In: Psychology
Develop a 6 pages paper based on "Sensation and Perception" Chapter 6 of the textbook "Psychology 9th edition 2010 by D.G. Myers".
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Sensation -Experience of sensory stimulation, the activation or our
senses
Perception -Process of creating meaningful patterns from raw
sensory information
ENERGY SENSES
VISION
Vision is the dominant sense in human beings. Sighted people use vision to gather information about their environment more than any other sense. The process of vision involves several steps.
Step 1: Gathering light
Step 2: Within the eye
Cornea -The transparent protective coating over the front part
of the eye
Pupil -small opening in the iris through which light enters the
eye.
Iris -colored part of the eye.
Lens -transparent part of the eye inside the pupil that focuses
light onto the retina
Retina -lining of the eye containing receptor cells that are
sensitive to light
Step 3: Transduction
Transduction –process by which sensory signals are transformed
into neural impulses
Receptor cell -Specialized cell that responds to a particular type
of energy.
Rods -Receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision and
perception of brightness.
Cones -Receptor cells in the retina responsible for color
vision
Fovea -Area of the retina that is the center of the visual
field
Optic nerve - The bundle of axons of ganglion cells that carries
neural messages from each eye to the brain.
Blind spot - Place on the retina where the axons of all the
ganglion cells leave the eye and where there are no receptors Optic
chiasm -Point near the base of the brain where some fibers in the
optic nerve from each eye cross to the other side of the brain
Step 4: In the Brain
Theories or color vision-
Trichromatic theory -Theory of color vision that holds that all
color perception derives from three different color receptors in
the retina
Opponent-process theory - Theory of color vision that holds that
three sets of color receptors respond in an either/or fashion to
determine the color you experience
Colorblindness -Partial or total inability to perceive hues.
Trichromats -People who have normal color vision
Monochromats -People who are totally color blind
Dichromats - People who are blind to either red-green or
yellow-blue
HEARING
The ears contain structures for both the sense of hearing and the
sense of balance. The eighth cranial nerve (vestibulocochlear nerve
made up of the auditory and vestibular nerves) carries nerve
impulses for both hearing and balance from the ear to the
brain.
Amplitude – the height of the wave , determines the loudness of
the sound, measured in decibels
Frequency - The number of cycles per second in a wave; in sound,
the primary determinant of pitch
Hertz (Hz) - Cycles per second; unit of measurement for the
frequency of waves
Pitch - Auditory experience corresponding primarily to frequency of
sound vibrations, resulting in a higher or lower tone
Decibel -The magnitude of a wave; in sound the primary determinant
of loudness of sounds
Parts of the ear-
Ear canal – also called the auditory canal
Eardrum-
Hammer, anvil, stirrup - The three small bones in the middle ear
that relay vibrations of the eardrum to the inner ear
Oval window - Membrane across the opening between the middle ear
and inner ear that conducts vibrations to the cochlea
Round window - Membrane between the middle ear and inner ear that
equalizes pressure in the inner ear.
Cochlea - Part of the inner ear containing fluid that vibrates
which in turn causes the basilar membrane to vibrate.
Basilar membrane -Vibrating membrane in the cochlea of the inner
ear; it contains sense receptors for sound
Organ of Corti -Structure on the surface of the basilar membrane
that contains the receptors cells for hearing
Auditory nerve -The bundle of neurons that carries signals from
each ear to the brain
PITCH THEORIES- As with color vision, two different theories describe the two processes involved in hearing pitch: place theory and frequency theory.
Place theory -Theory that pitch is determined by the location of
greatest vibration of the basilar membrane
Frequency theory -Theory that pitch is determined by the frequency
wigh which hair cells in the cochlea fire
DEAFNESS
Hearing Loss
People can lose all or some of their ability to hear because of loud noises, infections, head injuries, brain damage and genetic diseases. Hearing loss is common in older people. There are several types of hearing loss:
• Conductive Hearing Loss: occurs when sound vibrations from the
tympanic membrane to the inner ear are blocked. This may be caused
by ear wax in the auditory canal, fluid buildup in the middle ear,
ear infections or abnormal bone growth.
• Sensorineural Hearing Loss: occurs when there is damage to the
vestibulocochlear (auditory) nerve. This type of hearing loss may
be caused by head injury, birth defects, high blood pressure or
stroke.
• Presbycusis: occurs because of changes in the inner ear. This is
a very common type of hearing loss that happens gradually in older
age.
