How can emotion affect perception?

Emotional states can make people slower or quicker to notice certain stimuli. McGinnies found participants needed longer to recognise taboo words than neutral ones, which is called perceptual defence.

A proof-reader fails to notice that the word 'the' is printed twice in a row. Which factor affecting perception explains this?

Expectation explains the error. The proof-reader expects normal sentences, so the brain perceives what should be there rather than what is.

What was the aim of Gilchrist and Nesberg's study?

Gilchrist and Nesberg aimed to find out whether hunger, a form of motivation, affects how pictures of food are perceived.

Outline the method of Gilchrist and Nesberg's study.

One group of students went without food for up to 20 hours, while a control group ate normally. Participants adjusted pictures of food until they matched how bright they had first looked.

AQA GCSE Psychology 8182

Memory

Topic overview Processes and types of memory The multi-store model of memory Primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy

Perception

Topic overview Sensation, perception and depth cues Gibson's direct theory of perception Visual illusions Gregory's constructivist theory of perception Perceptual set and factors affecting perception

Development

Topic overview Early brain development, nature and nurture Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development Piaget in education, naughty teddy and policeman doll studies Dweck's mindset theory, learning styles and Willingham

Research Methods

Topic overview Hypotheses and variables Sampling methods Experimental designs and types of experiment Interviews, questionnaires, case studies and observations Research procedures, reliability and validity Ethical issues in psychological research Types of data, calculations and averages Correlation, graphs and the normal distribution

Social Influence

Topic overview Conformity and Asch's study Obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality Bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study Crowd and collective behaviour

Language, Thought and Communication

Topic overview Language, thought and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Animal communication and von Frisch's bee study Non-verbal communication Explaining non-verbal behaviour: Darwin and Yuki

Brain and Neuropsychology

Topic overview The nervous system, fight or flight and the James-Lange theory Neurons, synaptic transmission and Hebb's theory Brain structure, localisation and Penfield's study Brain scanning, Tulving's gold memory study and brain damage

Psychological Problems

Topic overview An introduction to mental health Effects of mental health problems Clinical depression Explaining and treating depression Addiction Treating addiction

Perception

Perceptual set and factors affecting perception

3 things to know
Paper 1

Overview

Perceptual set and the effects of culture, emotion, motivation and expectation, with Gilchrist and Nesberg's hunger study and Bruner and Minturn's ambiguous figure study.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

Outline the method of Bruner and Minturn's study.

Key term

What is perceptual set?

Key term

How can culture affect perception?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is perceptual set?
Model answer
Perceptual set is a readiness to perceive some features of a stimulus while ignoring others. The set is shaped by factors such as expectation, motivation, emotion and culture.
2
How can culture affect perception?
Model answer
People learn to interpret images through the experiences their culture provides. Hudson found that some African participants with little formal schooling saw pictures as flat, ignoring the depth cues.
3
How can emotion affect perception?
Model answer
Emotional states can make people slower or quicker to notice certain stimuli. McGinnies found participants needed longer to recognise taboo words than neutral ones, which is called perceptual defence.
4
A proof-reader fails to notice that the word 'the' is printed twice in a row. Which factor affecting perception explains this?
Model answer
Expectation explains the error. The proof-reader expects normal sentences, so the brain perceives what should be there rather than what is.
5
What was the aim of Gilchrist and Nesberg's study?
Model answer
Gilchrist and Nesberg aimed to find out whether hunger, a form of motivation, affects how pictures of food are perceived.
6
Outline the method of Gilchrist and Nesberg's study.
Model answer
One group of students went without food for up to 20 hours, while a control group ate normally. Participants adjusted pictures of food until they matched how bright they had first looked.

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Memory

Perception

Development

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