Unit 3: Understanding Sensation and Perception

Unit 3: SENSATION AND
PERCEPTION
Meaning of Sensation
• Sensation is the process by which our sense
organs receive information from the environment.
• Moreover, sensations can be defined as the
passive process of bringing information from the
outside world into the body and to the brain. The
process is passive in the sense that we do not
have to be consciously engaging in a "sensing"
process.
 Sensation is the sensory process that detects
visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli, and
transmits them to the brain.
 Sensation provides the raw material in the form of
sense impressions to the brain.
 Human life would have been very difficult without
our ability to sense and perceive. We can see,
hear, feel, taste, smell or sense because of our
organs and nervous system.
• Without the ability to sense and perceive, we would
not be able to balance and avoid dangerous objects or
we would even eat unsafe because there would be no
work of sense organs. Eyes, ears, nose, the mouth and
skin are the main five receptors to provide sensation to
the body.
• Sensation senses our environment through touch,
taste, sight, sound, and smell (the 5 senses). This
information is sent to our brain and that's when
perception comes into play.
• Perception is the way we interpret these sensations
and therefore make sense of everything around us.
Contd…
• We normally don't notice radio waves, x-rays,
or the microscopic parasites crawling on our
skin. We don't sense all the odors around us
or taste every individual spice in our gourmet
dinner.
• But, we only sense those things we are able to
since we don't have the sense of smell like a
bloodhound or the sense of sight like a hawk;
our thresholds are different from these
animals and often even from each other.
Sensory receptors and their roles
• The sensory receptors are specialized forms of
neurons; the cells that make up the nervous
system.
• Instead of receiving neurotransmitters from
other cells, these receptor cells are stimulated
by different kinds of energy.
• For e.g. the receptors in the eyes are triggered
by light, whereas vibrations triggers the
receptors in the ears.
List of some sensory receptors
Pain receptors- which detect pain.
Thermoreceptors- which detect temperature.
Mechanoreceptors- which are sensitive to touch,

pressure, stretching of muscles, sound, and motion.
Chemoreceptors- which are sensitive to chemicals

in the external environment.
Photoreceptors- which are sensitive to light.

Sensory Threshold
• Sensory threshold is a theoretical concept used in
psychophysics (a field of study where relationships
between physical stimuli and psychological
experience is studied).
• It is a dividing line between what has detectable
energy and what does not.
• Methods have been developed to measure
thresholds in any of the senses.
• One technique to study such relationships is called
the method of constant stimuli, in which stimuli of
varying intensities are presented in random order to
a subject.
Sensory Threshold
• Sensory thresholds are limits within which stimulation can
produce sensations. Thresholds are the point at which nerves
are activated by the sensations they receive. ‘A low threshold
indicates that the nervous system requires fewer stimuli for an
individual to recognize a sensation. Conversely, a high
threshold requires more intense sensory stimulation for the
neuron to fire and for the individual to recognize the sensation.
• We all have different thresholds- for example, pain thresholds,
where some people can tolerate more pain than others. Our
thresholds also fluctuate in that sometimes we can cope with
more pain than at other times. This applies to our senses as
well (eg. Movement, tough, vision, hearing, taste and smell).
Absolute threshold
• How small can a signal be and still be picked up by
human sensory systems? The answer to this
question varies, of course, depending on the type
of signal being considered.
• The answer to this question leads to the

determination of absolute thresholds, or
measurements of the smallest amount of a
stimulus that can be detected.
Absolute threshold
• Thus, an absolute threshold is the lowest level of
a stimulus —light, sound, touch, etc.—that an
organism can detect.
• However, at this low level, subjects sometimes
detect the stimulus and sometimes do not.
• Therefore, an alternative definition of absolute
threshold is the lowest intensity at which a
stimulus can be detected 50% of the time.
Examples of Absolute Threshold
Sense Threshold
Sight A candle flame at 30 miles on a clear, dark night
Hearing The tick of a watch 20 feet away in a quiet room
Smell One drop of perfume diffused throughout a three-room apartment
Taste 1 teaspoon of sugar in 10 litres of water
Touch A bee’s wing falling on the cheek from 1 centimeter above

