Psychology Other Senses and Perception

Other Senses  I. Gustation  II. Olfaction  III. Somesthesis

Gustation (taste)  Taste cells are chemical- sensitive receptors located in the taste bud clusters.

Five Basic Taste Qualities  Sweetness  Saltiness  Sourness  Bitterness  Umami- glutamates

Types of Tasters  I. Non-tasters: people who are unable to taste the chemical propylthioyracil, a bitter compound.

Types of Tasters  II. Medium Tasters: people with an average number of taste buds; they taste the bitter PROP at an average of medium level.

Types of Tasters  Supertasters: people who are extremely sensitive to some tastes, have a high number of taste buds, and are highly sensitive to PROP.

II. Olfaction (smell)  Olfactory epithelium: thin membrane found in the upper nasal cavity.

Olfaction (smell)  Olfactory cells carry information to the olfactory bulb.  Olfactory bulb: activates the prefrontal cortex

Olfaction (smell)  Odors and scents stimulate the olfactory epithelium  Pheromones: same-species odors, used as a form of chemical communication.

Olfaction (smell)  Anosmia: the loss of lack of sense of smell.

III. Somesthesis  Somesthesis: refers to the mechanical senses, including kinesthesis, vestibular sensation, and the skin senses.

Somesthesis  Kinesthesis: communicates information about movement and location of body parts.  Receptors are found in joints and ligaments.

Somesthesis  Vestibular Sense: Also called the equilibratory sense  Concerned with the sense of balance and knowledge of body position.

Skin Senses  Cold, Warmth, Pressure, and Pain.

Pain  Pain: the experience evoked by a harmful stimulus; directs our attention toward a danger and holds our attention.

Gate Control Theory of Pain  The brain can only focus on one pain stimulus at a time.

Psychology Perception

 I. Attentional Processes  II. Perceptual Abilities  III. Perceptual Illusions

Attentional Processes  Attention: a process in which consciousness is focused on particular stimuli.

Attentional Processes  Selective Attention: ability to focus on one stimulus while excluding other stimuli that are present.  Divided Attention: ability to respond to more than one stimulus.

Perceptual Abilities  Perceptual Organization: processes that group smaller units of the perceptual world into larger units.

Perceptual Abilities  Gestalt: the whole experience is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Perceptual Abilities  Figure-ground perception: tendency to organize the visual field into objects (figures) that stand apart from the surroundings (ground).

Perceptual Abilities  Gestalt principles: the world is organized around best forms – some which are defined geometrically, such as a circle or square.

Perceptual Abilities  Law of Pragnanz  A. also called the law of simplicity.  B. tendency to see things in the simplest form.

Perceptual Abilities  Closure: filling in missing information from the perceptual array by closing in gaps.

Perceptual Abilities  Laws of grouping:  A. similarity: grouping things on the basis of how similar they are.  B. proximity: grouping things on the basis of how near they are.

Perceptual Abilities  Perceptual Constancy:  Shape Constancy: perceived shape of an object remains constant despite changes in the shape of the retinal image of that object.

Perceptual Abilities  Perceptual Constancy:  Size Constancy: Perceived size of an object remains constant despite changes in the size of the retinal image of that object.

Perceptual Abilities  Depth Perception:  Binocular Cues: depth cues provided by both eyes.  Monocular Cues: depth cues provided by one eye.

Perceptual Abilities  Motion Parallax: near objects are seen as moving more rapidly than far objects when the viewer’s head is moving.

Perceptual Abilities  Texture Gradient: when the texture of a surface receding in the distant changes in clarity, blurring at further distances.

Perceptual Abilities  Linear Perspective: produced by apparent converging of parallel lines in the distance.

Perceptual Abilities  Interposition: one item blocks the view of items in the back of it.

Perceptual Abilities  Relative Height: Objects higher in the perceptual field are farther away.  Light and Shadow: lighter objects appear closer.

Perceptual Abilities  Occulomotor Cue: depth cue based on our ability to sense the tension in our eye muscles and the position of our eyes.

III. Perceptual Illusions  Demonstrate how easy it is to misinterpret sensory input.  Types: Muller-Lyer illusion, the Ames room. Based on Gestalt principles.