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SENSATION- the part of the process by which information about the world is registered by the senses
and transmitted to the brain.
-It includes two stages: the PHYSICAL and the PSYCHOLOGICAL stage.
PHYSICAL STAGE OF SENSATION
A. ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD
-It is the smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present for it to be detected.
SIGHT: in a dark, clear night, a candle flame can be seen at 30miles distance
HEARING: the ticking of a wall clock can be heard at a distance of 20 feet.
TASTE: one teaspoon of sugar can be discerned when dissolve in even two gallons of water.
SMELL: perfume can be detected when one drop is present in a three-room apartment
TOUCH: a bees wing falling from a distance of one centimeter can be felt on a cheek.
B. TERMINAL THRESHOLD
-It is the maximum physical energy, which can still be detected by a sense organ, and beyond
which there will be no more sensation, or a sensation of a different modality.
EXAMPLE: Sound of a too high intensity (decibels) shift from an auditory to a pain experience.
C. DIFFERENTIAL THRESHOLD
-It is the minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to recognize the difference between two
stimuli.
EXAMPLE: Two tones must differ in a certain measurable intensity before a difference between
them is heard.
D. SENSORY ADAPTATION
-It refers to the reduction in sensitivity to stimulation as stimulation persists through time, and to
increase in sensitivity with lack of stimulation.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STAGE OF SENSATION
This stage refers to the psychological process that start with the action of the stimulus on a receptor,
which then triggers a flow of nerve impulses from the receptor to some terminal point in the nervous
system
Several aspects of a sensation can be recognized:
1. MODALITY refers to the different categories of a sensation making, for instance a visual (colors)
sensation different from an auditory (sound) sensation.
2. QUALITY-refers to the different experiences within the same modality. A sensation of blue is
different from red, and sweet is different from salty.
3. INTENSITY- It refers to a distinction in degree within the same quality.
4. DURATION- It indicates the length of a time a sensation lasts in the consciousness.
5. REACTION TIME- It refers to the time interval between the application of a sensory stimulus on a
sensory receptor and the recognition of this sensory experience as manifested in a reaction by the
subject.
5 SENSES
SENSORY TRANSDUCTION
- The process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energy into neural messages.
1. SENSE OF SIGHT
Light(Electromagnetic Radiation)- measured in wavelengths ( move at a speed of 186,000 miles/ sec.)
Light----------Cornea-----------Pupil (Iris)----------Retina( Fovea)-------------Optic Nerves-------Occipital Lobe
VISIBLE SPECTRUM
- a range of wavelengths that humans are sensitive to.
- relatively small, ranging from 400 (violet) millimicrons to 800 (red) millimicrons
- allows us to see colors
Electromagnetic energy fall beyond the visible spectrum (400 and 800 miliimicron)
- infrared rays
- ultraviolet rays
- radar
- x-rays
- radio waves
- gamma rays
CORNEA- a transparent protective window that is constantly being washed by tears, keeping it moist and clean
PUPIL- a dark hole found in the center of the iris.
- the dimmer the surroundings, the more the pupil opens in order to allow more light to enter.
IRIS- the colored part of the eye
- blue, green, gray, and brown (depends on melanin present)
SCLERA- whit part of the eye
LENS- located directly behind the pupil
- fine focusing of light is done by the lens
- transparent and flexible and held in place by tiny ciliary muscles. This muscles contract (get shorter)
or relax ( get longer) to change the shape of the lens so that the eye can focus on near or distant
objects.
RETINA- where the electro magnetic energy of light is converted into messages that the brain can use.
- a thin layer of nerve cells at the back of the eyeball, containing two kinds of light- sensitive receptor
cells: RODS and CONES
FOVEA- a sensitive region of the retina
RODS
-long and cylindrical
- 125 million
-location: peripheral
- related to vision in dimly lit situations ( night vision)
and peripheral vision
CONES
- short and thick
- 6 million
- location: center
- responsible for the sharply focused perception of
colors and details.
The neural impulses originating from the rods and cones, are channeled through the optic nerve to the
occipital lobe of the brain where the visual center is located.
6 muscles in our eyes that wok in pairs
Between the front of the eye and the iris is an area called the front chamber- filled with transparent fluid
called aqueous humor. Between the lens and the retina is called back chamber- that contains a thicker
fluid called vitreous humor. They both helps maintain the shape of the eye.
COLOR BLINDNESS
3 Dimensions in the normal vision
1. Light- Dark
2. Yellow- Blue
3. Red- Green
When the vibrations entering the cochlea bend these hair cells, a neural message is transmitted to the
brain.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STAGE
1. PITCH- psychological correlate of the frequency of a sound
- a slow frequency produces a low bass tone
ANOSMIA- a condition where in olfactory disappears when the hair- like structures are destroyed.
NASAL CAVITY- a passage
- can see layers of bone (turbinates) direct most air down into the lungs
Nerve fibers carrying messages from the smell receptors pass through a layer of bone at the top of each
nasal cavity and meet in the olfactory bulb that carries nerve impulses to the brain.
Through the olfactory nerve the sensations go to the olfactory center in the cerebral cortex
The sensory adaptation for the sense of smell is extremely marked: it fatigues rapidly, and recovers
slowly.
Odorous sensations change quality when odorant concentration changes.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STAGE
Henning:
1. Flowery
2. Fruity
3. Spicy
4. Burnt
5. Putrid
6. Resinous
- other odors are supposed to be mixtures of these qualities
Most odorous sensations are interpreted as perceptions of something- we even lack a vocabulary to
designate our olfactory sensations.
Olfactory perceptions may be modified by visual perceptions ex. Odor of onions
Odorous perceptions have a significant industrial importance
substances evoking gustatory sensations, are characterized by a single physical property- thy
dissolve in water or saliva to contact the taste receptors
The number of taste buds decreases with age, so that older people become less sensitive to taste
The different taste areas on the tongue corresponds to different locations in the brain
Neurons responding to sour and bitter tastes are located together on one end of the area of the cerebral
cortex corresponding to taste
Sweet taste stimulate neurons on the opposite end of the cortex.
Salty taste stimulate neurons that are distributed across the entire taste area of the cortex
The sense of taste fatigues rapidly ( sensory adaptation) but also recovers rapidly
With in each sensation: for example: sensory spots for pressure are more numerous on the shoulder,
the back and the legs.
Extremely intense stimuli always evoke pain, irrespective of the sensory spot stimulated.
Sensory spots, except for pain, fatigue rapidly as evidenced by sensation loss.
Simple pressure and pain perceptions are easily modified by cognitive and emotional factors. Gloves,
clothes are no perceived unless attention is drawn to their diffuse pressure pattern. Pain from an open
wound is often not perceived unless attention is drawn to oozing blood.
ESP
The acquisition by the mind of some information, which could not have been perceived by the
normal sense.
It refers to perceptions that require no sense organ stimulation.