Psychology
Sensation and Perception
Sensation refers to the process of detecting and encoding sensory information from the environment, such as seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling. Perception involves organizing and interpreting the sensory information to make sense of the world. Together, sensation and perception play a crucial role in how individuals experience and understand their surroundings.
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10 Key excerpts on "Sensation and Perception"
eBook - PDF- Karen R. Huffman, Alastair Younger, Claire Vanston(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
4 Sensation and Perception I magine that your visual field were suddenly inverted and reversed so that things you expected to be on your right were on your left, and things you expected to be above your head were below it. No doubt you would have trouble getting around. Imagine pouring a cup of coffee or taking notes in class. Do you think you could ever adapt to this distorted world? To answer that question, about a hundred years ago, psychologist George Stratton (1896) wore special lenses for eight days. For the first few days, Stratton had great difficulty navigating in this environment and coping with everyday tasks. But by the third day, his experience had begun to change—things were easier to do. By the fifth day, Stratton had almost completely adjusted to his strange perceptual environment and his expectations of how the world should be arranged had changed significantly. As Stratton’s experiment shows, we are able to adjust even our most basic perceptions by retraining our brains to adapt to unfamiliar physical sensations, creat- ing a newly coherent world. This chapter focuses on two separate, but inseparable, aspects of how we experience the world: Sensation and Perception. The boundary between these two processes is not precise but they are generally defined as follows: sensation is the process of receiving, translating, and trans- mitting raw sensory data from the external and internal environments to the brain. More simply, it is the gathering up of the information provided from our senses. Perception is the higher-level process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representations of the world. It is what we do with the sensory information we get in order to understand the world and our experiences. While these defini- tions might seem a bit dry and boring, the beauty and magic of the concepts come alive in the examples.
eBook - PDF- Karen R. Huffman, Katherine Dowdell, Catherine A. Sanderson(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Sensation The process of detecting, converting, and trans- mitting raw sensory information from the external and internal environments to the brain. Perception The process of selecting, organizing, and inter- preting sensory information into meaningful objects and events. Bottom-up processing A type of information processing that starts at the “bottom” with an analysis of smaller features, and then builds on them to create complete percep- tions; data-driven processing that moves from the parts to the whole. Top-down processing A type of information processing that starts at the “top” with higher-level analysis (prior knowledge and expectations), and then works “down” to recognize individual features as a unified whole; concep- tually driven processing that moves from the whole to the parts. 4.1 Understanding Sensation LEARNING OBJECTIVES Retrieval Practice While reading the upcoming sections, respond to each Learning Objective in your own words. Review the key features and processes of sensation. • Differentiate sensation from perception. • Describe how raw sensory stimuli are processed and converted to signals sent to our brains. • Discuss how and why we reduce the amount of sensory information we receive and process. • Explain psychophysics and subliminal stimuli. • Summarize the factors involved in sensory adaptation and pain perception. FIGURE 4.1 Sensation and Perception When you look at this drawing, do you see a young woman looking back over her shoulder or an older woman with her chin buried in a fur collar? Younger students tend to first see a young woman, and older students first see an older woman. Although the basic sensory input (sensa- tion) stays the same, your brain’s attempt to select, organize, and interpret the sensory information (perception) turns the black and white lines and shapes into mean- ingful objects—either a young or old face.
