Sensation and Perception

PSYCHOLOGY 1

Objectives

-Understand the definition of sensation and perception;-Discuss concepts of threshold;-Explain signal detection theory and sensory adaptation;-Familiarize with sensory system;-Explain the movement of perception;-Determine between perceptual illusion and sound perception;-Discuss difference between olfactory and gustatory perception and-Understand special type of perception.

Definition

In psychology, Sensation and Perception are stages of processing of the senses in human and animal systems, such as vision, auditory, vestibular, and pain senses.

Thresholds

• A minimum amount of stimulation needed to start a neural impulse.

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

• Absolute Threshold and Difference Threshold

Absolute threshold for our Senses

Senses Absolute Threshold Equivalent

Vision Candle thirty miles away on a clear, dark night

Hearing Tick of a watch twenty feet away in a quiet room

Taste Teaspoons of sugar dissolved in two gallons of water

Smell One drop of perfume in a three-room apartment

Touch A bee’s wing falling on the cheek from a height of one centimeter

Warmth or Cold

A one to two degree celcius change in skin temperature

Signal-Detection Theory

• Signal detection theory (SDT) is used when psychologists want to measure the way we make decisions under conditions of uncertainty, such as how we would perceive distances in foggy conditions.

Sensory Adaptation

Visual SensationSense of Sight

Auditory SensationSense of Hearing

Olfactory SensationSense of Smell

Gustatory Sensation

Sense of Taste

Cutaneous orSkin Sensation

Sense of Touch

Sense Organ Various Senses Receptor Cells

Eyes Sight Rods and cones in the retina

Ears Hearing Hair cells in the Organ of Corti

Tongue Gustatory Taste cells in the taste buds

Nose Olfactory Olfactory Epithelium cells

Skin Pressure, pain, warmth, and cold

Subcutaneous adipose tissues

The End