Difference threshold
• The difference threshold—the minimum (physical)
distinction between stimulus attributes that can be
detected. The difference threshold is also called
a just noticeable difference (JND).
• Thus, the difference threshold is the minimum
difference in stimulation that a person can detect
50 percent of the time.
Difference threshold contd…
• We experience the difference threshold as a just
noticeable difference. For example, let's say I asked
you to put your hand out and in it I placed a pile of
sand. Then, I add tiny amounts of sand to your hand
and ask you to tell me when you notice any change
in the overall weight.
• As soon as you can detect any change in the weight,
that difference between the weight of the sand
before I added that last bit of sand and the amount
of sand after I added it, is the difference threshold.
Difference threshold contd…
• Two stimuli of a particular kind may vary from each other in
intensity, but may not be perceived as different. For example,
the brightness of two lights may be different, but if the
difference is very small we do not notice the difference
between them. Similarly, when we add a little more salt to our
curry, we may not notice a difference in saltiness of the curry.
• Thus, in order to actually notice a difference between two
stimuli of the same kind, we need a minimum difference in
the intensity between the two stimuli. The minimum
difference in the intensity of two stimuli, which is required to
perceive them as different 50% of the times is called the
differential threshold or differential limen.
Example of Difference Threshold
• For example, when you pick up a 5 KG weight, and
then a 100 KG weight, you can feel a big
difference between the two. However, when you
pick up 10 KG, and then 1O.5 KG, it is much more
difficult to feel the difference.
What is a stimuli?
• A stimulus is any passing source of physical

energy that produces a response in a sense
organ.
Habituation and Sensory Adaptation
• In the earlier chapter, we stated that the lower
part of the brain sort through sensory
stimulation and “ignore” or prevent conscious
attention to stimuli that do not change.
• The brain is only interested in changes in information.
• That’s why people don’t really “hear” the noise of the
air conditioner unless it suddenly cuts off or the noise
made in the classrooms unless it gets very quiet.
• Although they actually are hearing it, they aren’t paying
attention to it, this is called habituation.
Sensory Adaptation
• The process by which constant and unchanging information
from the senses of taste, touch, smell, and vision is ignored is a
different process from habituation.
• They are ignored by the actual sensory receptors and not by
the lower part of the brain.
• Thus, sensory adaptation is the process where the sensory
receptor cells become less responsive or adoptive to an
unchanging stimulus.
• Examples include the sense of every piece of clothing and
jewellery people have, the sense of seat while sitting in a car,
the sense of bad odors, tiny little vibrations called saccades in
the eyes (the vibration that keep the eyes from adapting what
they see)
Sensory Adaptation
• Sensory adaptation occurs when sensory
receptors reduce their responsiveness to a
stimulus after repeated or continuous exposure.
Sensory receptors are designed to detect changes
in stimuli rather than sameness.
• Receptors fire off more electrical activity when
they are first activated. But when they are familiar
to a situation, they fire in respond less, making us
less aware of a stimulus to which we are
constantly exposed.
Types of Sensory Experiences
1. Chemical senses: Taste and Smell
2. Somesthetic senses: Touch, pressure and temperature
Kinesthetic sense
Vestibular sense
3. Visual senses.
4. Auditory senses
1. Chemical senses (taste and smell)
• Chemical senses includes :
– The sense of smell (Olfaction): How do we smell?
– The sense of taste (Gustation): How do we taste?
–The sense of taste (Gustation): How do we taste?
– Taste Buds: They are taste receptors cells, special type of
neurons found in the mouth that are responsible for the
sense of taste (gustation).
Most taste buds are located on the tongue, few on the
roof of the mouth, cheeks and under the tongue as well.
– Taste Buds:
Sensitivity of the taste in person depends on the number
of taste buds present in human.
Some people have around only 500 , whereas other have
20 times that number
Person having maximum numbers of taste buds are
supertasters, they need less seasoning in their food.
– Taste Buds:
The “bumps” that can be seen on the tongue are called

papillae. Taste buds line the walls of these papillae.
– Taste Buds:
Each taste buds contains approximately 20 test
receptors.
The receptors in taste buds works exactly like receptors
site of neurons
Taste is often called chemical sense because it works with
the molecules of foods in the same way neural receptors
work with neurotransmitters.
When the molecules (dissolved in saliva) fit into
receptors, signal is fired to brain, which then interprets
the taste sensation.
What happens to taste buds when tongue is burned?

