Sensation The passive process of bringing information from the outside world into the body and to the brain

Perception The process of organizing interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

 Our sensory & perceptual processes work together to help us sort out complex images

7 Major Senses Audition- Hearing Gustation- Taste Olfaction- Smell Touch Vision Vestibular- body orientation Motion

How do theses senses work? Each of the structures (ears, eyes, nose, etc.) have receptor cells that change stimuli into a neural impulse. –P–Process is called Transduction

Transduction: The process of changing the input stimuli into a neural impulse. Each organ has specialized receptors for the designated purpose. (eye=light, nose=scent).

Sensation  Bottom-Up Processing  analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Sensation  Top-Down Processing  information processing guided by higher-level mental processes  as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Top Down Processing Example: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Psychophysics: Is the study of how physical energy relates to our psychological experience. Thresholds are used to measure these experiences. – Absolute Thresholds – Signal detection – Subliminal Stimulation – Difference Thresholds

Absolute Threshold – Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time – i.e. candle light 30 miles away, bee’s wing drop from two feet away from our face, single drop of perfume in a three room apartment.

Signal Detection: Adaptive measure that allows our psychological state to influence our sensations. – i.e. mother-baby, silkworm-scent of female

Subliminal Stimulation? Is our subconscious effected by messages undetectable to our conscious awareness? Yes and no. C88 C88

Just Noticable Difference (JND) The minimum difference a person can detect between two stimuli 50% of the time Weber’s Law- the greater the intensity of a stimulus, the greater the change needed to produce a noticeable change.

Just noticeable difference

Vision: Two physical characteristics that allow us to experience light – Wavelength determines the color – Intensity determines the brightness

How do we process visual stimuli Retina relays information to the visual cortex located in the occipital lobe. Specialized cells respond to particular features of objects. The visual cortex passes information on to specialized association areas.

Visual Information Processing Visual Cortex

Pathways from the eyes to the visual cortex

ConesRods

The Eye The Retina Rods and Cones RodsCones Rods Cones

Parallel Processing: Our brain integrates color, motion, form, and depth.

Visual Information Processing Parallel Processing Parallel processing – Blind sight

Color is in our brains only: Two Theories on how Humans see color – Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory 3 type of color receptors- red, green, blue – Opponent Process Theory Only one side of each pair can fire at a time. – Red-green – Blue-yellow – White-black

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How do we see color? k k

The Physical Property of Waves

Optical Illusions Other PowerPoint

Audition- Hearing Transducing air pressure changes into neural impulses involves the ear and brain, which decodes the message into sound.

The structure of the ear Oval window = where the stirrup connects to the cochlea.

The structure of the ear Cochlea = a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses.

The Ear Inner ear – Oval window – Cochlea Cochlea Basilar membrane – Auditory nerve – Auditory cortex

The structure of the ear Oval Window

The structure of the ear Cochlea

The structure of the ear Fluid in the cochlea

The structure of the ear Hair cells in the cochlea

The structure of the ear Auditory nerve = nerve which sends the auditory message to the brain via the thalamus.

The structure of the ear Nerve fibers

The structure of the ear Auditory nerve

Neural impulse to the brain

The Ear Perceiving Loudness Basilar membrane’s hair cells – Compressed sound

Cochlea and loud sounds

The Ear Perceiving Pitch Place theory – High pitched sounds Frequency theory – Low pitched sounds – Volley principle

The Ear Locating Sounds Stereophonic hearing Localization of sounds – Intensity – Speed of the sound

Hearing Loss and Deaf Culture Hearing loss – Conduction hearing loss Conduction hearing loss – Sensorineural hearing loss Sensorineural hearing loss – Cochlea implant Cochlea implant Signing