Vocabulary notes

identify

expectation

sensory

external

internal

experience

backwards

to rely on

allegiance

indivisible

inaccurate

irrelevant

constancy

consistent

attention

earshot

to divert

- определять

- предвкушение

- чувствительный

- внешний

- внутренний

- опыт

- наоборот

- полагаться

верность

- неделимый

- неточный

- неуместный

- постоянство

- последовательный

- внимание

- в пределах слышимости

- отвлекать

Psychologists have identified two general ways in which humans perceive their environment. One involves what is called "top-down" processing. In this mode, what is perceived depends on such factors as expectations and knowledge. That is, sensory events are interpreted based on a combination of what occurs in the external world and on existing thoughts, experience, and expectations. When a perception is based on what is expected, it is called a perceptual set, a predisposition to experience an event in a particular way. One example of such a predisposition involves hearing potentially disturbing words or phrases when rock music is played backwards. Although most people will not detect such words or phrases when they first listen to the backward sounds (when they do not have a perceptual set), these same people will hear them quite clearly if they are then told what to listen to. Psychologists regard this process as involving a perceptual set because perception of the distressing message does not occur until the individual is primed to hear it.

Motivation can also influence the way an event is perceived. At sporting events, the same episode can be interpreted in exactly opposite ways by fans of two different teams. In this instance, people are interpreting the episode with what they regard as an open mind, but their subjectivity colors their perceptions. The alternate approach is "bottom-up" processing that relies less on what is already known or expected and more on the nature of the external stimulus. One part of this process is called feature analysis, which involves taking the elementary cues in a situation and attempting to put them together to create a meaningful stimulus. When children listen to an initially unfamiliar set of sounds, like the "Pledge of Allegiance," they often hear words and phrases that adults (who use top-down processing) do not hear. Much of the research in perception has involved vision for two general reasons. First, psychologists recognize that this sense dominates much of human perception and, second, it is easier to study than audition ( hearing) or the minor senses like taste, smell, touch, and balance. Other perceptual research has investigated the way people pay attention to the world around them and learn to ignore information that is irrelevant to their needs at any given moment.

Within the realm of vision, several areas have especially captured the attention of psychologists: depth perception, form perception, perceptual constancy, and perceptual organization. When a visual scene contains information that includes conflicting information about depth, form, and organization, the result is a visual illusion, commonly referred to as an optical illusion. Such illusions can occur when there is too little information available to generate an accurate interpretation of the stimulus; when experience leads to the formulation of a specific interpretation; or when the sensory systems process information in a consistent, but inaccurate, fashion. Illusions are completely normal, unlike delusions that may reflect abnormal psychological processes.

Another aspect of perception that psychologists have studied intensively is attention. Often, people can selectively attend to different aspects of their world and tune others out. In a loud, crowded room, for example, a person can understand a single speaker by turning his or her attention to the location of the speaker and concentrating on the frequency (pitch) of the speaker's voice; the individual can also use the meaning of the conversation to help in concentration and to ignore irrelevant speech. In some cases, however, we seem incapable of ignoring information. One common example is the "cocktail party phenomenon." If something is holding our attention but an individual within earshot speaks our name, our attention is quickly diverted to that individual. When we perceive a stimulus that is important to us (like our name), our attention switches. One famous example that involves an inability to ignore information is the Stroop effect. If words are printed in colored ink, it is normally an easy task to name the color of the ink. If the words are color names, however, (e.g., "RED") that appear in a different ink color (e.g., the word "RED" in green ink), we have difficulty naming the ink color because we tend to read the word instead of paying attention to the ink color. This process seems entirely automatic in proficient readers.

EXERCISE 1.

Give the Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases. Recollect the sentences of the text where they were used.

Sensory events, a perceptual set, an example of a predisposition, the individual is primed to do smth, external stimulus ,preconceived notions, a cue, feature analysis, “Pledge of Allegiance”, the number of syllables, key sounds, perceptual abilities

EXERCISE 2.

Fill in the gaps using active words and word-combinations from the text.

Much of the research in perception has involved _____ for two general reasons. First, psychologists recognized that this ____ dominates much of human ____ and, second, it is easier to study than ___ ( hearing) or the minor senses like ____,____,____ and ____. Other ___ research has investigated the way people pay ___ to the world around them and learn to ignore ____ that is ____ to their needs at any given moment.

EXERCISE 3.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the “top-down” processing?

2. What is the “bottom-up” processing?

3. How can motivation influence perception?

4. What is optical illusion?

5. Are illusions normal?

6. What do you know about attention?

7. What is a “cocktail-party” phenomenon?

EXERCISE 4.

Make up 10 questions covering the content of the text.

EXERCISE 5.

Make up a plan of the text.

EXERCISE 6.

Retell the text according to the plan.

EXERCISE 7.

Write an essay “Peculiarities of the perception process”.

Text 2 Social Pressure and Perception.