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Sensation

The document provides an overview of sensation and perception, detailing how physical stimuli activate sensory organs and the subsequent psychological experiences. It covers key concepts such as absolute and difference thresholds, adaptation, and the processes underlying vision, hearing, smell, taste, and pain. Additionally, it discusses theories related to color vision and sound perception, as well as methods for pain management.

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AghaMuhsinTareen
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10 views28 pages

Sensation

The document provides an overview of sensation and perception, detailing how physical stimuli activate sensory organs and the subsequent psychological experiences. It covers key concepts such as absolute and difference thresholds, adaptation, and the processes underlying vision, hearing, smell, taste, and pain. Additionally, it discusses theories related to color vision and sound perception, as well as methods for pain management.

Uploaded by

AghaMuhsinTareen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Human Behavior (BA2312)

BBA 3, Spring 2015

Sensation
Books:
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Atkinson & Hilgard,
15th Edition
UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY Robert S. Feldman,
10th Edition

Imran K. Junejo
Email: [email protected]
 What is sensation, and how do psychologists
study it?

 What is the relationship between a physical


stimulus and the kinds of sensory responses
that result from it?
 Sensation
◦ Activation of the sense organs by a source of
physical energy

 Perception
◦ Sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration
of stimuli carried out by the sense organs and brain
 Stimulus
◦ Any passing source of physical energy that
produces a response in a sense organ

 Psychophysics
◦ Study of the relationship between the physical
aspects of stimuli and our psychological experience
of them
 Absolute Threshold
◦ Smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present
for it to be detected
 Difference Threshold
◦ Smallest level of added (or reduced) stimulation
required to sense that a change in stimulation has
occurred
 Just noticeable difference
 Weber’s law
 Just noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the
intensity of an initial stimulus
 Adaptation
◦ An adjustment in sensory capacity after prolonged
exposure to unchanging stimuli
 What basic processes underlie the sense of
vision?

 How do we see colors?


 Cornea
◦ Protects eye and refracts light
 Pupil
◦ Opening depends on amount of light in
environment
 Iris
◦ Colored part of eye
 Lens
◦ Accommodation
 Reaching the Retina
◦ Light is converted to electrical impulses for
transmission to the brain
 Rods
 Receptor cells sensitive to light
 Cones
 Cone-shaped; responsible for sharp focus and color
perception
 Concentrated in the fovea
 Sending the Message from the Eye to the Brain
◦ Optic nerve
 Ganglion cells
 Blind spot
 Optic chiasm
 Processing the Visual Message
◦ Takes place in the visual cortex of the brain
 Feature detection
 Explaining Color Vision
◦ Trichromatic theory of color vision
 Suggests that there are three kinds of cones in the
retina
 Blue-violet colors
 Green colors
 Yellow-red colors
 Not successful at explaining afterimages
 Opponent-process theory of color vision
◦ Receptor cells are linked in pairs, working in
opposition to each other
 Blue-yellow
 Red-green
 Black-white
 Explains afterimages
 What role does the ear play in the senses of
sound, motion, and balance?

 How do smell and taste function?

 What are the skin senses, and how do they


relate to the experience of pain?
 Sound
◦ Movement of air molecules brought about by a
source of vibration

 Eardrum
◦ Vibrates when sound waves hit it
◦ Middle ear
 Hammer, anvil, stirrup
 Inner Ear
◦ Changes sound vibrations into a form in which they
can be transmitted to the brain
 Cochlea
 Filled with fluid and vibrates in response to sound
 Basilar membrane
 Dividing cochlea into an upper chamber and lower
chamber
 Covered with hair cells
 The Physical Aspects of Sound
◦ Frequency
 Number of wave cycles that occur in a second
 Pitch
◦ Amplitude
 Spread between the up-and-down peaks and valleys of
air pressure in a sound wave as it travels through the
air
 Decibels
 Sorting Out Theories of Sound
◦ Place Theory of Hearing
 States that different areas of the basilar membrane
respond to different frequencies

◦ Frequency Theory of Hearing


 Suggests that the entire basilar membrane acts like a
microphone, vibrating as a whole in response to a
sound
 Vestibular System
◦ Semicircular canals
 Main structure of vestibular system
 Three tubes containing fluid that sloshes through them
when the head moves, signaling rotational or angular
movement to the brain
◦ Otoliths
 Sense forward, backward, or up-and-down motion, as
well as the pull of gravity
 Olfaction
◦ Sense of smell is sparked when the molecules of a
substance enter the nasal passages
 Olfactory cells
 Pheromones
 Gustation
◦ Taste qualities
 Sweet
 Sour
 Salty
 Bitter
 Gate-control Theory of Pain
◦ Particular nerve receptors in the spinal cord lead to
specific areas of the brain related to pain
 Acupuncture
 Medication
 Nerve and brain stimulation
 Light therapy
 Hypnosis
 Biofeedback and relaxation techniques
 Surgery
 Cognitive restructuring
 Multimodal perception
◦ Brain collects the information from the individual
sensory systems and integrates and coordinates it.

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