UTICAJ OČEKIVANJA NA OPAŽANJE SLOŽENIH VIZUELNIH STIMULUSA
THE INFLUENCE OF EXPECTATION ON THE PERCEPTION OF COMPLEX VISUAL STIMULI

Summary/Abstract: Expectations are of great importance in determining the way we experience the world. They make it easier for people to create predictive models of themselves and the environment, and to process input information quickly and efficiently. Thus, expectations prepare the individual for the analysis of incoming data, increasing his perceptual sensitivity. Based on previous experiences, we learn what objects to expect in the context of a visual scene. Learned expectations alter perceptual performance by improving the speed and accuracy of detection of stimuli appearing at the expected location. Also, they can change the subjective experience of the appearance of stimuli, and change the content of perception, which most often happens in unclear situations. In research, expectations can be manipulated in a variety of ways: by sensory cues, experimenter instruction, or based on statistical probability about prior sensory data. In this research, the method of manipulation was chosen through the instructions that the participants received. The aim of this research is to examine the influence of different types of expectations on the perception of complex visual stimuli. It was expected that those subjects who formed positive expectations and were presented with simpler stimuli, would be more successful in the perception of ambiguous stimuli, compared to subjects who formed negative expectations and were presented with complex stimuli. The relationship between two independent (manipulative) variables and one dependent (registered) variable was examined. The independent variables were the type of expectation and the complexity of the stimulus, while the dependent variable was the accuracy in the perceptual task, measured by the number of correctly perceived figures. The research was conducted on a sample of a total of 75 respondents. The respondents were divided into three groups. Each group had a different instruction: one group was given an instruction that was supposed to evoke positive expectations, another group received an instruction that evoked neutral expectations, and a third group was given an instruction that evoked negative expectations. The software package SuperLab4.5 for Windows was used to display stimuli and collect responses. The stimuli were 30 photographs that could be interpreted in two or three ways. Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis. The results showed that the probability of correct answers differs depending on the expectations formed by the respondents, but such findings do not confirm the hypothesis. Contrary to the assumptions, the fewest correct answers were precisely in the group in which the highest accuracy was expected, that is, the lowest number of correct answers was obtained by respondents who were positively oriented towards the arrival of the stimulus. Stimulus complexity did not affect accuracy in the perceptual task.

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