Chapter 5 Outline

Sensation is the detection of physical energy from the environment which we

encode as neural signals.
When we organize and interpret our sensations, it is known as perception
The beginning level of sensory analysis is also known as bottom- up processing
Top-down processing is the information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes, as when someone constructs perceptions drawing on our experience
and expectations.
ottom up processing is sensory analysis that begins at the entry level, with
information flowing from the sensory analysis that begins at the entry level with
information flowing from the sensory receptors to the brain
!atient ".#. suffered from propopagnosia, which is the inability to recognize and
connect the outside the world. $omplete sensation was present but perception was
incomplete. %t is the lack of top-down processing
Thresholds
!sychophysics is the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of
stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
&bsolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus
'( percent of the time
& hearing specialist would expose an individual to varying sounds in order to figure
out their absolute threshold
Signal detection theory is the theory which predicts how and when we detect the
presence of a faint stimulus amidst background stimulation. &ssuming that there is no
single absolute threshold and the detection depends partly on a person)s experience,
expectations, motivation and level of fatigue.
& person)s heightened attention decreases after *( minutes.
+ore false alarms are detected in heightened responsiveness
& stimulus is Subliminal if it is below your absolute threshold, you detect it less
than '(, of the time. -or instance, a microscopic cell is subliminal to you because
you cannot see it with your naked eye.
Subliminal advertisements ./rink $oke, eat popcorn etc.0, does have an affect on you
but do not persuade you.
The final statement of subliminal messages could be that much of our information
processing occurs automatically, out of sight, off the radar screen of our conscious
mind.
The /ifference Threshold .1ust noticeable difference or 1nd0 is the lowest difference
you can detect between the two stimuli '(, of the time. -or example, you
are 1ust able to notice the difference between 2kg and 2.(3kg half the time .
!riming is an acuteness to stimuli because of exposure to a certain event or
experience. -or example, an individual who has 1ust purchased a new car may now
start to notice with more fre4uency other people driving her same make and model.
This person has been primed to recognize more readily a car like hers because of the
experience she has driving and owning one.
Weber)s 5aw states that two stimuli must differ in percentages or ratios, not amount,
for a person to detect it .1nd0.
Sensory Ada p ta t ion
Sensory &daptation- lowered sensitivity due to constant exposure from
stimulus. -or example, when you go into someone)s house you notice an
odor6but this only lasts for a little while because sensory adaptation
allows you to focus your attention on changing environment.
%f a constant image was maintained on the eye)s inner surface, the
person will first see the complete image, then their sensory receptors will
begin to fatigue and the image will start to vanish. The image will
reappear and then disappear. This experiment reveals that perceptions are
organized by the meanings that the mind imposes.
This adaptation allows the person to focus on informative changes,
leaving out uninformative constant stimulations.
V isi on
Transduction refers to Sensory energy being convert .transformed0 into
7eural energy8impulses.
5ight is composed of electromagnetic waves with Wavelengths .distance from
one peak to another peak on a wave0and &mplitudes .height of the wave0
Wavelength determines hue and pitch determines the fre4uency in sound.
&mplitude determines intensity and loudness in sound.
"xternal 5ight entering the eye first travels through the $ornea .protective layer0
!upil .an ad1ustable opening0 is controlled by %ris .muscle around the pupil0
5ens .an oval transparency0 that changes shape to focus light by a process
called accomadation.
Retina
light is then focused onto the back of the eye called 9etina .multi-neuron surface0.
:ohannes ;epler revealed that the retinas did receive upside- down images.
9esearchers later revealed that the retina does not read the image as a whole,
receptor cells convert light energy into neural impulses and these impulses then
are sent to the brain, it is then that the image is constructed and perceived.
&cuity is how sharp and clear a vision is
There are three basic types of &cuity < normal, nearsightedness .only see near
things clearly0, and farsightedness .only see far things clearly0
The 9etina has 3 types of receptor cells < 9ods and $ones. $ells connecting
these detectors form the =ptic 7erve that sends the impulses to brain.
9eceptor cells are the specialized cells that respond to a particular type of energy.
9ods are receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision and perception of
darkness.
"veryone has a lind Spot, a small region in the visual field where nothing could
be seen. This is because there are no receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves
the eye in the retina. 7ormally, we don)t witness this effect because we have two
eyes that compensate for each other)s blind spot, and the fact that our eyes are
constantly moving.
-ovea is the region in the retina where light is centrally focused. The fovea has
no rods, only cones.
When light energy strikes the rods and cones, neural signals are generated. These
signals activate the bipolar cells. The bipolar cells then activate the ganglion cells.
They then form the optic nerve.
$ones allow detail an color
$ones allow one to perceive color. %n the dark, the cone is ineffective. The rods
are not affected by the dim light and many rods will focus their energy into one
bipolar cell.
Visual Information Processing
The retina is brain tissue that floats to the eye during early fetal development
There are three levels in which visual information is received.
-irst, the retina processes information before sending it via the thalamus to the
brain)s cortex.
The retina also analyzes the sensory information
%nformation from the retina is received and transmitted ganglion cells.
!ressure can trigger the retina
7obel prize winners #ubel and Wiesel discovered -eature /etectors in the brain
cortex that are sensitive to specific features in what we see ,like shape,
color, depth, movement, and form.
!erret identified nerve cells that specialize in responding to a specific gaze, head
angle, posture.
