SENSORY PROCESS

AND PERCEPTION
Presenter :Dr.Girish Kumar
C/P:Ms.Neethi

SENSATION
DEFINITION:

The subjective experience

resulting from stimulation of one of the sense
organs.
The power of perceiving through the senses.
Mental process (such as seeing , hearing or
smelling) due to immediate bodily stimulation.

SENSES:
FIVE SENSES:

SENSES:
1)VISION
2)HEARING
3)TASTE
4)SMELL
5)TOUCH

ADDITIONAL
1)COLD
2)WARMTH
3)PAIN
4)PRESSURE

SENSORY SYSTEM
CHANNEL
-In this process physical energy is converted
into sensation.
-STEPS INVOLVED IN THIS CHANNEL ARE:
TRANSDUCTION
RECEPTOR POTENTIALS
GENERATOR POTENTIALS
NERVE IMPULSES
AFFERENT CODE

RECEPTOR: Each sensory system is a kind of

channel, consisting of a sensitive element,

nerve fibres leading from this receptor to the
brain or spinal cord.
TRANSDUCTION The process of converting
physical energy into nervous system activity is
called transduction. It occurs at the receptor.
RECEPTOR POTENTIAL: During this receptor
cells convert physical energy into an electrical
voltage or potential called receptor potential.

GENERATOR POTENTIAL: It is the receptor

potential which triggers nerve impulses.

AFFERENT CODES : The physical energy is
changed into a code made up of a pattern of
nerve firings .The firing patterns that
correspond to events in the environment are
know as afferent codes.

THE VISUAL SYSTEM

RODS:Receptor cells in the retina responsible
for night vision and perception of brightness.
CONES : Receptor cells in the retina responsible
for colour vision.
DARK ADAPTATION:Increased sensitivity of rods
and cones in darkness.
Eg;From bright sunlight to theater
LIGHT ADAPTATION:Decreased sensitivity of
rods and cones in bright light.
Eg:from theater to bright light

Visual pathway

AFTER IMAGE : Sense experience that occurs

after a visual stimulus has been removed.

COLOUR VISION:
HUES : The aspect of colour that corresponds
to names such as red , green ,blue.
ADDITIVE COLOUR MIXING ; The process of
mixing lights of different wavelengths to
create new hues.Eg; red and green lights
combine to give yellow colour.

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS: Two hues, far

apart on the spectrum, that when added

together in equal intensities produce a neutral
gray rather than a third hue.
Eg: Red and blue-green as are blue and yellow

Theories of colour mixing

SUBTRACTIVE COLOUR MIXING :The process of

mixing pigments, each of which absorbs some

wavelengths of light and reflects others.
TRICHOMATIC THEORY: Theory of colour vision
that all colour perception derives from different
colours receptors in the retina.
OPPONENT PROCESS THEORY: Theory of colour
vision that holds that three sets of colour
receptors respond in an either or fashion to
determine the colour you experience.

COLOUR BLINDNESS: It is caused by changes in

the genes that control red, green and blue

pigments in the cones .The colour blind person
either lacks cones or cones do not function.
Red green colour blindness is a recessive sexlinked trait. The red-green colour blind individual
sees both red and green as the same colour .
COLOUR WEAKNESS: Partial colour blindness,8%
male population are red-green colour-blind.
The test for colour blindness is ISHIHARA
CHART.

HEARING
THE PHYSICAL STIMULUS FOR HEARING:

When an object vibrates, the molecules of air

around it are pushed together and put under
positive pressure.inturn ,they push against the
molecules transmit the pressure to
neighbouring molecules.
The alteration in the air pressure moving in
all directions from the source are called sound
waves, such sound waves are the physical
stimuli for hearing.

The Structure
of the Auditory System

Psychology 355

16

As the ossicles move the stapes presses on a

membrane called the oval window. when changes

in air pressure creates waves in the cochlear
fluid.
The waves in cochlea reach the organ of corti.
The pressure waves in the cochlear canals
produces bending movements of hair cells organ
of corti.
When these cells are bent, receptor potentials
are intiated,by which nerve impulse are
generated.

Auditory
Pathway

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The nerve impulse generated in cochlea

travel into the brain through auditory

pathway.
THEORIES OF HEARING :
PLACE THEORY: the pitch of a sound is
determined by the location of greatest
vibration of the basilar membrane.
FREQUENCY THEORY OF HEARING: The pitch
is determined by the frequency with which
hair cells in cochlea fire.

VOLLEY THEORY: The receptors in the ear fire in sequence, with one

group responding then a second ,then a third and so on. so complete

pattern of firing corresponds to the frequency of the sound wave.
THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF DEAFNESS:
CONDUCTIVE DEAFNESS : It occurs when eardrums or ossicles are
damaged or immobilized by a disease or injury. It can be overcome
by hearing aid .
NERVE DEAFNESS : It is a hearing loss resulting from damage to the
hair cells or auditory nerve. hearing aids are no use in this case.
STIMULATION DEAFNESS: It occurs when very loud sounds damage

hair cells in the cochlea. It occurs if we work in a noisy environment

or enjoy loud music ,snowmobling, hunting. The hair cells are very
fragile and easily damaged.

