Theory of Knowledge - Perception Chapter Presentation

1. Perception
A personal way of knowing

2. What is perception?
Perception - The awareness of things through our
five senses
● sight
● sound
● touch
● taste
● smell

3. Primary Knowledge
Most primary knowledge which we pick up
as we experience more things can be gained
through perception. We have the ability to
learn from our mistakes which can easily link
to the perception of different situations.

4. Perceptual illusions
http://artofrylee.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/schusters_clevis.jpg

5. Perception consists of two elements:
Sensation — provided
by the world
Interpretation —
provided by our minds
Visual illusions involve
interpretation

6. Context
We tend to judge things in different ways by looking at the overall context.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons
/6/60/Grey_square_optical_illusion.PNG
http://people.kzoo.edu/ggre
gg/images/bor13-r.jpg
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_02/a_0
2_p/a_02_p_vis/a_02_p_vis_1n.jpg
A and B are exactly the same color!

7. Figure and ground
When we look at something, we highlight certain aspects of the scene
(figure) and place other parts of it in the back(ground).
http://mesosyn.com/mental8-8q.jpg
http://media-cache-ec0.
pinimg.com/736x/a8/00/8d/a8008da4c6d29e
56cee8eaf395f5ea2d.jpg

8. Visual grouping
We seek meaning in what we see by grouping things into shapes and
patterns.
http://www.moillusions.com/wp-content/
uploads/2009/12/Mysterious-Dalmatian-
Optical-Illusion.jpg
http://www.biomotionlab.ca/Demos
/BMLwalker.html

9. Expectations
Expectation influences experience.
http://cloudfront7.ia.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/paris-in-the-spring3@2x.png

10. Unconscious
Many of our perceptions of the
world happen at an unconscious
level.
Constantly making unconscious
inferences about our experiences.

11. Examples of Unconscious
- Sight- seeing the world upside
down
- Image in the bathroom mirror
- person walking towards you
- the world as blobs of color

12. Selectivity
Count the number of times
the white team passes the
ball in this video.
Everyone who counts
correctly will be granted
a surprise!

13. Selectivity of perception
● Our minds would overload on information if our perception
was not selective.
● Personal interests/moods act as filters.
● Contrast and intensity are important factors. Example:
-Bomb vs. Ticking clock
● We have evolved to be sensitive to moving objects.
● emotions can alter your perception of things. Examples:
-Love
-Fear

14. Seeing and Believing
—Believing is seeing

15. Beliefs affect our perception
● Science
● History
● Art

16. Eye-Witness Testimony
● Unreliable
● Memory
● Reconstructed

17. Appearance vs Reality
Though our perception is a great source of
knowledge, we can at times misinterpret and
fail to notice things we see and remember.

18. Confirmation by Another Sense
A way to distinguish
appearance from reality
is to use another sense
to confirm what
something is.

19. Coherence
Another way to discern
appearance from reality is
through coherence. If
something you see doesn't fit
within your overall
experience of the world, then
you’re probably mistaken

20. Independent Testimony
The final way to determine
appearance from reality is to
get the testimony of another
person.

21. Ultimate Reality
What is there when we strip away the
interpretation that our sense-organs impose
on us?

22. Our experiences are subjective
Colors, sounds and tastes do not exist out
there independent of our experience of these
sensations.

23. Physical vs Experienced
Sensation
● Experienced
sound - the
actual crash that
we hear
● Physical Sound
- vibrations in
the air

24. Theories of Reality
Common-sense Realism: The way we perceive
the world mirrors the way the world is.

25. Problems with Common Sense
Realism Variability of Perception - More plausible
that the object doesn’t change, but our
perception does.

26. Scientific Realism There is an ultimate
reality, but it isn’t what
we experience.

27. Phenomenalism Beyond our experience of
reality, there is nothing to be
said.