Unit 4 Reading/Assignment Schedule
Big Questions:
1) How are the external stimuli that strike our bodies transformed into
messages that our brains comprehend?
2) What are the roles of the structures of the eye and the brain in visual
information processing?
3) What are the roles of the structures of the ear and the brain in auditory
information processing?
4) How do the brain and nervous system process the senses of smell, taste,
touch and kinesthesis?
5) How does selective attention affect our perception?
6) How do the organizational patterns of the brain affect our perception?
7) To what extent do our experience and beliefs shape our perceptions?
8) What are the claims of extra-sensory perception?
Reading
Other assignments/quizzes
Date due
p. 197-203
Thur. Oct.31st
p. 204-208
Fri, Nov. 1st
p. 208-214
Tue, Nov. 5th
Reading quiz
Thurs. Nov. 7th
p. 215-223
Fri. Nov. 8th
p. 224-234
Mon. Nov. 11th
Quiz: Sensation
Tue. Nov. 12th
Synesthesia article
Wed., Nov. 13th
p. 237-242
Thur., Nov. 14th
p. 242-253
Fri. Nov. 15th
p. 254-263
Mon., Nov. 18th
p. 264-268
Partner Quiz: Perception
Tue., Nov. 19th
Unit 4 test
Thur., Nov 21st
Sensation terms
Sensation
Perception
Bottom-up processing
Top-down processing
Psychophysics
Absolute threshold
Signal detection theory
Subliminal
priming
Difference threshold
Just noticeable difference
Weber’s law
Sensory adaptation
Transduction
Wavelength
Hue
Intensity
Amplitude
Pupil
Iris
Lens
Accomodation
Retina
Acuity
Rods
Cones
Optic nerve
Blind spot
Fovea
Feature detectors
Parallel processing
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory
Opponent-process theory
Color constancy
Audition
Frequency
Pitch
Middle ear
Inner ear
Cochlea
Basilar membrane
Place theory
Frequency theory
Conduction deafness
Sensorineural hearing loss
Sensory compensation
Gate-control theory
Olfaction
Sensory interaction
Kinesthesis
Vestibular sense
Perception terms:
Selective attention
Cocktail party effect
Choice blindness
Change blindness
Visual capture
Gestalt
Figure-ground
Grouping
Proximity
Similarity
Continuity
Closure
Connectedness
Depth perception
Binocular cues
Retinal disparity
Convergence
Monocular cues
Relative size
Interposition
Relative clarity
Texture gradient
Relative height
Relative motion
Linear perspective
Relative brightness
Motion perception
Stroboscopic movement
Phi phenomenon
Perceptual constancy
Sensory deprivation (effects)
Perceptual adaptation
Perceptual set
Schemas
Context effects
Human factors psychology
Extrasensory perception
Telepathy
Clairvoyance
Precognition
Psychokinesis
Parapsychology
Reflective writing suggested topics
1. Go through an entire day in your life
and explain how you constantly use
sensory adaptation.
2. Research and report on experiments that
have been done on subliminal
perception.
3. Look up and read any of the primary
sources cited in Chapters 5 or 6. What
new information did you gain from
reading the primary sources?
4. If you were forced to give up one sense,
what would it be? Why? How would
your life be different without that sense?
5. Discuss your personal experiences with
pain and what you have learned in this
unit. Have there been times when you
have controlled or not experienced pain
because of distraction?
6. Discuss some of your personal
experiences with taste and smell. Do
you have certain smells, tastes that are
connected to vivid memories?
7. Describe times when you have used
selective attention, or have been
affected by visual capture.
8. Draw a picture using some of the
monocular cues for depth perception
discussed in the text. Write a paragraph
or two describing the cues you have
used.
9. Discuss several examples of times when
your expectations influenced your
perception of a situation, person, or
group.
10. Discuss personal experiences when you
felt you had experienced or observed
ESP. How has what we have learned in
this unit changed (or not changed) your
interpretation of those experiences?
11. Create a flip book to demonstrate how
we perceive motion.