Sensation and Perception Sensation: your window to the world Perception: interpreting what comes in your window.

Just the basics… Bottom-up processing Top-down processing Thresholds – JND Signal detection Subliminal

Sensory Adaptation Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation.

VisionVision Our most dominating sense.

Transduction Order is Rods/Cones to Bipolar to Ganglion to Optic Nerve. Sends info to thalamus- area called lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Then sent to cerebral cortexes. Where the optic nerves cross is called the optic chiasm.

In the Brain Goes to the Visual Cortex located in the Occipital Lobe of the Cerebral Cortex. Feature Detectors. Parallel Processing We have specific cells that see the lines, motion, curves and other features of this turkey. These cells are called feature detectors.

Rods vs. Cones

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Color Vision Two Major Theories

Trichromatic Theory Three types of cones: Red Blue Green These three types of cones can make millions of combinations of colors. Does not explain afterimages or color blindness well.

Opponent-Process theory The sensory receptors come in pairs. Red/Green Yellow/Blue Black/White If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited.

Afterimages

Hearing Our auditory sense

The Ear

How we hear Baby with cochlear implants Cochlear implants

Touch Mechanoreceptors located in our skin. Pressure, warmth, cold, pain

Pain Sensory vs. affective Controlling pain – Endorphins – Gate control theory – Placebo control – Distraction Phantom limb Social influences

Taste Tongue – Papillae Taste buds – Taste cells » Receptor sites Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Flavor = taste + olfaction

Vestibular Sense Tells us where our body is oriented in space. Our sense of balance. Located in our semicircular canals in our ears.

Kinesthetic Sense Tells us where our body parts are. Receptors located in our muscles and joints.

Olfactory Chemistry – Individual signature Learned associations

GESTALT a structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts

Law of Good Continuation

Law of Common Fate

Figure Ground Relationship Our first perceptual decision is what is the image is the figure and what is the background.

Constancy Objects change in our eyes constantly as we or they move….but we are able to maintain content perception Shape Constancy Size Constancy Brightness Constancy

Perceived Motion Stroboscopic effect (flip book effect) Phi phenomenon

Depth Perception Monocular cues – Linear Perspective – Interposition – Relative size – Texture gradient – Shadowing Binocular cues – Retinal disparity – Convergence

Depth Perception Visual cliff experiment 3D movies – retinal disparity

Variations in Perception Inborn organizations + Learned

Variations Adaptation Perception set (priming/predisposition) Context Emotion Motivation

Human Factor Psychologists AFFORDANCE – “It’s not your fault you turned on the wrong burner…”