CHAPTER TWO

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

 Overview
Sensation:
• Sensory Receptors
• Transduction
• Signal Detection Theory
Perception:
• Visual Perception
• Gestalts Psychologists
• Depth Perception
• Illusions
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Sensation and Perception
 Sensation
• Is the stimulation of sensory receptors and
the transmission of sensory information to
the central nervous system.
• It is the process that sensing/detects the
stimulus from one‘s body or from the
environment.
– Vision, hearing, smell, taste, and
touch all involve detection of a form of
energy (light, sound, chemicals, pressure)
• Process where by stimulation of receptor
cells in the sensory systems sends nerve
impulses to the brain.
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 Cont…
Sensory Receptor: specialized neurons that
responds to specific type of energy/stimuli.
– Located in a sense organ: eye, ear, nose,
tongue, or skin
– Responsible for transduction; conversion of
physical energy (e.g. light) to electrical signal
– The electrical signal is sent to the brain
• When sensory information is detected by a
sensory receptor, sensation has occurred
• All senses involve something called receptor
cells. Their job is to transduce (transform or
even “translate”) physical stimulation/physical
energy from the environment into
electrochemical messages that can be 5
 Transduction
Communication between the brain & the
rest of the body (& between different regions
of the brain) occurs via neuron. We recently
learned how communication between
neurons occurs electrochemically (within
neurons: electrical; between neurons:
chemical). So the brain’s “language” is
electrochemical!
 Sensory Systems
• You have probably known since elementary
school that we have five senses:
• Vision (visual sensory receptors)
• Hearing (audition)
• Smell (olfaction-sense of smell)
• Taste (Gustation- sense of taste), and
• Touch (somatosensory cortex).
• We also have that provide information
about:
• Balance (the vestibular sense)
• Body position and movement (proprioception and
kinesthesia),
• Pain (nociception), and
• Temperature (thermoception). 7
 The Sensory Laws
Physics of Sensation
Sensory Threshold
 Is the minimum point of physical
energy/stimulation can be detected.
 There are two laws of sensory threshold:
law of absolute threshold
law of difference threshold
 Absolute Threshold
• As the minimum level of stimulation that can be
detected 50 percent of the time when a
stimulus is presented over and over again.
– The minimum a mount of stimulation a person
can detect
– The weakest level of a stimulus (energy) needed
to produce a sensation at least 50% of the time.
E.g. minimum brightness needed to detect a
light
• Anything below this threshold is considered “
subliminal” or below conscious awareness.
– A message below that threshold is said to be
 Absolute thresholds
• It has been estimated that on a clear night, the
most sensitive sensory cells in the back of the eye
can detect a candle flame 30 miles away (Okawa
& Sampath, 2007).
• Under quiet conditions, the hair cells (the
receptor cells of the inner ear) can detect the tick
of a clock 20 feet away (Galanter, 1962).
Smell
One drop of perfume in a 6-room apartment
Touch
The wing of a bee on the cheek, dropped from 1
cm
Taste
One teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons /7.7 liters of
 Difference Threshold
 Smallest change that can be detected at
least 50% of the time.
 The minimum amount of change that can be
detected
 Or minimum change in stimulation that can
be detected 50 percent of the time by a given
person.
 Smallest difference that can be detected
when 2 stimuli are compared.
 Also, called Just Noticeable Difference
(jnd)
 Any changes noticeable on this slide?
e.g. light (red/green), sound (one sound/two
 Weber’s law
• Ernst Weber proposed this theory of change
in difference threshold in the 1830s, and it
has become known as Weber’s law.
– It is the idea that bigger stimuli require
larger differences to be noticed.
– It states that the just noticeable difference is
based on the proportion of stimulus change
not fixed amount of change.
– The amount of change goes up
proportionally
– For example, it will be much harder for your
friend to reliably tell the difference between 5
versus 5.5 than it is for 1 and 2 kg.
– 2 kg. difference needed to detect change in
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 Sensory Adaptation
• If a stimulus remains constant in
intensity, you will gradually stop
noticing it
• Tendency of our sensory receptors to
have decreasing responsiveness to
unchanging stimulus
• But, potentially important change in
your environment while ignoring
unchanging aspects of it.
 Sensory Adaptation
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of
constant stimulation.

Put a band aid on your arm and after awhile

you don’t sense it.
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 Attributes of Sensation
Sensory Deprivation- is the absence of normal
level of sensory stimulation.