• Tinnitus: people with tinnitus hear a constant ringing or roaring
sound. The cause of this ringing cannot always be found. Some cases
of tinnitus are caused by ear wax, ear infections or a reaction to
antibiotics, but there are many other possible causes of this
disorder.
TOUCH
When our skin is indented, pierced, or experiences a change in
temperature, our sense of touch is activated by this energy.
Gate control theory - Theory that a ‘neurological gate in the
spinal cord controls the transmission of pain messages to the
brain
CHEMICAL SENSES
TASTE (GUSTATION)
Taste buds
Papillae-
Humans sense four different tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and
bitter
All other tastes come from a combination of these four basic tastes. Actually, a fifth basic taste called "Umami" has recently been discovered. Umami is a taste that occurs when foods with glutamate (like MSG) are eaten. Different parts of the tongue can detect all types of tastes. Morever, the simple tongue "taste map" that is found in many textbooks has been criticized for several reasons.
The actual organ of taste is called the "taste bud". Each taste bud (and there about about 10,000 taste buds in humans) is made up of many (between 50-150) receptor cells. Receptor cells live for only 1 to 2 weeks and then are replaced by new receptor cells. Each receptor in a taste bud responds best to one of the basic tastes. A receptor can respond to the other tastes, but it responds strongest to a particular taste.
SMELL (OLFACTION)
The Nose Knows
The smells of a rose, perfume, freshly baked bread and
cookies...these smells are all made possible because of your nose
and brain. The sense of smell, called olfaction, involves the
detection and perception of chemicals floating in the air. Chemical
molecules enter the nose and dissolve in mucous within a membrane
called the olfactory epithelium. In humans, the olfactory
epithelium is located about 7 cm up and into the nose from the
nostrils.
Olfactory epithelium - Nasal membranes containing receptor cells
sensitive to odors
Pheromone - Chemical that communicates information to other
organisms through smell
VESTIBULAR SENSE – tells us about how our body is oriented in
space.
Semicircular canals - Structure in the inner ear particularly
sensitive to body rotation.
Vestibular sacs - Sacs in the inner ear that are responsible for
sensing gravitation and forward, backward, and vertical
movement
KINESTHETIC SENSES -Senses of forces and movement of muscles
Stretch receptors -Receptors that sense muscle stretch and
contraction
Golgi tendon organs -Receptors that sense movement of the tendons,
which connect muscle to bone.
PERCEPTION
THRESHOLDS
Absolute threshold -The least amount of energy that can be
detected as a stimulation 50 percent of the time
Subliminal- stimuli below our absolute threshold
Difference threshold -The smallest change in stimulation that can
be detected 50 percent of the time
just-noticeable difference – the smallest amount of change needed
in a stimulus before we detect a change
Weber’s Law -The principle that the just noticeable difference for
any given sense is a constant proportion of the stimulation being
judged.
PERCEPTUAL THEORIES
Psychologists use several theories to describe how we perceive
the world.
Signal detection theory- investigates the effects of the
distractions and interference we experience while perceiving the
world.
Response criteria
False positive
Top-Down Processing – we perceive by filling in gaps in what we
sense
Schemata
Perceptual set
Backmasking
Bottom-up Processing, also called feature analysis – we use only
the features of the object itself to build a complete
perception
GESTALT RULES
Proximity
Similarity
Continuity
Closure
CONSTANCY- Tendency to perceive objects as stable and unchanging
despite changes in sensory stimulation
Size constancy - Perception of an object as the same size
regardless of the distance from which it is viewed
Shape constancy - Tendency to see an object as the same shape no
matter what angle it is viewed from
Brightness constancy - Perception of brightness as the same, even
though the amount of light reaching the retina changes
DEPTH CUES
Visual cliff experiment-
Monocular cues - Visual cues requiring the use of one eye
Interposition - Monocular distance cue in which one object, by
partly blocking a second object, is perceived as being
closer.
Linear perspective - Monocular cue to distance and depth based on
the fact that two parallel lines seem to come together at the
horizon
Relative size - Monocular cue in which closer objects seem larger
than distant objects
Texture gradient -Course objects appear closer than smooth
objects
Shadowing-
Binocular cues - Visual cues requiring the use of both eyes
Retinal disparity - Binocular distance cue based on the difference
between the images
Convergence - cast on the two retinas when both eyes are focused on
the same object
Stereoscopic vision - Combination of two retinal images to give a
three-dimensional perceptual experience.