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AN EXPLORATION
Second Edition
CHAPTER
sensation and
perception
Learning Objectives
LO 3.1
Sensation and how it enters central nervous system
LO 3.2
What is Light?
LO 3.3
How eyes see and how eyes see color
LO 3.4
What is sound?
LO 3.5
Hearing impairment and improvement
LO 3.6
How senses of taste and smell work
LO 3.7
Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
LO 3.8
Perception and perceptual constancies
LO 3.9
Gestalt principles of perception
LO 3.10 What is depth perception?
LO 3.11 How visual illusions work and other factors influence
perception
What is Sensation?
LO 3.1 Sensation and the central nervous system
Sensory Thresholds
LO 3.1 Sensation and the central nervous system
- Transduction:
Converting outside stimuli into neural
activity
Sensory receptors
Specialized neurons
Stimulated by energy
Absolute Threshold
Lowest level of stimulation energy
needed to detect a stimulus 50 percent
of the time
Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White
Table 3.1
Subliminal Sensation
LO 3.1 Sensation and the central nervous system
Subliminal stimuli
Stimuli below the level of conscious
awareness
Strong enough to activate the sensory
receptors but not strong enough for
conscious awareness
Habituation
Lower centers of the brain filter sensory
stimulation
"Ignores" or prevents conscious
attention to unchanging stimuli
Sensory adaptation
Sensory receptor cells become less
responsive unchanging stimulus
Microsaccades
Constant movement of eyes
Prevents sensory adaptation
Cornea
Clear membrane, covers eyes surface
Protects eye
Focuses most light coming into the eye
Photoreactive Keratectomy (PRK)/
Laser-Assisted keratomileusis
(LASIK)
Vision-improving techniques
Small incisions in the cornea change
focus
Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White
Aqueous humor
Clear, watery fluid
Continually replenished
Supplies nourishment to the eye
Pupil
Hole where light from visual image
enters interior of the eye
Iris
Colored, round muscle
Controls light via pupil size
Lens
Located behind the iris
Suspended by muscles
Finishes focusing process begun by the
cornea
Lens
Visual accommodation
Change in the thickness of lens
Eye focuses on objects that are far away
or close
Vitreous humor
Jelly-like fluid
Nourishes the eye and gives it shape
Retina
Final stop for light in the eye
Contains 3 layers:
Ganglion cells
Bipolar cells
Retina
Contains 3 layers:
Photoreceptors
Respond to various light waves
Rods
Sensitivity to low levels of light
Cones
Color vision, sharpness of vision
Dark adaptation
Rods work best in low light
Eyes adapt to low light after exposure to
bright light
Light adaptation
Cones adapt to increase in light rapidly
6 million cones in each eye
While this deer may see quite well when using its rods at night, the bright headlights of a car will activate the
cones. The cones will adapt rather quickly, but it takes time for the deers pupil to contract, leaving the deer
blinded by the light until then.
Trichromatic theory
Proposes three types of cones:
Red, blue, and green
Opponent-process theory
Proposes four primary colors with cones
paired:
Red and green, blue and yellow
Color Blindness
LO 3.3 How eyes see and see color
Color Blindness
LO 3.3 How eyes see and see color
Three types:
Monochrome colorblindness
Either have no cones or cones not
working
Red-green colorblindness
Either red or the green cones are not
working
Sex-linked inheritance
Recessive inheritance pattern
Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White
Sound
LO 3.4 What is sound?
Sound
LO 3.4 What is sound?
Wavelength
Frequency or pitch (high, medium, or
low)
Amplitude
Volume (how soft or loud a sound is)
Purity
Timbre (richness in the tone of the
sound)
Pinna
Visible, external part of the ear
Funnels sound waves
Auditory canal
Short tunnel runs to the eardrum
(tympanic membrane)
Eardrum
Tightly covers opening into the middle
part of the ear
Sound waves cause eardrum to vibrate
In turn, three tiny bones in the middle
ear vibrate
Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup
Cochlea
Snail-shaped structure of the inner ear
Filled with fluid
Organ of Corti
Rests in the basilar membrane
Contains receptor cells for hearing
Auditory nerve
Bundle of axons from hair cells of inner
ear
Receives neural message from organ of
Corti
Taste
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Taste buds
Taste receptor cells in mouth
Line the walls of papillae
Gustation
Sensation of a taste
Chemical sense like neurotransmitters
Taste
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Figure 3.10 The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(a) The right side of this drawing shows the nerves in the tongues deep tissue.
Figure 3.10 (continued) The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(b) The taste bud is located inside the papillae and is composed of small cells that send signals to the brain when
stimulated by molecules of food.
Figure 3.10 (continued) The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(c) Microphotograph of the surface of the tongue, showing two different sizes of papillae. The taste buds are
located under the surface of the larger red papillae, whereas the smaller and more numerous papillae form a
touch-sensitive rough surface that helps in chewing and moving food around the mouth.
Smell
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Olfaction
Sense of smell
Cilia
Small hair projecting into nasal cavity
Receptors for smell
At least 10 million receptors in each
cavity
Smell
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Olfaction
Olfactory bulbs
Located just above the sinus cavity
Receive information from the olfactory
receptor cells.
Somesthetic Senses
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Skin senses
Touch, pressure, temperature, and pain
Sensory receptors located in the skin
Pacinian corpuscle
Responds to deep pressure
Somesthetic Senses
LO 3.7 Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
Skin senses
Sensory receptors located in the skin
Free Nerve endings
Respond to changes in temperature,
pressure, pain
Somatic pain
Pain sensations in skin, muscles,
tendons, and joints
Carried on large nerve fibers
Somesthetic Senses
LO 3.7 Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
Kinesthetic sense
Sense provides information
about bodys movement and
location in space
Proprioceptive receptors
Special receptors located in
the muscles, tendons, and joints
This tightrope-walking violinist is performing an amazing feat of coordination and muscular control. He must not
only use his vestibular organs to help maintain his balance, but also his kinesthetic sense to be aware of exactly
where each foot is in relation to the rope.
Somesthetic Senses
LO 3.7 Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
Vestibular sense
Receptor structures in inner ear
Sense of balance