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Chapter 6: Sensation & Perception

Chapter 6: Sensation & Perception. Section 1: Our Sensational Senses. PDN: Read Psychology in the News Pages 174-175. Sensation and Perception. Sensation: The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects

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Chapter 6: Sensation & Perception

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  1. Chapter 6: Sensation & Perception Section 1: Our Sensational Senses

  2. PDN: Read Psychology in the News • Pages 174-175

  3. Sensation and Perception • Sensation: The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects • it occurs when energy in the external environment or the body stimulates receptors in the sense organs. • Produce an immediate awareness of sound, color, form, etc

  4. Perception: The process by which the brain organizes & interprets sensory information. • Foundation of learning, thinking, & acting • An understanding can help us think more critically about our own experiences

  5. Ambiguous Figure • Colored surface can be either the outside front surface or the inside back surface • Cannot simultaneously be both • Brain can interpret the ambiguous cues two different ways

  6. Our Sensational Senses • Skin- touch, pressure, hot, cold, pain, itching, & tickling • Ears- hearing & sense of balance

  7. Measuring the Senses • Absolute Threshold • The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer

  8. Difference Threshold • The smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer when two stimuli are compared • also called Just Noticeable Difference (JND).

  9. Absolute Sensory Thresholds • Vision: A single candle flame from 30 miles on a dark, clear night • Hearing: The tick of a watch from 20 feet in total quiet (measured in decibels) • Smell: 1 drop of perfume in a 3-room apartment • Touch: The wing of a bee on your cheek, dropped from 1 cm • Taste: 1 tsp. Sugar in 2 gal. water

  10. Despite our impressive sensory skills, our senses are tuned to a narrow band of physical energies. • Other species can detect signals that we cannot.

  11. Signal Detection Theory • Holds that responses in a detection task depend on a sensory process & a decision process. • These may vary with a person’s motivation, alertness, & expectations

  12. Sensory Adaptations • Senses are designed to respond to change & contrast in the environment • Sensory Adaptation: The reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness that occurs when stimulation is unchanging or repetitious. • Picture page 179

  13. Useful because it spares us from having to respond to unimportant information • Rarely adapt completely to visual stimuli

  14. Sensory Deprivation: The absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation.

  15. Sensory Overload • Can lead to fatigue & mental confusion • “Cocktail Party Phenomenon” • A person typically focuses on just one conversation, ignoring other voices, music, laughter, etc

  16. Selective Attention: The focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the blocking out of others.

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