What happens to taste buds when tongue is burned?
•Generally, taste receptors get such a workout that they have to be
replaced every 10 to 14 days.
•When the tongue is burned, damage cells no longer work.
•Those dead cells gets replaced and taste sense come back.
The 5 basic tastes:
In 1916, German psychologist Hans Henning proposed
that there are four primary tastes:
sweet
sour
salty
bitter
In 1996, Lindermann proposed that there is fifth kind of
taste receptor that detects a pleasant taste (umami)
associated with foods like chicken soup, tuna, cheese and
soy products.
The 5 basic tastes:
The five taste sensation work together with sense of smell,

texture, temperature to produce thousands of taste
sensations.
The sense of smell (Olfaction): How do we smell?
– The External Nose is just a external collection device that
get the sensory information to the part of body that will
translate it into neural signals.
– The part of the olfactory system that turns odors into
signals the brain can understand is located at the top of
nasal passage.
– Olfactory receptor cells: The olfactory receptor cells each
have about a half dozen to dozen little hairs that project
into cavity. These hairs are called cilia.
– There are receptor sites in on these hair cells that send
signals to brain when stimulated by molecules of
substances that are in the air.
– Olfactory receptors are like taste buds, they also have to
be replaced about 5 to 8 weeks.
– Human beings have about 50 millions receptors which
can detect approximately 10000 scents; while dogs can
detect many more having more than 200 millions
receptors.
– Olfactory bulbs: located on top of the sinus cavity on
each side of the brain directly beneath the frontal lobes.
– the olfactory receptors send their neural signals directly
up to these bulbs, bypassing the entire lower brain and
its selective attention filter, reticular formation.
– The signals in nasal cavity donot follow the same path as
other senses do. Vision, hearing, taste, touch all go
through medulla and upto brain stem, thalamus and to
the cortex that process sensory information.
– Sensory receptors become less sensitive to a constant
stimulus as time goes by, so that eventually person no
longer perceives the stimulus.
– This adaptation is why people don’t continue to smell
the odor of the kitchen garbage can after being home for
a while.
– Ol
Somesthetic senses (Body senses)
• Somesthetic - soma + esthetic
body feeling
There are 3 somesthetic system:
 Skin senses (touch, pressure, temperature and pain)
 Kinesthetic senses ( location of body parts in relation
to ground and to each other)
 Vestibular senses ( movement, balance and body position)
Skin senses are sensory systems for processing touch, warmth,
cold, texture, and pain. They begin with external contact but then are
transformed after being picked up by the nerve endings in the skin.
The information of touch or pressure, temperature and pain are

basically transmitted to the brain by four different receptors in the
skin: free nerve ending, basket cells, tactile discs and specialized end
bulbs.
Touch and pressure: We experience touch or
pressure not only when objects presses on the skin
but also when hairs are moved or touched.
Blind people use touch, pressure and smell

sensation much more than normal people.
They read Braille up to 300 words per minute using
finger tips.
Touch and pressure: it is explained that Meissner
corpuscle serves sensation of pressure in hairless
region of the body eg. palm and basket nerve
ending in body parts with hair.
Wide varieties of skin receptors for touch or

