Top-down processing is also used by the shadowing because the different shades that we see allow our eyes to perceive depth.

The example in our lesson commentary that shows depth perception based on shadowing or changes in the lighting best is the basketball moving in a diagonal line. In the commentary the video shows that the movement of the basketball does not change however the shadowing changes and in doing so changes our perception of how the basketball is moving. The fact that our perception of what the basketball is doing or how it is moving based on the shadows placement draws on our top-down processing. We pull on our knowledge of experience because we know that when we bounce a basketball the shadow moves with the basketball. Also the closer the basketball gets to the ground the smaller the shadow gets and also the darker that it gets. In contrast the higher from the ground the ball goes the lighter in color and the larger the shadow gets. This type of shadowing is used in the pictures of “Magic Eye” because although the grayscale of the image is covered by the two dimensional pattern over top of it the coloring underneath still exists to create depth. While we see this depth after looking at the picture closely for an extended period of time, why is it that upon initial view it only appears to be a design or pattern of color with no real imagery? I would say that this is because of the Gestalt grouping law of pragnanz.

Pragnanz states that we perceive things in our environment in the simplest way possible. In other words when looking at the images in the “Magic Eye” our eyes and brain will initially perceive the simplest form of the image. The simplest form of these images is to see them as the patters or random colors that make up the image. Once we focus on these colors for a length of time the slightest variations in color make themselves apparent and allow for us to see the depth that is then created. Allowing ourselves to view the whole page this way reveals the entire three dimensional image that is located within the two dimensional pattern.

Top-down processing, bottom-up processing and Gestalt’s laws of perception from lesson three all helped me in understanding how it is possible for one to see the hidden image in “Magic Eye” books that were a favorite of mine as a child. Next time that you open a hidden image book try to see the picture as a whole and then break down its parts and see if you can make the distinction between the two.

References: http://mentalfloss.com/article/29648/how-do-magic-eye-pictures-work
Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology 3rd Ed. Wadsworth 2008. Print.

A Plastic Bag Excites My Dog

My dog gets excited at the sound of the ruffling of a plastic grocery bag. Is my dog crazy or is there a specific reason she wags her tail? To understand the answer we must understand behaviorism. This is one of many theories in the field of psychology. In this theory, a stimulus-response could explain why people or any organism act a certain way or modify their behavior. No introspection is needed, only observable and objective elements matter (Goldstein, 2011). This is the foundation for behaviorism. My dog’s response to the sound of the plastic bag has been developed through a technique called classic conditioning. Using this technique you can get people to change their behavior. This is based on the fact that people’s behavior is based on an interaction with their environment. To fully understand this we must know what classic conditioning is. Also, I will show you an example of the real world application and the benefits of its use.

Classic conditioning is pairing one stimulus with a neutral stimulus. After the pairing, the individual now response to the neutral stimulus independently (Goldstein, 2011). This technique is one of the most common that behaviorist have at their disposal. It also highlights that mental and physiological factors are not a major concern. Only the change of behavior caused by the stimulus-response (environment) interaction is of consequence.

In the case on my dog, it is pretty clear that classical conditioning was the method that made her respond to the plastic bag. Every day I walked Coco, my dog. I would put her leash on her and she would be so excited. After a few weeks, I started using plastic bags to curb her waste. I would then grab her leash and pull a small grocery bag of out a draw. Each time I picked up a bag it made a distinct sound and seconds later we were out the door. After a month or so, Coco realized that the sound signified that she was going for a walk. Now, I do not even need the leash. Once she hears the ruffling of the bag, she darts to the door and wags her tail. You see once the unconditional stimuli (leash) was paired with the conditional stimuli (sound of the plastic bag) the dog learned to responded to the conditional stimuli independently.

One of the best uses of classical condition is the advertising and marketing industry. Many commercial and advertisements are design to elicit a behavior after watching them. You see a commercial and they show some delicious food and pair it with their logo. After watching their commercial several times you crave their product. Soon, you only need to see the logo of the company to elicit the craving. According to a study, “advertising affect influences attitude toward advertised brands” (Gresham and Shimp, 1985).

In closing, classic conditioning is an effective method to change a person’s behavior. If my dog can learn to get excited at the sound of a plastic bag, then most certainly its application can affect a person’s behavior.

 

 

References:

Goldstein, E. (2011) Cognitive Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Gresham, L and Shimp, T. (1985) Attitude Toward The Advertisement and Brand Attitudes: A                  Classical Conditioning Perspective. Journal of Advertising 14(1).

Environment Dependent Plasticity

There are several things that caught my eye but the most interesting was experience dependent plasticity. According to the text Experience dependent plasticity is the mechanism through which the structure of the brain is changed by experience.

