Sensation & Perception:

The Basics
Which of the two orange circles is larger?
Which of the two orange circles is larger?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Which Field is lighter, A or B?
Sensation vs. Perception

Sensation
• Detection and basic sensory experience of environmental stimuli
• Occurs when signals from the external environment or the body
stimulate receptors in the sense organs
• Transduction: Conversion of physical energy into a neural signal

Perception
• Process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory
information
Sensation to Perception
Neural Underpinning
• Signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve
pathways that end up in different regions of the brain
Absolute and Relative Thresholds

Absolute Threshold
The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected

Relative Threshold
The smallest difference that can be reliably detected in direct comparison
between two stimuli
= just noticeable difference (jnd)
Absolute Threshold

Vision: A single candle from 48km in a clear night

Hearing: The tick of a (swiss?) watch from 6m in total quiet
Smell: One drop of perfume in a 3-room apartment
Touch: The wing of a bee on the cheek, dropped from 1cm
Taste: One teaspoon of sugar in 7 liters of water

Note: Large individual differences

Question: Can stimuli below
these thresholds affect us?

Eugene Galanter, 1924 - 2016

Thresholds are adaptive

more sensitivity
where its useful
Differential Threshold: Perception is Relative
Weber’s Law: Δ𝐼
The jnd is a constant proportion (k) of the intensity =𝑘
of the initial stimulus (I) 𝐼
- lift up and hold a weight of 2.0 kg
- Adding .05 kg might not matter … 0.2 kg might be noticeable – the
jnd is 0.2 kg
- Now start with a 5.0 kg weight jnd might be 0.5 k.
- Apply Webers Law: 0.2/2.0 = 0.5/5.0 = 0.1 = k
Examples:
• In a loud environment you must shout to be heard
while a whisper works in a quiet room
• Most people care if their beer costs 8 CHF or 16 CHF but
don’t care much if their new car costs 30,008 or 30,016 CHF
• Small changes often go unnoticed

Ernst Heinrich Weber, 1795 - 1878

“Shrinkflation”:
Shrinking Products Often Goes Unnoticed
“Shrinkflation”:
Shrinking Products Often Goes Unnoticed
“Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumerworld.org, has been tracking companies’ not-
so-subtle downsizing of their containers, keeping them close enough in size that
consumers might not notice.” (Boston Globe, February 11, 2014)
Shrinkflation in NZ
Sensory Adaptation

• Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant

stimulation
• Focus is on changes in the environment
• Prevents us from having to respond to unimportant
information

Do you feel your

Your own smell…
underwear all
day?
Sensory Deprivation

The absence of sensory stimulation

Short-term: Relaxing Long-term: Torture

Ganzfeld Effect: Mild hallucinations due to sensory deprivation

Different Senses

Sense Structure Stimulus Receptor

Light
Vision Eye Rods & cones
waves
Sound
Hearing Ear Hair cells
waves

Taste Tongue Chemicals Taste buds

Smell Nose Chemicals Hair cells

Touch Skin Pressure Nerve cells

Sensation & Perception:

Vision
The Visual System is not a Camera

Much visual processing is done in the brain it interprets

(perception!)

How many circles do you see?

See also: http://illusionoftheyear.com

Gestalt Principles

Basic perceptual principles of how the brain turns sensory input

into meaningful units, patterns, and objects.

Figure-ground relationship
Proximity
Closure
Similarity
Continuity
Photo
see https://youtu.be/a0zktpHirGA for some examples of Gestalt principles in Advertising

Max Wertheimer 1880 - 1943

Figure-Ground Relationship

The tendency to automatically discriminate the target

(= “figure”) from its background
Proximity

Things that are close to one another are grouped together

Closure

The brain tends to fill the gaps to perceive closed forms

Similarity

Things that are alike are grouped together

Continuity

Seeing (“assuming”) continuity in lines

 Your Turn

Which principle explains that we see columns of

squares rather than rows in this diagram?

A) Similarity
B) Proximity
C) Closure
D) Continuity
Visual Constancies

Perceiving objects as stable or unchanged despite “objective”

changes in the sensory patterns they produce

Brightness
Color
Size
Location
Visual Constancies: Brightness

“If it’s in the shadow and has objectively the same

brightness, it must actually be brighter”
Visual Constancies: Color

It looks as if the two girls have different eye colors

Objectively, the eye colors are identical – grey!