SMELL
Sense of smell is activated by a complex protein

produced in nasal gland .As we breathe , a fine mist of

this protein called odorant binding protein.
The protein binds with airborne molecules which then
activate the receptors for sense, located high in each
nasal cavity in a patch of tissue called olfactory
epithelium
Olfactory epithelium contains numerous nerve cells,
these are the only nerve cell to replace.
The axons from nerve cells carry messages directly to
two olfactory bulbs in the brain. These fibres do not
pass through thalamus, they carry directly to cortex.

NasalAnatomy

Anthony J Greene

22

Early Olfactory
Pathway

Anthony J Greene

23

SMELL BLINDNESS
The loss of smell for a single odour .
LOCK AND KEY THEORY: It is believed that

there are different shaped depressions on the

odour receptors .like a piece fit in a puzzle , a
molecule produces an odour when it matches
up with a depression of the same shape.
Eg; floral, minty ,camphoric, sweet, musky,
ethrish

TASTE
The receptor cells for the sense of taste lie

inside the taste bud, most of which are found

on the tip, sides and back of tongue. The taste
buds are contained in the tongue papillae,
each taste buds contains cluster of hair cells.
The chemical interaction b/w food and taste
cells causes adjacent neurons to fire, sending
a nerve impulse to brain.
Four basic sensations; sweet,salt,sour and
bitter.

VESTIBULAR SENSES
The vestibular senses monitor equilibrium and awareness of

body position and movement..

Birds and fish rely on them to tell them which way is up and in
which direction they are headed when they cannot see well.
SEMICIRCULAR CANALS: Structures in the inner ear sensitive
to body rotation.
VESTIBULAR SAC: Sac in the inner ear that are responsible for
sensing gravitation,forward,backward and vertical movement.
UTRICLE: Organ in the inner ear that provides information
about horizontal movement of the body.
SACCULE:Provides information about vertical movement of the
body and gravitation.

The Vestibular System

Head Rotation

Head Angle
Linear
Acceleration
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MOTION SICKNESS
SENSORY CONFLICT THEORY: According to this

theory ,dizziness and nausea occur when

sensations from the vestibular system fail to
match information received from the eyes and
body.

The Vestibular System

The Otolith Organs

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SKIN SENSES
MEISSNER CORPUSLE:Skin receptor sensitive

to pressure.
PACINIAN CORPUSLE:Sensitive to pressures
b/w internal organs.
RUFFINI ENDING: Responsive to warmth.
KRAUSE BULB:Respnsive to coldness.
FREE NERVE ENDINGS: Serves as a receptors
for pain, pressure and temperature.

 PARADOXICAL HEAT:

Simultaneous stimulation
of warm and cold
receptors that is
experienced as hot.

PAIN
GATE CONTROL THEORY OF PAIN:MELZACK-1980
A neurological gate in the spinal cord controls the

transmission of pain impulses to the brain. If the gate

is open, we experience more pain than we do when it
is closed.
The determination of whether the gate is closed or
open depends on a complex competition b/w different
types of nerve fibres.
There are large fibres in the sensory nerves that
when stimulated, tend to close the gate and prevent
pain impulses from reaching the brain but small fibres
open the gate.

TWO KINDS OF PAIN(MELZACK AND DENNIS)

1)Pain carried by large nerve fibres is sharp,
bright, fast and seems to come from specific
body areas. This is the bodys warning system.
2)Pain carried by small nerve fibres is slower,
nagging, aching, widespread and very
unpleasent .It gets worse if the pain stimulus
is repeated. This is the bodys reminding
system.

SENSORY ADAPTATION:A decline in the

number of nerve impulses generated by

sensory receptors exposed to an unchanging
stimulus.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION: Voluntarily focusing
on a selected portion of sensory input ,most
likely by rerouting messages within brain.
SENSORY GATING: Alteration of incoming
sensory messages in the spinal cord, before
they reach the brain.

EXAMPLES
Dentists are experimenting with devices that

electrically stimulate the firing of large nerve

fibres, block the action of small fibres and so
close the gate on pain.
PLACEBO:A pharmacologically inactive substance
that a person is told will have a desired effect.
Sugar pills are commonly used.
There is link b/w placebo and opiate brain
system, release of enkephalins and endorphins,
they have similar to action of morphine.

PERCEPTION
DEFINITION: The process of creating

meaningful patterns from raw sensory

information.
It refers to the way the world looks,
sounds,feels,tastes or smells. It can be
defined whatever is experienced by a person.

PERCEPTUAL PROCESS:FORM
PERCEPTION
The most fundamental process in form perception

is the recognition of a figure on a ground. The

pictures,words,and melody are perceived as the
figure, while the wall, page and chords are the
ground. The ability to distinguish an object from its
general background is basic to all form perception.
CONTOUR: These are formed whenever a marked
difference occurs in the brightness or colour of the
background. These give shape to the objects in our
visual world because they mark one object off from
another.

