Editing Perception (section)

=== Contrast effects ===
{{main|Contrast effect}}A common finding across many different kinds of perception is that the perceived qualities of an object can be affected by the qualities of context. If one object is extreme on some dimension, then neighboring objects are perceived as further away from that extreme.

"[[Contrast effect#Types|Simultaneous contrast effect]]" is the term used when stimuli are presented at the same time, whereas ''[[successive contrast]]'' applies when stimuli are presented one after another.<ref name="Corsini2002">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0uxnglHzYaoC&pg=PA219|title=The dictionary of psychology|last=Corsini|first=Raymond J.|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-58391-328-4|page=219|access-date=24 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109162655/http://books.google.com/books?id=0uxnglHzYaoC&pg=PA219|archive-date=9 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

The contrast effect was noted by the 17th Century philosopher [[John Locke]], who observed that lukewarm water can feel hot or cold depending on whether the hand touching it was previously in hot or cold water.<ref name="Kushner2008">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYn5VHp9jioC&pg=PA1|title=Contrast in judgments of mental health|last=Kushner|first=Laura H.|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-91314-6|page=1|access-date=24 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109163219/http://books.google.com/books?id=TYn5VHp9jioC&pg=PA1|archive-date=9 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 20th Century, [[Wilhelm Wundt]] identified contrast as a fundamental principle of perception, and since then the effect has been confirmed in many different areas.<ref name="Kushner2008" /> These effects shape not only visual qualities like color and brightness, but other kinds of perception, including how heavy an object feels.<ref name="Plous1993">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvWOQgAACAAJ|title=The psychology of judgment and decision making|last=Plous|first=Scott|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1993|isbn=978-0-07-050477-6|pages=38–41|access-date=24 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109162735/http://books.google.com/books?id=xvWOQgAACAAJ|archive-date=9 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> One experiment found that thinking of the name "Hitler" led to subjects rating a person as more hostile.<ref name="Moskowitz2005">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-NLW8Ynvp8C&pg=PA421|title=Social cognition: understanding self and others|last=Moskowitz|first=Gordon B.|publisher=Guilford Press|year=2005|isbn=978-1-59385-085-2|page=421|access-date=24 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109163155/http://books.google.com/books?id=_-NLW8Ynvp8C&pg=PA421|archive-date=9 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Whether a piece of music is perceived as good or bad can depend on whether the music heard before it was pleasant or unpleasant.<ref name="Popper2010">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYXd3CF1_vkC&pg=PA150|title=Music Perception|last=Popper|first=Arthur N.|date=30 November 2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4419-6113-6|page=150|access-date=24 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109163046/http://books.google.com/books?id=ZYXd3CF1_vkC&pg=PA150|archive-date=9 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> For the effect to work, the objects being compared need to be similar to each other: a television reporter can seem smaller when interviewing a tall basketball player, but not when standing next to a tall building.<ref name="Plous1993" /> In the brain, brightness contrast exerts effects on both neuronal [[Firing rate (cells)|firing rates]] and [[Neuronal synchronization|neuronal synchrony]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Biederlack|first1=J.|last2=Castelo-Branco|first2=M.|last3=Neuenschwander|first3=S.|last4=Wheeler|first4=D.W.|last5=Singer|first5=W.|last6=Nikolić|first6=D.|year=2006|title=Brightness induction: Rate enhancement and neuronal synchronization as complementary codes|journal=Neuron|volume=52|issue=6|pages=1073–1083|doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2006.11.012|pmid=17178409|s2cid=16732916|doi-access=free}}</ref>