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CHAPTER OUTLINE
1 How We Sense and Perceive the World
2 The Visual System
3 The Auditory System
4 Other Senses
5 Sensation, Perception, and Health and Wellness
Vision and our other senses connect us to the world. We see a beloved friend’s
face, feel a comforting hand, and hear our name called. Our ability to sense and
perceive the world is what allows us to reach out into life in the many ways we do
every day.
Like other animals, we use our senses to survive. But we differ from animals in
that we also use our noses, tongues, eyes, ears, and skin for many other purposes.
The best and the worst aspects of the world around us compete for the title of our
favorite (or most detested) smell, flavor, artwork, or song. And, of course, our senses
also determine which we prefer - a back rub or a foot rub! ●
Specialized receptor cells in the sense organs - eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue -
detect physical energy such as light, sound, and heat. When the receptor cells
register a stimulus, the energy is converted to an electrochemical impulse or action
potential that relays information about the stimulus through the nervous system to
the brain. When it reaches the brain, the information travels to the appropriate area
of the cerebral cortex. The brain gives meaning to sensation through perception
● Sensory receptors: Where all sensation begins, specialized cells that detect
stimulus information and transmit it to sensory (afferent) nerves and the brain. That
afferent nerves bring information to the brain from the world.
● There are rare cases in which the senses can become confused:
Example: a person might “see” music or “taste” a color. One woman was
able to taste sounds, so that a piece of music, to her, tasted like tuna fish.
− Phantom limb pain: The sensory receptors in the amputated limb is gone but
the areas of the brain and nervous system that received information from
those receptors are still there causing confusion with alarming and puzzling
pain.
● The certain areas of the cerebral cortex are specialized to handle different sensory
functions:
− Visual: The occipital lobes
− Hearing: The temporal lobes
− Pain, touch, and temperature: The parietal lobes
Thresholds
ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD
● Absolute threshold: The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can
detect.
− Noise is the term given to irrelevant and competing stimuli—not just sounds
but any distracting stimuli for our senses.
− The approximate absolute thresholds of five senses:
1. Vision: A candle flame at 30 miles on a dark, clear night
2. Hearing: A ticking clock at 20 feet under quiet conditions
3. Smell: One drop of perfume diffused throughout three rooms
4. Taste: A teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons of water
5. Touch: The wing of a fly falling on your neck from a distance of 1 cm
DIFFERENCE THRESHOLD
● Difference threshold: The degree of difference that must exist between two
stimuli before the difference is detected.
− Weber’s law: (discovered by E. H. Weber >150 years ago) The principle that
two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion to be perceived as different.
SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION
● Subliminal perception: The detection of information below the level of conscious
awareness.
− James Vicary (1957); Strahan, Spencer, & Zanna (2002) experiment shown
that the brain responds to information that is presented below the
conscious threshold and such information can influence behavior.
Sensory Adaptation
● Sensory adaptation: A change in the responsiveness of the sensory system based
on the average level of surrounding stimulation.
Extrasensory Perception
● ESP— extrasensory perception: That a person can detect information from the
world without receiving concrete sensory input.
1. King, L.A. (2014). The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View. (3rd Ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill International Edition. (Text Book)
2. King, L.A. (2011). The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View. (2nd Ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill International Edition. (E-Book)