Chapter 6 A: Sensation and Perception

Essential Question How do people use the 7 known senses to understand the world around them?

Chapter 6 (A): Sensation, Perception, and Attention

Do-Now (Discussion) Open your textbooks to Pg. 229: “Sensation and Perception” What is Prosopagnosia? How does this condition illustrate the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation and Perception The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment “Bottom-Up” Perception: The process or organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events “Bottom-Up” and “Top-Down”

Sensation and Perception: “Bottom-Up” Vs. “Top-Down” “Bottom-Up” Processing: “Top-Down” Processing: T E C T

“The Forest Has Eyes” Bev Doolittle

Sensation and Perception: “Bottom-Up” Vs. “Top-Down” Look at the images on Hand-Out 6-12: What does each image represent Which process is “Bottom-Up?” Why? Which process is “Top-Down?”

Sensation and Perception Organisms are equipped with sensory and perceptual abilities based upon their individual needs: A frog, which feeds on flying insects, has eyes with receptor cells that fire only in response to small, dark, moving objects. A frog could starve to death knee-deep in motionless flies. But let one zoom by and the frog’s “bug detector” cells snap awake. A male silkworm moth has receptors so sensitive to the female sex-attractant odor that a single female need release only a billionth of an ounce per second to attract every male silkworm moth within a mile. That is why there continue to be silkworms. Humans are similarly equipped to detect the important features of our environment. Our ears are more sensitive to sound frequencies that include human voice consonants and a baby’s cry.

Perception and Selective Attention The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus The five senses take in 11,000,000 bits of information per second; however, people consciously process 40 bits.

Perception and Selective Attention Inattentional Blindness: Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere Simons and Chabris: “Gorilla Study” (1999) 50% of participants failed to consciously perceive gorilla Change Blindness: Failure to notice changes in the environment Simons and Levin: “Door Study” (1998) 50% of participants failed to consciously perceive change of actor Inattentional/Change Blindness: http://www.simonslab.com/videos.html

Review What is the difference between sensation and perception? How do sensation and perception help us understand the world around us? What is selective attention? Differentiate between inattentional blindness and change blindness.

Homework Chapter 6 Outline: “Sensation and Perception” Research Study Response #5: “Take a Long Look” (Pgs. 36-42)