I found it interesting because we can detect early on if someone will grow up to become a psychopath. Can environment dependent plasticity be used at an early stage to shape the brain or rewire the brain in effect to curve or prevent the violent psychopath from emerging? Why does one psychopath become a killer and another a hero?

Psychopaths are assertive, they don’t procrastinate, they tend to focus on the positive, they don’t take things personally, they don’t beat themselves up if things go wrong, even if they’re to blame, and they’re cool under pressure. These are also characteristic that are important in the business arena, and in everyday life.- (Psychologist Kevin Dutton-Smithsonian.com).

In a study conducted by Lilienfeld, et al, of the 42 U.S. Presidents the top 10 who were the biggest psychopaths were:
Theodore Roosevelt (1.462)
John F. Kennedy (1.408)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1.079)
Ronald Reagan (.912)
Rutherford B. Hayes (.824)
Zachary Taylor (.671)
Bill Clinton (.569)
Martin Van Buren (.554)
Andrew Jackson (.516)
George W. Bush (.391)

The higher the scores in brackets, the higher their psychopathic tendencies.

And there you have it: Roosevelt by a short head over JFK. So we can see that some of our great leaders themselves have the psychopathic tendencies but were able to channel them into a positive way.

Lets take Batman and the Joker as an example both psychopaths in there own way yet one is a villain and the other is a hero, why?

Batman himself has disregard for the feelings of others, he breaks the law, he has put the lives of his sidekicks and the public at risk while pursuing criminals, he responds to two names and talks about the other in a third person and as a child witnessed the murder of his parents. Bruce was raised in the company of his butler, Alfred, a positive role model who surrounded him with positive stimulation in Bruce’s everyday environment. In essence averting developing a psychopath like the joker.

Then you have the joker who also has a disregard for the feelings of others, breaks the law places the public and any of his minions at risk while committing a crime or fighting of the law, indifferent about committing murder. In The Dark Knight, the Joker describes himself simply by saying, “I just do things. I’m like a dog chasing cars who wouldn’t know what to do if he caught one.” There is not much history to the joker in the movies but in Batman Confidential (#7-12), the character, Jack, is a talented criminal who is bored with his work. He encounters (and becomes obsessed with) Batman during a heist, embarking on a crime spree to attract his attention. After Jack injures Batman’s girlfriend, the Dark Knight vengefully scars his face with a permanent grin. Batman then betrays Jack to a group of mobsters, who torture him in a chemical plant. Jack escapes, but falls into an empty vat as gunfire punctures chemical tanks above him. The flood of chemicals (used in anti-psychotic medication) alters his appearance and completes his transformation (Wikopedia).
Both individuals had the characteristics of a psychopath in them from the beginning but depending on what type of environment they were in determined whether one went down a murderous spree and the other being able to contain himself just enough.

So from Batman to former presidents we see that while they all to qualify as psychopaths depending on the environment presented to them determined the outcome. So couldn’t it be said also if you are in a negative environment for most of your life and have psychopathic attributes and removed from the negative environment into a positive one with constant positive experiences can the brain be rewired and avoid the violent psychopath from emerging?
Reference:
Crawford, Amy, “The Pros to Being a Psychopath” (2012, October) retrieved February 2, 2015 from
<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-pros-to-being-a-psychopath-96723962/?page=3>

Which US President Was The Biggest Psychopath?, retrieved February 1, 2015 from
<http://www.spring.org.uk/2013/09/which-us-president-was-the-biggest-psychopath.php>

Wikopedia, Joker (Comics), retrieved February 2, 2015 from
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_%28comics%29>

My Brain Runneth Over: Experience-Dependent Plasticity

The ability of the brain to modify itself and adapt to challenges of the environment is referred to as plasticity. Reading about the ways in which our brains adapt and change physically and organizationally over time with exposure to our environment during the third week of Psych256, Introduction to Cognitive Science, allowed this returning college student to let out a huge sigh of relief. Up pop the obvious clichés regarding old dogs, new tricks, and using – rather than losing – the proverbial “it.” Of course, I was viewing the information with the curiosity of a grown adult looking for reassurance that my brain is capable, under the right conditions and provided the right encouragement, to readily get back to the business of learning new things and applying them to the real world. However, after a little bit of poking around, I found that is just one perspective among the myriad of ways to look at and explore brain plasticity.

