Sensation and Perception Essay Example for Free

Sensation and Perception Essay Memory – knowing the past Thinking – knowing the future Cognition = the influence of perception, memory, and thinking Aug 29th, 2012 Basic principles of perception 1.Stimulation -Many kinds of energy implode on the body Electromagnetic energy (light) Mechanical energy -Pressure waves in air Pressure on skin Body movement Thermal energy (heat) Chemical energy (molecules in air, food) -Energy changes detected by receptors 2.Information a.Our sensory systems evolved to pick up information (not just stimulation) b.In general, information is provided by change c.Change can occur over time, or over space 3.Transduction -The process of converting stimulus energy into nerve impulses -Generally, stimulus energy causes a change in a receptor cell’s electrical potential (voltage) -If change is enough, it will trigger â€Å"nerve impulses† 4.Transmission -For perception to occur, sensory organs (containing receptors) must transmit nerve impulses to the brain -Perception occurs in the brain, not in the sensory organs 5.Mediation -Our perception of the world is mediated by various processes between transduction and our conscious awareness -These processes alter the neural information -What we consciously perceive may not be an accurate reflection of the original stimulation 6.Interpretation -Sensory information is ambiguous (there are ALWAYS multiple possible interpretations) 7.Construction -Sensory information is â€Å"sketchy†; the brain â€Å"fills in† missing information 8.Modularity -Your brain consists of independent â€Å"modules†. These modules may construct different, possibly conflicting, interpretations of the world. -You â€Å"see† one interpretation of an ambiguous **Missed Class†¦locked out of room** Sept 5th, 2012 Signal Detection Theory (Slides and appendix in book) Sept 7th, 2012 The Eye Light -Light is electromagnetic radiation varying in: Wavelength Intensity Radiance – intensity of light as it leaves the light source Illuminance – intensity of light as it is absorbed by object (white objects higher in illuminance than black objects) Luminance – amount of light that is reflected by object 100 illuminance omits 40 luminants; albedo = 40/100= .4 Retinal Illuminance – light that reaches your eye Brightness – perception of radiance, illuminance, or luminance Lightness – perception of the reflectance (albedo) Brightness is a perception of the light; lightness is a perception of the object surface Myopia = nearsighted = focal length is shorter than distance  to retina Hyperopia = farsighted = focal length is longer than distance to retina Presbyopia = aged vision, lens can’t adjust because of age (reading glasses for old people) Sept 10th, 2012 The Retina Fovea is the part of eye where visual acuity is highest Vision involves â€Å"rods† and â€Å"cones† in the back of the retina Photopic = conesScotopic = rods Purkinje Shift – as illumination decreases, red objects lose brightness more quickly than green, blue; red goes to black whereas green and blue pass through shades of gray **2 Missed Classes – Canada** Sept 19th, 2012 Gestalt Psychology -Brief history of behaviorism, psychoanalysis -The laws of perceptual grouping October 1st, 2012 Distance Perception Why is depth perception important? -Effective action (e.g. grasping) requires correct perception of distance -Correct perception of size and shape requires correct perception of distance Size and shape consistency Just as an infinite number of object sizes and shapes can cast the exact same image on the retina, a single object can cast an infinite number of sizes and shapes of retinal image Size Consistency = we (usually) perceive the size of an object as constant, despite changes in the size of the retinal image Shape Consistency = we (usually) perceive The farther away something is from your eye, the less the retinal disparity will be Stereopsis -Retinal Disparity = the mismatch between the left and right eyes’ retinal  images -Stereopsis = the ability to use retinal disparity as a depth cue Motion parallax Interposition = idea that an object in front of another object will block that object out Aerial Perspective -Refers to effects of the air on distance perception Clarity = as light passes through more air, light is scattered and so the image gets blurrier oBlueness = as light passes through more air, long wavelengths are filtered out and so the image gets bluer Chapter 2 Transduction and receptive fields Signal Detection Theory -Always noise (random activity) Eye Movements EXAM 2 MATERIAL OCT 12TH 2012 Perceptual Ambiguity (Lecture 9) States of form perception 1.Feature extraction 2.Perceptual grouping 3.Figure-ground differentiation 4.Figural resolution 5.Pattern recognition Ambiguity – multiple possible interpretations – can occur at any level (2-5) Figure-ground differentiation -Some perceptual groups are treated as â€Å"figure†, other groups are treated as â€Å"ground† Yates Thesis -Yates. J (1985). The content of awareness is a model of the world. Psychological Review, 92, 249-284 -Visual images are inherently ambiguous (allow multiple interpretations) -Coherent action requires selection of one interpretation -We tend to represent in awareness the simplest interpretation of the most sensory data Figural Resolution -After â€Å"figure† has been differentiated from â€Å"ground†, it may still be  necessary to resolve the structure of the figure -Figural resolution influenced by†¦ Bottom up vs. top-down October 15th, 2012 Lecture 10 Pattern Recognition Pattern Recognition – knowing what figures in the visual field ARE. Requires interaction of sensation/perception with memory (pre-existing knowledge) Template Matching -Match of whole pattern to a stored pattern -Problems onfinite variation of problems No access to feature differences Can’t recognize†¦ Feature Analysis -Patterns are recognized by detection of particular â€Å"critical features† -Accounts for recognition of partially obscured patterns -Predicts that objects with more features in common are more confusable Problem: Not ALWAYS true Some confusions are predicted better by the whole shape New â€Å"configural properties† (or emergent features) arise from the combination of features †¢Impossible to define complex objects entirely by simple features Template Matching vs. Feature Analysis -Template matching emphasizes the whole, fails to account for importance of parts -Feature analysis emphasizes the parts, fails to account for importance of the whole -Possible solutions: Maybe more than one brain mechanism for pattern recognition oA â€Å"hybrid† approach that encompasses both the whole AND the parts Structural Theories of Pattern Recognition Objects are recognized by their â€Å"structural description†, how their parts are organized into the whole †¢DO NOT CONFUSE WITH STRUCTURALISM! (Structuralism assumed that the â€Å"structure† can be decomposed into elemental parts† Yates Thesis -We tend to represent in awareness the simplest explanation for the most sensory data Oct 17th, 2012 Three kinds of brain damage 1.Agnosia = â€Å"loss of knowledge† a.Prosopagnosia – loss of ability to recognize faces b.Object agnosia – loss of ability to recognize objects c.Word agnosia (alexia) – loss of ability to recognize written words 2.Object agnosia never occurs without either word agnosia or prosopagnosia Oct 24th, 2012 Light Light is electromagnetic radiation varying in: Wavelength Intensity Amplitude, if considered as a wave Number of photons, if considered as particulate Color is all in your head! â€Å"Hue† does not exist in the physical world – wavelength is a simple quantitative continuum, like intensity, or frequency of sound, or length, or weight †¢You brain CONSTRUCTS categories of perception, resulting in qualitative differences in the perception Dimensions of Color -HUE the perception of wavelength, or (in a mixture) dominant wavelength -SATURATION – the perception of purity (proportion of the dominant wavelength in a mixture) -BRIGHTNESS – perceived intensity Subtractive Color Mixture -A paint pigment absorbs certain wavelengths, reflects others -When two pigments are mixed, each subtracts out certain wavelengths -You see what’s left over Exam 2: Perceptual ambiguity Pattern recognition Color vision Sound Music The Ear Ear to Brain Visual Illusions Inner ear- cochlea, organ of corti, Moon Illusion – moon looks larger when at horizon than when it is over-head Perceived size = retinal image size x perceived distance EXAM 3 MATERIAL(FINAL EXAM)NOV 9TH, 2012 Final Exam Friday Dec 14th, 3:30-5:30 66 questions, appx. 2/3 material last 3rd of class Study 1st 2 exams for remaining 1/3 Don’t need to know every single experiment, just the general results Medial and lateral superior olives -Loudness in 2 ears and time of arrival in 2 ears

Analysis of Coca Cola Company Essay -- Coca Cola Case Study, SWOT Anal

