Abstract
Different theories have been generated with the aim of explaining the different forms of perception that human beings have. These theories have been effective in enabling people realize that perception is an aspect that is influenced by a variety of factors. Different stimuli will have an impact on the way different people will perceive different objects or situations.
The Feature Integration theory of attention by Anne Treisman and Garry Gelade tends to explain the reason why behind how different people will generate attention towards different objects or situations. The theory suggests that attention has to be directed to every piece of stimuli in a particular situation for a distinction to be generated amongst the different objects. The theory therefore suggests that the stimulus acts one of the most important aspects when creating a distinction between different objects. A stimulus has to be present for the rationale behind feature integration theory of attention to apply (Styles, 2006).
Just as the aim of feature integration theory of attention is to explain the objects in a particular environment, visual perception seems to serve the same purpose. Visual perception basically refers to the ability to explain the environment and the objects found in it from the impact of visible light hitting the eye. This simply implies that generating visual perception would be impossible without light. Light is therefore seen to play a very important role in visual perception. Visual perception enables one to be in a position to identify and describe the different objects in a particular environment (Neisser, 1977).
Conclusion
Both feature integration theory of attention and visual perception serve a similar purpose which is to understand the environment as well as the objects found in it. However, the two aspects seem to apply different strategies to achieve the same goal. The feature integration theory of attention seems to rely on the stimuli in a particular situation before generating a conclusion. On the other hand, visual perception seems to rely on visible light before a link is generated of describing a particular object.
Reference:
Treisman A.M. and Gelade G. (1980). A Feature Integration Theory of Attention, Cognitive
Psychology 12, 97-136, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Neisser, U. (1977). Cognition and Reality, San Francisco: Freeman.
Styles E. (2006). The Psychology of attention, New York: Psychology Press.
