Chapter 6
r Sensational Senses
a Defining sensation and perception
a The riddle of separate senses
a Meas ring the senses
a Sensory adaptation
a Sensory overload
Defining Sensation and Perception
a Sensation
a The detection of physical energy emitted or
reflected by physical objects.
a It occ rs when energy in the external
environment or the body stim lates receptors
in the sense organs.
a Perception
a The process by which the brain organizes and
interprets sensory information.
÷mbig o s Fig re
a Colored s rface can
be either the o tside
front s rface or the
inside back s rface
a Cannot
sim ltaneo sly be
both
a Brain can interpret
the ambig o s c es
two different ways
The Riddle of Separate Sensations
a Sense receptors
a Specialized cells that
convert physical
energy in the
environment or the
body to electrical
energy that can be
transmitted as nerve
imp lses to the
brain.
Sensation & Perception Processes
Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies
a Different sensory modalities exist beca se
signals received by the sense organs
stim late different nerve pathways leading
to different areas of the brain.
a Synthesia
a ÷ condition in which stim lation of one sense
also evokes another.
Meas ring Senses
a ÷bsol te threshold
a Difference threshold
a Signal-detection theory
÷bsol te Threshold
a The smallest q antity of physical energy that can
be reliably detected by an observer.
÷bsol te Sensory Thresholds
a Vision:
a ÷ single candle flame from 30 miles on a dark, clear
night
a Hearing:
a The tick of a watch from 20 feet in total q iet
a Smell:
a 1 drop of perf me in a 6-room apartment
a To ch:
a The wing of a bee on yo r cheek, dropped from 1 cm
a Taste:
a 1 tsp. S gar in 2 gal. water
Difference Threshold
a The smallest difference in stim lation that
can be reliably detected by an observer
when two stim li are compared;
a ÷lso called J st Noticeable Difference
(JND).
Signal-Detection Theory
a ÷ psychophysical theory that divides the detection of
a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision
process.
Stim l s is Stim l s is
Present ÷bsent
Response: Hit False ÷larm
³Present´
Response: Miss Correct
³÷bsent´ Rejection
Sensory ÷daptation and Deprivation
a ÷daptation
a The red ction or disappearance of sensory
responsiveness when stim lation is
nchanging or repetitio s.
a Prevents s from having to contin o sly
respond to nimportant information.
a Deprivation
a The absence of normal levels of sensory
stim lation.
Sensory verload
a verstim lation of the senses.
a Can se selective attention to red ce
sensory overload.
a Selective attention
a The foc sing of attention on selected aspects of
the environment and the blocking o t of others.
Vision
a What we see
a ÷n eye on the world
a Why the vis al system is not a camera
a How we see colo rs
a Constr cting the vis al world
What We See
a H e
a Vis al experience specified by colo r names
and related to the wavelength of light.
a Brightness
a Lightness and l minance; the vis al experience
related to the amo nt of light emitted from or
reflected by an object.
a Sat ration
a Vividness or p rity of colo r; the vis al
experience related to the complexity of light
waves.
What We See
a H e
a Brightness
a Sat ration
÷n Eye on the World
a Cornea
a Protects eye and bends
light toward lens.
a Lens
a Foc ses on objects by
changing shape.
a Iris
a Controls amo nt of light
that gets into eye.
a P pil
a Widens or dilates to let
in more light.
÷n Eye on the World
a Retina
a Ne ral tiss e lining the back of the eyeball¶s
interior, which contains the receptors for vision.
a Rods
a Vis al receptors that respond to dim light.
a Cones
a Vis al receptors involved in colo r vision. Most
h mans have 3 types of cones.
The Str ct res of the Retina
Why the Vis al System is not a Camera
a M ch vis al processing is done in the
brain.
a Some cortical cells respond to lines in
specific orientations (e.g. horizontal).
a ther cells in the cortex respond to other
shapes (e.g., b lls-eyes, spirals, faces).
a Feat re-detectors
a Cells in the vis al cortex that are sensitive to
specific feat res of the environment.
H bel & Wiesel¶s Experiment
How We See Colo rs
a Trichromatic theory
a pponent process theory
Trichromatic Theory
a Yo ng (1802) & von
Helmholtz (1852)
both proposed that the
eye detects 3 primary
colo rs:
a red, bl e, & green
a ÷ll other colo rs can
be derived by
combining these
three.
pponent-Process Theory
a ÷ competing theory of
colo r vision, which
ass mes that the vis al
system treats pairs of
colo rs as opposing or
antagonistic.
a pponent-Process
cells are inhibited by a
colo r, and have a
b rst of activity when
it is removed.
÷fterimages
Test of Colo r Deficiency
Constr cting the Vis al World
a Form perception
a Depth and distance perception
a Vis al constancies: When seeing is
believing
a Vis al ill sions: When seeing is misleading
Form Perception
a Gestalt principles describe the brain¶s
organization of sensory b ilding blocks
into meaningf l nits and patterns.
Fig re and Gro nd
a Proximity
a Seeing 3 pair of lines in
÷.
a Similarity
a Seeing col mns of
orange and red dots in
B.
a Contin ity
a Seeing lines that connect
1 to 2 and 3 to 4 in C.
a Clos re
a Seeing a horse in D.
Depth and Distance Perception
a Binoc lar C es:
a Vis al c es to depth or distance that req ire the
se of both eyes.
a Convergence: T rning inward of the eyes,
which occ rs when they foc s on a nearby
object.
a Retinal Disparity: The slight difference in
lateral separation between two objects as seen
by the left eye and the right eye.
Depth and Distance Perception
a Monoc lar C es:
a Vis al c es to depth or distance that can be
sed by one eye alone.
The ÷mes Room
a ÷ specially-b ilt room
that makes people seem
to change size as they
move aro nd in it
a The room is not a
rectangle, as viewers
ass me it is
a ÷ single peephole
prevents sing binoc lar
depth c es
Vis al Constancies
a The acc rate perception of objects as stable
or nchanged despite changes in the
sensory patterns they prod ce.
a Shape constancy
a Location constancy
a Size constancy
a Brightness constancy
a Colo r constancy
Shape Constancy
a Even tho gh these images cast shadows of
different shapes, we still see the q arter as ro nd
Vis al
Ill sions