Sensory cue
Encyclopedia
A sensory cue is a statistic or signal that can be extracted from the sensory input by a perceiver, that indicates the state of some property of the world that the perceiver is interested in perceiving.
Sensory cues include visual
cues, auditory
cues, tactile
cues, haptic cues, olfactory
cues, and so on. Sensory cues play an important role in theories of perception, especially theories of appearance (how things look).
(1903-1955) are two scientists who were known for cue theories. Helmholtz held that the visual system constructs visual percepts through a process of unconscious inference, in which cues are used to make probabilistic best guesses about the state of the world. For Helmholtz (and most modern perceptual scientists), a visual percept is the manifestation of this process.
Brunswik formalized Helmholtz's ideas with the lens model, which breaks the system's use of a cue into two parts: the ecological validity
of the cue, which is its correlation with a property of the world, and the system's utilization of the cue. In these theories, accurate perception requires both the existence of cues with sufficiently high ecological validity to make inference possible, and that the system actually utilizes these cues in an appropriate fashion during the construction of percepts.
Some examples of visual cues include:
Some examples of auditory cues include:
Cue combination is an active area of research in perception
, that seeks to understand how information from multiple sources is combined by the brain to create a single perceptual experience or response. Recent cue recruitment
experiments have shown that the adult human visual system can learn to utilize new cues through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning
.
Sensory cues include visual
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
cues, auditory
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
cues, tactile
Somatosensory system
The somatosensory system is a diverse sensory system composed of the receptors and processing centres to produce the sensory modalities such as touch, temperature, proprioception , and nociception . The sensory receptors cover the skin and epithelia, skeletal muscles, bones and joints, internal...
cues, haptic cues, olfactory
Olfaction
Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...
cues, and so on. Sensory cues play an important role in theories of perception, especially theories of appearance (how things look).
Concept
Helmholtz (1821-1894) and BrunswikEgon Brunswik
Egon Brunswik was a psychologist who made contributions to functionalism and the history of psychology.-Early life and career:...
(1903-1955) are two scientists who were known for cue theories. Helmholtz held that the visual system constructs visual percepts through a process of unconscious inference, in which cues are used to make probabilistic best guesses about the state of the world. For Helmholtz (and most modern perceptual scientists), a visual percept is the manifestation of this process.
Brunswik formalized Helmholtz's ideas with the lens model, which breaks the system's use of a cue into two parts: the ecological validity
Ecological validity (perception)
The ecological validity of a sensory cue in perception is the correlation between the cue and a property of the world . For example, the color of a banana is a cue that indicates whether the banana is ripe...
of the cue, which is its correlation with a property of the world, and the system's utilization of the cue. In these theories, accurate perception requires both the existence of cues with sufficiently high ecological validity to make inference possible, and that the system actually utilizes these cues in an appropriate fashion during the construction of percepts.
Some examples of visual cues include:
- The eyes' vergenceVergenceA vergence is the simultaneous movement of both eyes in opposite directions to obtain or maintain single binocular vision..When a creature with binocular vision looks at an object, the eyes must rotate around a vertical axis so that the projection of the image is in the centre of the retina in both...
angle is a distance cue - Changes in shading across an object provide a shape cue
Some examples of auditory cues include:
- Interaural intensity difference (IID) is a sound-source direction cue
- Difference in sound arrival time (interaural timing difference or ITD) is another sound-source direction cue
Cue combination is an active area of research in perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
, that seeks to understand how information from multiple sources is combined by the brain to create a single perceptual experience or response. Recent cue recruitment
Cue recruitment
Cue recruitment is a form of associative learning in human perception. A cue in perception is a signal that can be measured by an observer's perceptual system, that is informative about the state of some property of the world. A trusted cue is one that the system utilizes to construct appearance,...
experiments have shown that the adult human visual system can learn to utilize new cues through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is a form of conditioning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov...
.