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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: Past Experience and Perception
Richard Gregory (1970) proposed that perception is not simply about receiving sensory information but is an active process where we construct our understanding of the world based on previous experiences. This is known as the Constructivist Theory of perception.
Key Definitions:
Gregory believed that perception is a constructive process - we don't just passively receive information through our senses. Instead, we actively build our perception by combining:
This means that what we perceive is our brain's best guess or 'hypothesis' about what's out there in the world.
Gregory's theory emphasises top-down processing, where perception starts with what we already know and works down to the sensory data. This contrasts with bottom-up processing, which starts with the sensory data.
Top-down processing means we use our expectations, prior knowledge and context to interpret what we see. It's like having a mental template that helps us make sense of ambiguous or incomplete information.
According to Gregory, our past experiences create a framework that guides how we interpret new sensory information. This explains why people from different backgrounds or cultures might perceive the same thing differently.
Our perceptions are heavily influenced by our memories. When we encounter something new, our brain searches through its database of past experiences to find a match or something similar. This helps us quickly make sense of what we're seeing, but it can sometimes lead to errors.
These are mental frameworks that organise our knowledge. When we see something, we try to fit it into existing schemas based on past experience.
We're good at recognising patterns because our brain compares what we see to patterns we've encountered before.
Our readiness to perceive things in a certain way based on expectations, which are often formed by past experiences.
The hollow face illusion is a powerful demonstration of Gregory's theory. When viewing a hollow mask of a face from a distance, most people perceive it as a normal convex face rather than concave (hollow).
Why? Because our past experience tells us that faces are convex, not concave. Our brain uses this prior knowledge to override the actual sensory data, constructing a perception that matches our expectations rather than reality.
This shows how strongly our past experiences can influence what we perceive, even when it contradicts the actual sensory information.
Several studies and examples provide evidence for Gregory's constructivist approach:
Images like the Necker cube or the duck-rabbit illusion can be perceived in two different ways. Which way you see it first often depends on your past experiences and expectations.
If you've seen more ducks than rabbits in your life, you might be more likely to see the duck first in the duck-rabbit illusion. This supports the idea that perception is influenced by prior knowledge.
People from different cultures sometimes perceive visual illusions differently. For example, people who grow up in environments with few straight lines and rectangular buildings (like some rural communities) are less susceptible to certain geometric illusions.
This suggests that our perceptual systems are shaped by the environments we experience during development.
Gregory believed that visual illusions provide strong evidence for his theory. When we experience an illusion, it's because our brain is applying past experience incorrectly.
Two lines of equal length appear different because one has inward-pointing arrows and the other has outward-pointing arrows. Gregory suggested this occurs because we interpret the figures as 3D corners, with one appearing further away (and therefore larger).
Two identical lines appear different in size when placed between converging lines (like railway tracks). Our experience with perspective makes us interpret the upper line as further away, so we perceive it as longer.
We see a white triangle that isn't actually there. Our brain 'fills in' the missing information based on past experience with shapes and contours.
Understanding how past experience influences perception has practical applications in many fields:
Artists and designers use our tendency to make perceptual inferences to create certain effects. For example, optical illusions in art play with our expectations and designers use familiar patterns to guide users through websites or apps.
Road signs are designed with our perceptual tendencies in mind. For instance, chevrons on bends appear to get closer together as you approach, creating the perception that you're speeding up (even if you're not), encouraging drivers to slow down.
While Gregory's theory has been influential, it's important to consider both its strengths and limitations:
In exams, you might be asked to compare Gregory's constructivist theory with Gibson's direct theory of perception. Remember:
Gregory's constructivist theory proposes that perception is an active process where we use our past experiences to interpret sensory information. This top-down approach explains why different people might perceive the same thing differently and why visual illusions work. While the theory has limitations, it provides valuable insights into how our minds construct our perception of the world around us.
Remember that perception isn't just about what our eyes see it's about how our brain interprets that information based on a lifetime of experiences.
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