Contents
What to Do
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Try to control the width or shape of the quadrilateral figure or the angle of the line going through it. You can control the shape of the figure by keeping it square; you can control the width of the figure by keeping it about 1/2 inch wide; you can control the angle of the line going through the figure by keeping it at 90 degrees (perfectly horizontal) relative to the sides of the figure. All three perceptions can be controlled by moving the mouse appropriately to the left or right. Click the mouse button at any time to see a graph of the three perceptual variables changing over time.
In this task you can control any one of three different perceptual representations of the same objective state of affairs (a quadrilateral figure with a line through it). This demonstration shows that purposeful behavior is the control of perception.
Notice that you can perceive and control different aspects of the figure and line. You can control the width and shape of the figure and the angle of the line with respect to the sides of the figure. And you can easily shift from controlling one perception (such as its width) to controlling another (such as angle). You can change what you perceive about the figure and line while the physical characteristics of the situation (horizontal and vertical rows of pixels of variable lengths and orientations) remain the same.
You can get a graphic picture of how well you control each perception by pressing the mouse button. The graph is a time trace of the value of each of the perceptual variables (width, angle and shape) that you could control. When a perceptual variable is controlled it is kept equal to some reference value, protected from the effects of disturbance. If the variable is kept at a constant reference value the time trace of that variable will be a straight line. If you were controlling shape, for example, the time trace of the shape should be parallel to the straight, horizontal line on the graph. The time trace of the uncontrolled variables will vary over time.
You should practice controlling each perceptual aspect of the situation for a minute or two. Don't press the mouse button to look at the graph of the result until you have been successfully controlling a variable successfully for at least 30 seconds.