eBook - PDF- Siri Carpenter, Karen Huffman(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
sensation The process of detecting, converting, and transmitting raw sensory information from the external and internal environments to the brain. RETRIEVAL PRACTICE While reading the upcoming sections, respond to each Learning Objective in your own words. Then compare your responses with those in Appendix B. perception The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information into meaningful patterns. THE PLANNER ✓ ✓ Study Organizer 4.1 Sensation and Perception SENSATION PERCEPTION Sense Stimulus Receptors Brain Vision Light waves Light-sensitive rods and cones in eye’s retina Visual cortex in the occipital lobe Audition (hearing) Sound waves Pressure-sensitive hair cells in ear’s cochlea Auditory cortex in the temporal lobe Olfaction (smell) Molecules dissolved on nose’s mucous membranes Neurons in the nose’s olfactory epithelium Temporal lobe and limbic system Gustation (taste) Molecules dissolved on tongue Taste buds on tongue’s surface Limbic system, somatosensory cortex, and frontal lobe Body Senses Variety of stimuli Variety of receptors Motor cortex in the frontal lobe and the somatosensory cortex in the pari-etal lobe Light waves Understanding Sensation 89 that the body does register before a neural impulse is finally sent to the various parts of the brain. Humans, for example, cannot sense ultraviolet light, microwaves, the ultrasonic sound of a dog whistle, or infrared heat patterns from warm-blooded animals, as some other animals can. Find out what you already know about Sensation and Perception by taking the quiz in Myth Busters . Processing Our eyes, ears, skin, and other sense organs all contain special cells called receptors, which receive and process sensory information from the environment. For each sense, these specialized cells respond to a distinct stimulus, such as sound waves or odor molecules. During the process of trans-duction , the receptors convert the stimulus into neural im-pulses, which are sent to the brain.
eBook - PDF- Catherine A. Sanderson, Karen R. Huffman(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
We begin with an exploration of how sensation differs from perception and three key topics involved in sensation—processing, psychophysics, and sensory adaptation. Next, we examine vision, hearing, and our other important senses— smell, taste, and body senses. We conclude with a survey of the basic processes in perception— selection, organization, and interpretation. 4.1 Understanding Sensation LEARNING OBJECTIVES Retrieval Practice While reading the upcoming sections, respond to each Learning Objective in your own words. Review the key features and processes of sensation. • Differentiate sensation from perception. • Describe how raw sensory stimuli are processed and converted to signals sent to our brains. • Discuss how and why we reduce the amount of sensory information we receive and process. • Explain psychophysics and subliminal stimuli. • Summarize the factors involved in sensory adaptation and pain perception. Psychologists are keenly interested in our senses because they are our mind’s window to the outside world. We’re equally interested in how our mind perceives and interprets the informa- tion it receives from the senses. In this chapter we separate the discussion of sensation and per- ception, but in our everyday life the two normally blend into one apparently seamless process. We’ll start with an explanation of how they differ. Sensation versus Perception Sensation begins with specialized receptor cells located in our sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and internal body tissues). When sense organs detect an appropriate stimulus (light, mechanical pressure, chemical molecules), they convert it into neural impulses (action potentials) that are transmitted to our brains. Through the process of perception, the brain then assigns meaning to this sensory information (Table 4.1). Another clever way to differentiate Sensation and Perception is shown in Figure 4.1.
eBook - PDF- Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Openstax(Publisher)
FIGURE 5.1 If you were standing in the midst of this street scene, you would be absorbing and processing numerous pieces of sensory input. (credit: modification of work by Cory Zanker) INTRODUCTION CHAPTER OUTLINE 5.1 Sensation versus Perception 5.2 Waves and Wavelengths 5.3 Vision 5.4 Hearing 5.5 The Other Senses 5.6 Gestalt Principles of Perception Imagine standing on a city street corner. You might be struck by movement everywhere as cars and people go about their business, by the sound of a street musician’s melody or a horn honking in the distance, by the smell of exhaust fumes or of food being sold by a nearby vendor, and by the sensation of hard pavement under your feet. We rely on our sensory systems to provide important information about our surroundings. We use this information to successfully navigate and interact with our environment so that we can find nourishment, seek shelter, maintain social relationships, and avoid potentially dangerous situations. This chapter will provide an overview of how sensory information is received and processed by the nervous system and how that affects our conscious experience of the world. We begin by learning the distinction between Sensation and Perception. Then we consider the physical properties of light and sound stimuli, along with an overview of the basic structure and function of the major sensory systems. The chapter will close with a discussion of a historically important theory of perception called Gestalt. 5 Sensation and Perception 5.1 Sensation versus Perception LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: • Distinguish between Sensation and Perception • Describe the concepts of absolute threshold and difference threshold • Discuss the roles attention, motivation, and sensory adaptation play in perception Sensation What does it mean to sense something? Sensory receptors are specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli.