- Human brain requires a minimum amount of sensory

stimulation in order to function normally. If it is too low it
is bad for the brain to function properly.

Sensory Overload- is experiencing too much

amount of stimulus from the environment. This is also bad
for the brain to function properly.

- Generally too little stimulation ( sensory

deprivation) and too much stimulation ( sensory
overload) can lead to fatigue and mental confusion.
 Signal Detection Theory
• It states that our ability to detect a signal
depends not only on the strength of the signal
but also on our physical/psychological state.
• Study of peoples tendency for: (sensitivity of
senses or how good you are in your sense
organs)
– Hit: reporting a stimulus is present when it
was indeed present.
– False alarm: reporting a stimulus was
present when in fact it was not.
– Miss: reporting a stimulus was not present
when in fact it was
– Correct rejection: reporting a stimulus was
not present when in fact it wasn’t. 17
 Signal Detection Theory

Stimulus

Present Absent

Report Present Hit False Alarm

Absent
Miss Correct Rejection

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 Consider eyewitness
testimony
Apply signal detection theory
- Five persons suspect of a crime
- One person who can be eyewitness testimony
- Did you see the perpetrator who commit the
crime in the line up
- Yes, I see the perpetrator in the line up (if it is
one of them) it would be _______________
- Yes, but none of them. It would be __________
- No, I don’t see the perpetrator in the line up
but it is one of them. It would be_____________
- No, I don’t see the perpetrator in the line up
(if it none of them). It would 19
 Perception
• Is the process of creating meaning from
sensory information.
• Perception takes place in the brain.
– Process that organizes sensations into
meaningful patterns.
– Process by which the brain selects,
organizes, and interprets these
sensations and giving them order and
meaning.
• Thus, hearing sounds and seeing colors is
largely a sensory process, but forming a
melody/a song and detecting patterns
and shapes is largely a perceptual process.
 Perception
• It involves both bottom-up and top-down
processing.
– Bottom-up processing: refers to the fact that
perceptions are built from sensory input.
• Brain needed a pieces of information from the
senses to interpret or to give a meaning.
• Also called inductive reasoning (pieces of
information put it into a whole).
– Top- down processing: how we interpret those
sensations is influenced by our available knowledge,
our experiences/emotions and our thoughts.
• When brain use memory/prior knowledge to
interpret something.
• Also called deductive reasoning
 Perception
Major characteristics of the
perceptual process:
 selectivity of perception
 form perception,
 depth perception,
 perceptual constancy, and
 perceptual illusion.
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 Selectivity of Perception:
Attention
• Sense organ is bombarded by many
stimuli….. perceive a few of them…..
ignoring the other unnecessary
stimuli…..ATTENTION
• Attention
– It is perceptual process that selects
certain inputs for inclusion in your
conscious experience, or awareness,
at any given time, ignoring others.
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 What Affects Attention
Intensity- the more intense the stimulus the more
it’ll be attended. E.g. the brighter light is more attended
than the dull one.

Size- the larger the size of the stimulus the more we

give attention and the smaller the size we give less
attention.

 Contrast- what contrasts with the surrounding

environment attracts attention easily. E.g. if one stranger
and teacher are enter in the class, the students give more
attention to the stranger and less attention for the
teacher.
• Movement- something, which moves, is more
likely to attract attention than something stationary.

• Motivation- largely our current level of

satisfaction or deprivation determines what we
choose to hear or watch.

• Personality and interest- individuals

select the stimulus and give attention if they are
interested.
E.g. in the football game, a person may give attention
 Internal( Psychological ) Factors
that affect Attention
1. Set or Expectancy
 refers to mental readiness to receive certain
kinds of sensory input
EX: A husband expecting an important phone
call is more likely to hear phone calls than a
wife who is concerned about her baby crying.
2. Motives or Needs
 People are more likely to be attracted to
environmental experiences ( events) in
which they are interested
 Form Perception
• The meaningful shapes or patterns or
ideas that are made perhaps out of
meaningless and discrete or pieces
and bites of sensations
 Perception has organization and
structure

Everything we perceive has its own

structure and form. To make sense out
of what we perceive, we must know
where one thing begins and another
ends
This process of dividing up the world
occurs effortlessly (naturally) and
makes our perception more
meaningful
 Principles (laws) of perceptual
organization
The brain uses structures in order to give
pattern, shape and form to our visual
perception.
 It is based on these principles that perceptual
organization becomes possible.
The gestalt laws of organization are principles
that describe how we organize and construct
pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Gestalt psychologist said -the whole is more

than the sum of its parts.
 Gestalt Psychologists
• Top down processing:
– Believed that, “perception cannot be
broken into parts because the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts, and
visual perception is an active creation”.
– Perception cannot be broken into parts.
– Developed Gestalt law of organization
to explain perception:

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 Cont…
Figure-Ground Perception
• We can shift focus from the object to
background, affects meaning.
• The perception of objects and forms of
everyday experience as standing out from a
background.
• This is a principle by which we organize the
perceptual field in to stimuli that stand out
(the figure) and those that are left over ( the
ground).

