1. Sensation and Perception
Chapter 4
Sensation and Perception

2. Chapter 4
Hmmm…what do you think???
Sensation and perception are essential to human communication, learning, and survival. Write down an example of (1) a situation in which you experienced difficulties as a result of failing to hear, see, taste, smell, or feel something in the environment and of (2) a situation in which you sensed something in the environment but were unable to accurately interpret the sensory information.

3. Chapter 4 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
HOLT Psychology
4/17/2017
Chapter 4 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Section 1: Sensation and Perception: The Basics
Section 2: Vision
Section 3: Hearing
Section 4: Other Senses
Section 5: Perception
Chapter 4

4. Sensation and Perception: The Basics
Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Section 1
Sensation and Perception: The Basics

5. Chapter 4
Main Objective:
Distinguish between sensation and perception, and explain how they contribute to an understanding of our environment.

6. CHAPTER 4 Chapter 4 Senses Sensation and Perception Vision Hearing
Smell
Touch
Taste
Body Senses

7. What is Sensation and Perception??????
Chapter 4
What is Sensation and Perception??????
Sensation:
The stimulation of sensory receptors and the transmission of sensory information to the central nervous system (the spinal cord and brain).
Perception:
Psychological process through which we interpret sensory stimulation.
EX: We realize that the people
on a small TV are bigger in real life.

8. Signal-detection theory Sensory adaptation
Chapter 4
Stimulation of senses and the ways in which people interpret that stimulation are affected by several concepts:
Absolute threshold
Difference Threshold
Signal-detection theory
Sensory adaptation

9. Absolute Threshold: Absolute Threshold: Chapter 4
The weakest amount of a stimulus that can be sensed.
EX: Hearing the first beep in a hearing test.
Dogs can hear and smell things that people cannot…they have a different threshold.
Thresholds differ
from person to person!

10. Difference Threshold:
Chapter 4
Difference Threshold:
Difference threshold:
The minimum amount of difference that can be detected between two stimuli.
EX: differences in shades of color.

11. Signal-Detection Theory:
Chapter 4
Signal-Detection Theory:
A method of distinguishing sensory stimuli that takes into account not only their strengths but also such elements as the setting, your physical state, your mood, your attitudes, and motivation.
EX: Mind wandering in class…
you still hear but your mind
will wander.

12. Chapter 4
Sensory Adaptation:
The process by which we become more sensitive to weak stimuli and less sensitive to unchanging stimuli.
Sensory systems adapt to changing environment.
Seeing people in movie theater (weak stimuli)
City dwellers adapt to sounds
of traffic (unchanging stimuli)

13. Video on Sensation & Perception 30 minutes
Chapter 4
Video on Sensation & Perception 30 minutes
Write 15 interesting facts/concepts throughout video!

14. Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Section 2
Vision

15. Question: How does the eye enable vision?
Chapter 4
Section 2: Vision
Question: How does the eye enable vision?
THE EYE AND VISION
Light enters the eye and then is projected onto a surface
The amount of light that enters the eye is determined by the size of the pupil which adjusts automatically to the amount of light entering the eye
Once light enters the eye, it encounters the lens which adjusts to the distance of objects by changing its thickness

16. Question: How does the eye enable vision?
Chapter 4
Section 2: Vision
Question: How does the eye enable vision?
THE EYE AND VISION (continued)
These changes project a clear image of the object onto the retina, which consists of neurons that are sensitive to the light called photoreceptors
Once the light hits the photoreceptors, a nerve carries the visual input into the brain where the information is relayed to the visual area of the occipital lobe

17. Question: How does the ear perceive sound?
Chapter 4
Section 3: Hearing
Question: How does the ear perceive sound?
HOW THE EAR PERCEIVES SOUND
Sound enters the outer ear and is funneled to the eardrum
Inside the middle ear, the hammer, anvil, and stirrup vibrate, transmitting the sound to the inner ear
Within the brain, auditory input is projected onto the hearing areas of the cerebral cortex

18. Question: What are the chemical, skin, and body senses?
Chapter 4
Section 4: Other Senses
Question: What are the chemical, skin, and body senses?
CHEMICAL, SKIN, AND BODY SENSES
Smell – allows a person to taste
Taste – sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness
Skin senses of pressure, temperature, and pain
Vestibular and kinesthetic body senses

19. Question: What are the laws of sensory perception?
Chapter 4
Section 5: Perception
Question: What are the laws of sensory perception?
LAWS OF SENSORY PERCEPTION
Closure – the tendency to perceive a complete or whole figure even when there are gaps in what your senses tell you
Figure-ground perception – the perception of a figure against a background
Proximity – the tendency to group together visual and auditory events that are near each other

20. Question: What are the laws of sensory perception?
Chapter 4
Section 5: Perception
Question: What are the laws of sensory perception?
LAWS OF SENSORY PERCEPTION (continued)
Similarity – thinking of similar objects as belonging together
Continuity – the tendency to group stimuli into continuous patterns