Understanding "Perception"...

Time02112

Quantum Scribe
Understanding \"Perception\"...

Understanding perception

Saturday, November 25 2000 @ 04:22 PM EST
Contributed by: Porfiry
For most of us, seeing the world around us is such an effortless process that we tend not to give it a second thought. In fact, our vision reflects an incredibly complex feat of bioengineering that outperforms many computer-based systems.

This process involves grouping together different features of an object to form the whole: nib, barrel and lid form a pen, for example. While it is clear that adults and older children can do this, until now, it has been difficult to determine when and how this vital skill develops in young infants--mainly because they can't tell you whether they see a pen or simply a collection of unrelated elements.

Now, using a brain imaging system known as the Geodesic Sensor Net and a test made up of shapes like the "Pacman" from 1980s computer games, scientists at London's Birkbeck College have shown that eight-month-old babies do indeed bind attributes to form a whole object. Their results are published 24 November 2000 in the journal, Science.

The test involved showing the infants a group of four Pacman shapes collectively known as the Kanizsa Square. When placed with the four "mouths" facing inwards, the Pacmen give the visual illusion of a square, which is not actually there. Previous work in adults has shown that the perception of the square correlates with a burst of brain activity known as gamma oscillation.

When six-month-old babies were shown the square, the characteristic signals were not there. However, when eight-month-old babies were shown the same figure, gamma oscillations were seen.

Lead Science author Gergely Csibra said: "Understanding how an infant brain develops is obviously fascinating and may have implications for the education and care of babies. This new work not only tells us that babies as young as eight months recognise complex objects in the same way an adult does, but also allows us to think of new studies into early infant development.

"The difference between six- and eight-month-old babies is also intriguing and may show that there is an important development in how the brain organises information from the outside world at that age."

In the study, 11 six-month-old and 11 eight-month-old infants were shown either the Kanizsa Square or another collection of Pacman shapes on a computer screen. The brain activation was detected by the Geodesic Sensor Net-which fits over the head like a shower cap and can detect the gamma oscillations if they are present. The Geodesic Sensor Net enables researchers to study the activity in babies brains using a safe and child-friendly method. The device gently rests a number of passive sensors on the child's head, which are able to detect the minute changes in electrical fields which happen as groups of nerve cells are active together in the brain. It is a variation on a method called EEG that has been used routinely in hospitals for several decades.

Mark Johnson, director of the research laboratory said: "This research provides us with a powerful new tool for investigating how babies think when presented with everyday objects, toys or faces. While we have only studied healthy babies so far, it is also possible, but not proven, that we may also be able to study babies which are, unfortunately, not developing typically."

In addition to Drs. Csibra and Johnson, the team included Greg Davis and Mike Spratling, all of whom work at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London. The research project was funded by the UK Medical Research Council.
 
RE: Understanding \"Perception\"...

It's possible to alter your perception of anything. Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian race car driver, was capable of taking two completely opposite points of view in the same conversation and completely incapaable of seeing that he was talking out of both sides of his mouth. Of course, he was absolutely insane, but that happens to some people and it sure didn't affect his racing any, so we just enjoyed it. (Senna was also capable of looking at a picture of him doing something he said that he did not do, and saying "That photograph is lying." This was 20 years before anyone invented Printshop.)

And Al Gore is capable of believing, in the 28th overtime of a game he is losing 9-1, that he is going to win if the game goes into enough overtimes.

All you have to do to alter your perception of reality is concentrate on being absolutely right.

Ask any referee or umpire how easy that is.
 
RE: Understanding \"Perception\"...

OK?
I guess even that one escapes my own "Perception" as I fail to understand how that relates to this subject.

Did any of that what you just said, make any connection to the point I was attempting to make here, or were you just being facecious to make your own point that 'tis you who failed to understand this? are you implying that you are unable to relate your own "Perception" to comprehend this?

What part did you not understand?
perhaps we may find another way to explain it to you, so that you can grasp the translation of this "Perception"
 
RE: Understanding \"Perception\"...

"Synchronicity is the conscious perception, in a physiological time track, of the simultaneous manifestation of the multi-dimensional universe. It is the conscious recognition that all events, objects, relationships, points of view, perceptions and interactions are ONE thing viewed from different perspectives. As the basic resonant vibration of the system increases, synchronicity becomes more easily perceptible within experiential reality. Synchronicity is also a reflection of what you believe you reality to be. Synchronicity, relative to reality, IS what reality IS, and it is the WAY it is."
 
Back
Top