Transcript Sensation and Perception

SENSATION AND
PERCEPTION
Sensation: your window to the world
Perception: interpreting what comes in your window.
Introducing,….Sensation!
“Seeing is believing.”

For each of the following visuals,
simply write down what you see.
(Do not share with your neighbor.)
Analyzing what we see….



Each visual provides sensory information that gives
rise to two totally different perceptual
interpretations.
Now, lets try it again…
Write down what you see first in the next visual
image.
Sensation and visual images

Why is it that no matter how many times we look at
the image, we tend to see the image we saw the
first time we observed it?
 First
impression = schema
 Have to consciously seek the other figure
 After practice, we can see both images, but not
simultaneously
So, what is Sensation & Perception?

Sensation


The physical energy we detect from the
environment and encode as neural impulses
(what we sense and send to the brain)
Perception

How we select, interpret and organize our
sensations (how the brain interprets it)
In other words…

Sensation provides the raw information that
perception translates into our experiences
Sensation
:
The Forest Has Eyes

sensation and
perception
work together
to sort out
complex
processes
Sensation and Perception
(Work together)

Bottom-Up Processing (Sensation)



Sense receptors detect stimuli and send to the brain
the brain then integrates sensory information
Top-Down Processing (Perception)


information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes
How we interpret sensations- based on expectations
and previous experiences
Top Down Processing
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabridge
Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what oredr
the ltteers in a word are, the olny
iprmoetnt tihng is that the frist and lsat
ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can
be a total mses and you can still raed it
wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the word as a wlohe.
Top Down Processing



How were you able to immediately make sense of
these scrambled words?
Our experience and expectations enable us to
immediately perceive the scrambled letters as
meaningful words and sentences.
Higher level processes guide our perceptions.
Distinguishing Between
Sensation and Perception
Fraser Spiral (5.2)
1.
a.
b.
c.
Place one finger on any line composing the spiral.
Place a finger from your other hand beside it and
begin tracing the circle while holding your first finger
in place.
What happens?
Failures of Perception

Prosopagnosia: complete sensation but incomplete
perception (“face blindness”)
 Can
sense visual information, but can’t recognize it (can’t
relate stored knowledge to sensory input)
 Damage to temporal lobe area (recognition)
Sensation- Basic Principles

Psychophysics





study of how physical energy relates to our
psychological experience (Or: study of
interaction between sensations we receive and
our experience of them.)
Light- brightness
Sound- volume
Pressure- weight
Taste- sweetness
Sensation and Perception





Defining sensation and perception
The riddle of separate senses.
Measuring the senses.
Sensory adaptation.
Sensory overload.
©1999 Prentice Hall
Ambiguous Figure

Colored surface
can be either the
outside front
surface or the
inside back surface


Cannot simultaneously
be both
Brain can interpret
the ambiguous
cues two different
ways
©1999 Prentice Hall
Sensation & Perception Processes
©1999 Prentice Hall