Modules 11-16

How Do You Explain This?

Sensation vs. Perception

Sensation - The experience of sensory stimulation

Raw sights & sounds Ex. I see a train.

Perception - The process of creating meaningful patterns from raw sensory information
Creating meaning Ex. The Train is moving.

Sensory & Perceptual Processes

Begins w/ sense receptors Detect lines, angles & colors

Using our experience and context to help with interpretation

Bottom-Up Processing

Top-Down Processing

Our Bottom-Up Process let us see the horses, riders and surroundings

Our Top-Down Processing allows us to see the faces in the background, giving the title of the painting The Forest Has Eyes meaning.

Thresholds

Absolute Threshold:
The minimum

Sense TASTE SMELL TOUCH

Absolute Threshold .0356oz of salt in 529 quarts of H20 1 drop of perfume in a 3 room apartment. The wing of a bee falling on your cheek from a height of 1cm.

stimulation necessary to detect a particular stimulus.

Psychologists usually

measure absolute threshold by recording the stimulus needed for it to appear 50% of the time.

HEARING
VISION

The tick of a watch from 20ft away in quiet conditions.

A candles flame from 30 miles on a clear, dark night.

Thresholds

Signal Detection Theory

Ability to detect

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

stimulus varies
Depends on

The minimum difference that can be detected 50% of the time.

experience, expectation, motivation

Webers Law
In order to be

Subliminal Stimulation
Occurring below A.T. No such thing as

perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant percentage.

subliminal persuasion

Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity to an unchanging sense. Ex. Move your watch up your arm. Youll only feel it for a second.

Ex. Something / Someone stinks, but after a while you dont notice it anymore

Selective Attention

Conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Ex. The Cocktail Party Effect

Being able to listen to

one person in a crowded room.

Change Blindness: given an interruption, scenery can change and we may not notice!

Module 12

The Stimulus Input: Light Energy

Transduction: Conversion of stimulus energies to neural impulses.

Light Energy allows us to see. Wavelength: distance from one wave peak to the next
Hue: color

Ex: Light energy to vision

Chemical energy to

smell & taste

Sound waves to sound.

Intensity: amount of energy in the wave.

Amplitude: height
More height=more

intensity

The Eye

Label Your Blank Diagram of the Human Eye

Focusing Light

Cornea: protective covering Pupil: opening in iris where light enters Iris: colored part of eye, expands/contracts. Lens: bends light onto the retina Retina: contains receptor cells sensitive to light Optic Nerve: exits eye to take information to brain

Focusing Light
Can People Itch

Little
Rodents On Necks?

Key Terms
Acuity: sharpness of

vision, greatest at center of retina

Nearsightedness:

image is projected in front of the retina (we can see close up but not farther objects)

Farsightedness: light rays reach the retina before they have been focused producing blurry up close images

Accommodation

Normal vision: lens adjusts slightly to deal with near/far objects.

Nearsighted vision: rays are focused before the retina, so when they eventually get there, it is blurry.

Farsighted vision: rays are focused past the retina, resulting in blurred images

The Retina (Rodents)

Made up of
Cones: color

Rods: light/dark
Bipolar cells:

connects receptor cells to ganglion cells. Ganglion cells: takes message to optic nerve

Fovea: best picture

Optic Nerve

Retina -> Optic Chiasm > Thalamus -> Occipital lobe Blind spot: where optic nerve leaves the eye

Visual Information Processing

The concept that specific nerve cells in the brain respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement. Ability to Process Ahead
Ex. Avoid running into

Our ability to do several things at once.

Color Depth Movement Form

someone.

Feature Detection

Parallel Processing

Color Vision
How do we see things in color?

How Do We See in

What Color is the duck? A: The duck is anything but blue.

The duck rejects the short wavelengths of light that to us are blueso blue is reflected off and we see it.

Did You Know.

Light It

has no real color.

is our minds that perceive color.

Color

resides not in the object, but in our minds.~ Sir Isaac Newton

We

can discriminate between 7 million different color variations.

Theories of Color Processing

Young-Helmholtz: Trichromatic Theory:

All colors are derived

Additive Color Mixing

Ex. Mixing Lights Adding wavelengths

from the primary color combinations of

Red

increases combinations and creates white.

Blue
Green

Subtractive Color Mixing

Ex. Mixing Paint Adding color subtracts

Most colorblind people lack cone receptors for one or more of these colors.

the amount of wavelength to be reflected.

Color Deficiency

Dichromats: lack either a red or green sensitive cone.

