Sensation & Perception

1. Sensation & Perception Sensation: your window to the world Perception: interpreting what comes in your window

2. Sensation & Perception Sensation: taking in information from environment Perception: how we organize & interpret sensory information allows us to recognize meaningful events, objects…

3. Vision • Our most dominating sense • Electromagnetic energy hits our eyes but we perceive it to be color • We only see a sliver of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation

4. Phase One: Gathering Light • The height of a wave gives us it’s intensity (brightness). • The length of the wave gives us it’s hue (color). • ROY G BIV • The longer the wave the more red. • The shorter the wavelength the more violet.

5. Step 1: Light in the Eye • Light enters the eye through the Cornea • protects the eye (think plastic cover over camera) • The amount of light that enters is controlled by the Pupil • opens and closes like a camera shutter • Pupil is surrounded by the Iris • a ring of colored muscle that dialates/constricts in response to light intensity • Fun fact: iris scans=identity • Lensis behind the pupil that focuses incoming light rays into an image on the retina • Accommodation: the process of the lens changing the shape

6. The Retina • Retina: where the processing visual info begins (located at back) • Rods: receptor cells that detect black, white, gray, • peripheral vision, strong in dim light • Cones: receptor cells that detect fine detail & color • Fovea: retina’s area of central focus • Cones cluster around fovea • Responsible for your detailed vision (driving, reading…)

8. Step 2: Transduction • Transduction: the transforming of stimulus energies (like sights, sounds, smells) into neural impulses our brains can interpret • Retina sends message to your brain via the optic nerve • Rods/cones->bipolar cells->ganglion cells->optic nerve->thalamus->cerebral cortex • Optic chiasma: where the optic nerves cross

9. Step 3: In the Brain • Primary visual cortex in occipital lobes process info • Color, movement, depth…at same time! • Parallel processing: brain processes many parts simultaneously • Feature Detectors We have specific cells that see the lines, motion, curves and other features of this turkey. These cells are called feature detectors.

10. Color Vision Two Major Theories

11. Trichromatic Theory Three types of cones: • Red • Blue • Green • These three types of cones can make millions of combinations of colors • Does not explain afterimages or color blindness well

12. Opponent-Process theory The sensory receptors come in pairs. • Red/Green • Yellow/Blue • Black/White • If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited.

13. Afterimages

14. Hearing Our auditory sense

15. Parts of the Ear • Outer Ear: collects & magnifies sounds waves through the ear canal to the eardrum (tight membrane that vibrates with the waves) • Middle Ear: transmits eardrum’s vibrations through a piston made of 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, & stirrup) to the cochlea (snail shaped tube in inner ear) • Inner Ear: incoming vibrations cause the cochlea to vibrate & jostles the fluid that fills the tube

16. The Ear

17. Transduction in the ear • Sound waves • enter ear canal • hit the eardrum • hit anvil,hammer, stirrup • Everything is just vibrating! • Cochlea vibrates • The cochlea is lined with mucus called basilar membranewhich have hair cells 3. Hair cells vibrate & Organ of Corti turns vibrations into neural impulses 4. Impulses sent by the auditory nerve to the thalamus which sends to the temporal lobe’s auditory cortex It is all about the vibrations!!!

18. Pitch Theories Place Theory and Frequency Theory

19. Place Theory • Different frequencies vibrate in different places in the cochlea • Best explains high pitches

20. Frequency Theory • The entire cochlea vibrates at a particular frequency & sends the same quality of sound to the brain • Best explains low pitches

21. Deafness • Conduction Deafness • An injury occurs in outer or middle ear (i.e. eardrum) • Sensorineural Deafness • The hair cells or nerves in the cochlea are damaged • Diseases & loud noises can cause this type of deafness • NO WAY to replace the hairs • Cochlear implant • electronic device translates sounds into electrical signals send some info about sound to the brain • Can restore hearing for most adults

22. Touch • Remember Harlow’s monkeys? • Receptors located in our skin • 4 basic sensations • Pressure • Pain • Warmth • Cold • Gate Control Theory of Pain • small nerve fibers stimulated & “opens the gate” to cause pain!

23. Taste • Chemical Sense • 5 Taste Sensations: • Sweet • Salty • Sour • Bitter • Umami (savory meaty taste) • We have bumps on our tongue called papillae • Taste buds are located on the papillae • Sensory Interaction • Our senses work together to interpret the world around us • Ex:Smell + texture + taste = flavor

24. Smell (Olfaction) • Oldest sense, chemical • 5 million receptor cells in each nasal cavity • Does not go to thalamus, is oldest sense linked directly to brain (limbic system) • Smell can trigger powerful memories & emotions • Women have stronger sense of smell

25. Vestibular Sense • Our sense of balance • Our equilibrium is located in our semicircular canals in our inner ears • Sends messages to cerebellum at back of brain

26. Kinesthetic Sense • Sense of position & movement of your body parts • Receptors located in our muscles and joints • Interacts with vision • Cases of people losing this ability