Sensation versus Perception

Flashcards on Sensation and Perception

Sensation and Perception

Two different constructs that are inextricably linked, where what you are perceiving isn’t necessarily what your senses are receiving.

Perceptual Constancy

The ability to recognise objects in spite of different visual stimulation, things like lighting, orientation and viewpoint.

Sensation

A stimulus-detection process where our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli.

Sensation

The process by which our sensory systems detect information from the outside world and translates it into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.

Perception

Making sense of what our senses tell us, an active process of organising and giving meanings to stimulus input.

Interpretation and Context

Critical when you’re perceiving something, as demonstrated by the A-B-C vs. 12-13-14 image example.

Process from Sensation to Perception

Stimulus is received by sensory receptors, receptors translate the stimulus into nerve impulses (transduction), feature detectors analyse stimulus features, neural representation is reconstructed, compared with stored information, resulting in recognition and interpretation.

Transduction

The translation of a stimulus into nerve impulses that the brain can understand.

Brain's Predictive Function

Constantly generating predictions about the environment, comparing sensory input with internal models, and adapting those models as needed.