Sensation and Perception

Chapter 4

Sensation and Perception: The Basics

• Absolute Threshold

• Difference Threshold

• Signal-Detection Theory

• Sensory Adaptation

Quick Quiz 1

1. Define absolute threshold.

2. Give two examples of sensory adaptation.

3. CRITICAL THINKING: Describe a recent situation where you were so involved in something that you did not notice your surroundings. How does that experience relate to signal-detection theory?

Vision

• Light • The Eye

– The Blind Spot– Rods and Cones– Dark and Light Adaptation– Visual Acuity

• Color Vision– After Images– The Color Circle– Cones and Color Vision– Color Blindness

Quick Quiz 2

1. What is visible light?

2. What is the retina, and what is its function?

3. Explain how we are able to see color.

4. CRITICAL THINKING: Imagine that you became completely blind. How might you life be different from the way it is now? How would you have to adjust? What occupations or hobbies might become difficult for you?

Hearing

• Pitch

• Loudness

• The Ear

• Locating Sound

Deafness

• Conductive deafness• Sensorineural

deafness • Deafness in the world

today

Quick Quiz 3

1. What determines the loudness of a sound?

2. How is loudness measured?

3. Describe the two kinds of deafness.

4. CRITICAL THINKING: Describe a situation in which you or someone you know seemed confused about the direction from which a sound was coming. How was the confusion resolved?

Other Senses

• Smell• Taste• The Skin Senses

– Pressure– Temperature– Pain

Body Senses

• The Vestibular Sense• Kinesthesis

Quick Quiz 4

1. How does the sense of smell work?

2. What is the vestibular sense?

3. CRITICAL THINKING: How might our daily lives be different if we did not have kinesthesis? Give and example.

Perception

• Rules of Perceptual Organization– Closure – Figure-Ground Perception– Other Rules of Organization

• Perception Movement

• Stroboscopic Motion

Depth Perception

• Monocular Cues for Depth

• Binocular Cues for Depth

Perceptual Constancies

• Size Constancy• Color Constancy• Brightness Constancy• Shape Constancy

Visual Illusions

• Brain not the eyes• Cultural differences

Quick Quiz 5

1. List and explain three rules of perceptual organization.

2. Explain the cues people use to perceive motion and depth.

3. Describe four perceptual constancies. 4. CRITICAL THINKING: Give arguments to

support or reject the following statement: Because infants and very young children have not had time to organize and make sense of sensory information, Gestalt rules of organization do not apply to them.