Ch. 5
Sensation


Process where a
stimulated receptor
(like eyes or ears)
creates a pattern of
impulses that
represent the
stimulus
The basis for color,
odor, sound, texture,
taste
v.
Perception


Process that assigns
meaning to incoming
sensory patterns
Interpretation of
senses
How does stimulation become
sensation?
Sight
 Hearing
 Skin Senses
 Smell
 Taste
 Equilibrium
 Pain
 Kinesthetic

Sight

Is stimulated by light waves, its organ is
the eye, its receptors are rods and
cones of the retina, and its sensations
include colors, patterns, and textures.
Sight
Bill Nye
 Eye Diagram
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7cI
md-6bZ8
 If Your Eyes Could Talk Worksheet
 Finding your Blind spot
 Afterimage Activity
 http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysys
tems/eyes/

Hearing

stimulated by sound waves, the organ is
the ears, the receptors include hair cells
of the basilar membrane, and the
sensations include noises & tones.
Hearing
How we Hear
 http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysys
tems/hearing/
 Ear Diagram

Skin Senses - Touch
stimulated by external contact with the skin
 the receptors are nerve endings in the skin
 sensations include touch, warmth, and cold

Touch

http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysys
tems/touch/
Smell
stimulated by substances through the nose
 the receptors are hair cells that line the nose
 sensations include odors such as musky,
flowery, burnt, and minty

Smell

http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysys
tems/smell/
Taste
stimulated through substances by the
tongue
 receptors are taste buds on the tongue
 sensations include flavors such as bitter,
sour, salty, and sweet

Taste

http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysys
tems/taste/
Equilibrium
stimulated by mechanical and gravitational
forces in the inner ear
 Receptors include hair cells of the canals and
vestibule
 sensations include spatial movement and
gravitational pull

Pain
extreme stimulus such as temperature and
chemicals that hits the many pain fibers
throughout the body
 Receptors include your nerve endings
 sensations are acute and chronic pain

Kinesthetic & vestibular senses
stimulated by body position and movement
through skeletal muscles, joints, and tendons.
 Receptors include the neurons [in the
mentioned above]
 sensations are your positions of body parts in
space

Thresholds
1.
Light—Candle flame, 30 miles, on a dark clear
night.
2.
Sound—The tick of a mechanical watch under
quiet conditions at 20 feet.
3.
Taste—One tablespoon of sugar in two gallons
of water.
4.
Smell—One drop of perfume diffused into the
entire volume of a three bedroom apartment.
5.
Touch—The wing of a bee falling on your
cheek from a distance of one centimeter.
BBC- Human Senses – Hearing
and Balance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UO
mVSNGTV8&safety_mode=true&persist
_safety_mode=1&safe=active
After Experiment
What was the most difficult about your
taste test?
 What sense is the most important when
we eat?

Theories in Perception

Learning Based Inference
 Observer uses prior knowledge to interpret
information
 Ex: Britney Spears pg. 191
○ We fail to see facial patterns that violate our
expectations
Theories in Perception

Context and Expectations
 Once a context is identified, you form
expectations about what you think will be
experienced
○ Ever have a hard time recognizing someone
outside their usual context?
 Ex: picture pg. 192 and THE CAT
○ Rely on context clues
Theories in Perception

Context and Expectations
 Once a context is identified, you form
expectations about what you think will be
experienced
 Ex: picture pg. 192 and THE CAT
Theories in Perception

Perceptual Set
 Our readiness to detect a particular stimulus
in a given context.
○ Example: new mother is perceptually set to
hear the cries of her child
FOX; OWL; SNAKE; TURKEY; SWAN; D?CK
BOB: RAY: DAVE: BILL: TOM: D?CK
Perceptual set
Meaning of the words read prior to the
ambiguous stimulus create a perceptual
set
 Example: do it yourself 193
 Perceptual sets influence peoples
attitudes and behaviors towards different
groups

Gestalt Approach

View that maintains that the brain is
designed to seek patterns
 Brain sees the whole rather than the parts
○ Example: square
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping

laws that show how we group things
according to 1 varied factor
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping

Law of Similarity
 Group things together that look similar
X
X
X
X
X
X
O
O
O
O
O
O
 Columns not rows
X
X
X
X
X
X
O
O
O
O
O
O
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping

Law of Proximity
 We group things together that are near each
other
XO
XO
XO
 “you are the company you keep”
XO
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping

Law of Continuity
 We see things as connected and continuous
figures rather than disjoint