pressure are called mechano receptors.
Temperature: sensation of temperature depends
upon temperature of the skin surface and
temperature of the blood circulating beneath it.
Sensation of temperature is conveyed through free
nerve ending.
Temperature: the sense of cold and warmth are
experienced through different spots which are
scattered in skin.
one spot detects warmth and another detects
coldness. Warm spot receptors and cold spot
receptors reacts and send message to the brain.
Temperature:
A wide variety of skin receptors for temperature are
called thermo receptors.
Pain: Receptors of pain are free nerve endings. The
general term for pain receptors is called
nocioreceptor. As we experience the pain, the
receptors convey messages to spinal cord where
substance P is released. This substance causes the
neurons in the spinal cord to send messages about
pain to the brain.
 Kinsthetic senses (location of body parts in relation
to ground and to each other)
Greek word ‘Kinesis’ - movement.
Kinesthetic concern with the sensation of body
movements and positions.
 Kinsthetic senses : Kinsthetic receptors are located all over the
skin, muscles, joints, tendons.
They help us to talk, walk, bend, write, run etc.
• This sense keeps track of body parts relative to each other.
• Provides constant sensory feedback of the muscles in your
body are doing during motion.
• Knowing what types of body movement are needed and how
to adjust your body in situations.
• A processes where a stimulus is received, transduced and
conducted as impulses to be interpreted by the brain.
Kinsthetic senses :
 You know that your arm swings when you walk.
 Tells you which hand is closer to the telephone when it rings.
 Walking through a parking lot & squeezing through closely
parked cars to get to yours.
 When riding a bicycle, receptors in your arms and legs send
information to the brain about the position and movement of
your legs & arms.
 When riding a horse you need to be aware of the position of
your feet and hands so the horse knows to continue to walk or
run and not to stop.
Kinsthetic senses :
 People who have suffered from a stroke or brain
damage have to look at their arms or legs to know
what they are doing because they have lost their
kinesthetic sense.
 Vestibular senses : also called somato sensory
senses.
 Vestibular senses are located in the inner ear.
 Vestibular senses provides informations about
body’s orientation, balance and movement.
 Composed of two small sensory structures: three
semi circular canals and utricle and saccule.
 Vestibular senses :
Semicircular canal : they are filled with jelly like
fluid. These fluid contains sensory receptor. As the
fluid moves in the canal it causes hair cells in canal
to react.
The activation of these hair cells sends
information about movement of the body to brain.
they provide Informations on orientation of the
body like left and right, up and down.
 Vestibular senses :
Utricle and saccule: they are also fluid filled sacs.
It functions to coordinate as a gravity detector
providing information of the head and body.
Structure and Functions of Visual
sensation
• In order to understand visual sensation it is
necessary to have knowledge of light energy.
• Light energy is the source of vision.
• When light strikes our eyes, it is not the color of the
object but a small part of electromagnetic energy or
radiation which is experienced in the form of color.
• The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from very
short gamma waves to long broadcasting radio waves
and x-rays.
• The wavelength is measured through nanometer .
• Nanometer are billions of a meter.
Contd…
• Human can detect only wavelengths between 380 nm to 760
nm from visible spectrum.
• There are three characteristics of wavelength: hue, amplitude
and saturation.
• Hue is the different color we experience as blue , or green or
red.
• Amplitude (intensity or brightness) is the amount of energy in
the light waves.
• Saturation is the purity or trueness of the color we perceive,
like pure red or pure green and so on.
• We absorb energy such as electro magnetic energy (light) or
sound waves by sensory organs such as eyes.
• This energy is then transduced into electro chemical energy by
the cones and rods (receptor cells) in the retina.
Visual Sensation
Introduction to light
• Light is the combination of both the particles and
the waves.
• Sir Isaac Newton stated light to be as function of
particles. Again, Thomas Young demonstrated that
light behaves like waves.
• Later, Sir Isaac Newton stated that light is actually
both ; particles and waves.
• When people experience light, they are not actually
aware of its dual nature.
• There are three psychological aspects to the
experience of light: brightness, color and saturation.
Brightness(Amplitude), Color(Hue) and Saturation
• Brightness is determined by the amplitude of the

