sensation and perception 121

called bottom-up processing (Cave & Kim, 1999). In this case, there is no expectancy
to help organize the perception, making bottom-up processing more difficult in some
respects. Fortunately, the two types of processing are often used together in perceiving
the surrounding world. Figure 3.24 The Devil’s Trident
Would people of different cultures perceive objects differently because of dif- At first glance, this seems to be an ordinary
three-pronged figure. But a closer look
ferent expectancies? Some research suggests that this is true. For example, take a
reveals that the three prongs cannot be
look at Figure 3.24. This figure is often called the “devil’s trident.” Europeans and real as drawn. Follow the lines of the top
North Americans insist on making this figure three dimensional, so they have trou- prong to see what goes wrong.
ble looking at it—the figure is impossible if it is perceived in three dimensions. But
people in less technologically oriented cultures have little difficulty with seeing or bottom-up processing the analysis of
even reproducing this figure, because they see it as a two-dimensional drawing, quite the smaller features to build up to a com-
literally a collection of lines and circles rather than a solid object (Deregowski, plete perception.

1969). By contrast, if you give Europeans and North Americans the task of repro-
ducing a drawing of an upside-down face, their drawings tend to be more accurate
because the upside-down face has become a “collection of lines and circles.” That is,
they draw what they actually see in terms of light and shadow rather than what they Explore top down processing
“think” is there three dimensionally. Explore on mypsychlab.com on mypsychlab.com

CONCEPT MAP
3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11

has a subjective
The ABCs of Perception nature; no two people
method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment perceive the world in
are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion the exact same way

ability to perceive the world in three dimensions

perception may have unique e.g., vision depth perception
features depending made possible by differential
on sensory modality information from the eyes

an illusion is a perception that

perceptual does not correspond to physical reality
may not always be based on
illusions
an accurate interpretation can be caused by default mode of sensory or brain
of the stimulus processing and perceptual sets or expectancies

PRACTICE quiz How much do you remember? ANSWERS ON PAGE AK-1.

Pick the best answer.

1. The tendency to perceive a quarter as being round even 5. Ned found a decaying carcass lying on the beach one day.
when it is viewed at an angle is called __________. Looking at the size of the body (which had decomposed quite
a. size constancy. c. brightness constancy. a bit), Ned decided that it was the body of a sea monster,
b. shape constancy. d. color constancy. something like the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. If we know
2. A reversible figure, such as the Necker cube, makes use of that Ned loves to read about weird, mythical animals, we
which principle of perception? might expect that he has made an error of perception due to
a. shape constancy c. figure–ground relationships __________.
b. expectancy d. depth perception a. perceptual set. c. bottom-up processing.
b. perceptual defense. d. cognitive convergence.
3. Which of the following is NOT a monocular cue for depth?
a. convergence c. overlap 6. The first time Joe had to put together a child’s bicycle, it took
b. linear perspective d. texture gradient a long time. But several bicycles later, he’s a whiz at construct-
ing them. His improved speed and skill can be attributed to
4. An illusion __________. __________.
a. is the same thing as a hallucination. a. bottom-up processing. c. perceptual expectancy.
b. exists only in the brain cells of the viewer. b. top-down processing. d. perceptual set.
c. is a distorted perception of an actual stimulus.
d. corresponds directly to reality.
122 CHAPTER 3

Applying Psychology to Everyday Life:

Beyond “Smoke and Mirrors”—The Psychological
Science and Neuroscience of Magic
Many people enjoy watching magic acts in person or on television. Perhaps you have
been amazed by a Mindfreak® performed by Criss Angel or the performance and edgy
antics of Penn & Teller. If you are one of those people, you likely witnessed a perform-
ance that included many various illusions. And like many of us, you probably won-
dered at some point in the performance, “How did they do that?!” Did you think the
tricks were due to some type of special device (such as a fake thumb tip for hiding a
scarf ), or perhaps they were accomplished with “smoke and mirrors,” or maybe the
magician distracted the audience with one movement while actually doing something
else to pull off the illusion? Magicians use many techniques to take advantage of, or
manipulate, our actual level of awareness of what is happening right in front of us or
Penn & Teller have performed together for perhaps to manipulate our attention.
over 30 years and have joined Though magic is not a new topic of interest in psychology, there has been
neuroscientists in the effort to gain insights renewed interest in recent years, especially in the neuroscientific study of magic. This
into the brain mechanisms behind magical
view suggests that researchers can work alongside magicians so we may be able to gain
illusions.
a better understanding of various cognitive and perceptual processes by not only exam-
ining the sensory or physical mechanics behind magic tricks, or even the psychological
explanations, but to look further by examining what is happening in the brain
(Macknik & Martinez-Conde, 2009).
Dr. Stephen L. Macknik and Dr. Susanna Martinez-Conde of the Barrow Neu-
rological Institute are two neuroscientists who have teamed up with professional
magicians to study their techniques and tricks in the effort to better understand the
brain mechanisms underlying the illusions and how that information can be used by
researchers in the laboratory. They have identified several types of illusions that can be
used alone or in combination with others to serve as a basis for various magic tricks;
two of these are visual illusions and cognitive illusions (Macknik et al., 2008).
As discussed earlier in the chapter, visual illusions occur when our individual
perception does not match a physical stimulus. These illusions are caused by organiza-
tional or processing biases in the brain. Furthermore, our brain activity from the per-
ception does not directly match the brain activity associated with the physical stimulus
(Macknik et al., 2008). One example Dr. Macknik and Dr. Martinez-Conde point out
is similar to a trick you may have performed yourself in grade school. Did you ever take
a pencil or pen, grasp it in the middle, and then shake or wiggle it up and down? If you
did it correctly, the pen or pencil would appear to bend or be made of rubber. Magi-
cians use this illusion when they “bend” solid objects, such as spoons. So what is the
brain explanation? We have special neurons in the visual cortex that are sensitive to
both motion and edges called end-stopped neurons. These neurons respond differently if
an object is bouncing or moving up and down quickly, causing us to perceive a solid
spoon or pencil as if it is bending.
Another effect or trick that is based on the functioning of our visual system is
when a magician makes an object disappear, such as a ball vanishing into the air or
perhaps the outfit of an assistant changing suddenly. By showing the audience the
target object, such as the ball or outfit, and then removing it very quickly from the
visual field, the persistence of vision effect will make it appear that the object is still
there. This is due to a response in vision neurons called the after-discharge, which
will create an afterimage that lasts for up to 100 milliseconds after a stimulus is
removed (Macknik et al., 2008). Again, you may have performed a similar trick if
Read and learn more about the you have ever taken a lit sparkler or flashlight and twirled it around quickly to make
science of magic on mypsychlab.com a trail of light in the dark. Read on mypsychlab.com