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01 History of Perception
01 History of Perception
and Cognition
Philosophical, Early, Classic and
Modern
BC 600 to Today
Major epochs
Philosophy (BC 600 - early 1800s)
Early Psychology (early 1800s - early 1900s)
Classic Psychology (early 1900s - 1950s)
Behaviourism (Watson, Skinner)
Gestalt Psychology (Wertheimer, Koffka)
no: Monism
mind is just one aspect of the body
mind cannot exist without the body
yes: Dualism
mind and body are different substances
mind can exist without body
innate: Rationalism
mind inherently rational
cognitive and perceptual abilities help organize
our experience, but do not result from it.
Early Psychology
(early 1800s - early 1900s)
approach: psychophysics
perception and cognition broken down into
simple atomic units
relating these atoms of perceptions to
physical variables, and to each other
eg, how bright must a light be before it is seen
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Early Psychology
Major Assumption:
Structuralism
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Classic Psychology
(early 1900s - 1950s)
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Classic Psychology
Major Assumptions
Problems
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Classic Psychology
Behaviourism (Watson,
Study of P & C via observables
Skinner)
stimulus (S) - usually simple: blue light
response (R) - usually simple (eg, eye blink)
links/reflexes between S and R
Problems
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Approaches to Perception
and Cognition
1900ish to Today
www.cs.ubc.ca/~harrison/P202
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Classic Psychology
Gestalt Psychology (Wertheimer,
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Gestalt Psychology
Major Assumptions
Problems
Gestalts are difficult to describe objectively
Gestalts formation difficult to predict
(although some laws exist)
no idea how Gestalt formation occurs
eg, built in, learned, incremental, parallel, sequential
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emphasis is on information
information available to organism
eg, via incoming light
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Modern Psychology
Major Assumptions
human and animal P & C evolved in a particular
environment for specific purposes
eg, survival, reproduction, communication
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Modern Psychology
Ecological Optics (Gibson)
perception is not for fun, but is used for
particular tasks
eg, walking, grasping, catching prey
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Ecological Optics
Problems
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Cognitive Psychology
(Helmholtz, marr)
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Observer
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Cognitive Psychology
Assumptions
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Cognitive Psychology
Problems
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Finally
What was the purpose of this
presentation?
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