AS1605

Sensation and Perception

Sensation is the activation of receptors located in the eyes, ears, skin, nasal cavities, and tongue. These sensory
receptors are specialized forms of neurons that are activated by different stimuli such as light and sound.

After we have experienced sensation, we then interpret and organize what we have sensed, which we call as
perception. The stimulus presented to each sensory receptor requires a minimum amount for its presence to be
noticed and perceived. We call this as absolute threshold. Absolute thresholds are the smallest amount of
energy needed for conscious detection of a stimulus at least half the time it is present.

Conversely, in perceiving differences of stimuli, we have this concept called “just noticeable difference.” A “just
noticeable difference” is the point at which a stimulus is detectable half the time it is present.

Weber’s Law of Just Noticeable Differences states that the just noticeable difference between two (2) stimuli is
constant.

For example, if the amount of sugar a person would need to add to a cup of coffee that is already sweetened
with five (5) teaspoons is one (1) teaspoon, then the percentage of change needed to detect a just noticeable
difference is 1/5 or 20%. So, if the coffee has 10 teaspoons of sugar in it, the person would have to add another
20% or two (2) teaspoons to be able to taste the difference half of the time as based from Weber’s Law.

As we sense and perceive a variety of stimuli, our senses or our brain make different responses as well.

The following concepts are some of what we experience:

a. Habituation occurs when the brain ignores a constant stimulus. For instance, when you enter a bar with
loud music, at first you’ll find the music really loud. But as time passes by, you will then get used to the
loudness of the sound or you may get habituated to it. You also experience this when you enter a movie
house where you find it very dark at first but you then get habituated to it.

b. Sensory adaptation occurs when the sensory receptors stop responding to a constant stimulus. For
instance, you experience sensory adaptation when you wear your clothes or put your earrings, ring,
bracelet, or eyeglasses on. As time passes by, you don’t get conscious anymore that you are wearing them.
This is because your sensory receptors stop responding already and get adapted to these constant stimuli.

I. The Eye
a. Cornea is a clear membrane that protects the eye and focuses most of the light coming into the eye.
b. Aqueous humor is a watery fluid that supplies nourishment to the eye.
c. Iris is the colored part which controls the size of the pupil.
d. Pupil is the iris opening that changes size depending on the amount of light in the environment.
e. Lens is a clear structure behind the iris, which finishes the focusing process through visual
accommodation. Visual accommodation allows people to focus on objects that are close or far by the
changes in shape of the lens, from thick to thin.
f. Vitreous humor is a clear, jelly-like fluid that nourishes the eye and gives its shape.
g. Retina is a light-sensitive area at the back of the eye containing three layers: ganglion cells, bipolar
cells, photoreceptors called rods, and cones.
h. Rods are responsible for non-color sensitivity to low levels of light.
i. Cones are responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision.
j. Blind spot is where the optic nerve leaves the eye. There is no photoreceptor cell here.
k. Optic nerve sends visual information to the brain.

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 1 of 4
 AS1605

II. How The Eye Works

The rods and cones work depending on the levels of light our eye is exposed with. The following are the
different adaptations that our eye undergoes:
a. Dark adaptation is the recovery of the eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to
bright lights. An example is when you go inside the movie house.

b. Light adaptation is the recovery of the eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after exposure to
darkness. An example is when you go out of the movie house.

Knowing that cones are used in color vision, there are different theories about the role the cones play in the
sensation of color.

Trichromatic theory is the theory of color vision that proposes three (3) types of cones: red, blue, and green.
Afterimages are images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the original
stimulus is removed.

Opponent-process theory is the theory of color vision that proposes four (4) primary colors with cones
arranged in pairs: red and green, blue and yellow.

Color blindness is caused by defective cones in the retina of the eye.

Kinds of color blindness:

a. Monochrome color blindness – no cone or has non-functioning cones; sees only shades of gray
b. Red-green color blindness – either red or green cones are not working

III. Perceptual Constancies

a. Size constancy – the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size, regardless
of its distance
b. Shape constancy – the tendency to interpret the shape of an object as being constant, even when its
shape changes on the retina
c. Brightness constancy – the tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even
when the light conditions change

Depth perception – the ability to perceive the world in three (3) dimensions.
a. Monocular cues – cues for perceiving depth based on one eye only
b. Binocular cues – cues for perceiving depth based on both eyes

Muller-Lyer Illusion – illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning corners
on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different

Moon illusion – moon appears to be larger on the horizon.

IV. Sound
Physical definition: Sound is the changes in pressure, air, or other medium.
Perceptual definition: Sound is the experience we have when we hear.

Hearing is the predominant experience caused by sound waves. The perceptual experiences caused by
sound waves are determined by the nature of the pressure changes. The two (2) characteristics of pressure
changes are amplitude and frequency. Amplitude and frequency are associated with the two (2) of the three
(3) aspects of sound, namely timbre and pitch.

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 2 of 4
 AS1605

The three (3) aspects of sound are: pitch (frequency), loudness, and timbre (purity).

a. Pitch or frequency is the size of the pressure change or the highness or lowness of the sound. It is the
number of times per second that the changes in pressure repeat. It is indicated in units called Hertz.

b. Amplitude is associated with the perceptual experience of loudness. It describes vibration and the
magnitude of the auditory sensation. It is measured through decibels.

c. Timbre is the sound quality. Two (2) tones may have the same loudness and pitch, but may sound
different. It is timbre which makes them different. For example, when a flute and a bassoon play the
same note with the same loudness, we can still determine that the flute is the one with the clear or
mellow sound while the bassoon has the nasal or reedy sound.

