Module 16: Basic Principles of Sensation and Perception

Perception

________: process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful object and events.

Inattentional blindness

________ (Figure 16.2): failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Transduction

________: process of converting one form of energy into another our brain can interpret.

stimulus energies

Sensation: process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent ________ from our environment.

Cocktail party

________ effect: ability to attend to only on voice among many (while also being able to detect your own name in an unattended voice)

Selective attention

________: focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

neural impulses

Ex: stimulus energies like sights, sounds, and smells into ________.

analysis

Bottom- up Processing: ________ that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information.

Webers law

________: principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, rather than a constant amount.

Psychophysics

________: study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience.

Sensory adaptation

________: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

16-1

What are sensation and perception

Sensation

process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Perception

process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful object and events

Bottom-up Processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information

Top-down processing

information processing beginning with our higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

16-2

How much information do we consciously attend to at once

Selective attention

focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only on voice among many (while also being able to detect your own name in an unattended voice)

Inattentional blindness (Figure 16.2)

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

A by-product of what we are really good at

focusing attention on some part of our environment

Change blindness (Figure 16.3)

failing to notice changes in the environment

16-3

What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems

ex

vision processes light energy, hearing processes sound waves

Transduction

process of converting one form of energy into another our brain can interpret

ex

stimulus energies like sights, sounds, and smells into neural impulses

Psychophysics

study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience

16-4

What are the absolute and difference thresholds, and do stimuli below the absolute threshold have any influence on us

Absolute Threshold

minimum stimulation necessary to detect a particular light, sound, pressure, taste, or odor 50% of the time

Signal Detection Theory (Figure 16.5)

theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimuli amid background stimulation, assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

Subliminal (Figure 16.6)

below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness (Stimuli you cannot detect 50% of the time)

Priming

activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing ones perception, memory, or response

ex

an unnoticed image that reaches your visual cortex and briefly primes your response to a later

Difference Threshold

minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

ex

If you add 1 ounce to a 10-ounce weight, you will detect the difference; add 1 ounce to a 100-ounce weight and you probably will not

Webers law

principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, rather than a constant amount

16-5

What is the function of sensory adaptation

Sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

ex

entering your brothers room, smelling a musty odor, wondering how they can stand it, but within minutes you no longer notice