eBook - PDF- Karen R. Huffman, Catherine A. Sanderson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Perception The processes of selecting, orga- nizing, and interpreting sensory information into meaningful patterns; interpreting sensory images as having been produced by stimuli from the external, three-dimensional world. Transduction The process whereby sensory receptors convert stimuli into neural impulses to be sent to the brain (for example, trans- forming light waves into neural impulses). Coding The process in which neural impulses travel by different routes to different parts of the brain; it allows us to detect vari- ous physical stimuli as distinct sensations. chapter 4 Sensation and Perception 92 SENSATION PERCEPTION Sense Stimulus Receptors Brain Vision Light waves Light-sensitive rods and cones in eye’s retina Visual cortex in the occipital lobe Audition (hearing) Sound waves Pressure-sensitive hair cells in ear’s cochlea Auditory cortex in the temporal lobe Olfaction (smell) Molecules dissolved on nose’s mucous membranes Neurons in the nose’s olfactory epithelium Temporal lobe and limbic system Gustation (taste) Molecules dissolved on tongue Taste buds on tongue’s surface Limbic system, somatosensory cortex, and frontal lobe Body senses Variety of stimuli Variety of receptors Motor cortex in the frontal lobe and the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe TABLE 4.1 Sensation and Perception Light waves stimuli as distinct sensations because their neural impulses travel by different routes and arrive at different parts of the brain (Figure 4.1) . We also have structures that purposefully reduce the amount of sensory information we receive. In this process of sensory reduction, we analyze and then filter incoming sensations before sending neural impulses on for further processing in other parts of our brain. Without this natural filtering of stimuli, we would constantly hear blood rushing through our veins and feel our clothes brushing against our skin.
- Lorelle J. Burton, Drew Westen, Robin M. Kowalski(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
– Bottom-up processing emphasises the role of sen- sory data in shaping perception. – Top-down processing emphasises the infuence of prior experience on perception. CENTRAL QUESTIONS Physical reality and psychological reality Our sensory systems and perceptual processes refect the combination of nature and nurture. • To what extent is our knowledge of the world given by our experience or constructed from our experience? • To what extent are we born with ways of viewing reality? OPENING CASE Have you ever noticed how enticing the aroma of your favourite restaurant is when you frst walk through the door? The smell of foods you enjoy coming from the kitchen makes your mouth water. Depending on how long it has been since you last ate a meal, you might develop an urgent craving and order as soon as possible! After you order, while you wait for your meal to arrive, you may not even notice it, but your awareness of the food odours in the room is probably gradually decreasing. By the time your meal comes to your table, you probably do not even notice the smells that seemed so strong when you frst got to the restaurant. When the server places your plate on the table, right under your nose, however, you might suddenly begin to notice the smell of food again — this time your own. Situations such as these are central to the study of Sensation and Perception. Sensation refers to the process by which the sense organs gather information about the environment and transmit this information to the brain for initial processing. Perception is the process by which the brain organises and interprets these sensations. Sensations are immediate experiences of qualities — red, hot, bright and so on — whereas perceptions are experiences of Daniel Kish, president of World Access for the Blind, is a pioneer of fash sonar, a method of generating vocal clicks and using their echoes to identify one’s surroundings and move about. objects or events that appear to have form, order or mean- ing.
eBook - PDF- Douglas Bernstein, , , (Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Summary 135 SUMMARY Sensing and Perceiving the World What is the difference between Sensation and Perception? A sense is a system that translates information from outside the nervous system into neural activity. Messages from the senses are called sensations . Perception is the process through which people actively use knowledge and understanding of the world to interpret sensations as meaningful experiences. Sensory Systems How does information from my eyes and ears get to my brain? Accessory structures collect and modify incoming energy from sensory stimuli. Then comes transduction , the process of convert-ing that energy into neural activity. It is accomplished by sensory neural receptors , which are neural cells specialized to detect en-ergy of some type. Sensory adaptation takes place when recep-tors continue to receive stimulation that does not change. Except in the case of smell, sensory neural activity is transferred through the thalamus, which relays it to the cerebral cortex. Encoding is the translation of the physical properties of a stimulus into patterns of neural activity that specifically identify those physical properties. It’s the language the brain uses to describe sensations. Encoding is characterized by the specific energy doctrine: Stimulation of a par-ticular sensory nerve provides codes for that one sense, no matter how the stimulation takes place. The minimum amount of light, sound, pressure, or other phys-ical energy that can be detected 50 percent of the time is called the absolute threshold .