Pa r a lle l Pro c es s ing
=ur brain !rocesses lots of information simultaneously. -or example,
looking at an orange, the brain processes the orange
color, the round shape, and the bumpy texture all at the same time.
!eople who cannot consciously perceive can still remarkably locate
ob1ects but are consciously unaware of how they knew. Such a
phenomenon is called lind Sight
+rs.+ was a woman who suffered stroke damage to both sides of her
brain. She became unable to perceive movement.
/avid +ilner revealed that an individual knows more than they are
aware of.
Color Vision
>oung and von #elmholtz revealed that color can be created by combining
the light waves of blue, red and green colors. They inferred that the eye
must have three types of color receptors.
$olor processing is described in 3 stages <
o 20 >oung-#elmholtz trichromatic .three-color0 theory ? 5ight is
detected by * types of cones each specifically sensitive to 9ed, lue,
or @reen. $ombinations of them produce intermediate colors
.yellow, cyan, purple0
o 30 =pponent-!rocess theory ? $olor is then processed by their
opponent colors .red-green, blue-yellow, black-white0. Some cells
are excited by blue and inhibited by yellow, vice versa. Thus, you
cannot see a bluish-yellow.
Color c onst a ncy
o refers to the importance of surrounding background effects on perceived
color. $olor constancy states that colors don)t look different even in
different illumination .i sunlight or dark room0, even if the light and
wavelengths change.
Hearing
o #earing is highly adaptable
o #earing -re4uency .!itch0 is the number of waves travelling through a
point in one second, relates to how fast a wave travels.
o &udition, or hearing, re4uires sounds waves converted into
neural impulses, and this is done in the ear.
o Sound travels through the * sections of the ear to the brain <
o =uter ear < &uditory $anal
o +iddle ear< "ar drum .tight membrane0 . $oncentrates the
vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea)s oval window
o %nner ear < contains the $ochlea .coiled, fluid-filled tube0
that contains the asilar +embrane, which is lined with hair
cells that vibrates to excite nerve fibers. The fibers form the
&uditory $anal connecting to the brain.
o 5oudness is determined by number of activated hair cells.
o #arder to hear sounds are amplified more than loud sounds
How do we perceie Pitch!
o !lace theory says that we hear different pitches because
specific AplacesB in the cochlea are stimulated.
o -re4uency theory says that we hear different pitches because the speed
of neural impulses traveling to the brain matches the speed of the sound
waves .Afre4uencyB0. /oes not explain how we hear low-pitched sounds, it
can explain our sensation of high pitched sounds.
o %t does explain our sensation of low-pitched sounds
How do we locate sounds!
o We can tell which direction a sound is coming from because if it is closer
to our right ear, the right ear will receive the sound slightly faster than left
ear and the brain calculates this difference. %f the sound is directly behind
or in front, where the distance between two ears is the same, then it is
difficult to differentiate.
o Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other.
o The ear uses parallel processing to analyze the differences in the sounds
received by the two ears, and then finds the source.
Hearing loss and "eaf Culture
o $onduction /eafness ? loss of hearing due to damage of eardrum, and8or
the tiny bones in middle ear. .$ould be fixed by hearing aid0
o Sensorneural hearing loss- damage to the cochlea)s receptors. /estroys the
receptors
o Shark and bird hair cells are able to regenerate.
Cochlear Implants
o $ochlear %mplants are the only way to restore hearing for people with nerve
deafness
o These implants are wired to many sites on the auditory nerve, which allows them
to transmit electrical impulses to the brain
o +ost effective when the child is very young
o /eaf people argue against the implants since they do not view deafness as a
disability, they also believe that the brain)s plasticity allows a greater strength in
another area.
Touch
o Touch is composed of C senses < Warmth, !ain, $old, and !ressure
o =nly pressure has specific receptors
o !ressure and $old D wet
o $old and warm D hot
o !ressure and !ain D tickling itch
Pain
o !hantom 5imb Sensations occur when pain is felt in a nonexistent limb. "ven
though the leg is not present, the receptor neurons previously connected to them
are still there. &nd they will fire, resulting in pain sensations.
o The @ate-$ontrol Theory states that the spinal cord has AgatesB that opens8closes
to transmit pain impulses.
o Small fibers open @ate D pain.
o 5arge fibers close @ate D no pain
o !ain is merely a physical and psychological interpretation. /istraction methods,
where attention is focused elsewhere, can ease the felt pain.
o &cupuncture .may affect gate-control0, electrical stimulation, exercise can
also relieve pain.
o The iopschosocial perspective reveals that a person)s experience of pain is
influenced by biological influences, past experiences and social cultural
influences.
Taste
o Taste is a $hemical Sense composed of C basic senses < Sweet, Sour, Salty, and
itter
o . Taste receptors .taste buds0 regenerate every 2 or 3 weeks, but age, smoking,
and alcohol will lower taste bud number and sensitivity.
o Sensory %nteraction is when one sense affects another sense, thus interacting.
Smell and taste seem to interact.
o Taste buds on top and sides of the tongue and in the back and on the roof of the mouth contain taste
receptor cells.
o The taster receptor cells send information to an area of the temporal lobe
Smell
o Smell or =lfaction is also a $hemical Sense that directly transmits
information from nose to the temporal lobe.
o The only sense that doesn)t first relay impulses to the Thalamus.
#ody Position and $oement
o ;inesthesis .using sensors in muscles, tendons, and 1oints0
o Eastibular sense .using fluids in semicircular canal, cochlea, and vestibular sacs
in inner ear0
o oth sense our position, movement, and balance.