Most dogs are

dichromats

Monochromats: lack of color receptors

Only see shades of

grey.

Opponent-Process Theory

We cannot see certain colors together in combination:

red-green blue-yellow white-black

These are antagonist/ opponent colors. The afterimage complicates vision

How did that happen?

When we stare at green and exhaust our green reception, then look at white (containing all colors), only the red seeps through.

Review:

What are the characteristics of the wavelengths that we see as visible light? How does the eye transform particles of light energy into neural messages? How is visual information processed in the brain? What theories contribute to our understandings of color vision?

Module 13

The Stimulus Input: Sound Waves

Amplitude: strength of sound wave.

Loudness

Frequency: length of sound wave

Pitch

Decibels: measuring unit for sound

60d-conversation Prolonged exposure

above 85 can result in hearing loss.

Parts of the Ear

Outer Ear Auditory Canal Eardrum (Channels Sound Waves into Ear) Middle Ear Hammer Anvil Stirrup (Relay vibrations to the inner ear.) Inner Ear Oval Window Cochlea

Basilar membrane
Auditory Nerve

The Parts of the Inner Ear

Oval Window
Membrane between the

Basilar Membrane
Vibrating membrane in cochlea. Contains sensory receptors

middle & inner ear. Conducts vibrations to the cochlea

Organ of Corti
Structure on basilar membrane

Round Window
Equalizes pressure in

that contains receptor cells for hearing.

the inner ear.

Cochlea
Contains fluid that

Auditory Nerve
Bundle of axons that carries

vibrates, which in turn causes the basilar membrane to vibrate.

signals from each ear to the brain.

The Inner Ear

How We Hear

How Do We Hear?

Outer Ear Sound Waves enter auditory canal

Eardrum Vibrates

Middle Ear Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup transmit to

Inner Ear -Cochlea -Basilar Membrane

How Do We Hear?- Inner Ear

Inside the inner ear..

Vibrations in Oval Window

Basilar Membrane Vibrates

(Organ of Corti) Tiny Hairs receive vibrations

Vibrations are transformed into neural impulses

How do We Perceive Pitch?

We hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochleas basilar membrane.
A combination of Place & Frequency theories explain hearing.

We sense pitch by the basilar membrane vibrating at the same rate as the sound.
Neural impulses cant fire

above 1000 waves/sec. So how do you explain pitches higher than 1000w/sec?
Volley Principle: cells

alternate firing to achieve firing above 1000x/second

Helmholtzs Place Theory

Frequency Theory

How Do We Locate Sounds?

2 ears = stereophonic sound Our ability to process diminishes when sound is directly in front, behind, above or below us. Aw snap!-Try it!

How Can I Damage My Hearing?

Damage To:
Eardrum Middle ear bones Nerves

Exposure To:
Prolonged loud

decibels Tinnitus: A long termlow pitched humming or ringing of the ears. (1% of pop.)

Hearing Loss

Physical damage to ear

Digital Hearing Aids are useful

Magnify soft sounds, but

Damage to the cochleas hair cells or auditory nerve.

Biological changes Exposure Cochlear Implants: Sends

not loud ones. electrical signals to cochlea to produce sound.

Conduction Hearing Loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Cochlear Implants & Deaf Culture What is the debate?

Most children who are born deaf are born to hearing parents. Cochlear implants allow an opportunity to hear. The deaf community insists that deafness is not a disability, and therefore objects to the use of cochlear implants before a child learns sign language.

The Deaf Community

Use of sign language. Other senses heightened The deaf community is a very proud one.

Songs you thought you knew

Are there any song lyrics you got wrong the first time, but cannot seem to hear the right ones no matter what?
Want Your Bad Romance= Bon Jovi Romance Jason Waterfalls Golden Girls Theme Song: Heart Attack

Module 14

Touch

Sensors For:

Pressure Warmth Cold Pain

Sensation of Heat:
Warm + Cold= HOT! When both warm &

cold sensors are stimulated, the result is HOT!

Pain: What is it?

Pain is Perception
Mostly

Gate Control Theory:

gate in the spinal cord

Pain is our bodys way of telling us something is wrong. What if I cannot feel pain?

that controls the transmission of pain to the brain.

Rubbing an area

around the injury can stimulate a closing of the pain gate. Endorphins also play a role.

Fun Fact: Stub Your Toe? Say @#%!

A recent study has shown that swearing during a painful experience actually lessens pain. The belief is that the swearing stimulates aggression and a similar fight or flight response.
Source: Keele University Study 2009

Taste

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter

All other tastes are a

combination of the 4.

