SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

DEFINITIONS

Sensation: the process in which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Perception: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

THRESHOLDS

Absolute threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Subliminal: below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Difference threshold: the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

Webster’s Law: the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Sensory adaption: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

VISION

Our eyes receive light energy and transduce it into neural messages that our brain then processes into what we consciously see.

Two physical characteristics of light are the wavelength – the distance from one wave peak to the next and the intensity or brightness/energy of the light waves

THE EYE

VISUAL PROCESSING

HEARING

Our audition or hearing is very adaptive

The physical characteristics of sounds are its frequency of waves and the pitch of the sound

THE EAR

AUDIO PROCESSING

TOUCH

Skin sensations vary into four groups – pressure, warmth, cold, and pain

Kinesthesis: the system for sensing the positions and movement of our individual body parts

Vestibular sense: the sense of body movement and position, including balance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk

TASTE

Basic tastes are: sweet, salty, sour, bitter

Sensory interaction includes smell plus texture equals flavor

TASTE ZONES

SMELL

HOW SENSES GO WITH PERCEPTION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OelrPzpQ6Q

VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNbF006Y5x4&playnext=1&list=PLBAA093DAADDF09A6&feature=results_main

Your senses concluding assumption

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCV2Ba5wrcs Perception explained