Transcript Document

Figure 2.1. René Magritte, 1928 The Lovers (Les Amants), oil on
canvas, 54 cm x 73 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Stages in Cognitive Model for Perceiving Art
(Solso, 1994)
Stage
What happens
Example
1
Light is taken into eye
and converted to
neural codes
Look at The Lovers by
Magritte (Figure 2.1)
2
Eye and brain process
neural codes
•Objects\shapes are
identified
•Figure is
differentiated from
backgorund
•A man and woman stand
together, facing the
viewer in the foreground.
•A pastoral scene is in
the background with
trees and grass.
3
Brain associations
occur
•Personal memories
(episodic)
•General knowledge
(semantic)
•I was at a funeral of my
aunt when my parents
were dressed like this.
•The clothing of the
couple is for a formal
occasion in 20th Century.
Figure 2.2. Robert Solso's (1994) model with three cognitive stages for
perceiving art.
STEPS IN PERCEPTION
(Solso's Stage 2)
PIXELS of image
WHERE IT HAPPENS
( PROBABLY )
Outside world – image
itself reflects light
DOTS are perceived by
eye
eye – retina (3 layers of
neurons)
LINES are made up of
connected dots
eye – retina & subcortex structure
called the thalamus
EDGES are seen as
boundaries of OBJECTS
Cortex – occipital lobe,
visual receiving area &
inferior temporal (IT) lobe
Objects are seen as
parts of a SCENE
Cortex – inferior temporal lobe
and medial temporal lobe (MT)
Viewers give MEANING
to the scene
All brain – IT, MT lobes,
frontal lobes, subcortex
Figure 2.3. Model of six steps of visual and cognitive processing of an image
along with its probable location in the nervous system. This model is used by
perceptual psychologists and neuroscientists.
B
A
C
Figure 2.4. (a) Anatomical tracings of three differently-shaped neurons:
A is a pyramidal cell, B is a spiny stellate neuron, and C is a Purkinje cell
found in abundance in the cerebellum brain structure.
(b) Parts of a neuron in schematic drawing: (1) dendrites, (2) cell body,
and (3) axon leading to cell B.
Cell body
Axon
Dendrites receiving
impulses from previous
neurons
Figure 2.5. Calvin and Hobbes illustrating how a neural impulse is an
all-or-none event of energy output.
Figure 2.6. (a) A seascape photograph. (b) Brightness map of the photo
of the sea representing the neural coding of brightness, color and
orientation of image (Parkhurst et al., 2002).