Chapter 8:
Sensation &
Perception
Mr. McCormick
Psychology
Do-Now:
(Discussion)
 If you had to sacrifice one of your five
senses:





Sight
Hearing
Touch
Smell
Taste
 Which one would it be? Why?
“Fraser’s Spiral”
“Fraser’s Spiral”
Why does this image
appear to be a spiral?
Sensation vs. Perception
 Sensation:
 What occurs when a stimulus (change in
environment, to which an organism responds)
activates a receptor
 Perception:
 The organization of sensory information into
meaningful experiences
“Fraser’s Spiral”
 In viewing “Fraser’s Spiral:”
 What are we sensing?
 What are we perceiving?
 How do we use sensation and
perception together to understand our
world?
“The Disappearing Circle”
“The Disappearing Circle”
When focusing on the
black dot, why does the
outer grey circle appear to
fade away?
Sensory Adaptation
 Sensory Adaptation:
 Senses tuned to change; adaptable
 Responsive to increases and decreases of
stimuli
 E.g.:
 Eyes adjust to darkness in a movie theatre
 Skin adapts to coldness of ocean water
Sensory Adaptation
 Can you think of other examples
of how our senses adapt to
changes in external stimuli?
 What would happen if we did not
have “sensory adaptation?”
Without Sensory Adaptation..
 Without sensory adaptation, the human
body would be overloaded with stimuli.
 For example, right now we would be
feeling the constant pressure of the
clothing we are wearing, the chairs on
which we are seated, etc.
“The Stroop Effect”
(Part A.)
“The Stroop Effect”
(Part B.)
“The Stroop Effect”
(Part C.)
“The Stroop Effect”
 Why is it more difficult to name the
colors in “Part C.?”
 The “Stroop Effect” illustrates how difficult it
is to ignore some kinds of stimuli
 You were receiving two stimuli – the color and
the word – which compete and slow you down
when you try to name the color
Review
 What is the difference between sensation
and perception?
 What is sensory adaptation? Why do
humans adapt to stimuli?
Homework
 Read Chapter 8.1 “Sensation”
 Pgs. 206-213
 Complete Section 1 Assessment
 Pg. 213
 #s 1, 2, 4