wave. The higher the wave, the brighter the light and
lower waves are dimmer.
• Color is determined by the length of the wave. Long
wavelengths are found at the red end of the visible
spectrum whereas shorter wavelengths are found at
the blue end.
• Saturation refers to the purity of the color that people
see. A highly saturated red , for e.g. would contain
only red wavelengths, whereas a less saturated red
might contain a mixture of wavelengths.
The Structure of the Eye
Eye Structure
Aqueous
humour
Definition of the eye
• The human eye has been called the most
complex organ in our body.
• It's amazing that something so small can
have so many working parts.
• But when you consider how difficult the
task of providing vision really is, perhaps it's
no wonder after all.
How the Human Eye Works?
Light is focused primarily by the cornea — the clear

front surface of the eye, which acts like a camera
lens.
Cornea:
• Cornea is a protective transparent window which
helps to focus the light waves.
• Cornea then becomes the opaque covering known
as sclera. Sclera is the whitish covering of the eye
ball.
Contd…
Aqueous humor:
• The light waves then enter into an open area called
the anterior chamber, where it passes through a
clear watery fluid called aqueous humor.
• Aqueous humor continuously recycles and provides
nourishment to the eyes.
• Light then enter to the pupil.
Contd…
Pupil:
• Pupil has a round opening whose size varies with
lighting conditions. The less light present, the wider
the pupil opening, more light less opening of pupil.
• These adjustments of pupil are mediated by the iris.
Iris: is a colored membrane around the pupil which
changes shape to arrange the size of the pupil to
adjust the amount of light into the eye.
Contd..
After pupil, light travels to lens.
Lens:
• Lens helps to regulate the changing shape to focus on
objects at varying distances.
• When we look at a distant object, the lens becomes
thinner and flatter or big and when we fixate to near by
object, the lens become smaller, or thicker or rounder.
• This focus of the lens is known as accommodation.
• Lenses can manage this flexibility through ciliary
muscles.
Contd..
Vitreous humor:
• The light waves after lens then passes to a larger
open space called the posterior chamber.
• It is filled with clear jelly like substance which is
called vitreous humor.
• It manages the shape of the eye and also provides
nourishment.
Light waves then reaches to the destination of the
eye which is called retina.
Retina:
• Retina is a source of visual receptors of the eyes.
• It consists of two types of receptors, the rods and
the cones.
• Retina contains 5 million cones and 120 million
rods.
Photoreceptors
Rods: It function mainly under reduced illumination
(twilight or night) and permit us to see achromatic colors
(white, black & intermediate grey). Rods are found
outside the fovea and functions in lower level of
illuminations at night.
Cons: Cones are active only in daylight vision, permits us

to see both achromatic & chromatic colors (red, blue,
green etc.). Most of the cones are found in one area
known fovea which is the center of the retina. Fovea helps
to make our vision clear and fine.
Contd…
• Dark adaptation: It occurs as the eye recovers its
ability to see when going from a brightly lit state to
a dark state. The brighter the light was, longer it
takes the rods to adapt to the new lower levels of
light. Dark adaptation takes about few minutes and
takes longer as people get older.
This age related change can cause night blindness. Some
research indicates that taking supplements as ‘vitamin A’
can reverse this symptom in some cases.
Contd…
• Light adaptation: It occurs as we move from
darkened room to one that is brightly lit. the cons
have to adapt to the increased light level, and they
accomplish light adaptation. Cons adapt to the
bright light more quickly than the rods adapt
darkness. It takes few seconds at most.
Contd…
• Retina transfers the electromagnetic energy of light
to neuro codes used by the brain with the help of
these receptors.
• Then retina receives the upside-down image.
• Its millions of receptor cells convert light energy
into neural impulses.
• These impulses are sent to the brain and construct
into a perceived, upright seeming image.
Structure and Functions of auditory
sensation
• In general, the subjective sensation of hearing
something is known as auditory sensation.
• The link between what we hear and how we
hear is possible through sound waves.
• Sound waves are the vibrations of the moving
air.
• Audition is possible through ear, which has
complex auditory system that transfers sound
waves into neural messages and finally to the
brain.
Contd..
• The sound waves has three distinct characteristics:
 wavelength (frequency),
 amplitude (intensity) and
 purity (timbre).
1. Frequency: It is the number of wave cycles that occurs per

