In: Psychology
Discuss sensation and perception. Make sure you identify all sensory receptors. Discuss the two chemical senses.
Sensation and perception are complementary processes. When our five sense organs- eyes, ear, smell, taste, and touch -gather information and send it to the brain. This process is called Sensation. The Perception is the process that refers to the interpretation of what we take in through our senses. This happens as a result of cognitive processing. Constantly the brain uses gathered information in order to make decisions that one is unaware of. In other words, Sensation is used to learn, while Perception is what interprets what is learned.
Taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction) are identified as chemical senses as they are stimulated by the food in the mouth and the chemicals in the air respectively. With regards to the chemical senses, Taste can be categorized into four basic sensations; sweet, sour, salty, and bitter that are located on specific sites on the tongue. The olfactory system detects airborne molecules called odors when airborne molecules bind to specific sites on olfactory receptors located in the nose.