Sensation & Perception We perceive the world not exactly as it is, but as it is useful for us to perceive it.

Sensation Energy from the environment that is encoded as neural signals Two more: kinesthetic & vestibular sense

Example: I need a volunteer to read! Perception The process of understanding a sensation BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING: Processing information from a stimulus Fireworks See colors, hear sound, processed in your brain and you smile TOP-DOWN PROCESSING: Connecting stored knowledge to the sensory experience Prosopagnosia Example: I need a volunteer to read!

Another example of top-down processing Aoccdrnig to 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 a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Sensory Adaptation Constant stimulation results in decreasing responsiveness YOUR SOCKS! If you hold your eyes perfectly still, your vision will come and go! Why does our body do this? Brain gets millions of messages a second, we can’t process all of them, so we focus on the info that CHANGES!

Thresholds Volunteer please! Absolute threshold: the minimum intensity of a stimulus to detect it 50% of the time Light, sound, pressure, taste, odor Volunteer please!

Selective Attention Your conscious awareness focus Senses take in 11 million bits of info per sec. You can consciously process 40 of those bits Cocktail Party Effect In a noisy environment, you can only focus on one voice at a time you can’t ease drop and engage in conversation at the same time However, if someone across the room says your name, your attention is immediately diverted Can you sing and read at the same time?

Selective Attention while Driving Why did they pass the “hands free” law in Illinois? Having a conversation is the distracting part, NOT holding your phone! So why hands free? Because when you hit the car in front of you, you’ll be happy you have both hands on the wheel Passenger is still distracting but they stop talking because also aware of surroundings

Remember, most information is processed automatically, out of sight, in our unconscious mind!