sound. It is measured in hertz. (Hz)
2. Amplitude or height refers to the loud and soft sounds.
Intensity is produced by the difference between peaks
(compression) and valley (rarefaction) of air pressure. It is
measured in decibel(db)units. Normal conversation of human
beings consists of about 60 db of sound. Sounds higher than
120 db (noise) becomes painful to human ear.
Contd..
3. Timbre ( purity): it is the purity of the tone. In
simple terms, timbre is what makes a particular
musical sound different from another, even when
they have the same pitch and loudness. For instance,
it is the difference between a guitar and a piano
playing the same note at the same loudness.
Experienced musicians are able to distinguish
between different instruments of the same type
based on their varied timbres, even if those
instruments are playing notes at the same pitch
and loudness.
Definition of the ear
• The vertebrate organ of hearing, responsible for
maintaining equilibrium as well as sensing sound.
• Ear is composed of 3 components:
 the outer ear,
 the middle ear,
 the inner ear.
Components of the ear
 The outer ear: when the molecules from an object are
vibrated, sound waves are produced. The sound waves
travel to the ear through the medium of air. The
external part of ear called ‘PINNA’ collects these
sound waves from where hearing process begins.
• Pinna is made up of cartilage and soft tissue so that it
keeps a particular shape but is flexible. It helps us
decide the direction and source of sound.
• Auditory canal connects between outer and middle
ear. The sound waves in the auditory canal then
strikes the eardrum to vibrate.
 The Middle ear: The three tiny bones in the middle
ear are known as ‘ossicles’ which consists of
• hammer (malleus)
• Anvil (incus)
• Stirrup (stapes)
The vibration of these three bones amplifies the
vibration from the eardrum. The stirrup, last bone in
the chain causes a membrane covering the opening
of the inner ear to vibrate.
 The Inner ear: consits of cochlea & basilar membrane
Cochlea - The inner ear is small shaped structure
called cochlea, which is filled with fluid. When the
oval window vibrates, it causes the fluid in the
cochlea to vibrate. This fluid surrounds a membrane
running through the middle of the cochlea called
basilar membrane. The spiral shaped cochlea is part
of the inner ear that transforms sound into nerve
impulses that travel to the brain.
 The Inner ear:
• Basilar membrane – it is the resting place of the
organ of corti, which contains the receptor cells
called hair cells for the sense of hearing. When the
basilar membrane vibrates, it vibrates the organ of
corti, causing it to brush against a membrane above
it. When these auditory receptors or hair cells are
bent up against the other membrane, it causes it to
send a neural message through the auditory nerve
into the brain, where auditory cortex will interpret
the sounds.
Meaning of Perception
• Perception is the sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and
integration of stimuli carried out by the sense organs and
the brain.
• It can be defined as the active process of selecting,
organizing, and interpreting the information brought to
the brain by the senses.
• It is the interpretation of what we take in through our
senses
• Two persons might be looking at a cloud, for example,
and while one thinks its shaped like a horse, the other
thinks it’s more like a cow.
• They both see the same cloud, but perceive two different
interpretations.
Characteristics of Perception
1. Perceiver- specific characteristics
2. Target-specific characteristics
3. Situation-specific characteristics
1. Perceiver-specific Characteristics
• The biological factors such as age, gender, marital
status, profession residence etc. as well as the personal
characteristics of the individual are important agent in
determining the person’s perception . The personal
factors are:
• Attitudes
• Motives
• Interest
• Emotion
• Past experiences
• Expectations
The Personal characteristics of perceiver affect
perception are:
1. Attitudes: Attitudes are favourable or
unfavourable evaluative statements or
judgments concerning objects, people or events.
E.g. A teacher who have negative attitude towards
students sitting on last bench would neglect even
the genuine questions raised by them.
perception are:
2. Motives: Motive is an unsatisfied need.
Motives stimulate individuals. They exert a
strong influence on perception.
E.g. People who are hungry tend to see images
of food.
perception are:
3. Emotions: They are intense feelings directed
at someone or something.
Anger, frustration, stress distorts perception.
perception are:
4. Interests: Individuals interests differ
considerably. Interest influence the focus of
attention.
We perceive those things quickly for which we
have deep interest.
perception are:
5. Experiences: Experience influence perception.
Past experience affect the focus of attention.
Individuals tend to perceive those objects or
events to which they can relate.
perception are:
6. Expectations: People see what they expect to
see. Expectations distorts perception.
E.g: Teacher may notice the rough behavior of
last bencher compared to first benchers.
2. Target-specific characteristics
• The characteristic of the target (object/ person)
