1. Sensation and Perception - intro.ppt © 2001 Laura Snodgrass, Ph.D. Perception The study of how the “contents” of the mind got there! How we gain knowledge of reality Our only access to the world “outside” our body Some philosophers argued that there is no physical reality - only our ideas

2. Sensation and Perception - intro.ppt © 2001 Laura Snodgrass, Ph.D. How do we know that we share the same reality? Color blindness Blindness Deafness Schizophrenia Virtual reality

3. Sensation and Perception - intro.ppt © 2001 Laura Snodgrass, Ph.D. Characteristics of Perception Selective - limited range, voluntary attention Appropriate to the environment – adaptive Objective - defines reality Controlled by “patterns” - responds only to change Active - interpretive and requires stimulation

4. Sensation and Perception - intro.ppt © 2001 Laura Snodgrass, Ph.D. Four Fields Of Study Physiology - anatomy and pathways Psychophysics - relationship between our conscious experience and changes in the stimulus Perception- processes that build an internal representation (often unconscious) Cognition - changes in perception due to learning, personality, etc.

5. Sensation and Perception - intro.ppt © 2001 Laura Snodgrass, Ph.D. Metatheories Gibsonian - “direct perception” –perception as an adaptation to the environment Information Processing - –stages that construct an internal representation Computational - –mathematical and computer modeling