SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

• Sensation and Perception are two distinct phases of one process:

• 1. Sensation - process by which information about the world is registered by the senses and transmitted to
the brain. Detection or awareness of changes in physical energy caused by environment and internal events.
• 2. Perception is that part of the process by which sensations are organized into a meaningful pattern and
concept. It is the interpretation of the sensation

PHYSICAL STAGE OF SENSATION

• This refers to the action of some physical stimulus on a sense organ. Specific stimulus for each sense organ.
Concepts to remember:
• Absolute Threshold: It is the smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present for it to be detected. (Sight,
Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch)
• Terminal Threshold: It is the maximum physical energy, which can still be detected by a sense organ, and
beyond which there will be no more sensation, or a sensation of a different modality
• Differential Threshold: It is the minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to recognize the difference
between two stimuli
• Sensory Adaptation: It refers to the reduction in sensitivity to stimulation as stimulation persists through time,
and to increase in sensitivity with lack of stimulation
• Signal Detection Theory: It refers to our ability to detect stimuli is affected by our training (learning), motivation
(desire to detect) and psychological state such as fatigue or alertness
.
SIGHT
• How do we see?
• Through Light waves - electromagnetic radiation waves to which our eyes happen to be sensitive and
capable of responding.
• Light waves move at a speed of some 186,000 miles per second.
1. . Lightwaves enter the eye through the cornea, a transparent protective window.
2. . The light traverses the pupil. The pupil is a dark hole found in the center of the iris, the colored part of the eye.
3. Once light passes through the pupil, it enters the lens. The lens acts to bend the rays of light so that they get
properly focused on the retina where the electromagnetic energy of light is converted into nerve impulse that
the brain can use.
4. The retina contains two kinds receptor cells: rods, which are long and cylindrical, and cones, which are short and
thick. Cones are responsible for the sharply focused perception of colors and details, while rods are related to
vision in dimly lit situations (night vision).
5. The Neural impulses originating from the rods and cones are channeled through the optic nerve to the occipital
lobe of the brain where the visual brain center is located.

PERCEPTION OF SHAPES
• The perception of shapes is regulated by the following principles:
• Closure: the tendency to group according to enclosed or complete figures rather than open or incomplete ones.
• Proximity: the tendency to group together those elements that are close together.
• The perception of shapes is regulated by the following principles:
• Similarity: the tendency to group together those elements that are similar in appearance.
• Simplicity: the tendency to perceive a pattern in the most basic, straightforward, organized manner possible.

PERCEPTION OF DISTANCE AND DEPTH

• The size of the retinal image (larger for nearby objects; smaller for faraway object) is, because of the principle of
perceptual constancy, interpreted not in terms of size of the object, but in terms of the distance of the object
from the viewer.
HEARING
AUDITORY PERCEPTION
Loud, clear sounds seem to be nearby, and weak or indistinct sounds usually seem to be far away. But this is not always
an accurate way to judge distance.
SOUND
• Sound waves require a medium; air or water
• Human ear is sensitive to sound waves with frequencies of 20 to 20,000 cycles per second

PARTS OF THE EAR

• Pinna collect sounds & channel them into the interior of the ear.
• *The eardrum separates the outer ear from the middle ear and vibrate in response to sound.
• *The eardrum is the first structure that sound touches in the middle ear.
• *Cochlea the oval window, convert sound waves into neural impulse and send them on to the brain.

AUDITORY NERVES
Nerve structure that receives information about sound from the hair cells of the inner ear and carries these neural
impulses to the brain’s auditory areas.

PITCH AND LOUDNESS

PITCH
- The perceptual experience of the frequency of a sound whether it is high or low.
- We perceive high frequency sounds as high and low frequency sound as having low pitch.
- Frequency (# of cycles per second)
- Expressed in hertz (Hz)
- Pitch of women’s voice is higher than men’s
hertz (Hz) – a unit expressing the frequency of sound waves. One hertz equals one cycle per second

LOUDNESS
- The perception of the sound wave’s amplitude. The higher the amplitude of the sound wave, or the higher the decibel
level, the louder we perceive the sound to be.
- Intensity
- Height (amplitude) of sound waves
- Expressed in decibels (dB)
decibel (dB) – a unit expressing the loudness of a sound Pitch of women’s voice is higher than men’s Women’s vocal
cords are usually shorter Vocal cords vibrate at a greater frequency

LOCATING SOUNDS
Difference in Time Arrival
- Sound travel at a speed of 1,100 feet per second. .
- When the sound source is exactly Infront or at the back of us, the sound waves will affect the ears at the same
time.
- When the sound source is directly opposite one ear, the difference in time of arrival at the two ears is almost
one-half millisecond.
- Difference in Intensity
- Sound becomes weaker in going around the head to reach the other ear.
- This slight difference in sound intensity is sufficient to determine where the sound comes from.
Distance of a Sound
 - Distant sounds are much weaker than near sounds.
- High frequency are more easily absorbed while traveling through the air than low frequency.
Auditory Selectivity
- Auditory perception is quite selective according to predisposition in us, namely by what we want to hear.

DEAFNESS
• Conductive deafness
• Damage to middle ear.
• Hearing aids can help.
• Sensorineural deafness
• Damage to inner ear or auditory nerve
• Cochlear implants may help with damage to inner ear, but not auditory nerve.

