UNIT 4 -- SENSATION and PERCEPTION, MOTIVATION and EMOTION
Sensation
Perception
Absolute threshold
Difference threshold (JND)
●
Weber’s law
Sensory adaptation
Selective attention
Signal detection theory
Subliminal stimulation (messages)
Parts of the eye (including order light transmitted)
●
fovea
Visual receptors
●
rods/cones/bipolar/ganglion
Nearsighted/farsighted
Color theories
Young-Helmholtz (trichromatic)
opponent-process
Feature detectors
●
●
Parallel processing
Parts of the ear (including order waves conducted)
Deafness
conduction
sensorineural (nerve)
Pitch theories
●
●
●
place theory
●
frequency theory
Noise induced hearing loss
● decibels (high/loud) = lessened ability to hear high hertz (high pitch)
Olfactory receptors
Smell and memory
Touch sensations
Gate-control theory (substance P)
Kinesthesis
Vestibular sense (including where it is located)
Sensory interaction
Top-down processing
Bottom-up processing
Perceptual organization
●
context effects
●
visual capture
Perceptual set
●
schemas
Gestalt theory (main idea)
●
similarity, figure ground, closure,
proximity, continuity
Monocular/binocular depth perception
●
●
linear perspective/interposition
retinal disparity/convergence
MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
Motivation and sources of motivation
Biological, emotional, cognitive, social
Instinct
Drive
Need
Incentive
Theories of Motivation
1. Instincts and Evolutionary
 Instinct: innate, automatic disposition toward responding in a particular way when confronted
with a specific stimulus


Problems with this theory (especially with humans)?
 Not as common with humans as are with other species
2. Drives
Drive-reduction theory: states that motivation arises from imbalances in homeostasis (constant
internal state)
 the imbalance in homeostasis creates a need (biological requirement for well-being)
 the brain responds to such needs by creating drive (psychological state of arousal that
prompts an organism to take action, restore balance and reduce the drive)


remember…drives PUSH us to satisfy our needs
3. Incentives
Incentive theory: states that behavior is directed toward attaining desirable stimuli and avoiding
unwanted stimuli
 Value of an incentive is influenced by both biological and cognitive factors


remember…incentives PULL us into action
4. Optimum Arousal
Arousal theories: state that people are motivated to behave in ways that maintain what is, for
them, an optimal level of arousal
 Your level of arousal can be measured by electrical activity in your brain, heart rate or
muscle tension
 People perform best when arousal is moderate

Generally people try to increase arousal when to low or decrease when too high– level is
different for all people
5. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
lower needs must be met 1st
Hunger
Lateral and ventral hypothalamus
External incentives
Taste preference
Anorexia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa
Binge eating disorder
Kinsey
Master and Johnson
Sexual response cycle
Sex
Sexual Orientation
Intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation
Achievement
THEORIES OF EMOTION
Emotions: feelings that generally have both physiological and cognitive elements and that influence
behavior
 Theories of emotions
 James-Lange Theory
Cannon-Bard Theory
Schachter-Singer (Two-Factor) Theory
Must cognition precede emotion?
 Zajonc – argues that emotional reactions can be quicker than our interpretations of
a situation…so we feel before we think
 Research on neurological processes support this idea – some neural
pathways involved in emotion bypass the cortical areas involved in thinking




Lazarus – argues that while our brain does process a lot unconsciously, even
instantaneously felt emotions require some sort of cognitive appraisal of the
situation – otherwise, how do we KNOW what we are responding to
 Appraisal may be effortless and may not be conscious of it, but it is still
happening
EXPRESSING EMOTION
How do we express emotions?
 Cultural universals
 Ekman – people speak and understand pretty much the same “facial language” around the
world
 Emotional “facial” universals

Cultural differences
 Huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of the emotional displays
STRESS

Stressor – a stressful stimulus, a condition demanding adaptation
 Stress: the physical and mental changes that occur in response to a challenging or
threatening situation
 4 major components to the stress response
 Cognitive appraisal
 Physiological response
 Subjective feelings
 Behavior
 Stress is NOT just another emotion
 Types of stressors
 Catastrophic events
 Life changes/strains
 Chronic stressors
 Daily hassles
 The Physical Stress Response
 Fight-or-flight response – sequence of internal processes preparing an organism to
struggle or escape

Seyle – General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) – a three-stage pattern of responses
triggered by the effort to adapt to any stressor
 Stage 1 = alarm reaction
If stressor persists over long period…this initially adaptive
alarm reaction can become distress as it depletes body’s
energy and defense resources
Stage 2 = resistance





Resistance only applies to the original stressor – if another
stressor is introduced, organisms defenses could be so
depleted that it would be unable to respond to second
stressor
Stage 3 = exhaustion
Stress and the Immune System