Chapter 3

Sensation and
Perception
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Sensing the World Around Us
Learning Outcomes
Define absolute thresholds
Explain the difference threshold and Webers law
Discuss sensory adaptation


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Sensation and Perception
Sensation - The activation of the sense organs by a
source of physical energy.
Perception - The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and
integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
Stimulus - Energy that produces a response in a sense
organ.
Receptors specialized cells in the sense organ capable
of detecting the stimulus.
Sensation is a physical response, while perception is a
psychological response.


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Absolute and Difference Thresholds
Absolute threshold: the smallest intensity of a
stimulus that must be present for it to be detected
Difference threshold (just noticeable difference):
the smallest level of added (or reduced) stimulation
required to sense that a change in stimulation has
occurred
Webers law: states that a just noticeable difference
is a constant proportion of the intensity of an initial
stimulus.

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Sensory Adaptation: Turning Down
Our Responses
Sensory adaptation: an adjustment to sensory
capacity when stimuli in the environment are
unchanging; getting used to a sensory
stimulus so that you no longer have the same
reaction to it as you initially did
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Illuminating the Structure of the Eye
Light passes through the cornea, pupil, and
the lens before reaching the retina: converts
the energy of the light to electrical impulses
for transmission to the brain
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Mechanisms of Vision
Rods are thin, cylindrical receptor cells that are
highly sensitive to light. They enable you to see
in dim light. Rods play a key role in peripheral
and night vision.
Cones are cone-shaped, light-sensitive receptor
cells that are responsible for sharp focus and
color perception, particularly in bright light.
Concentrated on the part of the retina called the
fovea.

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Illuminating the Structure of the Eye
Optic nerve: bundle of axons that move out at
the back of the eyeball where there are no
rods or cones, and this creates a blind spot
Feature detection: the process explaining that
neurons in the cortex are extraordinarily
specialized and are activated only by visual
stimuli of a particular shape or pattern.

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Color Vision and Color Blindness: The
Seven-Million-Color Spectrum
Trichromatic theory of
color vision: three kinds
of cones exist in the
retina (one most
responsive to blue-
violet, one to green, &
one to yellow-red)



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Color Vision and Color Blindness: The
Seven-Million-Color Spectrum (cont.)






Afterimage after staring at a picture activity in the retina
continues causing you to see an image of distorted colors
when looking at a white space.

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Color Vision and Color Blindness: The
Seven-Million-Color Spectrum
Opponent-process
theory of color vision:
receptor cells are linked
in pairs (blue-yellow,
red-green, & black-
white), working in
opposition to each
other

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Hearing
Sound: movement of air
molecules brought about by
vibration (sound waves)
Sound waves pass through
the auditory canal and
pound on the
Tympanic membrane
(eardrum) passes the
vibrations on the small
bones in the middle ear.
Hammer, anvil, stirrup
magnify the soundwaves
until it reaches the oval
window of the inner ear.



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Measurement of Sound

Decibel (dB) Sound
140 Jet engine, gun blast
120 Rock concert, thunderclap record-
setting human yell (115 dB)
100 Chain saw, jackhammer, baby
screaming, firecracker, racing car
80 Heavy traffic, alarm clock subway,
mp3/cd player
60 Conversation, air conditioner at 20 feet
30 Whisper, library, car in neutral (45 dB)
0 Threshold of hearing
Sensing Sound
Eardrum then vibrates as
sound waves hit it.
Vibrations are then
transferred into the middle
ear that transmit vibrations
to the oval window, a thin
membrane leading to the
inner ear.
The inner ear changes the
sound vibrations into a form
in which they can be
transmitted to the brain



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Sound enters the cochlea, a
coiled tube that is filled
with fluid and vibrates in
response to sound.
Basilar membrane, a
structure that runs through
the center of the cochlea,
dividing it into an upper and
a lower chamber.
The auditory receptors are
the hair cells stick up from
the cochleas bottom
membrane
Sense of Balance
Semicircular canals:
movement of fluid here
affects our sense of balance
The pull on our bodies
caused by the acceleration
of forward, backward, or
up-and-down motion, as
well as the constant pull of
gravity, is sensed by the
otoliths, tiny, motion-
sensitive crystals in the
semicircular canals.
Smell (Olfaction)
Smell (olfaction)
Molecules enter the nasal
passages and pass over
olfactory cells (receptor
neurons); responses sent to
brain, where they are
combined for recognition of
particular smells
More than a thousand
receptor cells, known as
olfactory cells, are spread
across the nasal cavity. The
cells are specialized to react to
particular odors.