that is being observed can also affect what is being
perceived.
The characteristics include:
• Attractiveness or unattractiveness
• Motion, size, sounds, and other traits of the object
• Similarity
• Proximity
• Background
Characteristics of the target being perceived
affect perception. They are:
1. Novelty: Novel targets are more likely to be
noticed than the targets observed in the past.
2. Motion, Sound, Size: They shape the way we
see the target.
E.g. Loud people are more likely to be noticed.
Moving bus is more likely to be noticed that
a stationary bus.
Large Hoarding boards are noticed much.
3. Background: A target is not looked at in
isolation. The relationship of target to its
background influences perception.
 A warning sign “DANGER” written in black
against a yellow background would be noticed
more quickly because of the contrast factor.
4. Proximity: Objects that are close to eachother
tend to be perceived together.
Proximity can be physical and time.
5. Similarity: Similar things tend to be grouped
together.
E.g. An army person perceives an army staff
easily.
3. Situation-specific characteristics
• The way we deal with the environment
depends upon our perception of time, context,
location, temperature, light, social setting etc.
Various situational contexts influence
perception. E.g:
Work setting: The changing context of work
setting influence perception.
Stressful work situations distorts perception.
Factors influencing perception
Factors in perceiver Factors in Target
• Attitudes • Novelty
• Motives • Motion
• Emotions • Sounds
• Interests • Size
• Experience • Background
• Expectation • Proximity
• Similarity
Factors in situation
• Time
• Work setting
• Social setting
Simple Process of Perceptual Process
•Seeing
•Hearing
Environmental stimuli
•Smelling
•Tasting
•Feeling
Selecting
Organizing
Interpretation Perception
Perceptual Processes
• The two processes that we study under
perception are:
1. the top-down processing
2. the bottom-up processing
1. Top-down processing
• Top-down processing suggests that we form
our perceptions starting with a larger object,
concept, or idea before working our way
toward more detailed information.
• In other words, top-down processing happens
when we work from the general to the specific;
the big picture to the tiny details.
• In top-down processing, your abstract
impressions can influence the sensory data that
you gather.
Contd…
• Top-down processing is also known as
conceptually-driven processing, since your
perceptions are influenced by higher level
knowledge, experience, expectations and
motivation.
• For example, imagine that you are driving down
an unfamiliar street and you see a sign for a
convenience store. The sign has several missing
letters, but you are still able to read it. Why?
Because you use top-down processing and rely
on your existing knowledge to make an educated
guess about what the sign says.
• The use of pre existing knowledge to organize
individual features into a unified whole.
• Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in awrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng
is taht the fristand lsat ltteer are in the rghit
pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you
can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is
buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
2. Bottom-up processing
• Perception that consists of the progression of
recognizing and processing information from
individual components of a stimuli and moving
to the perception of the whole is bottom-up
processing.
• We would not be able to recognize the
meaning of the whole sentence unless and
until we will be able to perceive the individual
shapes that make up the letters.
• The analysis of smaller features and building
up to a complete perception is called bottom-
up processing.
• Bs r vr mprtnt. Th mk hn nd hlp crps t grw. Thr
r mn knds f bs. N knd s gntl, bt t ds nt wrk
hrd.Nthr knd f b s vr mn, bt t s a hrd wrkr. Ths
b mksmch mr hn thn th gntl b. N mn thght tht
mtng thstw bs wld b a gd d. H thght crssng th
tw knds f bs wld mk a gntl, hrd-wrkng b. Tht
ws a bg mstk.
Subliminal Perception
• Subliminal perception is supposed to occur when a
stimulus is too weak to be perceived yet a person is
influenced by it.
• As discussed in the section on psychophysics, the
word limen was used in the 19th Century to refer to
the absolute threshold, which was defined as the point
at which a stimulus could be detected 50% of the time.
• By that definition, a stimulus detected 49% of the
time would be subliminal.
• They are usually referring to stimuli too weak or
distorted to be detected through conscious effort.
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
• The perception that does not involve our known
senses is known as Extrasensory Perception
(ESP).
• Although half of the population of the United
States believes it exists, most psychologists reject
the existence of ESP.
• Researches are being carried out for the truth of
existence of ESP.
• Some ESP s are: Telepathy-”distant feeling”
Clairvoyance- “clear sight”
Precognition-”seeing the future”
Perceptual Organization
• Figure and Ground
• Gestalt Principles
• Perceptual Constancy
• Depth Perception
• Motion Perception
1. Figure and Ground
• The eye differentiates an object form its

