Sensation and

Perception

Windows on the World

We

understand the world through our

senses, our windows on the world
Our reality, in fact, is dependent upon two
basic processes:

Sensation: Gathering information

Perception: Interpreting information

An Example of Misperception

The Journey
How

the Physical World

Relates to the Psychological
World

How
How

We See and How We Hear

We Make Sense of What

We See

How the Physical World

Relates to the
Psychological World
The Detection Question
The Difference Question
The Scaling Question

The Questions
1. The detection question is
concerned with the limits on our
ability to detect very faint signals

How intense does a light have to be

for us to see it?

How intense does a sound have to

be for us to hear it?

The Questions
2. The difference question is concerned
with limits on our detection abilities, but
in this case with our ability to detect
very small differences between stimuli

What is the smallest difference in

brightness between two lights that we can
see?

What is the smallest difference in loudness

between two sounds that we can hear?

The Questions
3. The scaling question is concerned with how
we perceive the magnitudes (intensities) of
clearly detectable stimuli

What is the relationship between the actual

physical intensities of stimuli and our
psychological perceptions of these intensities?

The Detection Question

Absolute

threshold is the minimum

amount of energy in a sensory stimulus that
is detected 50% of the time
Subliminal stimulus is one that is detected
only up to 49% of the time

Any effects of subliminal persuasion are shortlived with no long-term consequences on our
behavior

Theoretical and Observed

Absolute Thresholds

Four Possible Outcomes in a

Signal Detection Study

Observers
Response

Signal
Present
Yes
No

Hit
Miss

Absent
False
Alarm
Correct
Rejection

The Difference Question

A

difference threshold (also called a just

noticeable difference, or jnd) is the
minimum difference between two stimuli that
is detected 50% of the time
Webers Law says that for each type of
sensory judgment, the difference threshold is
a constant fraction of the standard stimulus
value used to measure it

The Scaling Question

Stevens

Power Law states that the perceived

magnitude of a stimulus is equal to its actual
physical intensity raised to a constant power
for each type of judgment

For instance, to perceive a light as twice as bright,

its actual intensity has to be increased between and
8 and 9 times

Likewise, if an electric shock is doubled in intensity,

we perceive it as being about 10 times more intense

The Scaling Question

Sensory

adaptation is the disappearance

to repetitive or unchanging stimuli

This sensory adaptation has survival value, as

it is more important to detect new stimuli
(which may signal danger) than constant
stimuli

How We See and

How We Hear
How the Eye Works
How We See Color
How the Ear Works
How We Distinguish Pitch

Physical Characteristics of
Light and Sound Waves

Wavelength refers to the

distance in one cycle of a wave,
from one crest to the next

With respect to vision, human can

see wavelengths of about 400 to
700 nanometers

Amplitude is the amount of

energy in a wave, its intensity,
which is the height of the wave
at its crest

For light waves, amplitude

determines its brightness

A Typical Waveform
and its Characteristics

Physical Characteristics of
Light and Sound Waves

With respect to auditory stimuli, frequency is the

number of times a sound wave cycles in one second,
with shorter wavelengths having higher frequencies
The frequency determines
the pitch of a sound; that is
how high or low the sounds
is perceived to be
To understand these
physical characteristics,
receptor cells must
transduce them into neural
signals that the brain can use

How the Eye Works

The cornea covers the eye and is the clear covering
through which light rays pass
The light rays are further filtered by the pupil through
the lens before being passed to the retina at the back
of the eye
The lens accommodates the light waves from objects
of different distances directly on the retina

For nearsighted people, light rays from distant objects are

focused in front of the retina, whereas for farsighted people,
light rays from close objects are focused behind the retina

How the Eye Works

The retina is the light-sensitive layer of the eye

and has three layers of cells:

The ganglion cells are the first layer through which

light rays pass
After which light rays pass through the bipolar cells
And are finally processed in the receptor cells, which
contain the visual receptor cells rods and cones

The approximately 120 million rods are responsible for

seeing in dim light and for peripheral vision
The approximately 5 million cones, located in the
center of the retina, called the fovea, are responsible for
seeing in bright light and in color

How the Eye Works

After being processed in the retina, patterns of

neural impulses describing the visual image are
carried through the bipolar cells to the ganglion
cells, which bundle together to form the optic nerve

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye, there are no

receptor cells, and thus we have a blind spot
The optic nerve runs through the thalamus, which acts as
a relay station to transmit sensory information to the
correct part of the cerebral cortex
Visual information is directed to the occipital lobe, where it
is processed
Feature detector cells recognize basic features of the
stimulus, which are then coordinated to give it meaning
(i.e., to perceive it)

How the Eye Works

How We See Color

The Trichromatic theory contends that there are

three types of cones, each activated by a certain
wavelength, which corresponds approximately to
blue, green, and red
The Opponent-Process theory assumes that there
are three types of cell systems that
help us see color, and these systems
are located at the post-receptor level
of processing

