Sensation and Perception

Chapter 6
„ r Sensational Senses
a Defining sensation and perception
a The riddle of separate senses
a Meas ring the senses
a Sensory adaptation
a Sensory overload
Defining Sensation and Perception
a Sensation
a The detection of physical energy emitted or
reflected by physical objects.
a It occ rs when energy in the external
environment or the body stim lates receptors
in the sense organs.
a Perception
a The process by which the brain organizes and
interprets sensory information.
÷mbig o s Fig re
a Colored s rface can
be either the o tside
front s rface or the
inside back s rface
a Cannot
sim ltaneo sly be
both
a Brain can interpret
the ambig o s c es
two different ways
 The Riddle of Separate Sensations
a Sense receptors
a Specialized cells that
convert physical
energy in the
environment or the
body to electrical
energy that can be
transmitted as nerve
imp lses to the
brain.
Sensation & Perception Processes
Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies
a Different sensory modalities exist beca se
signals received by the sense organs
stim late different nerve pathways leading
to different areas of the brain.
a Synthesia
a ÷ condition in which stim lation of one sense
also evokes another.
Meas ring Senses
a ÷bsol te threshold
a Difference threshold
a Signal-detection theory
÷bsol te Threshold
a The smallest q antity of physical energy that can
be reliably detected by an observer.
÷bsol te Sensory Thresholds
a Vision:
a ÷ single candle flame from 30 miles on a dark, clear
night
a Hearing:
a The tick of a watch from 20 feet in total q iet
a Smell:
a 1 drop of perf me in a 6-room apartment
a To ch:
a The wing of a bee on yo r cheek, dropped from 1 cm
a Taste:
a 1 tsp. S gar in 2 gal. water
Difference Threshold
a The smallest difference in stim lation that
can be reliably detected by an observer
when two stim li are compared;
a ÷lso called J st Noticeable Difference
(JND).
Signal-Detection Theory
a ÷ psychophysical theory that divides the detection of
a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision
process.
Stim l s is Stim l s is
Present ÷bsent
Response: Hit False ÷larm
³Present´
Response: Miss Correct
³÷bsent´ Rejection
Sensory ÷daptation and Deprivation
a ÷daptation
a The red ction or disappearance of sensory
responsiveness when stim lation is
nchanging or repetitio s.
a Prevents s from having to contin o sly
respond to nimportant information.
a Deprivation
a The absence of normal levels of sensory
stim lation.
Sensory „verload
a „verstim lation of the senses.
a Can se selective attention to red ce
sensory overload.
a Selective attention
a The foc sing of attention on selected aspects of
the environment and the blocking o t of others.
Vision
a What we see
a ÷n eye on the world
a Why the vis al system is not a camera
a How we see colo rs
a Constr cting the vis al world
What We See
a H e
a Vis al experience specified by colo r names
and related to the wavelength of light.
a Brightness
a Lightness and l minance; the vis al experience
related to the amo nt of light emitted from or
reflected by an object.
a Sat ration
a Vividness or p rity of colo r; the vis al
experience related to the complexity of light
waves.
What We See
a H e
a Brightness
a Sat ration
 ÷n Eye on the World
a Cornea
a Protects eye and bends
light toward lens.
a Lens
a Foc ses on objects by
changing shape.
a Iris
a Controls amo nt of light
that gets into eye.
a P pil
a Widens or dilates to let
in more light.
÷n Eye on the World
a Retina
a Ne ral tiss e lining the back of the eyeball¶s
interior, which contains the receptors for vision.
a Rods
a Vis al receptors that respond to dim light.
a Cones
a Vis al receptors involved in colo r vision. Most
h mans have 3 types of cones.
The Str ct res of the Retina
Why the Vis al System is not a Camera
a M ch vis al processing is done in the
brain.
a Some cortical cells respond to lines in
specific orientations (e.g. horizontal).
a „ther cells in the cortex respond to other
shapes (e.g., b lls-eyes, spirals, faces).
a Feat re-detectors
a Cells in the vis al cortex that are sensitive to
specific feat res of the environment.
H bel & Wiesel¶s Experiment
How We See Colo rs
a Trichromatic theory
a „pponent process theory
Trichromatic Theory
a Yo ng (1802) & von
Helmholtz (1852)
both proposed that the
eye detects 3 primary
colo rs:
a red, bl e, & green
a ÷ll other colo rs can
be derived by
combining these
three.
„pponent-Process Theory
a ÷ competing theory of
colo r vision, which
ass mes that the vis al
system treats pairs of
colo rs as opposing or
antagonistic.
a „pponent-Process
cells are inhibited by a
colo r, and have a
b rst of activity when
it is removed.
÷fterimages
Test of Colo r Deficiency
Constr cting the Vis al World
a Form perception
a Depth and distance perception
a Vis al constancies: When seeing is
believing
a Vis al ill sions: When seeing is misleading
Form Perception
a Gestalt principles describe the brain¶s
organization of sensory b ilding blocks
into meaningf l nits and patterns.
 Fig re and Gro nd
a Proximity
a Seeing 3 pair of lines in
÷.
a Similarity
a Seeing col mns of
orange and red dots in
B.
a Contin ity
a Seeing lines that connect
1 to 2 and 3 to 4 in C.
a Clos re
a Seeing a horse in D.
Depth and Distance Perception
a Binoc lar C es:
a Vis al c es to depth or distance that req ire the
se of both eyes.
a Convergence: T rning inward of the eyes,
which occ rs when they foc s on a nearby
object.
a Retinal Disparity: The slight difference in
lateral separation between two objects as seen
by the left eye and the right eye.
Depth and Distance Perception
a Monoc lar C es:
a Vis al c es to depth or distance that can be
sed by one eye alone.
The ÷mes Room
a ÷ specially-b ilt room
that makes people seem
to change size as they
move aro nd in it
a The room is not a
rectangle, as viewers
ass me it is
a ÷ single peephole
prevents sing binoc lar
depth c es
 Vis al Constancies
a The acc rate perception of objects as stable
or nchanged despite changes in the
sensory patterns they prod ce.
a Shape constancy
a Location constancy
a Size constancy
a Brightness constancy
a Colo r constancy
Shape Constancy
a Even tho gh these images cast shadows of
different shapes, we still see the q arter as ro nd
Vis al
Ill sions

