Sensation and

Perception
 SENSE

- a system that translate

outside information into
activity in the nervous system
SENSATION

-messages from the senses.

PERCEPTION

-A process of selecting,
organizing and interpreting
our sensation
SENSORY SYSTEMS
-Enable organisms to obtain
the information they need to
function and survive
SENSORY SYSTEMS
Accessory Structures
• Modify the incoming stimulus

Transduction
• Process of converting the
incoming energy into neural
activity
Encoding
• Translate the physical properties of a
stimulus into pattern of neural activities

Threshold
• The approximate point at which a
stimulus becomes strong enough to
produce a response in an individual
 Absolute threshold
is the minimum detectable
amount of physical energy a
sensory system can detect 50
percent of the time.
Stimulus Threshold

Light Candle

Sound Tick of a watch

Stimulus Threshold
sugar
Taste

Smell perfume

Touch Wing of a bee

Difference Thresholds
- Just noticeable difference

- are the smallest changes in

stimuli that a person is able
to detect.
 SIGNAL DETECTION
THEORY

- is a mathematical model of how

personal sensitivity and response
bias combine to determine
your decision about whether a near-
threshold stimulus has occurred.
-SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE
RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO THE SAME
STIMULI AND WHY THE SAME PERSON’S
REACTION VARY AS CIRCUMSTANCES
CHANGE
Subliminal Stimulation
-“ below threshold”
-What the conscious mind cannot
recognize,the heart may know.
SENSORY ADAPTATION
-diminishing sensitivity to an
an unchanging stimulus
DIFFERENT SENSES
VISION HEARING

TOUCH TASTE

SMELL
KINESTHESIS

it i on
p o s
r t s’
y pa n t
bo d e m e
e of m o v
e n s n d
-s A
EQUILIBRIUM
-mo
mo nitor
ve m s t h
ent ep
of t ositi
he on
wh and
o le
bod
y
 VISION (Eyes)
STIMULUS: LIGHT ENERGY

Accessory Structures
Cornea
• Curved protective
transparent membrane
Pupil
• Small adjustable opening
Iris
• Colored muscle surrounding the
pupil
Lens
• Focuses the incoming rays into an
image on the light sensitive
surface - accommodation
Retina
• tissue that lines the
inside of the back of
the eyeball
Stimulus: Light Energy
Pupil

iris

lens
accommodati
on

Retina
X O
 Blind Spot
-Where the optic nerve
leaves the eye

- No rods and cones.

Rods
- enable black and white
Vision.

Cones
- enable you to see color.
HEARING
Stimulus: Sound Waves
Sound is a repetitive vibration in the
pressure of a substance, such as air.
 PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF
SOUND WAVES

1. Loudness - measured in decibels

(dB), is determined by sound wave
amplitude or strength.
2. Pitch- how low or high a tone
sounds. One cycle per second is 1
hertz (Hz). Humans can hear sounds
ranging from about 20 Hz to 20,000
Hz.

3. Timbre - is a sound’s quality

Resonance
-occurs when another object
vibrates as the result
of regular impulses sent out
by another vibrating body.
Ear: Auditory Organ
Pinna
• Collects sound waves

Tympanic Membrane
• Shakes the chain of 3 tiny
bones( hammer, anvil and
stirrup)
Cochlea
• Fluid-filled tube coiled into
spiral.
• Auditory transduction occurs

Basilar membrane
• Floor of this tube
• Bends hair cells into the
membrane
Hair cells
• Makes a connection with fiber
nerves that comes from the acoustic
nerve that go into the brain

Sensation of sound
Deafness
Basic Form of Deafness

- Conduction deafness

- Nerve deafness
ACTIVITY FOR THE DAY
Sense of Taste and Smell

Sense of touch

Gate Control Theory