As a result, Gestalt psychology has been extremely influential in the area of sensation and perception (Rock & Palmer, 1990). One Gestalt principle is the figure-ground relationship. According to this principle, we tend to segment our visual world into figure and ground.

What concept is illustrated by the following study? Participants were instructed to focus on either white or black objects, disregarding the other color. When a red cross passed across the screen, about one third of the subjects did not notice it.

Perception involves both bottom-up and top-down processing. Bottom-up processing refers to the fact that perceptions are built from sensory input. On the other hand, how we interpret those sensations is influenced by our available knowledge, our experiences, and our thoughts. This is called top-down processing.

For the weight of magnitude, I = 5.0 kg, the increment threshold I = 0.5 kg. The ratio of I/I for both instances (0.2/2.0 = 0.5/5.0 = 0.1) is the same. This is Weber’s Law. Weber’s Law states that the ratio of the increment threshold to the background intensity is a constant.

Synesthesia is a remarkable sensation: It involves experiencing one sensory stimulus through the prism of a different stimulus. Hearing music and seeing colors in your mind is an example of synesthesia. So, too, is using colors to visualize specific numbers or letters of the alphabet.

Adaptation is the evolutionary process where an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. An example is the adaptation of horses’ teeth to grinding grass. Grass is their usual food; it wears the teeth down, but horses’ teeth continue to grow during life.