VISUAL ILLUSION ( Optical Illusion )

Example of LITERAL VISUAL ILLUSION

- Try to find the Young Lady & an Old Lady

 Blind Spot

Close or Cover your right eye and look closely at the Cross Sign. MOVE SLOWLY until the dot DISSAPEARS. And VICE
VERSA

Example of PHYSIOLOGICAL VISUAL ILLUSION

 Hering Illusion
Example of COGNITIVE VISUAL ILLUSION

*notice that the red the red line is actually a STARIGHT LINE
Sensation and perception are inter-related process, complimentary and have a close relationship. But different in
roles, how we interpret our surroundings and have different qualities that differentiate them.

Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through stimulation of a sensory receptor which
produces nerve impulses that travel to the brain interprets sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The physical
stimulus present in the environment emits energy that is absorbed by a sensory organ known as transduction,
causing sensation. For example, transduction in your ear occurs in the cochlea. It begins with the detection of
stimuli by a sensory neuron, then activating receptors, and finally converting the stimuli into a nerve signal that is
processed by the brain.

Examples of this are sensing the room temperature, brightness of the lights, someone talking, a distant train, or
the smell of perfume.

THRESHOLDS
- Divides the line between what can energy can be detected or not.

Absolute Threshold

The absolute threshold is the point where something becomes noticeable to our senses. It is the softest sound we
can hear or the slightest touch we can feel. Anything less than this goes unnoticed. The absolute threshold is
therefore the point at which a stimuli goes from undetectable to detectable to our senses.

Difference Threshold

Once a stimulus becomes detectable to us, how do we recognize if this stimulus changes. When we notice the
sound of the radio in the other room, how do we notice when it becomes louder. Its conceivable that someone
could be turning it up so slightly that the difference is undetectable. The difference threshold is the amount of
change needed for us to recognize that a change has occurred. This change is referred to as the Just Noticeable
Difference.

This difference is not absolute, however. Imagine holding a five pound weight and one pound was added. Most
of us would notice this difference. But what if we were holding a fifty pound weight? Would we notice if another
pound were added? The reason many of us would not is because the change required to detect a difference has
to represent a percentage. In the first scenario, one pound would increase the weight by 20%, in the second, that
same weight would add only an additional 2%. This theory, named after its original observer, is referred to as
Webers Law.
Terminal Threshold

Stimulus is over our absolute threshold, wherein the stimulus is strong enough to be painful and cause damage.

Signal Detection Theory

Have you ever been in a crowded room with lots of people talking? Situations like that can make it difficult to
focus on any particular stimulus, like the conversation we are having with a friend. We are often faced with the
daunting task of focusing our attention on certain things while at the same time attempting to ignore the flood of
information entering our senses. When we do this, we are making a determination as to what is important to
sense and what is background noise. This concept is referred to as signal detection because we attempt detect
what we want to focus on and ignore or minimize everything else.

Sensory Adaptation
Ever wonder why we notice certain smells or sounds right away and then after a while they fade into the
background? Once we adapt to the perfume or the ticking of the clock, we stop recognizing it. This process of
becoming less sensitive to unchanging stimulus is referred to as sensory adaptation. The process of becoming less
sensitive to stimulation is referred to as desensitization, while the process of becoming more sensitive to
stimulation is called sensitization.

THE 5 SENSES
1. Vision: the brain receives light waves from photoreceptors, such as Rods and Cones, that are transduced into
neural signals that are sent away to be interpreted by the brain. We look with our eyes but see with our brain.

2. Hearing: allows us, like vision, to locate objects in space. Sound waves with a certain frequency ( pitch ) and
amplitude ( loudness ) are processed by the brain in the auditory cortex.

3. Smell: odors interact with receptors in the nose which transfer a message to the olfactory bulbs located on the
underside of the brain, which involves a chain of biochemical events.

4. Taste: soluble substances to flavours.

5. Touch : external contact to touch, warmth, and coldness.

We also have the vestibular senses and kinesthetic senses. The vestibular senses allow us to keep track of the
position of our bodies and surroundings. it also enables us to keep balanced, for instance when running.
Kinesthetic senses allow us to keep track of our body parts in relation to each other. We also have the ability to
feel pain. The Gate-Control Theory states that we have a neural "gate" that is capable of blocking incoming pain
signals. Many people can learn to control pain by psychological techniques such as the Placebo Effect. All of these
senses transduce stimulus energy into the neural impulses.
Perception is the mental process that interprets and gives meaning to sensations. And also gives occurrence when
the brain performs organization of information it obtains from the neural impulses, and then begins the process
of translation. It is a vital process that helps us rationalize or make sense of the information related to the
physical stimulus. Perception occurs when the brain processes information to give meaning to it, by means of
emotions, memories, etc.

Color serves as an example as to how perception differs from person to person. A color may not be the same for
everybody, such as red. The color "Red" to an individual might be different to another individual, but we learn at
an early age that the specific color is known as "Red". Other examples include illusions and ambiguous figures.

Bottom-Up Processing emphasizes characteristics of stimuli, rather than our concepts in their entirety and
expectations. Top-Down Processing is the process of perceiving things based off of your concepts, expectations,
memories, motivations, goals and information gathered over time.

Perceptual Constancy is the ability to recognize the same object as remaining "constant" under different
conditions.