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Explore the fascinating processes of sensation and perception, where our sensory system receives stimuli from the environment and interprets them to make sense of the world around us. Understand how bottom-up and top-down processing collaborate to make sense of complex information. Discover the incredible capabilities of the human mind, such as reading jumbled words effortlessly. Study psychophysics to learn about the relationship between physical stimuli and our psychological experiences. Delve into concepts like absolute threshold, signal detection theory, subliminal stimulation, Weber’s Law, sensory adaptation, and transduction. Uncover the intricacies of our sensory and perceptual processes through engaging examples and theories.
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Chapter 5 Introduction to Sensation Sensation: your window to the world Perception: interpreting what comes in your window.
Sensation • The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment.
Perception • The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Bottom-Up processing v. Top-down Processing • Our sensory and perceptual processes work together to help us sort out complex processes
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What if we could sense everything? Life would hurt. So we can only take in a window of what is out there. This is the study of psychophysics: relationship between physical stimuli and our psychological experiences to them.
Absolute Threshold • The minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.
Signal Detection Theory • Predicts how we detect a stimulus amid other stimuli. • Assumes that we do not have an absolute threshold. • We detect stuff based on our experiences, motivations and fatigue level. Signal Detection Theory
Subliminal Stimulation • Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. Does this work? • Yes and No • Slide studies showed some emotional reactivity (called priming a response). • The effects are subtle and fleeting.
Difference Threshold • The minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli. • Also known as Just Noticeable Difference
Weber’s Law • The idea that, to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant percentage; not a constant amount.
Sensory Adaptation • Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation. Because our sensory neurons fire less frequently
How is this important when studying sensation? Transduction Stimulus energies to neural impulses. For example: Light energy to vision. Chemical energy to smell and taste. Sound waves to sound. Conversion of one form of energy to another.