Taste Buds: over 10,000 Papillae: small bumps on our tongue.

Taste declines w/age.

Smoking & drinking decrease

sensitivity to taste.

Umami: A 5th Taste?

Meaty Contained in MSG

Supertasters?

Smell (Olfaction)

We take 20,000 breaths a day. specialized receptors for smell, located in the olfactory epithelium. Need moisture to smell. Pheromones: our individual scent indicators.

Smell (Olfaction)

Nerve impulses are sent to the olfactory bulb-- just below the frontal lobe, bypassing the thalamus.

Transferred to the temporal lobe to be processes.

There is a connection between certain

smells, emotions & memories.

Anosmia: A complete lack of smell

Kinesthetic & Vestibular Senses

Distinguish movement of body parts.

Coordinates muscle

Balance & Full Body Movement

Sense of equilibrium Response to changes in

movement

gravity, motion & body position. Vestibular Sacs in ears

Respond to changes Fluid-filled

Kinesthetic Sense

Vestibular Sense

Try It!

Stand Up & Lift One Leg

Notice how your body

automatically adjusts to retain your balance.

Close your eyes and extend your arms out at your sides. Point your index fingers. Now bring your index fingers quickly toward each other in front of your body. See whether you can do this without looking.
Try it 5 times and measure

Now Repeat With Your Eyes Closed

You should find the task to

be difficult. Vision clearly aids the vestibular sense.

Spin Around Rapidlythen try to stand on one leg.

The unusual stimulation of

your success.

Can you do the same behind your back?

your vestibular system will make the task very difficult even w/your eyes openobviously this sense is very important for balance!

Kinesthetic

Vestibular

Module 15

How do we perceive what we sense?

Perceptional Illusions

How do they work? Psychologists have been fascinated by illusions since the late 1800s.

Visual Capture: The tendency for vision to dominate other senses.

The images are exactly the same except for the thick black area in the right image (an example of the Poggendorff illusion (1860)). In the figure on the right, there appear to be two continuous diagonal lines: a red and a blue line.

Perception

Perception: The process of organizing and interpreting information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Gestalt Psychology:
whole, form, pattern

The brain creates a

coherent perceptual experience.

M.C. Eschers Illusions

Figure: focal point; stands out from the ground Ground: background on which a figure appears

Mini Llama

ground

figure

What color swan do you see?

When there is no clear figure or ground, it is hard to distinguish between the two.

Figures with clear contours can be perceived in very different ways because it is unclear what is figure and what is ground.

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Type of Grouping Proximity Definition We group nearby figures together. We group objects that are similar to each other together.

Similarity

Connectedness

When linked or grouped, we see areas as a unit. (brackets or rectangles?) We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinued ones. Semicircles or wavy line?

Continuity

Depth Perception

Seeing objects in 3 dimensions although they are 2 dimensional.

Allows us to judge distance

Visual Cliff Experiment: tests depth perception in infants & animals.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that depend on 2 eyes. Retinal Disparity: by combining images from 2 eyeballs, the brain computes distance. (Camera 1, Camera 2) Convergence: Perceives depth.

Try It!- The floating finger sausage!

Hold your 2 index fingers about 5 inches in front of your eyes, with their tips a inch apart. Now look beyond them and note the weird result. Move your fingers out farther and the retinal disparity-and the finger sausage- will shrink!

Monocular Cues: Visual cues requiring the use of only one eye.
Relative Size Interposition Linear perspective Relative Clarity Relative Height Texture gradient Shadowing

Motion parallax

Relative Size

Shorten the Def!

If we perceive two objects as similar in size, the one that casts the smaller retinal image is farther away. Smaller the object appears, the farther away it is.

Interposition

Shorten the Def!

When one object partly blocks another, the first object is perceived as being closer, the second as more distant. Closer the object, the less obstructed it is.

Linear Perspective

2 parallel lines that seem to come together at the horizon

Ponzo Illusion: Mario Ponzo theorized that we use the background of an image to judge an objects size.
Ex. RR Track example The Moon Shorten the Def!

a ually e ses

na ually he ases

The Muller-Lyer Illusion

F.C. Muller-Lyer Optical Illusion

stylized arrows Lines are all same

distance

Relative Clarity

Shorten the Def!

Distant objects have a hazy appearance and somewhat blurred outline.

Relative Height
The higher on the horizontal plane the object is, the farther away it appears

Shorten the Def!

Texture Gradient

Objects seen at a greater distance seem to be smoother and less textured.

