1. Ms. Saint-Paul A.P. Psychology
Unit 4(E): Other Senses
Ms. Saint-Paul
A.P. Psychology

2. Do-Now (Discussion)
What are some vital characteristics of the following senses:
Touch
Kinesthesis
Vestibular
Taste
Smell

3. Touch Touch: Includes four distinct skin senses: Pressure Warmth Cold
Pain

4. Touch
Kinesthesis:
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Whirling Dervishes

5. Touch Vestibular Sense:
The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance
Located in the inner ear
Wire Walk

6. Touch: Understanding Pain
Gate-Control Theory:
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain
E.g. Rubbing the area around a stubbed toe will create competing stimulation that will block some pain messages

7. Touch: Understanding Pain
Methods of Pain Control:
Drugs
Surgery
Acupuncture
Exercise
Hypnosis
Thought Distraction

8. Taste
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Umami
(Fresh
Chicken)

9. Taste
From an evolutionary perspective, why do you think we are sensitive to each of the five types of taste?

10. Taste Survival Functions of Taste: Sweet: Energy source
Salty: Sodium essential to physiological processes
Sour: Potentially toxic acid
Bitter: Potential poisons
Umami: Proteins to grow and repair tissue

11. Smell Like taste, smell is a chemical sense.
Odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate 5 million receptors to sense smell.
Unlike taste, there are many different forms of smell.

12. Smell

13. Smell: Associations with Memory
Can you think of a smell that elicits a particular memory?
Why do you think this occurs?

14. Smell: Associations with Memory

15. Sensory Interaction Sensory Interaction:
The principle that one sense may influence another
E.g. the taste of strawberry interacts with its smell and its texture on the tongue to produce flavor

16. Review
How does the Gate-Control Theory explain our perception of pain?
What are the survival functions of each of the five types of taste?
Why do smells often trigger memories?
Provide an example of sensory interaction.