Sensation and Perception

1. Sensation and Perception Biological Unit

2. Sensation Definition = The process by which stimulation of a sensory receptor gives rise to neural impulses that result in an experience or awareness of conditions inside/outside the body

3. Perception Definition = processes that organizes information into sensory images, as well as interprets the sense as having been created by properties of objects or events outside the body

4. The Five Sense

5. Five Senses • Touch= Skin; Sensory Neurons; Parietal Lobe • Smell = Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Cortex; Amygdala; Hypothalamus; Frontal Lobe • Taste = Taste Buds; Five taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory); Smell; Sight • Hearing = Sound Waves; Outer-Middle-Inner-Ear; Auditory Cortex; Corpus Callosum; Temporal Lobe • Sight= Retina; Visual Cortex; Corpus Callosum; Occipital Lobe

6. I. Touch – Skin A.) Skin Layers 1. Epidermis ;Dermis ;Subcutaneous Tissue B.) Somatosensory System 1. Nerve endings and receptors C.) Brain Parts (body) 1. Thalamus = sends message to PL 2. Parietal Lobe (PL) = process sensory info. to make awareness of function D.) Kinesthesia / Kinesthesis 1. Def. = the awareness of position, weight, tension and movement - sensory

7. I. Touch – Skin

8. II. Smell – Nose A.) Nose - Nasal Cavity 1. Smell receptor in lining B.) Olfactory Nerve 1. send odor to bulb C.) Olfactory Bulb (translator) D.) Hippocampus & Amygdala 1. help form memory of smell

9. II. Smell – Nose

10. III. Mouth & other parts A.) Taste Buds = organs of taste B.) Papillae = elevated taste receptors C.) Location of taste sense debatably D.) Taste senses 1. Salty 2. Sour 3. Sweet 4. Bitter 5. Umami (Japanese – Hearty) E.) Varying Facial nerves carry taste signals to your Thalamus then your Parietal Lobe F.) Elements of Sight and Smell play a factor into taste – what you see and smell influence your perception of taste

11. III. Mouth & other parts

12. IV. Sound – Ear A.) Outer Ear (pinna – cartilage) 1. brings in sound waves / vibration {W/V} B.) Auditory Canal 1. amplifies W/V & provides protection C.) Eardrum (Tympanic Membrane) 1. external W/V are transferred into internal W/V D.) Inner Ear 1. funnels W/V through E.) Cochlea 1. converts W/V into neural impulses F.) Auditory Nerve (AN) 1. carries signal to the brain

13. IV. Sound – Ear

14. V. Sight - Eye A.) The Cornea (clear lens)1. Clear bulging - front of the eye 2. Primary refractive surface (starts focus process)B.) Pupil (black sphere)1. Regulates amount of light (dilates) C.) Lens (clear lens) 1. Focus light rays into RetinaD.) Retina (thin tissue – back of eye)1. Receives images 2. Converts images into electrical impulses E.) Optic Nerve1. carry visual information to brain

15. V. Sight - Eye

16. PERCEPTIONMain Concepts

17. Grouping (making meaningful organization of objects) - Gestalt • Proximity; Similarity; Continuity; Connectedness; Closure • Perceptual Constancy • Size; Shape; Light; Color • Angle; View; Subjectiveness (brain) • Perceptual Set ( mental notes on “what should be”) – mental schemas • Context (triggers / stimulus) • Emotion & Motivation (distance / reward)

18. Top-Down = perceptual processes in which information from an individual's past experience, knowledge, expectations, motivations, and background influence the way a perceived object is interpreted and classified • Bottom-Up = perceptual process based on the sensory data available in the environment; results of process are passed upward toward more abstract representations • Accommodation = involves altering one's existing ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences

19. Sensory Adaption = occurrence in which receptor cells lose their power to respond after a period of unchanged stimulation • Absolute Threshold = minimum amount of physical energy needed to produce a reliable sensory experience • Difference Threshold = smallest physical difference between two stimuli that can still be recognized as a difference