ABSTRACT
Cognitive psychology is the study of how the mind works and how it can influence our behaviour and experiences of the world. This type of psychologist is interested in mental processes such as attention, memory and perception. Is it that our experiences of the world make us perceive things in a particular way, or are we born with the ability to understand the world around us straight away? This is one debate that cognitive psychologists are interested in. What's in this Unit?
The specification lists the following things that you will need to be able to do for the examination:
Describe the difference between sensation and perception using shape constancy, colour constancy and visual illusions
Explain depth cues, including linear perspective, height in plane, relative size, superimposition and texture gradient
Outline the role of experience in perception
Explain the concept of top-down processing
Explain the concept of perceptual set
Explain the criticisms of the constructivist theory of perception
Consider the nativist theory as an alternative theory, with specific reference to bottom-up processing in perception
Describe and outline limitations of the Haber and Levin (2001) study
Outline an application of research into perception, e.g. advertising