PERCEPTION OF SPEECH
• when people talk in your language, you clearly perceive that they are uttering a series of words. You can tell
where one word ends and where the next word begins, you recognize the pattern. But when you listen to an
unfamiliar language, the words seem jumbled together in a hurried flow, and you perceive few distinct
separations.

SMELL
• Odors trigger receptor neurons in olfactory membrane
• Odors are sample molecules of substances in the air
• Sensory information about odors is sent to the brain through the olfactory nerve
• Odor contributes to flavor of foods

• flavor – a complex quality of food and other substances that is based on their odor, texture, and temperature as
well their taste
• olfactory nerve – the nerve that transmits information concerning odors from olfactory receptors to the brain

TASTE
• Taste is sensed through taste cells
o Receptor neurons on taste buds
• Four primary taste qualities
o Sweet, sour, salty and bitter
o Umami (fifth basic taste) – savory
• Flavor of food depends on odor, texture, temperature and taste
• Individuals have taste sensitivities
• taste cells – receptor cells that are sensitive to taste
• taste buds – the sensory organs for taste. They contain taste cells and are located mostly on the tongue
Four primary taste qualities
• Sweet, sour, salty and bitter
• Umami (fifth basic taste) – savory.
Four Fundamental Types receptors and Locations:
Sweet = At the tip of the tounge
Salty = Just behind the sweet receptors.
Sour = At the side of the tounge.
Bitter = At the rear of the tounge.

THE SKIN SENSES

 • Skin sensory receptors fire when skin surface is touched
• Active touching
• Some areas of the body are more sensitive
• Nerve endings are more densely packed
• More sensory cortex is devoted to perception of sensations in those areas
• Fingers, nipples and lips sensitive to touch
• Forehead and finger tips to pain

SKIN SENSE
• Touch
• Pain
• Warmth
• Cold

SENSORY RECEPTORS IN THE SKIN

• Specialized cells that detect changes in the environment and convert these changes into electrical signals that
can be processed by the nervous system.
• Free Nerve Endings = Conduct pain and touch information
• End Bulb of Krause = Respond to cold
• Pacinian Corpuscles = Respond to vibrations
• Merkels’s Disks = Stimulated by continuous touch
• Meissner’s Corpuscle = Also respond to touch or pressure

TEMPERATURE
• Receptors are located just beneath the skin
• Skin temperature increases – receptors for warmth fire
• Skin temperature decreases – receptors for cold fire
• Sensations for temperature are relative
• Thermoreceptors
- Sensory nerve ending under the skin that respond to changes in temperature at or near the skin and provide
input to keep the body’s temperature at 98. 6 degrees Fahrenheit/37 degrees Celsius
PAIN
- Receptors are located just beneath the skin
o Skin temperature increases – receptors for warmth fire
o Skin temperature decreases – receptors for cold fire
- Sensations for temperature are relative
- Thermoreceptors
- Sensory nerve ending under the skin that respond to changes in temperature at or near the skin and provide
input to keep the body’s temperature at 98. 6 degrees Fahrenheit/37 degrees Celsius
• Prostaglandins- are group of physiologically active lipid compounds having diverse hormone like effects; they are
not produced at a specific site but in many places throughout the body
• Facilitate transmission of pain message
• Heighten circulation to injured area (inflammation)
• Pain-relieving drugs inhibit production of prostaglandins
• Emotional response and response to stress affect degree of pain

GATE THEORY OF PAIN

• Nervous system can only process a limited amount of stimulation
 • Rubbing the pained area competes for neural attention
• Closes the “gate” on pain messages to the brain

PAIN PERCEPTION
• Association - you focus your attention on the painful sensations, but attempting to study them carefully
and in a detached manner rather than thinking of them as painful or bothersome.
• Imagining that the affected part of your body is numb and insensitive.
• Making positive self-statements to yourself.

ACUPUNCTURE
• Ancient Chinese method of pain control
• Research shows it stimulates nerves to the hypothalamus releasing endorphins
• Endorphins are similar in structure and effect to morphine

KINESTHESIS AND THE VESTIBULAR SENSE

KINESTHESIS
• Sense that informs you about the position and motion of your body
• Sensory information is sent to the brain from sensory organs in joints, tendons and muscles

VESTIBULAR SYSTEM
• Housed mainly in semicircular canals in your ears
• Monitor your body’s motion and position in relation to gravity

PERCEPTION AND MOVEMENT

• perception of speed is relative, we do not actually see speed but rather how fast something is moving in relation
to something else.

EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION (ESP)

• ESP is defined as the acquisition by the mind of some information, which could not have been perceived by the
normal senses.
• Hence, it refers to perceptions that require no sense organ stimulation.
• ESP is encompassed in that infant science called “parapsychology”, which explores matters that often contradict
physical laws and phenomena that do not fit into recognized bodies of knowledge.
• Examples of ESP:
• A.Telepathy: a process of thought transference from one person to another. People gifted with
telepathy can read another person’s mind;
• B.Clairvoyance: the ability to perceive events or objects that are hidden from sight;
• C. Clairaudience: ability to perceive by hearing like voices of the dead
• D. Precognition: the ability to predict the future, to know events yet to take place
• E. Psychokinesis: the ability to influence physical events by sheer mental concentration.
• *If any of these phenomena were scientifically demonstrated to be valid, we would have to reconstruct
our entire scientific view of nature, not just in psychology but in physics as well.