See more on: http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/color11e.html

Visual Constancies: Size

The orange dots have the same size on the retina/ screen

Photo
= Ebbinghaus Illusion

Herman Ebbinghaus, 1850-1909

Visual Constancies: Size

The objects have the same size on the retina / screen …

Making portion sizes look larger…

Photo
= Ebbinghaus Illusion

Herman Ebbinghaus, 1850-1909

Visual Constancies: Size

The objects have the same size on the retina / screen …

visual depth
cues

= Ponzo Illusion
Visual Constancies: Size

The objects have the same size on the retina/ screen …

visual depth
cues

= Müller-Lyer Illusion
Visual Constancies: Size

The objects have the same size on the retina/ screen …

visual depth
cues

= Moon Illusion
Visual Illusions: Seeing Faces Everywhere

Face recognition module: Pareidolia

Faces on mars? (NASA, 1976) The Jurist (Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1566)
Visual Illusions: Seeing Faces Everywhere

Face recognition module: Pareidolia

Holy Mary on toast? Influence of Culture and Prior Believes

e bay!
00 on
8 , 0
$2

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/see-the-virgin-mary-on-toast-no-youre-not-crazy/
Visual Illusions: Seeing Faces Everywhere

Face recognition module: Pareidolia

Perception is influenced by cultural knowledge

Agenda
Sensation and Perception

1 General Introduction
What this semester will be about

2 Sensation & Perception: The Basics

3 Vision, Tasting, Smelling, Hearing (Podcast)

4 Selective Attention (Podcast)

Sensation & Perception:

Taste
Five Basic Tastes

Salty (Kations)
Sour (Acid)
Bitter
Sweet (Sugar)
Umami (Glutamate)
(Fatty?)
Individual Differences
• Genetics
• Culture
• Learning
• Age
• Supertasters
Sensation & Perception:

Smell
Sense of Smell = Olfaction

Can detect more than 10,000 different smells

Can evoke memories and emotions
Individual differences
Inability to smell = Anosmia
– Loss of appetite
– Depression
– Loss in libido

A dog’s brain areas for smell are (proportionally) 40x bigger than
humans!
The two Largest Producers of Scent are in Geneva

.1 Bi l l i on CHF
s ( 2019): $3
Sal e

l i on CH F
Bi l
s ( 2019): $3.9
Sale
Sensation & Perception:

Hearing
Perceptual “hearing illusions”
McGurk Effect: Inference between what we hear and what we see
Shepard tones/ Tritone paradox
Attention
Attention is a Limited Resource

Attention = the concentration of mental effort on sensory or

mental events

Limited resource: We can’t pay attention to everything

Can be controlled but it is often automatic

Often adaptive to our needs

Selective Attention

Cocktail Party/ Bottleneck Effect

Selective Attention

Interesting TEDx talk on attention by Daniel Simons [7:22 min]: https://youtu.be/9Il_D3Xt9W0

Determinants of Attention

The Vital Things that matter for survival (e.g. affect health, reputation, property, or employment)
Activity or movement Things that move, blink or flash

Reality Real concrete things as compared to hypothetical, mental, or abstract

Proximity Things that are nearer in space and time

Familiarity Known and familiar things (faces, objects, etc.)

Novelty Things that are new and exotic (opposite of familiar)

Suspense Things that build suspense and curiosity

Conflict People pay attention to a good fight

Humor Things that are funny and entertaining

Intensity Loud sounds, big objects, flashy colors

Ask your question NOW
Here you have an opportunity to ask questions about today.

https://forms.gle/TbaYQsg5i6nCWHZZ9

I will pick these points up at the start of the next lecture and will try to answer / explain
them.

This is super important – please take a minute and answer this question (it is quick!)
Required reading

Hoyer, Macinnis, & Pieters (2016). Consumer

Behavior, 7th Edition. Chapter 3 – From Exposure
to Comprehension, p. 72-99.

Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg (2015)

Consumer Behavior – A European Perspective,
11th Edition. Chapter 7: “Learning and Memory”, p.
228-269
Schedule
7 sessions (2 online via zoom!)
20.02. Intro + Perception
27.02. Learning + Motivation
06.03. Heuristics + Biases
13.03. Choice Models + Unconscious Choice
20.03. Pricing + Persuasion (online)
27.03. Risk Perception + Communication
03.04. Replication + Buffer, Summary (online)
Exam: The exam will take place during the official exam session.
Next Session:

Learning