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33
 Cont…
The Principle of Closure
 This is a principle that states the brain tends to fill in
gaps in order to perceive complete forms.
 When a familiar figure is interrupted, we imagine the rest
of it.
 People need to decipher less than perfect images to make
perceptions. To help us do so, the brain tends to finish
what is unfinished, complete what is incomplete.

The Principle of Proximity

 This principle states that things that are near each other
tend to be grouped together. The closer objects or
events are to one another, the more likely they are to be
perceived as belonging together.
 The amount distance between objects affect our meaning
 chapter 6

Form Perception:
Gestalt principles

Proximity
Things close to one another are grouped together

Closure
The brain tends to fill in gaps to perceive complete forms
37
 Cont…
The Principle of Similarity
 The principle of similarity states that things that
are alike in some way (for example, in colour,
shape or size) tend to be perceived as belonging
together.
 We perceive objects that are similar as belonging
to the same group.
 Things that are alike are perceived together
 Cont…
• The Principles of Continuity
– We tend to see things as continuous

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 Depth Perception
• The ability to see distance
• Perception of distance and 3D involves:
– Binocular cues: cues that depend on
action of both eyes (we need our two
eyes to get information about distance).
Depth perceived using both eyes.
• Retinal disparity: differences in
position of objects as seen by left and
right eye. (both eyes in different ways).
• Convergences: degree to which our
eyes turn into focus on objects
– Distant objects: eyes looking parallel
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–
 Cont…
• Monocular Cues: involve one eye to get
information (depth and distance).
– Relative size: close object produces larger
image than one farther away.
– Linear perspective: as parallel lines stretch
out toward the horizon they come closer
together.
– Clearness/ Detail: we see nearby objects in
more detail than more distant ones.
– Texture gradient: objects that are farther
away looked more packed than nearby ones.
– Overlapping/Interposition: an object
interrupts another, the one that interrupts is
closer. 41
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 Perception is Constant under
Changing
Sensory Information

perception does not change when

sensory information about stimuli changes.
Our perceptual hypothesis remains the
same when information we receive
about stimuli through the visual sense
organ change in colour, size or shape.
 Categories of Perceptual
Constancy

1. Size Constancy
refers to the perception that the size
of objects remains constant even
though visual information change
with variations in distance.
 Cont…

2. Shape Constancy
 states that we continue to perceive
objects as having a constant shape
even though the shape of the retinal
image changes when our point of
view changes.
Viewing angle or position
superficially changes the shape of an
object
50
 Cont...
3. Colour (Brightness) Constancy
Sometimes objects may take different
colour or brightness because of
variations in light reflected on them.
This principle states that the colour or
brightness of an object remains the
same even though the amount of light
reflected on the objects change.
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53
 Cont...

4. Location Constancy
The location or position of stationary
objects is always the same even when
our eyes tell us it is moving.
We perceive stationary objects as
remaining in the same place even
though the retinal image moves about as
we move our eyes, heads, and bodies.
Location constancy refers to the relationship
between the viewer and the object. A
stationary object is perceived as remaining
stationary despite the retina sensing the
object changing as the viewer moves (due to
 Perception illusion
• Illusions are special perceptual experiences in
which information arising from “real” external
stimuli leads to an incorrect perception, or
false impression, of the object or event from
which the stimulation comes.
 Optical Illusions

• can use color, light and patterns to

create images that can be deceptive or
misleading to our brains.
• The information gathered by the eye is
processed by the brain, creating a
perception that in reality, does not
match the true image.
 Reading Assignment
• Explain the implications of sensation and
perception in medical practice.
• Find an example of a perceptual illusion, it can
be related to optical, auditory, or any sensory
illusion. After sharing the illusion, you need to
explain the process of how our brains perceive
the stimuli.

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See you next week…