Glencoe Understanding Psychology: Student Web Activity: Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Sensation and Perception

"All In Perspective"

Introduction
Using plaster and paint, Michelangelo transformed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel into one of the most breathtaking and moving two-dimensional paintings of all time. When we look at Michelangelo's work, our eyes and brain work together to interpret the colors and shapes into meaningful experiences. Our brains use the principles of perceptual organization and depth cues to make sense of stimuli. Artists try to follow these principles and replicate and distort depth cues so that they can reproduce what they see, stimulate the senses, or trick the viewer. The Tutorials in Sensation and Perception Web site from Hanover College shows how artists use organizational principles to influence their audience's perceptions.

Destination Title: Tutorials in Sensation and Perception
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Directions

Start at the Tutorials in Sensation and Perception Web site.
Click on the "Use of Visual Information in Art" topic.
Browse through the site, taking notes as you go.

Read through the information, and then answer the following questions.

1. How do artists use interposition as a depth cue?

2. How did M.C. Escher use the figure-ground perception principle in his art?

3. How are relative height and relative size used to portray the distance of objects?

4. Explain how texture gradient and aerial perspective can enhance the impression of depth.

5. Throughout the Web site, you have seen many examples of how artists use depth cues and organizational principles to represent three-dimensional objects. On a separate piece of paper, make a simple line drawing of a landscape. At the bottom of the page, list the principles and depth cues that you used to make your sketch.