Research on animals has helped to shed light on the ability of the brain to possess remarkable abilities to reorganize pathways, create new synaptic connections and even create new neurons throughout lifetimes, beginning prenatally in the womb and extending into old age. And thank goodness for that, because bodily experiences having to do with drugs, hormones, diet, genetics, disease, and brain injury encountered over time all have profound effects on the way that our brains change and adapt to our environments. (Kolb, Gibb & Robinson.) Imagining the negative aspects of these possibilities can be overwhelming, in fact, downright scary. However, the key word – at least to this over-the-hill mom – is “possibilities.” During an interview held by the Kavli Foundation, PhDs of Neuroscience Randy Bruno, Michael Merzenich and Randy Nudo address how brain plasticity in humans seems to be able to overcome poor circumstances, late development and even injury. Of course, my favorite quote is Bruno, “There are clear advantages to getting the brain wired up in the right fashion early in development, but still there are a number of Olympic medalists who didn’t begin their sport until they were well into their twenties. Maybe we learn a bit slower, but with persistent training and practice we can overcome this limitation or lack of advantage we didn’t get early on.” (Kavli Foundation, 2012.)  Yes!

Knowing that a wide variety of experiences can alter neural circuits and synaptic organization is important because that means we can purposely engage in activities that improve neuroplasticity (EVEN, it would seem, if we haven’t taken a math class in 15 years). In “Neuroplasticity Exercises – Brain workouts to Enhance Performance” (June 2014) Cate Leona recommends exercising our brains the same way we would exercise our bodies. She encourages intellectual activities and memory and attention training, such as the games provided on luminosity.com, and notes the availability of programs specialized activities geared toward athletes, business owners, and even those in unique learning situations such as ADHD or who have suffered brain injuries. I’m on it, Cate.

So it seems if they use it, and don’t lose it, and utilize engaging techniques that encourage rather than hinder positive adaption of neural circuits and synaptic organization – even old dogs (and returning college students) can learn new tricks.

 

Reference:

Kolb, B., Gibb, R., and Robinson T.E. “Brain Plasticity and Behavior.” Association for Psychological Science, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2015. <http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/cd/12_1/kolb.cfm>.

The Fantastic Plastic Brain. (2012, July 1). Retrieved February 1, 205, from <http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/columbia-kibs-fantastic-plastic-brain#Adult>

Leona, C. (2014, June 12). Neuroplasticity Exercises – Brain Workouts to Enhance Performance. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from <https://blog.udemy.com/neuroplasticity-exercises/>

Top-Down Processing in West Baltimore

In Lesson 3, we learned that top-down processing is a theory of perception suggesting that previous experiences influence the way humans process and organize sensory information. In HBO’s critically acclaimed series, The Wire, the topic of implicit racial bias among police is explored through insightful examples. The third season features a scenario in which one officer’s top-down processing could have served him well, but instead has dire consequences. His assigned detail—at which he became extremely skilled—relies entirely on bottom-up processing. However, volunteering to pick up take-out for his crew one night unexpectedly puts his top-down processing to the test.

Officer Pryzbylewski (know as “Prez”) works on the Major Crimes Unit, monitoring wiretaps on low-level drug dealers in an attempt to piece together the structure of a major drug operation in Baltimore. Bottom-up processing, as we also learned in Lesson 3, is the perceptual paradigm through which we construct a whole construct to process by organizing many basic stimuli; it is also referred to as data-driven processing. Prez tracks beeper activity and ten-second, cryptic phone calls between a small group of drug dealers in West Baltimore, piecing together each bit of information he catches to understand the gang’s hierarchy and drug operations. By recognizing patterns of communication, Prez was able to put enough pieces together to describe the levels of the gang, how they ran their drug operation, and how to track down its leaders. He will go on to solve another landmark homicide case and change lives as a math teacher with his gifted and honed bottom-up processing.

After gaining notoriety—and camaraderie among his mostly-African American peers—for his uncanny ability to decipher patterns, Prez is working to crack yet another case when he takes his turn to pick up Chinese food for his unit. On the way back, he and his partner respond to a radio call of shots fired and Prez mistakes an out-of-uniform police officer for the fleeing suspect, irresponsibly shooting and killing him. Although Prez is known for his passionate, patient, and methodical approach to his police work, his impulsive open-fire on a black male reveals the power of implicit racial bias. Even Prez sees his mistake in hindsight, acknowledging that if the person running had been Caucasian, he likely would not have opened fire. In this scene, top-down processing influenced Prez’s prediction of the profile of the shooter through his past experiences with black criminals in the same neighborhood.