eBook - PDFDiscovering Psychology
The Science of Mind
- John Cacioppo, Laura Freberg(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
As you’ll see in this chapter, we carefully construct models of reality from the information we obtain through our senses. We like to think that we are aware of the world around us, and it is somewhat unsettling to realize that the world might be quite different from the representations of reality formed by the human mind. You will learn how the models built by the human mind have promoted our survival over many generations. Our models of reality are quite different from those built by the minds of other animals, whose survival often depends on obtaining different types of information from the environment around them. 148 Learning Objectives 1. Explain basic concepts of Sensation and Perception, including transduction of stimuli into neural signals, distinctions between bottom-up and top-down perceptual processing, thresholds, and measurement. 2. Analyze the process by which the physical structures of the eye transduce light waves into neural signals producing the sense of vision. 3. Explain the processes responsible for color vision, object recognition, and depth perception. 4. Analyze the process by which physical structures of the ear transduce sound waves into neural signals, producing perception of pitch, loudness, and spatial location in hearing. 5. Summarize the mechanisms by which the somatosensory and chemical sense systems produce perception of body position, touch, skin temperature, pain, smell, and taste. 6. Analyze the causes of various individual differences in perception (including development and culture) in terms of biology, experience, and their interaction. How Does Sensation Lead to Perception? Our bodies are bombarded with information, whether we are asleep or awake. This informa-tion can take many forms, from the electromagnetic energy of the sun to vibrations in the air to molecules dissolved in the saliva on our tongue. The process of sensation brings informa-F i g u r e 5.1 The Munker Illusion and Color Deficiency.
eBook - PDFEssentials of Psychology
Concepts and Applications
- Jeffrey Nevid(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
What do we call chemicals that function as sexual attractants? 2003). Do you think people will be led by their noses when buying their next car? ■ ■ ■ Do you believe you are led around by your nose? How is your behavior affected by aromas? Think About It ■ ■ ■ Selling cars is no longer simply a matter of performance, value, styling, and safety. Now aroma has entered the picture. General Motors, for example, imbued some of its Cadillacs with a sweet scent they call Nuance (Hakim, Perception is the process by which the brain interprets sensory information, turning it into meaningful representations of the external world. Through perception, the brain attempts to make sense of the mass of sensory stimuli that impinge on our sensory organs. Were it not for perception, the world would seem like a continually changing hodgepodge of disconnected sensations—a buzzing confusion of lights, sounds, and other sensory impressions. The brain brings order to the mix of sen- sations we experience, organizing them into coherent pictures of the world around us. To paraphrase Shakespeare, sensation without perception would be “full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.” Consider what you see on this page. When the dots of black ink register on your retina, your brain transforms these images into meaningful symbols that you perceive as letters. Perception is an active process in which the brain pieces together bits and pieces of sensory information to form orderly impressions or pictures of the world. 10 Describe the roles of attention, perceptual set, and modes of visual processing in perception. 11 Identify and describe the Gestalt principles of grouping objects into meaningful patterns or forms. 12 Define the concept of perceptual constancy and apply the concept to examples. 13 Identify and describe cues we use to judge distance and perceive movement, and apply these cues to examples. 14 Identify some common types of visual illusions, and explain why it is the brain, not the eyes, that deceives us. 15 Evaluate evidence concerning the existence of subliminal perception and extrasensory perception. Perceiving Our World: Principles of Perception MODULE 3.5 perception The process by which the brain integrates, organizes,
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