The three types of cell systems are redgreen and blue-yellow, as well as blackwhite (to detect brightness)
If one color in a pair is stimulated, the
other is inhibited

Subtractive and
Additive Mixtures

Demonstration of
Complementary Afterimage

Demonstration of
Complementary Afterimage

How We See Color

Both theories have validity,

each at different levels of
visual information processing

The Trichromatic theory is

correct in its account of how
color information is processed
by the cones
The Opponent-Process theory
is correct in its account of how
color information is processed
after it leaves the retina (and is
processed by the bipolar,
ganglion, and thalamic cells)

How the Ear Works

The outer ear

The pinna, which is the external part of the ear,

collects sounds and funnels them through the
auditory canal to the tympanic membrane (the
eardrum), which marks the boundary between
the outer ear and the middle ear

How the Ear Works

The middle ear

The malleus, incus, and stapes (also called the

hammer, anvil and stirrup) vibrate in reaction to
sound waves from the auditory canal
The stapes movement creates
vibrations on the oval
window, which covers
the inner ear

How the Ear Works

The inner ear

The cochlea contains in the basilar membrane

about 16,000 hair cells that are the receptor
cells for hearing
Fluid in the cochlea is displaced, causing the hair
cells to move, in turn causing the sensation of
hearing
When these hair cells or auditory nerve fibers are
damaged, a person suffers nerve deafness
Conduction deafness is hearing loss due to
damage to the mechanical system carrying
sound waves to the cochlea

How the Ear Works

How We Distinguish Pitch

Pitch is the quality of a sound perceived as

high or low and is determined by the
frequency of the sound wave

Humans can perceive sound wave frequencies

from about 20 to 20,000 Hertz

Place theory contends that there is a

specific place along the basilar membrane
in the inner ear that will correspond to a
particular frequency.
Frequency theory contends that the
frequency of a sound wave is mimicked by
the firing rate of the hair cells across the
entire basilar membrane

How We Distinguish Pitch

Both theories have validity

According to the volley principle, Frequency theory

explains our perception of sound up to about 5000 Hz.
Because 5000 times per second is the upper limit for the
firing rate using the volley principle, Frequency theory
would not be able to explain how we perceive higher
frequencies
Hence, Frequency theory explains the perceptions of
lower pitched sounds (< 500 Hz) and Place theory
explains how we perceive higher frequencies (> 5000 Hz)
For frequencies between 500 and 5000 Hz, both theories
are correct, and hence we have better pitch perception in
this range

How We Make Sense

of What We See
Bottom-up Processing and
Top-down Processing
Perceptual Organization and
Perceptual Constancy
Depth Perception

Bottom-up Processing and

Top-down Processing

Bottom-up processing is
the processing of sensory
information as it enters the
sensory structures and
travels to the brain
Top-down processing is the brains use of existing
knowledge, beliefs, and expectations to interpret the
sensory stimulation

Perception is subjective because of top-down processing

Perceptual set occurs when we interpret an ambiguous
stimulus in accordance with our past experiences
A contextual effect occurs when we use the present
context of sensory input to determine its meaning

Perceptual Organization
and Top-down Processing

A Context Effect on Perception

Perceptual Organization
Gestalt means organized whole

Gestalt psychologists believe that the organized

whole is greater than the sum of its individual pieces
of sensory information
The figure-and-ground principle states that the
brain organizes sensory input into a figure (the center
of attention) and a ground (the background)
Closure is the tendency to complete (i.e., close)
incomplete figures to form meaningful objects
Subjective contours are lines or shapes that are
perceived to be present but do not really exist

An Example of
Figure-Ground Ambiguity

An Example of an Organizational
Perceptual Ambiguity

An Example of a
Subjective Contour

Perceptual Constancy
Refers

Size
Shape
Brightness
Color

For

to the perceptual stability of

familiar objects seen at

Varying distances
Different angles
Different lighting conditions

Depth Perception

Involves judging the distance

of objects from us
Binocular depth cues
require the use of both eyes

Retinal disparity refers to the fact that as the disparity

between the two retinal images decreases, the distance
from us increases (and vice versa)

Monocular depth cues require only one eye

Linear perspective refers to the fact that as parallel lines

recede away from us, they appear to converge
Interposition refers to the fact that if one object blocks our
view of another, we perceive the blocking object as closer

Visual Illusions
In the Ponzo illusion, two
horizontal lines are equal
in length, but one appears
longer than the other
The convergence of
the two lines (i.e.,
linear perspective)
outside the horizontal
lines normally
indicates increasing
distance

Visual Illusions
In the Mller-Lyer illusion, two vertical line segments are equal
in length, but the one with arrow feather endings appears to be longer

The line with arrow feather endings

has the appearance of a corner that
is receding away from you (the
corners where two walls meet in a
room), while the line with arrowhead
endings has the appearance of a
corner that is jutting out toward you
(the corners where two sides of a
building meet)

Thus, it is our past experience with

corners that leads the brain to believe
that the line with arrow feather
endings is farther away