1. Introduction For over 126 years, Coca Cola has been operated as world’s largest beverage company together with its subsidiary brands. The United States, as Coca Cola’s international headquarters, has one of the largest populations where Coke is the main beverage for most of the consumers. The purpose of this essay is to determine whether the environmental changes in the United States are beneficial for Coca Cola Company to operate more markets in the future. This essay will explore both the Coca Cola Company as well as the market in the United States. The tools used for this examination include a SWOT analysis of Coca Cola Company and PEST analysis of United States. In addition, we will examine Porter’s 5 forces of the beverage industry in the United States and we will conclude with a list of recommendations. 2. Company Background The Coca Cola Company has served various kinds of drinks from 1866 until present. As expected, Coca Cola Company made $48 billion net operating revenues, $9 billion net income, and $162 billion market capitalization in 2012. These huge amounts of earnings in 2012 proving that the Coca Cola Company makes big profit successfully within a year. Besides profit that is achieved, Coca Cola Company also ranked by Interbrand as World’s Most Valuable Brand with $77.8 billion in 2012. Moreover, the company supports over 280 physical activities or nutrition education programs in more than 115 countries around the world (The Coca Cola Company, 2013). 3. Country Background United States (US) is the world’s third largest country by size (9,826,675 square per kilometer) and by population with 50 states and the District of Columbia (316,438,601 people). The main urban areas by population are Washington, DC... ...a-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated. Wikivest. Retrieved on 28 January 2014 from http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Coca-Cola_Bottling_Co._Consolidated_%28COKE%29 SWOT analysis of Coca Cola. (2013). Strategic Management Insight. Retrieved on 20 January 2014 from http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/coca-cola-swot-analysis.html The Coca-Cola Company. (2013). Retrieved on 19 January 2014 from http://www.coca-colacompany.com Panda, T. K. (2007). Marketing Management: Text and cases (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Anurag Jain. Pestal Analysis of Coke. (2009). Scribd. Retrieved on 31 January 2014 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/18975870/Pestal-Analysis-of-Coke Wahlen, J., Baginski, S., & Bradshaw, B. (2010). Financial reporting, financial statement analysis and valuation: A strategic perspective (7th ed.). United States of America: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson: An Analysis Essay

Throughout chapters one and two of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, the narrator of the novel, Ruth, compares and contrasts the parenting styles of both her grandmother and great aunts towards her sister Lucille and herself. The girls have been between two different parenting styles, one that was caring but cautious, and another that was well-meaning but indifferent. The styles of parenting presented to Lucille and Ruth by the women in their life play an important role in how the girls will learn receive love and care in their lives. They have learned so far that love is fragile and true relationships cannot be forged in a day-dream manner. Slyvia’s parenting style is the best example of the day-dream concept. After losing her husband in a train accident, Slyvia (the girl’s grandmother), tries her best to nurture her granddaughters in an orderly but distant manner. The years that she raised her girls in this fashion was effective in the present, but the result of her surface level interactions with her daughters left her estranged from them in her old age. Ruth and Lucille’s grandmother sees her opportunity to take care of them after their mother’s death as a second chance to fix her past mistakes as a mother. Their grandmother believes that she never really fostered a strong bond with her daughters, she was able to learn her daughters’ routines in the house and have them do their chores in an orderly manner, but she never got to know who they were as people, and most importantly â€Å"She had never taught them to be kind to her. † (Pg. 19) This quote emphasizes the idea that Slyvia never taught her daughters how to truly love. I think it is the lack of intimacy she shared with her daughters that she regrets the most. Because Slyvia regrets her inability to know her daughters as people, she now wishes to distance herself from her daughter’s inner thoughts, most likely from the fear of shock. â€Å"Perhaps she did not wish to learn by indirection what Helen did not wish to tell her. † (Pg. 20) Lucille and Ruth’s mother was proven to be unstable, and her suicide shed light on the internal suffering she must have been enduring before she killed herself. Slyvia, I feel, does not want to ponder the idea that her daughter was severely unhappy, especially given the fact that she felt her time spent with her daughters in their youth was full of serenity. Ruth realizes that their grandmother is over-consciousness but she believes it’s due to her heightened sense of perception. â€Å"I think that she was aware of too many things, having no principle for selecting the more from the less important, and that her awareness