Basic concepts in sensation and perception

Sensation

Detecting physical energy from the environment through our senses.Perception

Perception

How the brain organizes, interprets, and gives meaning to sensory information.

Transduction

Converting physical energy into signals the nervous system can understand.

Semicircular Canals

Structures in the inner ear that help with balance.

Visual Information Processing

How the brain processes what we see, including recognizing faces.

Egon Brunswik

Psychologist who developed the Lens Model of perception.

Lens Model

Explains how people use sensory cues to make judgments about the world.

Distal Stimulus

The actual object in the environment, like a tree.

Proximal Stimulus

The stimulation received by sensory receptors, like an image on the retina.

Cues

Information used to understand what we sense.

Inference

A conclusion made using sensory information.

Accuracy

How correct a perceptual judgment is.

Aesthetics

The perception and appreciation of beauty.

Bottom-Up Processing

Perception based on sensory information from the environment.

Top-Down Processing

Perception influenced by memories, experiences, and expectations.

Data-Driven Processing

Another name for bottom-up processing.

Constructive Perception

The brain actively creates meaning from sensory information.

Jerome Bruner

Believed perception is influenced by experiences and expectations.

James J. Gibson

Believed perception comes directly from information in the environment.

Gunnar Johansson

Studied how people recognize human movement using moving points of light.

Wilhelm Wundt

Established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.

Direct Perception

Perceiving information directly from the environment.

Optical Array

Patterns of light that provide information about the environment.

Attunement

Being sensitive to environmental information useful for survival.

Visual Cliff

An experiment used to study depth perception in infants and animals.

Depth Perception

The ability to judge distance and see in three dimensions.

Point-Light Displays

Moving dots that allow people to recognize human actions.

Biological Motion

Recognizing the movements of living things.

Law of Similarity

Similar objects are grouped together.

Law of Prägnanz

The brain organizes information into the simplest form.

Law of Proximity

Objects close together are grouped together.

Law of Continuity

Lines are seen as following the smoothest path.

Law of Closure

The brain fills in missing parts to form a complete image.

Gestalt Theory

The brain organizes individual parts into meaningful wholes.

Psychophysics

The study of how physical stimuli relate to sensory experiences.

Absolute Threshold

The minimum stimulation needed to detect something 50% of the time.

Physical Energy

Energy from the environment, such as light, sound, or pressure.

Sensory Threshold

The level of stimulation needed for a sensation to be detected.