a Ill sions are val able in nderstanding perception

beca se they are systematic errors.
a Ill sions provide hints abo t percept al strategies.
a In the M ller-Lyer ill sion (above) we tend to
perceive the line on the right as slightly longer than
the one on the left.
The Ponzo Ill sion
a Linear perspective
provides context
a Side lines seem to
converge
a Top line seems
farther away
a B t the retinal
images of the red
lines are eq al!
Fooling the Eye

a The cats in (a) are the same size

a The diagonal lines in (b) are parallel
a Yo can create a ³floating fingertip frankf rter´ by
holding hands as shown, 5-10´ in front of face.
Hearing
a What we hear
a ÷n ear on the world
a Constr cting the a ditory world
What We Hear
a Lo dness
a The dimension of a ditory experience related to
the intensity of a press re wave.
a Pitch
a The dimension of a ditory experience related to
the freq ency of a press re wave.
a Timbre (prono nced ³T÷M-b r´)
a The disting ishing q ality of so nd; the
dimension of a ditory experience related to the
complexity of the press re wave.
÷n Ear on the World
÷ ditory Localization
a So nds from different
directions are not identical
as they arrive at left and
right ears
a Lo dness
a Timing
a Phase
a The brain calc lates a
so nd¶s location by sing
these differences.
„ther Senses
a Taste: savo ry sensations
a Smell: The sense of scents
a Senses of the skin
a The mystery of pain
a The environment within
Taste: Savo ry Sensations
a Papillae
a Knoblike elevations on the tong e, containing the
taste b ds (Sing lar: papilla).
a Taste b ds
a Nests of taste-receptor cells.
Taste B ds
a Photograph of tong e
s rface (top),
magnified 75 times.
a 10,000 taste b ds line
the tong e and
mo th.
a Taste receptors are
down inside the
³b d´
a Children have more
taste b ds than ad lts.
Fo r Tastes
a Fo r basic tastes
a Salty, so r, bitter and sweet.
a Different people have different tastes based
on:
a Genetics
a C lt re
a Learning
a Food attractiveness
Smell: The Sense of Scents

