1. Perceptual organization How do we form meaningful perceptions from sensory information?

2. Gestalt psychology Branch of cognitive psychology Organization of many sensations into perceptions of wholes –Gestalt = whole or form Based on experience and expectations Perceived whole is not always the same as its parts!

3. Form perception Simplification into easily interpretable wholes Figure-ground

4. Form perception Grouping principles –Proximity –Similarity –Continuity –Connectedness –Closure

5. Depth perception Distance is perceived with vision and hearing Visual depth perception –Binocular cues –Monocular cues

6. Binocular depth cues Retinal disparity –Strongest visual depth cue

7. Monocular depth cues Light and shadow Relative size and position Relative height/vertical position Linear perspective

8. Auditory location cues Intensity and pitch Arrival times at each ear Clarity

9. Perceptual constancy Cognitive functions that maintain the features of an object, despite changing illumination, color, size, or shape –Based on comparisons between the figure and ground

10. Color and lightness constancy Consistent color and light intensity, despite changes in illumination

11. Shape and size constancy Familiar objects are perceived as unchanging despite changes in retinal images.

12. Perceptual interpretation Making sense of the perceptions produced by the cortex –Genetics –Experience Critical periods Plasticity and adaptation

13. Perceptual set Psychological predisposition to perceive stimuli in a particular way –Shaped by learned assumptions and beliefs –Affects how we interpret sensory stimuli Examples

14. Other sensory modalities

15. Hearing Stimulus - sound waves –Frequency –Amplitude

16. The ear

17. Auditory stimuli Bending of hair cells in the cochlea transduces vibrations into neural signals Auditory nerve Primary auditory cortex Auditory association cortex

18. Touch Stimulus - pressure, pain, warmth, cold –Receptors –Other sensations Stimuli organized in primary somatosensory cortex Perceptions created in somatosensory association cortex

19. Pain Critical alert system Subjective –Physiology –Prior experiences –Attention –Context –Culture

20. Pain Gate-control theory Pain control/management

21. Taste Stimulus - chemical molecules that impart the sensations of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami Tastebuds contain taste and touch receptors Sweet Sour Salty BitterUmami

22. Taste perception Flavor –Based on taste, olfactory, and touch stimuli Begins in brainstem Completed in the limbic system

23. Taste preferences Genetic predisposition Biological predisposition Learned responses

24. Smell Stimulus - chemical molecules Receptors in olfactory epithelium –Axons project directly to the olfactory bulb of the brain –Perception begins in the olfactory bulb, completed in the limbic system

25. Kinesthesis & vestibular sense Kinesthesis - sense of body position and movement Vestibular sense - sense of head postion and movement Stimulus - gravity and movement Receptors found in muscles (body) and inner ear (head)

26. Kinesthesis & vestibular sense Sensory signals about position and movement are organized in the medulla and cerebellum Perception occurs throughout the brain –Brain stem –Temporal cortex