Chapter 4
Sensory Processes
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Sensory Processes
Brief Outline
• Characteristics of Sensory
Modalities
• Vision
• Audition
• Other Senses
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Sensory Processes
– Sensitivity
On a clear night, a
candle flame can
be seen from a
distance of 30
miles!
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Sensory Processes
– Sensitivity
Psychometric
Function From a
Detection
Experiment
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Sensory Processes
– Sensitivity
Psychometric
Function From
an Experiment
on Change
Detection
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Sensory Processes
– Sensitivity
WeberFechner Law
∆L = c
L
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Sensory Processes
– Sensory
Coding
Single-Cell Recording
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Sensory Processes
– Sensory Coding
Coding
Intensity
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Sensory Processes
– Sensory Coding
Principles
Transduction
Specific
nerve
energies
• Sensations are due to
specialized receptors
• Receptors transform
physical energy into
electrical potentials
• Each type of receptor
has a labelled line to
the brain
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Sensory Processes
– The Visual
System
Top View of
the Right Eye
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Sensory Processes
– The Visual System
A Schematic Picture of the Retina
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Light
How Cones and Rods Connect to Ganglion Cells
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Light
Threshold Light Intensity: Cones and Rods
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing
Pattern
Hermann
Grid
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing
Pattern
Adelson
Checkerboard
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Color
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Color
The Trichromatic Theory
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Color
Opponent Process Theory: Complementary Afterimages
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Sensory Processes
– Seeing Color
How the Trichromatic and Opponent-Process
Theories May Be Related
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Sensory Processes
• Audition
– Sound Waves
A Pure Tone
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Sensory Processes
– The Auditory System
A Cross-Section of the Ear
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Sensory Processes
– The Auditory
System
Place theory of pitch
perception
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Sensory Processes
– Gustation
Taste Areas
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Sensory Processes
Important:
• To detect a difference, a larger
change is necessary in a strong
stimulus than in a weak stimulus
• According to the idea of specific
nerve energies, qualitatively
different stimuli stimulate different
sets of neural pathways to the brain
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Chapter 5
Perception
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Perception
Brief Outline
• Division of Labor in the Brain
• Localization
• Recognition
• Attention
• Perceptual Constancies
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Perception
– The Visual Cortex
Two Cortical Visual Systems
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Perception
– Separation of Objects
Gestalt
Determinants
of Grouping
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Perception
– Separation of
Objects
Reversible Figure and Ground
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Perception
• Recognition
– Early Stages of Recognition
The Response of a Simple Cell
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Perception
Recognition
Responses of a hypercomplex cell
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Perception
– Perceiving Motion
Stroboscopic Motion
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Perception
– Perceiving Motion
Patterns of Human Motion
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Perception
– Perceiving Distance
Monocular Distance Cues in a Picture
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Perception
– Shape and Location Constancy
Shape Constancy
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Perception
– Size Constancy
Ponzo Illusion
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Perception
– Size Constancy
Müller-Lyer Illusion
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Perception
– Size Constancy
Retinal Image Size
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Perception
– Size Constancy
The Ames Room
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Perception
– Size Constancy
The Moon Illusion
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Perception
– Recognizing Natural Objects and
Top-Down Processing
An Ambiguous
Stimulus
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Perception
– Recognizing Natural Objects and
Top-Down Processing
Effects of Temporal Context
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Perception
– Discrimination by Infants
1-month-old infant
2-month-old infant
3-month-old infant
adult
Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity
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Perception
– Discrimination by Infants
The Visual Cliff
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Perception
Important
• Division of labor in the brain
• Receptive fields, simple, complex,
and hypercomplex cells
• Recognition
• Perceptual Constancies
• Perceptual Development
• That‘s all folks!
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