Chapter 4 is all about sensation and perception. When our brain sees an image it immediately begins determining what the image represents. One piece of this chapter that I found particularly interesting was the fact that context influences perception. Our brains perform perceptual sets when our expectations influence our perceptions. Take a look at this image.
Upon first glance it appears to read "The Bat" When in reality the H or A like figure is substituted for the letter our brain wants it to be. We perceive it as "The Bat" because of context of this image. When you think about it, with the amount of images that our brain processes each day, how many images aren't truly what they appear to be?
The most relatable image that comes to my mind of us falling victim to a perceptual set is a price tag. If you notice, virtually every single price tag ends in $.99 or $99. This is because we process the numbers at the beginning of the price tag, naturally reading left to right. An example:
Our brain sees that item as $250, when in fact it is virtually $260. That is not a giant change in price, but it gives the producing firm an additional $10 profit that would otherwise maybe not be earned. Can you think of any other "tricky" images that we face daily? Or do you think it is fair for producers to "mess with our minds" like this?
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