1. Sensation Chapter 4 Module 9

2. Sensation: ◦ Process in which our sensis (eyes, ears, ect.) and the nervous system receive stimuli from the environment Perception: ◦ Process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

3. Thresholds Absolute threshold ◦ The minimum amount fo stimulation a person can normally detect.  How far away can you see a light, how much basil needs to be in spaghetti suace before you can taste it? Difference threshold (the just noticable difference) The smallest detectable change in a stimulus How much do I have to increase the speaker volume before you notice I turned it up? (Paper clip demo)

4. Sensory Adaptation When stimulation is constant and unchanging you eventually fail to pay attention to it because you usually don’t need to. Examples ◦ Cold swimming pools ◦ A friends smelly appartment

6. Selective Learning Allows you to focus and pay attention by blocking out other stimuli Block out: ◦ Feel of your clothes ◦ Noises in the hall ◦ Temperature of the air Selective attention, (or lack of it) largely affects learning

7. The Visual System What is light? ◦ Electromagnetic engergy that travels in waves ◦ Humans can only detect a small portion of these waves “ROY G BIV” ◦ Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)

8. THE EYE

9. Sound = Vibration Vocal cords vibrate, Instruments vibrate (guitar strings) Waves ◦ Pitch = Length (herts Hz) waves/sec ◦ Amplitude = Loudness (decides dB) The Auditory System

10. 140Rock band at close range 120Thunder 110Jet Plane 500ft 80Busy intersection 60Normal conversation 20Whisper 10Breathing 0Absolute threshold dB

11. Hearing Damage Exposure to loud prolonged noise: ◦ Gradual hearing loss (construction worker/jack hammer, Rock Stars)

12. Taste Taste: Salty, Sweet, Sour, Bitter Respond to chemical structures predispositions for taste ◦ Help Survival ◦ Babies like sweet & salty so they will like their mothers milk Many people dislike Sour/Bitter ◦ They are more likely to be poisonous

13. Taste Taste cells regenerate in a few days ◦ Stop smoking food taste better

14. Smell Chemicals reach olfactory cells Cells do not regenerate Older people can’t smell as well Ex) plug nose & eat starburst ◦ What flavor is it

15. Touch 4 types of sensations through touch. ◦ Pain ◦ Warmth ◦ Cold ◦ Pressure Other sensations occur from combinations of these ◦ Wetness = cold and pressure sensations

16. The 2 Body Senses Kinesthetic sense: There are receptors in your muscles that provide your brain with information of your movement ◦ When your foot falls asleep it has stopped providing your brain with kinesthetic information Vestibular sense: balance and orientation Controlled by fluid in your ears

17. Perception The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information Gestalt Psychology ◦ The whole may be greater than its parts

18. Figure-Ground Relationships Strive to pick out a figure and a background in images