V. Hearing Problems
A. Conductive Hearing Loss – This is caused by any condition or disease that impedes the conveyance of
sound in its mechanical form through the middle ear cavity to the inner ear. A conductive hearing loss
can be the result of a blockage in the external ear canal or can be caused by any disorder that
unfavorably effects the middle ear's ability to transmit the mechanical energy to the stapes footplate.
This results in reduction of one of the physical attributes of sound called intensity (loudness), so the
energy reaching the inner ear is lower or less intense than that in the original stimulus. Therefore, more
energy is needed for the individual with a conductive hearing loss to hear sound, but once it's loud
enough and the mechanical impediment is overcome, that ear works in a normal way. Generally, the
cause of conductive hearing loss can be identified and treated resulting in a complete or partial
improvement in hearing. Following the completion of medical treatment for cause of the conductive
hearing loss, hearing aids are effective in correcting the remaining hearing loss.

B. Sensorineural Hearing Loss – This results from inner ear or auditory nerve dysfunction. The sensory
component may be from damage to the organ of Corti or an inability of the hair cells to stimulate the
nerves of hearing or a metabolic problem in the fluids of the inner ear. The neural or retrocochlear
component can be the result of severe damage to the organ of Corti that causes the nerves of hearing
to degenerate or it can be an inability of the hearing nerves themselves to convey neurochemical
information through the central auditory pathways.

The reason for sensorineural hearing loss sometimes cannot be determined. It does not typically
respond favorably to medical treatment, and is typically described as an irreversible, permanent
condition. Like conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss reduces the intensity of sound, but
it might also introduce an element of distortion into what is heard resulting in sounds being unclear even
when they are loud enough. Once any medically treatable conditions have been ruled out, the treatment
for sensorineural hearing loss is amplification through hearing aids.

VI. The Chemical Senses

A. Sense of taste is also called gustation.
Taste buds are taste receptor cells, special kind of neurons found in the mouth that are responsible for
the sense of taste. They are found on and under the tongue, roof of the mouth, and cheeks. They
receive molecules of substances that fit in the receptor sites.

There are different parts of the tongue. The papillae are the bumps that you can see in your tongue.
The taste buds, on the other hand, line the walls of the papillae. Each taste bud has 20 receptors. Taste
receptors are renewed every 10 to 14 days.

Aristotle was the first to develop the list of basic tastes in 350 BCE: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. But in
1908, Profession Kikunae Ikeda discovered the fifth basic taste named umami. This is the pleasant

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 3 of 4
 AS1605

brothy, meaty, or savory taste. In Filipino, we call this as “malinamnam.” Umami is often associated with
the flavor-enhancing properties of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

B. Sense of smell is also called olfaction.

The nose has its different parts as well. The outer part of the nose gets the sensory information into the
nose. Olfactory receptor cells, which are about an inch square in each cavity, contain about 10 million
olfactory receptors. They are located at the top of the nasal passage. Each has about a half dozen to a
dozen little “hairs” called cilia. They receive molecules of substances and create neural signals that then
go to the olfactory bulbs under the frontal lobes. They die off and are replaced about every five (5) to
eight (8) weeks. Olfactory bulbs are located directly beneath the frontal lobes. They process the
olfactory information.

VII. Sense of Touch

The skin is about 20 square feet in size. This makes it the biggest sense organ. It keeps bodily fluids and
germs out. It receives and transmits information from the outside world to the central nervous system. There
are different types or sensory receptors in the skin. Pacinian corpuscles respond to pressure. Nerve endings
around the hair are sensitive to pain and touch. The free nerve endings respond to temperature, pressure,
and pain.

What we thought of as sense of touch actually has several sensations. That’s why it can be more accurately
called as somesthetic senses. Somesthetic or touch senses consist of three (3) senses.
a. Skin senses – sense touch, pressure, temperature, and pain. When someone touches you, when you
are being massaged, when you experience burn or when you feel the coldness or the hotness of the
weather, the skin senses are responsible for these.

The gate-control theory of pain states that when receptors sensitive to pain are stimulated, a
neurotransmitter called the substance P is released into the spinal cord, activating other pain receptors
by opening “gates” in the spinal column and sending the message to the brain.

b. Kinesthetic senses – sense the location of the body parts in relation to the ground and to each other
through the activity of special receptors called proprioceptors that are responsive to pressure inside.
Through these senses, you know that your head is above your body; you know that your arms are on
your sides even if you don’t see them; you know that your butt is behind you; and you know how big
your chest/bust is even if you don’t see it.

c. Vestibular senses – sense movement and body position. These contributes to the body’s sense of
spatial orientation through the activity of the otolith organs (up and down movement) and the
semicircular canals (movement through arcs). Through this senses, you know when you are standing,
sitting, or lying down. You know when you run, walk, jump, or raise your arms.

Motion sickness is explained by sensory conflict theory in which information from the eyes conflicts with
information from the vestibular sense, causing nausea.

References:
Better Hearing Institute. (2017). Hearing loss types. Retrieved from
http://www.betterhearing.org/hearingpedia/types-hearing-loss
Ciccarelli, Saundra & Meyer, Glenn. (2007). Understanding psychology. Singapore: Pearson Education South
Asia.
Feldman, Robert. (2011). Essentials of understanding psychology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 4 of 4