Shorten the Def!

Shadowing

Shadows usually appear on objects that are more distant.

Shorten the Def!

Motion Parallax (Relative Motion)

When in motion, objects that are closer to the viewer go by faster than objects that are farther away.

Shorten the Def!

Perceptual Constancies
Size constancy: Brightness

Shorten the Def!

the perception of an object as the same size regardless of how its viewed.
Shape constancy:

constancy: brightness is the same

Color Constancy:

a shape is the same shape no matter the angle.

familiar objects retain their color despite changes.

Shape Constancy

Size Constancy

Perceptual Constancy

The Ames Room Illusion

Observer Characteristics:
Characteristic Description

Shorten the Def!

Motivation

Desires shape our perception. More likely to see what we need. Ex. Hungry people more often saw food in blurred images.

Values

We are taught to value more things than others. Ex. Poker Chips & Candy

Expectations

What we are supposed to see influences perception. We may add or delete things to fit our expectations.

PARIS IN THE THE SPRING

Observer Characteristics:
Characteristic Description

Shorten the Def!

Cognitive Style

levelers vs. sharpeners Levelers will level out distinctions between objects Sharpeners will magnify distinctions

Experience & Culture Personality

Cultural background influences perception -Mbuti Pygmies & the buffalo Individual personalities affect how we perceive things.

Stereoscopic Vision

Combining the two retinal images makes the perception of depth and distance more accurate.

Because both of our eyes are set in the front of the head, the visual fields from each eye overlap to form a better picture.

Perception of Movement

Judging movement by how an object moves in relationship to the background; which is perceived as stationary

Real vs. Apparent Movement

Auto-kinetic Illusion Stroboscopic Motion Phi Phenomenon

Auto-kinetic Illusion:
Perceived motion created by a single stationary object

Stroboscopic motion:
Apparent motion created by rapid series of still images

Phi Phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession.

Module 16

Perceptual Abilities: Nature or Nurture?

Knowledge is inborn

Knowledge is learned through experience

Immanuel Kant

John Locke

Sensory Deprivation & Restored Vision

What happens when vision is restricted from birth?

If a man was born blind, and now an adult, taught by his touch distinguish between a cube and a sphere Could he, if made to see, distinguish the two???
Answer: NO, these things must first be

experienced during the critical period after birth.

Perceptual adaptation

Adapting to new situations rapidly

New glasses Perception goggles Humans can adapt to upside down world, other mammals cannot

Perceptual set

Mental predisposition
Old or young woman??? Once weve formed a wrong idea about reality, it is difficult to see the truth

Examples of perceptual set

Loch Ness Monster

U F Os Also Happens with hearing.
If You Seek Amy

Schema

Context Effects

Based on immediate context, not schemas.

Music,

schema, setting can all decide whether you hear mourning or morning; die or dye, pain or pane.

Human Factor Psychologists

Help design appliances, machines, and work settings that fit our natural perceptions
Designers and engineers consider human factors when creating their inventions, like TiVo!

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)?

Parapsychology:
Psychologists who

study paranormal activity Growing field of psychology

Claims of ESP

Telepathy:
mind to mind

Precognition:
Perceiving future

communication
X-Men

events.
Minority Report

Clairvoyance:
Perceiving remote

Psychokinesis:
Making something

events happening elsewhere.

Star Wars:

move w/ mind power.

The Men Who Stare

At Goats

disturbance in the force

Premonitions or Pretensions?

Nostradamus vague predictions only make sense given our perceptual set.

Nobody has been able to scientifically demonstrate ESP to a scientific panel.

Even with an offer of

$1 million on the table

The Death of Henry II

The Death of Henry II from a jousting accident is one of Nostradamus first and most famous fulfilled prophecies.

Here is the quatrain: The young lion will overcome the older one, On the field of combat in a single battle; He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage, Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death. (Century 1, Quatrain 35)
In June 1559, Henry II ignored all warnings that Nostradamus gave him and participated in a jousting tournament against the Comte de Montgomery. Both men used shields embossed with lions. Montgomery was six years younger than Henry. During the final bout of fighting in the tournament, Montgomery failed to lower his lance in time. It shattered, sending a large splinter through the kings gilded visor (golden cage). The result was two moral wounds (two wounds made one and then he will die a cruel death.) One splinter spliced eye; the other impaled his temple just behind the eye. Both splinters from the lance penetrated his brain. Henry lived for ten days in agony, thus fulfilling the Nostradamus prophecy that he would die a cruel death.