a ÷irborne chemical molec les enter the nose and

circ late thro gh the nasal cavity.
a Vapors can also enter thro gh the mo th and pass into
nasal cavity.
a Receptors on the roof of the nasal cavity detect these
molec les.
„lfactory System
Sensitivity to To ch
Gate-Control Theory of Pain
a Experience of pain
depends (in part) on
whether the pain
imp lse gets past
ne rological ³gate´ in
the spinal cord and
th s reaches the brain.
 Ne romatrix Theory of Pain
a Theory that the
matrix of ne rons in
the brain is capable of
generating pain (and
other sensations) in
the absence of signals
from sensory nerves.
The Environment Within
a Kinesthesis
a The sense of body position and movement of
body parts; also called kinesthesia.
a Eq ilibri m
a The sense of balance.
a Semicirc lar Canals
a Sense organs in the inner ear, which
contrib te to eq ilibri m by responding to
rotation of the head.
Percept al Powers: „rigins and
Infl ences
a Inborn abilities
a Critical periods
a Psychological and c lt ral Infl ences on
perception
 The Vis al
a Glass s rface, with
checkerboard nderneath at Cliff
different heights
a Vis al ill sion of a cliff
a Baby can¶t fall
a Mom stands across the gap
a Babies show increased
attention over deep side at
age 2 months, b t aren¶t
afraid ntil abo t the age
they can crawl (Gibson &
Walk, 1960)
The Vis al Cliff
Critical Periods
a If infants miss o t on
experiences d ring a cr cial
period of time, perception
will be impaired.
a When ad lts who have been
blind since birth have
vision restored, they may
not see well
a „ther senses s ch has
hearing may be infl enced
similarly.
Psychological and C lt ral Infl ences
on Perception
a We are more likely to perceive something when
we need it.
a What we believe can affect what we perceive.
a Emotions, s ch as fear, can infl ence perceptions
of sensory information.
a Expectations based on o r previo s experiences
infl ence how we perceive the world.
a Percept al Set
a ÷ habit al way of perceiving, based on expectations.
a ÷ll are infl enced by o r c lt re.
Percept al Set

a What yo see in the centre fig res depends on the

order in which yo look at the fig res:
a If yo scan from the left, see an old woman
a If yo scan from the right, see a woman¶s fig re
Context Effects
a The same physical
stim l s can be
interpreted differently
a We se other c es in
the sit ation to
resolve ambig ities
a Is this the letter B or
the n mber 13?
P zzles of Perception
a S bliminal Perception
a Extrasensory Perception: Reality or
Ill sion?
S bliminal Perception
a Perceiving witho t awareness
a vis al stim li can affect yo r behavio r even
when yo are naware that yo saw it
a nonconscio s processing also occ rs in
memory, thinking, and decision making
a these effects are often small, however, and
diffic lt to demonstrate and work best with
simple stim li
S bliminal Perception
a Perception vers s Pers asion
a there is no empirical research to s pport
pop lar notions that s bliminal pers asion
has any effect on a person¶s behavio r
a pers asion works best when messages, in the
form of advertising or self-help tapes, are
presented above-threshold, or at a
s praliminal level
Extrasensory Perception
a Extrasensory Perception (ESP):
a The ability to perceive something witho t
ordinary sensory information
a This has not been scientifically demonstrated
a Three types of ESP:
a Telepathy ± Mind-to-mind comm nication
a Clairvoyance ± Perception of remote events
a Precognition ± ÷bility to see f t re events
Parapsychology
a The st dy of p rported psychic phenomena
s ch as ESP and mental telepathy.
a Persinger s ggests that psychic phenomena
are related to signs of temporal lobe
epilepsy in otherwise ne rologically
normal individ als.
a Most ESP st dies prod ce negative
findings and are not easily replicated.
Parapsychology

a J. B. Rhine cond cted many experiments on ESP

sing stim li s ch as these.
a Rhine believed that his evidence s pported the
existence of ESP, b t his findings were flawed.