GESTALT LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL

ORGANIZATION
PROXIMITY: The law of proximity says that objects which are close

together in space or time tend to be perceived as belonging together

or forming an organised group.
SIMILARITY: Objects that are of a similar colour, size, or shape are
usually percieved as part of a pattern
THE LAW OF GOOD FIGURE: There is a tendency to organize things
to make a balanced or symmetrical figure that includes all the parts.
CONTINUATION: The tendency to perceive a line that starts in one
way as continuing in the same way.Eg:A line that starts out as a
curve is seen as continuing on a smoothly curved course.
LAW OF CLOSURE: Refers to perceptual processes that organise the
perceived world by filling in gaps in stimulation.
CONTIGUITY:It is responsible for the perception that one thing has
caused other.

VISUAL DEPTH
PERCEPTION
MONOCULAR CUES FOR DEPTH PERCEPTION:

These cues that can operate when only one eye is looking.
These cues are the can used by painters to give us a 3D
experience from a flat painting.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: The distances separating the images
of far objects appear to be smaller.
CLEARNESS: If we can see the details , we perceive
an object as relatively close; if we can see only its outline,
we perceive it as relatively far away.
INTERPOSITION: When one object is completely visible while
another is partly covered by it, the first object is perceived as
nearer.

GRADIENT OF TEXTURE: The regions closest

to the observer have a coarse texture and

many details ;as the distance increases, the
texture become finer and finer.
MOVEMENT: When you move your head, you
will observe that the objects in your visual
field move relative to you and to one another

BINOCULAR CUES FOR DEPTH

PERCEPTION
The most important binocular cue comes from the fact that two

eyes ,the retina, receive slightly different views of the world. it is

known as retinal disparity. It is the images falling on the retinas of the
two eyes.
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS;
CONSTANCY: It refers to tendency to perceive objects as relatively
stable and unchanging despite changing sensory information.
SIZE: Perception of an object as the same size regardless of distance
from which it is viewed.
Shape: Tendency to see an object as the same shape no matter angle
it is viewed.
Brightness: Perception of brightness as the same, even though the
amount of light reaching the retina changes.
Colour :Inclination to perceive familiar objects as retaining their colour
despite changes in sensory information.

PERCEPTION OF
MOVEMENT
The perception of movement is a complicated

process involving both visual messages from the

retina and messages from the muscles around the
eyes as they follow the object.
REAL MOVEMENT: It refers to the physical
displacement of an object from one position to
another. The perception of real movement depends
only in part on the movement of images across the
retina of the eye.
APPARENT MOTION: Movement perceived in the
absence of physical movement of an image across
the retina.

AUTOKINETIC EFFECT: Perception that a stationary

object is actually moving. If a person stares at or

fixates on, a small stationary spot of light in a
completely dark room, the spot will eventually
appear to move.
STROBOSCOPIC MOTION: Apparent movement that
results from flashing a series of still pictures in rapid
succession, as in a motion picture.Eg;A movie
projector simply throws successive pictures of a
moving scene onto screen. when you examine the
separate frames, you see that each is a still picture
slight different from the preceding one.

VISUAL ILLUSION:
PHI PHENOMENON : Apparent movement caused by

flashing lights in sequence , as on theater .

PHYSICAL IILUSION: Illusion due to distortion of
information reaching receptor cells.
PERCEPTUAL IILUSION : Illusion which is due to
misleading cues in stimuli and which causes us to
create perceptions that are inaccurate or impossible.
MOON ILLUSION : It is an optical illusion ,in which the
moon appears larger near the horizon than it does
while higher up in the sky .This also occurs with stars
and sun.

Moon illusion

MULLER LYER ILLUSION

Aristotles illusion

PERCEPTUAL LEARING
Eleaner Gibson has defined as an increase in

the ability to extract information from the

environment as a result of experience or
practice with the stimulation coming from it.

SENSORY ADAPTATION:A decline in the

number of nerve impulses generated by

sensory receptors exposed to an unchanging
stimulus.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION: Voluntarily focusing
on a selected portion of sensory input ,most
likely by rerouting messages within brain.
SENSORY GATING: Alteration of incoming
sensory messages in the spinal cord, before
they reach the brain.

EXTRASENSORY
PERCEPTION
It is defined as a response to an unknown event

not presented to any known sense.

Extra power of perception, one beyond those
known to the normal perception.
PARAPSYCOLOGY: It is the study ESP and other psi
phenomena or events that seem to defy accepted
scientific laws. These are
1)CLAIRVOYANCE: The ability to percieve events
or gain information in ways that appear
unaffected by distance or normal physical
barriers.

2)TELEPATHY: Extrasensory perception of

another persons thoughts or ability to read
someone elses mind.
3)PRECOGNITION: The ability to perceive or
accurately predict future events.
4)PSYCHOKINESIS: The ability to exert influence
over inanimate objects by willpower .

Thank You