Influence of Experience, Context, and Culture on Perceptual Processes

1. JHS AP Psychology Unit 4: Sensation, Perception and States of Consciousness Essential Task 4-6: Discuss how experience, context and culture can influence perceptual processes with specific attention to perceptual set, illusions, change blindness, and selective attention.

2. Perceptual Constancies Gestalt Principles We are here Basic Principles Visual Illusions Depth Perception Perception Vision Hearing Sensation Theories The Eye Theories Other Senses The Ear Smell Pain Taste

3. Circadian Rhythm Stages/REM Disorders Hidden Observer Actor Sleep Hypnosis Dreams Meditation Waking Consciousness States of Consciousness Altered States of Consciousness Drug-Altered Consciousness Daydreaming and Fantasy Substance Abuse Stimulants Depressants Hallucinogens

4. Essential Task 4-: Outline • Influences on perception • Subliminal messages? • perceptual set • illusions • Inattention blindness • change blindness

5. Subliminal Threshold Outline Subliminal Threshold: When energy of the stimulus is below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. What do we perceive then?

6. Subliminal Perception Sensation without perception? Outline • Subliminal = stimuli that sensory system responds to, but due to short duration or subtle form, don’t reach threshold of cognition Quick Survey • Do you think you are influenced by subliminal messages in advertising? • Do you think you are influenced by everyday advertisements that you perceive consciously (e.g. laundry detergent, beverages)?

7. …You Decide Could 1/30th of a second really influence impressions of Al Gore? Outline

8. …You Decide Could 1/30th of a second really influence impressions of Al Gore? Outline

9. We are not obedient to Subliminal Messages Outline • Research shows that the effect only occurs in controlled laboratory studies for a short time. When flashed words to elicit these moods we see slightly: • More competitive participants • More critical participants • More supportive • Research outside the laboratory shows no significant effect of subliminal information • We don’t blindly obey! • Placebo Effect with subliminal self help tapes

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11. Vicary’s Study Outline • New Jersey, 1957: • Over 6 weeks, 45,699 people see subliminal ads • “Eat Popcorn” – sales up 57.5% • “Drink Coke” – sales up18.1% • “Minds have been broken and entered”

12. Except . . . . Outline • The Vicary “Eat Popcorn/Drink Coke” Study well. . . . • In a 1962 interview, Vicary admitted that he had made the whole thing up!

13. Alleged types of subliminal presentation Outline • Flashing it on the screen so quickly you can not perceive it but you still see it. Below the sensory perception threshold. • Playing it backwards • Embedding it into another image. • Playing it at a low-volume masked over by other music or sounds.

14. Maybe Backmasking works? Outline • A recording studio technique where backward messages are deliberately superimposed on the soundtrack • The fear . . . “Human brains are capable of receiving, scanning, deciphering, storing and later reacting to subliminal or subconscious messages” • http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm

15. Another One Bites the Dust Outline • Forward • Reverse • "It's fun to smoke marijuana"

16. Stairway to Heaven Outline • Forward • Reverse • ""Glory glory to my sweet Satan, there was a little child born, it makes me sad, whose power is Satan"

17. The most famous backmasking ever? Outline • Forward • Reverse • Message - "Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him, MISS HIM" The Beatles have vehemently denied this. Still fans of every generation have listened to this message and heard the same words.

18. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Outline • Forward • Reverse • "I wish there were no Allah."

19. Pokemon Rap Outline • Forward • Reverse • "I love satan, love satan. I love satan, love satan." • http://www.backmaskonline.com/pop.html

20. Maybe Subliminal Embeds? Outline • In the 1970s, Wilson Bryan Key wrote such books as Subliminal Seduction and Media Sexploitation in which he claimed subliminal sexual symbols or objects are often used to entice consumers to buy and use various products and services. One of Key’s most famous claims is that the word sex was often embedded in products and advertisements.

21. Subliminal Embeds -

22. Not the last of it… Outline • Sexual imagery in ads? • Wilson Bryan Key: “sex” in ice cubes, nude figures in images from butter to icing in cake mix ads. • Even if images aren’t consciously perceived, they put us in good mood and pay more attention to ad

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35. Why? Perceptual Set!!! Outline • Perceptual set is a bias or readiness to perceive certain aspects of available sensory data and to ignore others. • Listeners “hear” diabolical messages in rock music because they are prepared to “discover” certain messages, and therefore they do. Vokey and Read 1985

36. This is not to say that sex isn’t used in ads. Outline • It is used harmfully and ubiquitously. • We swim in a toxic media environment that perpetuates some of the worst messages of our society.

37. Cintia Dicker – 198625 year old swimsuit model with breast implants In February 2006, American Eagle launched the aerie intimates sub-brand, targeting the American15–21 year old female demographic segment.

38. Product Placement = Not subliminal! Outline

39. Product Placement Outline

40. Product Placement Outline

41. Perceptual Set Activity

42. Group A Outline • You are going to look briefly at a picture and then answer some questions about it. The picture is a rough sketch of a poster for a costume ball. Do not dwell on the picture. Look at it only long enough to “take it all in” once. After this, you will answer YES or NO to a series of questions.

43. Group B Outline • You are going to look briefly at a picture and then answer some questions about it. The picture is a rough sketch of a poster for a trained seal act. Do not dwell on the picture. Look at it only long enough to “take it all in” once. After this, you will answer YES or NO to a series of questions.

44. Picture Outline

45. In the picture was there . . Outline • A car? • A man? • A woman? • A child? • An animal? • A whip? • A sword? • A man’s hat? • A ball? • A fish?

46. Conclusion Outline • Top Down processing – you go beyond the sensory information to try to make meaning out of ambiguity in your world • What you expect (your experiences and your perceptual set) drives this process • Today we will see what expectations we all have in common.

47. The first step in Perception is Attention Outline • We sense 11,000,000 bits of information per second. • We consciously only process about 40 bits (Wilson 2002). • The process by which we attend to these bits is called selective attention • Selective Attention can miss things! • (Click here)

48. Inattentional Blindness Outline • Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris (1999) • Participants told to count how many times the black jersey team passes the ball • 50+% of the participants completely missed the gorrilla

49. Change Blindness Outline • We are blind to changes in our environment.

50. Extrasensory Perception • Refers to extraordinary perception such as • Clairvoyance – awareness of an unknown object or event • Telepathy – knowledge of someone else’s thoughts or feelings • Precognition – foreknowledge of future events • Research has been unable to conclusively demonstrate the existence of ESP