1. Sensory Processes ThEcOwgAvecOla. TheCowGaveCola
Sensation is physical & psychological
Lets make something what it isn’t
Read following sentence from right to left 1x, no stopping
Don’t read it again
.rat eht saw tac ehT
“The Cat saw the rat” “The cat was the rat”
The cat was the tar

2. Sensory Process
We assign a “top” “bottom” and “side” to most objects we know
Cut out a piece of paper w/4=sides
Put it up on the wall & call it a square.
Remains square
Cut out same basic square and call it a diamond
Remains a diamond

3. Absolute Thresholds
What started out as light energy coming into your eyes and going to the brain has been given a meaning not contained in the actual source of the light energy…
Incoming info must be strong enough to make us notice it
Absolute Threshold: Level of sensory stimulation needed for stimulation to register

4. Standard Absolute Thresholds
Vision Candle flame seen at 30 miles on a clear night
Hearing Tick of a watch under quiet conditions at 20 feet
Touch A bee’s wing falling on your cheek from 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) above
Taste 1 teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons of water

5. Adaptation=gradual loss of attention to unneeded or unwanted sensory information (when we ignore our senses)
Sensation=process of receiving info from environment
Perception=process of organizing sensory info to make it meaningful

6. Sensation Vision See 1st then taste, smell, hearing or feeling Light
Green eggs and ham… 
Light
White light=light as it originates from sun or bulb before it is broken into different frequencies
No such thing as “color”
Color is seen only after waves of white light hit objects & bounce back to us at different speeds or frequencies
We simply give different light wavelengths certain names.
Eyes have different receptors for different wave lengths

7. Eye
White light waves hit various objects in environment and bounces off at different wavelengths and then hits receptors in our eye.

8. Terms of the Eye
Cornea: clear outer covering of the eye (fluid lies behind it)
Iris: colored circular muscle that opens & closes, forming larger & smaller circles to control light getting into your eye
Lens: part of eye that focuses an image on the retina
Pupil: opening in the eye
Smaller when disgusted
Larger when we see something we like or are threatened
Retina: back of the eye, contains millions of receptors for light
Blind spot: portion of retina which optic nerve exits (no receptor cells)
Rods: visual receptor sensitive to violet-purple wavelengths; sensitive for night vision; “sees” only black & white
Cones: visual receptor that responds during daylight; sees color

9. Color Vision Red, blue, green or mix of these
Light from each object bounce back at different wavelengths, and brain will mix these wavelengths, making object appear a specific color

10. Color Blindness Inability to see certain colors, such as red & green

11. Afterimage
Image that remains after stimulation of the retina ends. Cones not used fire to bring the visual system back in balance.

14. Hearing/Audition Hearing depends on energy
Sound waves much slower than light waves.
Pitch: how high or low a sound is
Timbre: the complexity of a sound
Intensity: how loud a sound is
Decibels: measure of how loud a sound is

15. Structure of Ear
Eardrum: piece of skin stretched over entrance to ear; vibrates to sound
Cochlea: snail shaped part of ear, filled w/fluid & small hairs that vibrate to incoming sound
Hair cells: receptor cells for hearing in cochlea
Cilia: hair like extensions on cells
Auditory nerve: bundle of nerves carrying sound to brain

16. Psychological importance of sound
Mother bird makes sounds to her offspring inside the shell
Infant bird will follow mother’s sounds as it moves about
Newborn human babies relax when hearing tapes of the mother’s voice or heartbeat

17. Cutaneous Senses Touch
Cutaneous receptors: nerve receptors in skin that respond to pressure, temperature & pain
3 types of receptors
One records pressure—pinprick, bruise, ant on arm
2nd responds only to temperature changes
3rd remains active and records injury or poison
These cause painful feelings
They can fire for hours after a burn or major cut

18. Smell/Olfaction Depends on ability to detect chemicals
Most animal-like of human senses
When odor is associated with an emotional event we NEVER forget it
Cilia in mucus layer of nose collect molecules of odor
Then send electrical signal to olfactory bulbs
Olfactory bulbs: receive odor molecules & communicate their nature to the brain

19. Smell Communication
Most critical use for smell is info about food heading toward mouth
Smell more * than taste
Hold your nose when you eat—food will have almost no taste at all.
Animals use smell to communicate sexual interest—pheromones
It’s probable humans would too yet difficult to study
Bathing, clothing, perfumes…

20. Taste Taste receptors operate by chemical communication Tate buds
4types of receptors
Salt
Sweet
Sour
bitter

21. Salt Needs Need it to survive Operates nerve cells
Keeps body chemistry in balance
Used for muscle contraction
Low salt diet can make one dizzy & sick
Excess salt removed from body in urine
Humans born w/fixed sequence of need
Desire for salt tapers w/age & reappears in old age

22. Sugar Needs
Newborns can tell when something has sugar in it…the will actively seek it
Vital for energy to run the body
Too little makes a person tremble & feel faint & mental confusion
Desire for something sweet is built in

23. Sourness & Bitterness Detectors
More than one type of bitterness detectors
Almost all poisons are bitter
Sourness also a protective function
Bad food usually has a sour taste
Usually smell the problem first
But—Bitter poisonous substance frequently have no odor

24. Perception Perceptual constancies
Size constancy: ability to retain size of an object regardless of where it is located
Color Constancy: ability to perceive an object as the same color regardless of environment
Visual network works by itself once we have decided what color something is.
Has the ability to ↑or ↓ mentally the internal firing of visual receptors
(only when we know what the color is)

25. Brightness constancy: ability to keep an object’s brightness constant as the object is moved to various environments
Shape constancy: ability to perceive an object as having the same shape regardless of angle which it is seen
Space Constancy: ability to keep objects in environment steady by perceiving our selves or outside objects as moving

26. Depth Perception Ability to see relation of objects in space
Visual cliff: apparatus used to demonstrate depth perception

27. Retinal Disparity (binocular cues)
Difference between images provide by two retinas. When images are brought together in brain, they provide a sense of depth

28. Texture Gradient (monocular cues)
How rough or smooth objects appear; used in depth perception
texture=how smooth or rough something appears to be (how clear its details are)
gradient=different levels of texture we can see at different distances
smaller object=further away
overlapping figures=complete forms closest to us, bodies behind are covered up and farther away.

29. Gestalt Principles/Perceptual Organization
When given incomplete perceptual info, we organize it to make sense
We interpret things the way we THINK they should be, not the way they actually are.
Gestalt: an organized whole,
shape, or form

30. Perceptual Organization
Similarity: perceptual cue that involves grouping like things together Proximity: perceptual cue that involves grouping together things that are near one another

31. Gestalt Principles
Closure: process of filling in the missing details of what is viewed.

32. Illusions Inaccurate perceptions
Müller-Lyer illusion—mistake? change what we perceive so world makes more sense.