The tendency to perceive a moving light in the night sky as belonging to an airplane rather than a moving meteor best illustrates the impact of
A) signal detection.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) perceptual set.
D) bottom-up processing.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Perceptual set is the tendency to perceive and interpret information in a particular way based on previous experiences, expectations, and context. In this case, our perceptual set based on prior experience and expectations of the frequency of airplanes in the sky leads us to perceive a moving light as belonging to an airplane rather than a meteor. This overrides the bottom-up processing of simply observing the movement of the light.

The Tendency to Perceive a Moving Light in the Night