Sensation and PerceptionBiological Unit

SensationDefinition = 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

PerceptionDefinition = 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

The Five Sense

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

I. Touch – SkinA.) Skin Layers 1. Epidermis ;Dermis ;Subcutaneous

Tissue B.) Somatosensory System 1. Nerve endings and receptorsC.) 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

I. Touch – Skin

II. Smell – NoseA.) Nose - Nasal Cavity 1. Smell receptor in

liningB.) Olfactory Nerve 1. send odor to bulbC.) Olfactory Bulb

(translator)D.) Hippocampus &

Amygdala 1. help form memory of

smell

II. Smell – Nose

III. Mouth & other partsA.) Taste Buds = organs of tasteB.) Papillae = elevated taste

receptorsC.) Location of taste sense debatablyD.) 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

III. Mouth & other parts

IV. Sound – EarA.) Outer Ear (pinna – cartilage)

1. brings in sound waves / vibration {W/V}

B.) Auditory Canal 1. amplifies W/V & provides

protectionC.) 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 impulsesF.) Auditory Nerve (AN) 1. carries signal to the brain

IV. Sound – Ear

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 Nerve

1. carry visual information to brain

V. Sight - Eye

PERCEPTIONMain

Concepts

• 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)

• 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

• 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