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Humans are able to detect
more than ten thousand
separate smells.
We also have a good
memory for smells, and
long-forgotten events and
memories can be brought
back with the mere whiff of
an odor associated with a
memory

Taste (Gustation)
Receptor cells (taste buds)
respond to four basic
stimulus qualities: sweet,
sour, salty, and bitter
The receptor cells for taste
are located in roughly ten
thousand taste buds, which
are distributed across the
tongue and other parts of
the mouth and throat. The
taste buds wear out and are
replaced every ten days or
so.
Supertasters are highly sensitive to taste; they have twice as
many taste receptors as nontasters. More females are
supertasters. Supertasters find sweets sweeter, cream
creamier, and spicy dishes spicier. Weaker concentrations of
flavor are enough to satisfy any cravings they may have.

Nontasters are relatively insensitive to taste. They may seek
out relatively sweeter and fattier foods in order to maximize
the taste. As a consequence, they may be prone to obesity
The Skin Senses: Touch, Pressure,
Temperature, and Pain
Skin senses: touch,
pressure, temperature, and
pain; receptor cells in skin
distributed unevenly
throughout the body.
The lower the average
threshold is, the more
sensitive a body part is. The
fingers and thumb, lips,
nose, cheeks, and big toe
are the most sensitive.


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Gate-Control Theory of Pain
Pain is a response to a great
variety of different kinds of
stimuli.
One explanation is that pain is
an outcome of cell injury.
When a cell is damaged, it
releases a chemical called
substance P that transmits
pain messages to the brain.
Women typically experience
painful stimuli more intensely
than men.
we may inherit our sensitivity
to pain.
Gate-Control Theory of Pain:
particular nerve receptors in the
spinal cord lead to specific areas
of the brain related to pain.
When these receptors are
activated because of an injury
or problem with a part of the
body, a gate to the brain is
opened, allowing us to
experience the sensation of
pain.
Another set of neural receptors
can, when stimulated, close the
gate to the brain, thereby
reducing the experience of pain.

Perceptual Organization: Constructing Our
View of the World
Learning Outcomes
Explain the gestalt laws of organization
Identify top-down and bottom-up processing
Define perceptual constancy
Explain depth perception
Relate motion perception to daily life
Determine the importance of perceptual illusions
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Perceptual Organization: Constructing Our
View of the World (cont.)
Figure-ground organization: we usually
perceive objects as a figure standing out
against a background
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The Gestalt Laws of Organization
Principles that describe how we organize
pieces of information into meaningful wholes
(gestalts = patterns)
Closure
Proximity
Similarity


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The Gestalt Laws of Organization
(cont.)
Simplicity

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Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processing
Top-down processing: perception is guided by
higher-level knowledge, experience,
expectations, and motivations
Bottom-up processing: processing
information by progressing from the individual
elements of a stimulus and moving up to the
perception of the whole

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Perceptual Constancy
Physical objects are perceived as unvarying
and consistent despite changes in appearance
or changes in the physical environment
Ex.: the image on your retina of a person far away
from you is very small, but you understand
(perceive) her to be of normal size

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Depth Perception:
Translating 2-D to 3-D
Depth perception: the ability to view the
world in three dimensions and to perceive
distance
Binocular disparity
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Motion Perception: As the World Turns
How do we perceive motion?
Movement of an object across the retina is perceived
relative to an unmoving background
If a stimulus is coming toward you, the image on the
retina will expand in size, filling more of the visual
field, but we assume the stimulus is approaching
rather than its growing in size
We factor information about our head and eye
movements with information about changes in the
retinal image

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Perceptual Illusions:
The Deceptions of Perceptions
Visual illusions: physical stimuli that
consistently produce errors in perception
Muller-Lyer illusion

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