SENSATION, PERCEPTION &

CONSCIOUSNESS
Module-3
( Week 5 & 6 , 2021)
 Contents

A. Senses: Vision, audition, smell, taste and

kinesthetic
B. Introduction to perception
C. Gestalt principles
D. Binocular and monocular cues
E. Illusions and extra sensory perception

2
 A. Sensation
• Input of sensory information
• Process of receiving, converting, and
transmitting information from the outside
world

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 3

reserved 2018
 B. Sensation

 Sensation
 a process by which our sensory receptors
and nervous system receive and represent
stimulus energy
 Perception
 a process of organizing and interpreting
sensory information, enabling us to
recognize meaningful objects and events
Sensation
 Our sensory
and
perceptual
processes
work
together to
help us sort
out complex
processes
 Sensation

 Bottom-Up Processing
 analysis that begins with the sense receptors and
works up to the brain’s integration of sensory
information
 Top-Down Processing
 information processing guided by higher-level
mental processes
 as when we construct perceptions drawing on our
experience and expectations
 Sensation- Basic Principles

 Psychophysics
 study of the relationship between physical
characteristics of stimuli and our
psychological experience of them
 Light- brightness
 Sound- volume
 Pressure- weight
 Taste- sweetness
 Sensation- Thresholds

 Absolute Threshold
 minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular
stimulus 50% of the time
 Difference Threshold
 minimum difference between two stimuli required
for detection 50% of the time
 just noticeable difference (JND)
 Sensation- Thresholds
 Signal Detection Theory
 predicts how and when we detect the presence of a
faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation
(noise)
 assumes that there is no single absolute threshold
 detection depends partly on person’s
 experience
 expectations
 motivation
 level of fatigue
 Sensation- Thresholds

 Weber’s Law- to perceive as different, two

stimuli must differ by a constant minimum
percentage
 light intensity- 8%
 weight- 2%
 tone frequency- 0.3%
 Sensory adaptation- diminished sensitivity
as a consequence of constant stimulation
 Vision
 Transduction
 conversion of one form of energy to
another
 in sensation, transforming of stimulus
energies into neural impulses
 Wavelength
 the distance from the peak of one wave to
the peak of the next
 Vision
 Hue
 dimension of color determined by
wavelength of light
 Intensity
 amount of energy in a wave determined by
amplitude
 brightness
 loudness
 Vision
 Pupil- adjustable opening in the center of
the eye
 Iris- a ring of muscle that forms the
colored portion of the eye around the
pupil and controls the size of the pupil
opening
 Lens- transparent structure behind pupil
that changes shape to focus images on the
retina
Vision
 Vision

 Accommodation- the process by which the

eye’s lens changes shape to help focus near or
far objects on the retina

 Retina- the light-sensitive inner surface of the

eye, containing receptor rods and cones plus
layers of neurons that begin the processing of
visual information
 Vision
 Acuity- the sharpness of vision
 Nearsightedness- condition in which nearby
objects are seen more clearly than distant
objects because distant objects in front of
retina
 Farsightedness- condition in which faraway
objects are seen more clearly than near objects
because the image of near objects is focused
behind retina
 Retina’s Reaction to
Light- Receptors
 Rods
 peripheral retina
 detect black, white and gray
 twilight or low light
 Cones
 near center of retina
 fine detail and color vision
 daylight or well-lit conditions
 Retina’s Reaction to Light
 Optic nerve- nerve that carries neural impulses
from the eye to the brain
 Blind Spot- point at which the optic nerve
leaves the eye, creating a “blind spot” because
there are no receptor cells located there
 Fovea- central point in the retina, around which
the eye’s cones cluster
 Visual Information Processing
 Trichromatic (three color) Theory
 Young and Helmholtz
 three different retinal color receptors
 red
 green
 blue
Color-Deficient Vision

 People who suffer

red-green blindness
have trouble
perceiving the
number within the
design
 Audition
 Audition
 the sense of hearing
 Frequency
 the number of complete wavelengths that
pass a point in a given time
 Pitch
 a tone’s highness or lowness
 depends on frequency
 Audition- The Ear
 Middle Ear
 chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing
three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that
concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the
cochlea’s oval window
 Inner Ear
 innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea,
semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
 Cochlea
 coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear that
contains receptors for hearing
 Audition
 Place Theory
 the theory that links the pitch we hear with the
place where the cochlea’s membrane is
stimulated
 Frequency Theory
 the theory that the rate of nerve impulses
traveling up the auditory nerve matches the
frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its
pitch
 Audition
 Conduction Hearing Loss
 hearing loss caused by damage to the
mechanical system that conducts sound waves
to the cochlea
 Nerve Hearing Loss
 hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s
receptor cells or to the auditory nerve
Touch