This anecdote from The Wire serves the writers’ purpose of making a statement about implicit negative racial biases among police. However, Officer Pryzbylewski’s character development throughout the series up to this scene illustrates the contrast between bottom-up and top-down processing. His bottom-up processes allowed him to paint a complete picture of an unfamiliar and stealthy organization, bringing down one of the city’s biggest drug kingpins. When he impulsively shot an officer in street clothes, however, his top-down processes failed him and triggered a gut reaction to identify a black man as the suspect, one dangerous enough to shoot. This scene taught me how moral and ethical perspectives can take root in our cognitive processes through top-down processing and increases the gravity of implicit racism in our society.

Gestalt &Photography

Megan Horner

Gestalt & Photography

One of my personal hobbies is taking photographs. Ever family vacation or fun outing I will almost always have my camera in my hand. I am also the first one to offer to take pictures for any special event, for example senior photos or fun portraits. It’s not something I am highly educated on, but I enjoy it. Have you ever taken a photograph and realized there was something odd about the picture? Did you ever notice after taking a second look at your picture that there was something that just didn’t fit? This happens when the photographer doesn’t pay enough attention to the background of the picture and the results are actually quite funny.

This has happened to me quite a few times, actually. My younger cousin graduated high school last year, and she wanted me to take a couple fun pictures of her out by the lake near her house. I had taken photos of her in all sorts of nature like environments. After reviewing the photos I noticed there was a couple that did not fit. It was hilarious. A couple of the photos that I had taken in front of a tree and tree branch had made it look as though the tree branch was poking through her body. Needless to say she wasn’t using those couple of pictures for her graduation invitations.

Our brains have many tasks but one of those tasks are to decide what parts of our environment fit and which parts do not. The Gestalt law of perception gives us an explanation for how the brain is able to complete that process. Under the Gestalt law of perception there is a set of grouping principles that offer explanations for how we perceive our environment. The main grouping principle that came to my mind was the principle of proximity. The example above is perfect for describing how this principle affects our perception. The background of a photograph can completely alter a picture. The branch had not actually protruded through her abdomen, but our brains automatically perceive the two objects as being one.

Citations:

Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday             Experience. Belmont, CA: Linda Schreiber-Ganster, 2011.

California Highway Patrol

I don’t know about other people, but me…I tend to drive a little fast. Not the sort of fast that involves a sketchy unstable feeling at reckless speeds, but rather the 10-15 mph range over the speed limit. I’m not exactly sure why I do this, but it seems to happen a lot more than not. Maybe it is because I just feel as if there are better things to be done than sitting in a car. By speeding up the pace a bit, I like to think, that I cut at least 10-15 minutes off every trip. Yes, this is definitely not a good habit, but if you never get caught would you keep doing it?

I live in Los Angeles and large four lane freeways are the norm for any driver in this city of 4 million. Now there are smart ways to drive on the freeway, and there are not so smart ways. I like to look at myself as a smart driver: I go a little faster than most to get where I want to go, but I do not do it in the fast lane. I go a little faster than most, but have a consistent eye on my rear view mirror for that infamous Crown Victoria headlight design. For those of you that do not know, the Crown Victoria is the highway patrols car of choice around much of the United States. Whether it is day or night, it is always easy to pick out the silhouette of that car from a distance. Now I only say from a distance, because for the most part, on the freeways out here the CHP tends to drive in the fast lane to catch speeders on the go, rather than post up behind a billboard.

This is where things got a little interesting for me when reading specifically this week’s lesson. The idea behind the identification of this car falls behind Top-Down Processing and Gestalt Laws of Perception. As our readings state, when we perceive our world, we are not creating an exact copy of the objects of our environment, but rather our brain is building a representation of our environment. Yes I have had a speeding ticket before, but only one…and it was 4 years ago. As Top-Down Processing explains, “we use our past experiences to guide and interpret the information that is coming in through our senses.” By receiving a speeding ticket in the past, and remembering exactly how the scene looked and unfolded, I automatically stored this information from my previous knowledge and experience to guide me in future instances.

Yes that was my past experience that now helps me avoid future speeding tickets, (to an extent), but what about the recognition of the Crown Victoria? One could argue that yes, the police do drive those cars, but so do many civilians. So how can you tell the difference? In the day it is obviously much easier to spot this car, but what about at night. I have come to recognize the shape of the headlights in reference to the turning signal. For some reason, they just stick out among others. As Gestalt Laws of Perception states, a main function of our brain is to figure out which parts of your environment belong together and which parts belong apart. Now in the rear view mirror many headlights seem the same. And you could say that it is almost impossible to distinguish them. Then you look at Gestalt Grouping Laws. I look at the proximity of the headlights after distinguishing the similarities of the others. Then the usual dead give-away is the cars common fate. Objects that move together tend to be grouped together. After recognizing the headlights, distinguishing proximity and similarity, and then finally establishing the “Common Fate”…you are ticket free.

 

 

 

Nash Hutter