could never be diminished, since it was among the things she had thought of as familiar that this disaster had taken shape. † (Pg. 5) Ruth and Lucille’s grandmother has always been cautious in her parenting style because she is afraid to lose her charges like she lost her husband, fleetingly and without notice. And, it is this nervous cautiousness that has harbored a sense of quiet awareness and self-duty both her daughters and granddaughters. The self-duty becomes even more necessary for the girls to carry-on with their lives after their grandmother passes. They are handed off to their great aunts Lilly and Nona after Sylvia’s death, and their awkward pretentious sense of nurturing leaves an even bigger sense of distance in mother figures for the girls. Lilly and Nona had no genuine compassion for their god nieces; they simply were taking care of the girls because it was the dutiful thing to do. An example of their stiff compassion can be shown on page 29 of the novel â€Å"They were, though maiden ladies, of a buxomly maternal appearance that contrasted oddly with their brusque, unpracticed pats and kisses. † The quote is describing the two aunts as motherly appearing figures, but in contrast they were actually very far from being as warm and affectionate as true mothers are capable of being. Ruth’s conclusion after staying a few days with her aunts of their temperaments can be seen in the following quote. â€Å"Lily and Nona, I think, enjoyed nothing except habit and familiarity, the precise replication of one day in the next. † (Pg. 32) The two aunt’s like routine and they dislike anything disrupting that routine especially children. They have no patience or energy for doing new things, and they are not willing to adapt to Ruth and Lilly’s home town wholly, they often talk about moving the girls back to their own home. The contrast in the grandmother’s and the great aunt’s parenting style is self-explanatory. The grandmother’s affection was overzealous while the great aunts’ display is hollow. The girls are affected in a way that paints their image of love, their grandmother taught them to be intuitive of other’s feelings, while their great aunts’ have shown them that people are not always selfless. The most important thing the girls have yet to experience in a parent/child relationship however is a true bond of love and full awareness of who the other is as a person. The girls so far have been taught to feign emotions that are proper, and to show surface level respect for their mother figures.

My Experience At This Internship - 1561 Words

At this internship, I was able to learn many lessons. Those lessons can be applied to any field, but also give me a competitive edge when applying for jobs in the Venture Capital industry. Many of the lessons I have learned were through hearing the stories of other people who have succeeded in the industry, and give me knowledge of what to expect the next few years of my life. Knowing that others are having the same issues as me, and indecision about which field they want to pursue is comforting. Hearing from people including successful entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers show even they have the same conflicts in their lives at my age. Even though many of the lessons can be applied to any field, I learned by far the most about Venture†¦show more content†¦Even if a company has a perfectly written business plan, and functional technology no one else has, if the work ethic and social skills of the founders are not on par, it is unlikely that the company will be able to succe ed. Brian Lee from BAM Ventures, who has backed companies such as the Honest Company, ShoeDazzle, and LegalZoom told me that he thinks some people are cut out for the work, and those who are not will not be able to succeed in the industry. He and his partner would rather back an average idea with an excellent team of founders over an excellent idea with an average team of founders. These aspects of an investment became obvious quite quickly in the internship. To further achieve my goal of better understanding how to decide what is a good investment, hearing from other investors, I learned that the success is highly reliant on the founding team. Taking that advice, I was able to sit through multiple pitches and see dozens of decks. Through that, I saw what an exceptional, average, and mediocre pitch looked like. A few founders stood out, all in the same few aspects. They had past experience in the field, and were knowledgeable about all facets of it. They also understood the risk and reward of founding a company. Being able to see how they felt made me better understand how to realize if the founder is cut out to make this company succeed. Yet, even with the perfect formula, the