 Skin Sensations
 pressure
 only skin
sensation with
identifiable
receptors
 warmth
 cold
 pain
 Pain
 Gate-Control Theory
 theory that the spinal cord contains a
neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals
or allows them to pass on to the brain
 “gate” opened by the activity of pain signals
traveling up small nerve fibers
 “gate” closed by activity in larger fibers or
by information coming from the brain
 Taste
 Taste Sensations
 sweet
 sour
 salty
 bitter
 Sensory Interaction
 the principle that one sense may influence another
 as when the smell of food influences its taste
Smell
Olfactory
nerve
Olfactory
bulb

Nasal Receptor cells in

passage olfactory membrane
Body Position and Movement

 Kinesthesis
 the system for sensing the position and
movement of individual body parts
 Vestibular Sense
 the sense of body movement and position
 including the sense of balance
 Difference Threshold
• The smallest difference in stimulation that
can be reliably detected by an observer
when two stimuli are compared;
• Also called Just Noticeable Difference
(JND).

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 32

reserved 2018
 (Just Notable Difference)
Difference Threshold
The smallest amount of change needed to detect in a
stimulus before we detect a change.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 33

reserved 2018
 Sensory Overload
• Overstimulation of the senses.
• Can use selective attention to reduce
sensory overload.
– Selective attention
• The focusing of attention on selected aspects of the
environment and the blocking out of others.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 34

reserved 2018
 Human and Animal- Different
Thresholds
 We don't notice radio waves, x-rays, or the microscopic
parasites crawling on our skin. We don't sense all the odors
around us or taste every individual spice in our gourmet
dinner. We only sense those things we are able too since we
don't have the sense of smell like a bloodhound or the sense of
sight like a hawk; our thresholds are different from these
animals and often even from each other.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 35

reserved 2018
Sensation & Perception Processes

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 36

reserved 2018
 B. Perception
• “…a constructive process by which we go
beyond the stimuli that are presented to us
and attempt to construct a meaningful
situation”.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 37

reserved 2018
• Perception involves organization and interpretation
of sensory input
• Creates meaning of sensory information
• Perception occurs in the brain- sensation is in the
Peripheral Nervous System
• Interpretation of sensory information is an active
process
• Perceptions can differ among people-our
perception are influenced by many things -
experiences, motivations, expectancies
• Sens/percep are in each other's pocket - automatic
processes Sensation & Perception_copy rights 38
reserved 2018
 C. Gestalt Principles
• Rules that summarize how we tend to
organize bits and pieces of information into
meaningful wholes
• We tend to organize stimuli into “wholes”.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 39

reserved 2018
 Gestalt Psychology: Form
1. Figure ground
2. Proximity
3. Similarity
4. Continuity
5. Closure

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 40

reserved 2018
1. Figure Ground
Relationship
Our first perceptual
decision is what is the
image is the figure and
what is the background.

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 41

reserved 2018
 A. Gestalt Psychology
• Gestalt psychologists focused on
how we GROUP objects together.
• We innately look at things in groups
and not as isolated elements.
[Link] (group objects that are
close together as being part of same
group)
[Link] (objects similar in
appearance are perceived as being part
of same group)
4. Continuity (objects that form a
continuous form are perceived as same
group)
5. Closure (like top-down
processing…we fill gaps in if we can
recognize it) Sensation & Perception_copy rights 42
reserved 2018
 D. Monocular Cues
• You really only need
one eye to use these
(used in art classes to
show depth).
• Linear Perspective
• Interposition
• Relative size
• Texture gradient
• Shadowing

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 43

reserved 2018
Binocular Cues
• We need both of our
eyes to use these cues.
• Retinal Disparity (as an
object comes closer to
us, the differences in
images between our
eyes becomes greater.
• Convergence (as an
object comes closer our
eyes have to come
together to keep
focused
Sensation & Perception_copy rights on the object).
44
reserved 2018
 Factors in the perceiver
PROCESS OF PERCEPTION • Attitudes
DEPENDS UPON… • Motives
• Interests
• Experience
• Expectations
Factors in the
situation
• Time Perception
• Work Setting
• Social Setting Factors in the Target
• Novelty
• Motion
• Sounds
• Size
• Background
45 • Proximity
• Similarity
 4. Subliminal Perception
• Stimuli that occur below the threshold of
our conscious awareness but have a weak, if
any effect on behavior

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 46

reserved 2018
5. Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
• Usually called 6th sense.
• Alleged perception in the absence of
sensory data
• Types of ESP - telepathy, precognition and
psychokinesis

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 47

reserved 2018
 Class room activity
• Read any recent published article about
extrasensory perception and reflect your
beliefs (5 marks)

Sensation & Perception_copy rights 48

reserved 2018
49 Sensation &
Perception_copy rights
50 Sensation &
Perception_copy rights
51 Sensation &
Perception_copy rights
52 Sensation &
Perception_copy rights
Checklist-Contents

Senses: Vision, audition, smell, taste and

kinesthetic
Introduction to perception
Gestalt principles
Binocular and monocular cues
Illusions and extra sensory perception

53