Gregory's Constructivist theory of Perception (nurture) (AQA GCSE Psychology): Revision Note
Exam code: 8182
Past experience constructs perception
Gregory's theory is called a constructivist theory because it claims perception is constructed by the brain from two sources:
the information coming in from the senses, and
past experience stored in memory
Sensory information on its own is often incomplete or ambiguous, so the brain has to go beyond it, making inferences about what is out there based on what it has learned before
e.g. ‘I can see a curved fin sticking out of the sea which makes me think: shark!’
Perception is therefore an active process – the brain is constantly forming and testing hypotheses about what it is seeing, rather than passively recording it
This makes it a top-down theory: perception starts with stored knowledge and expectations, which are then used to interpret the sensory data (the opposite of Gibson's bottom-up approach, which starts with the data itself)
Because perception depends on experience, it is largely learned
Gregory & Wallace (1963)
Gregory & Wallace (1963) conducted a case study of a man (SB) who had been blind from infancy and had his sight restored by a corneal graft at the age of 52
Some visual abilities were present almost immediately after the operation:
He could recognise by sight objects he already knew well by touch
E.g. he could tell the time from a wall clock because he had handled a watch with raised hands
He could walk along a corridor and judge the size of familiar objects such as a bus
Other abilities were poor and did not develop well:
He could not judge depth and distance – he thought he could lower himself to the ground from a window 30–40 feet up
He found crossing the road frightening, which he had managed confidently when blind
He struggled to recognise objects he had never touched
SB never fully adjusted to sight, became withdrawn and died around two years later
Conclusion: the abilities SB had were those he could build from past (touch) experience; the ones he lacked were those that had to be learned visually in childhood.
This supports the view that perception is constructed from experience rather than being wholly innate
Crossing a busy street is made more difficult without good depth perception.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Gregory & Wallace (1963) is not a named study in the AQA specification but it is a good one to use in a higher-value exam question as it shows that you have a broad understanding of and interest in the topic.
Inferences from visual cues
SB's case shows that the brain uses existing knowledge to interpret new visual information
He could make sense of what he had touched before, but not what he hadn't
In everyday perception, visual cues are usually interpreted correctly because past experience has taught us what they mean
E.g. converging lines = distance
Visual illusions occur when this process goes wrong: the brain applies a hypothesis based on past experience to an image where it doesn't fit.
Gregory called this a mistaken hypothesis, e.g. in the Ponzo illusion the brain hypothesises that the upper bar is further away and so perceives it as longer
Illusions are therefore key evidence for Gregory: they show that perception is an interpretation of sensory data, not a direct copy of it
Top Down vs Bottom Up Processing Diagram
Two different approaches to researching a topic.
Evaluation of Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception
Strengths
Explains visual illusions: the theory accounts for illusions such as the Ponzo and Müller-Lyer as mistaken hypotheses based on misapplied depth cues – something Gibson's direct theory struggles to do
Supported by cross-cultural research: Hudson (1960) found that people with little experience of pictures interpreted depth cues in drawings differently from those with more experience, suggesting perception is shaped by learning
Weaknesses
Some perception appears to be innate: Gibson & Walk's (1960) visual cliff study found that most babies refused to crawl over an apparent drop, and Fantz (1961) found that newborns prefer to look at face-like patterns – hard to explain if perception is entirely learned
Illusions persist even when we know the truth: if perception is hypothesis-testing, the Müller-Lyer should stop working once we have measured the lines – but it doesn't, which suggests something other than learned inference is involved
Case study evidence is limited: SB is a single, highly unusual case, so his experience cannot be generalised to how perception normally develops
Worked Example
Here are examples of questions you might be asked on this topic - for AO1 and AO3.
AO1: You need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, ideas, theories and research
AO2: You need to apply your knowledge and understanding, usually referring to the ‘stem’ in order to do so (the stem is the example given before the question)
AO3: You need to analyse and evaluate key concepts, ideas, theories and research
After each featured question there is a ‘model’ answer i.e. one which would achieve top marks in the exam.
AO1:
Question: Describe Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception. [4]
Model answer:
Perception is an active process and involves drawing inferences from the sensory information available e.g. touch, sight.
The constructivist theory states that perception is constructed using sensations and stored knowledge gained via experience/learning: humans interpret sensory information using what they already know.
Stored knowledge and expectations come from past experiences which will be individual depending on the person’s environment.
Visual illusions can be used to illustrate Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception e.g. the Müller-Lyer, Ponzo.
AO3:
Question: Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception has been criticised. Use your knowledge of psychology to evaluate Gregory’s theory. [5]
Model answer:
Visual illusions show that perception is driven by expectation because people try to apply their stored knowledge of a 3D world to 2D representations such as the Ponzo images.
Evidence from research shows that factors such as motivation, and emotion, affect perception (e.g. McGinnies, 1949) so this supports the idea that perception is actively constructed by the individual.
Cross-cultural studies (e.g. Hudson, 1960) show that perception is influenced by experience.
Direct theories of perception challenge this theory because they argue that the information received by the retina is detailed enough to be able to interpret the sensation without inference (a ‘nature’ theory).
Gregory’s theory cannot explain how newborn babies use sensory information to interpret their environment. Gregory’s theory may be more applicable to 2D images, illustrated by illusions, rather than real-world perception.
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