Sensation & Perception
The Lion King
Political Subliminal Message
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http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/el
ection/index.php?nav_action=election&nav_su
baction=overview&campaign_id=177
What impact does this message have?
Will it last?
Subliminal Messages
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Hidden messages targeted at our subconscious
mind.
Examples: Small images inside a larger picture
An audio message hidden inside a recording
Messages in song played backward
Hidden words or pictures that quickly appear
Powerful marketing tools
Effect us on a emotional level
Short lived results
Sensation & Perception
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Sensation- stimulation of
the sense organs
 Raw data of
experience: smells,
sights, sounds, pain,
etc.
Perception- creating
meaning from the raw
sensory information
Basic Process
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4.
Sensory organs absorb energy from a physical
stimulus in the environment
Sensory receptor cells detect stimulus energies
and convert them into neural impulses
(transduction)
The message is sent to the brain by way of
neurons
Specific areas of the brain organizes the input
and transforms them into something meaningful
Psychophysics
Threshold- is a dividing point between energy
levels that we do or do not detect
Absolute Threshold- minimum amount of
stimulation that an organism can detect 50% of
the time
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Environment can affect detection of a stimulus
Online demo:
http://www.garyfisk.com/anim/threshold.swf
JND- just noticeable difference is the
smallest difference in the amount of
stimulation that a specific sense can
detect
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The absolute threshold is the jnd from nothing
(no stimulus)
JND is greater for stronger stimuli than for
weaker ones
As a stimulus increases in magnitude, the JND
becomes larger
Sensory Adaptation
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Gradual decline in sensitivity to
prolonged stimulation
Ex: Garbage
In reality, the stimulus intensity
(the odor) stays the same but with
continued exposure your
sensitivity to it decreases
Ex: Jumping into a swimming pool
It allows people to ignore the
obvious but you can notice
CHANGES in sensory input
The Visual System
The Visual System
Parts
of
the
Eye
 Cornea (1) transparent
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covering/protection
Pupil and Iris (2) bright
light/contracts, dim
light/relax
Lens (3) focuses light on
the retina
Retina (4) receptor cells
that absorbs light
Optic disk/Blind Spot (5)
Optic Nerve (6)
Fovea (7)
Blind Spot Activity!!
The Retina
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Millions of
receptor cells
10 % of light
Rods- 100 to 125
million
Cones- 5-6 million
Expt- What Color
is it??
Light and Dark Adaptation
Light and Dark Adaptation
From the Eye to the Brain
Afterimage
Form Perception
 Perceptual
Set - The influence of prior
assumptions and expectations on
perceptual interpretations
Perceptual Set
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What do you see in the center picture: a male
saxophonist or a woman’s face? Glancing first
at one of the two unambiguous versions of the
picture is likely to influence your interpretation.
Feature Analysis
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Bottom Up Processing & Top Down Processing
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. It
dseno’t mataetr in what oerdr the ltteres
in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is
taht the frsit and lsat ltter be in the rghit
pclae.
Phi Phenomenon
 The
illusion of motion when fixed lights are
turned on and off in a sequence
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Stare at the X in the middle and notice what
happens. Is the Green Dot Moving?
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http://www.weeville.com/eyetest.htm
Size Distance Relationship
Size Distance Relationship
Size Distance Relationship
Context & Culture
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What is above the woman’s head? In one study, nearly all the East
Africans who were questioned said the woman was balancing a
metal box or can on her head and that the family was sitting under
a tree. Westerners, for whom corners and boxlike architecture are
more common, were more likely to perceive the family as being
indoors, with the woman sitting under a window.
Sensory Deprivation & Restored Vision
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Early visual experience can have a profound effect on
perception.
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Do the kittens ever fully regain normal sensitivity to
horizontal or vertical lines? NO.
From the time their eyes first opened, and until
the age of 5 months, these kittens were
removed from darkness each day to spend 5
hours alone in a black-and-white striped
cylinder with a clear glass floor. A stiff collar
prevented the kittens from seeing anything
else, even their own bodies. Afterward, these
kittens had difficulty perceiving horizontal
forms, compared with other kittens exposed
only to horizontal forms.