surrounding area. a form, silhouette, or shape
is naturally perceived as figure(object), while
the surrounding area is perceived
as ground(background).
• Balancing figure and ground can make the
perceived image more clear. Using unusual
figure/ground relationships can add interest
and subtlety (softness)to an image.
Figure Figure
The word above is clearly
perceived as figure with the
surrounding black space ground.

In this image, the figure and ground
relationships change as the eye perceives the
form of a shade or the silhouette (outline) of a
face.

This image uses complex figure/ground relationships
which change upon perceiving leaves, water and tree trunk.

Theoretical explanation of Perceptual Organization (Gestalt Principles of
grouping)
• Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole".

It refers to theories of visual perception developed by
German psychologists in the 1920s.
• These theories attempt to describe how people tend to
organize visual elements into groups or unified
wholes when certain principles are applied. These
principles are:
1. Similarity
2. Continuation
3. Closure
4. Proximity
2. Similarity
• Similarity occurs when objects look similar to
one another. People often perceive them as a
group or pattern.
Similarity
• The example above (containing 11 distinct
objects) appears as single unit because all of
the shapes have similarity.
• Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at
the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to
the shapes that form the sunburst.
• When similarity occurs, an object can be
emphasized if it is dissimilar to the others. This
is called anomally.
The figure on the far right becomes
a focal point because it is
dissimilar to the other shapes.

3. Continuation
• Continuation occurs when the eye is
compelled to move through one object
and continue to another object.
Continuation occurs in the example above, because the viewer's
eye will naturally follow a line or curve. The smooth flowing
crossbar of the "H" leads the eye directly to the maple leaf.

4.Closure
Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people perceive
the whole by filling in the missing information.

Although the panda above is not complete, enough is present for the
eye to complete the shape. When the viewer's perception completes a
shape, closure occurs.
5.Proximity
Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a
group.

The nine squares above are placed without proximity.

They are perceived as separate shapes.

When the squares are given close
proximity, unity occurs. While they
continue to be separate shapes, they
are now perceived as one group.

The fifteen figures above form
a unified whole (the shape of a tree)
because of their proximity.
Perceptual Constancy
(size, shape & brightness)
• The perception of objects as relatively stable
despite changes in stimulation of sensory receptors.
• Perceptual constancy occurs once the object is
identified by perceiver.
• Size constancy: the tendency to interpret familiar
object as always being the same size regardless of
the images it casts on retina.
• We donot perceive the size of those object
changing; instead we perceive the objects as
moving towards or away from us.
• Size constancy:
E.g. When object normally perceived to be 6 feet tall
appears very small on the retina, it will be
interpreted as being very far.
• Shape constancy: the tendency to interpret the
shape of an object as constant, even when its shape
changes on the retina.
E.g. Person still perceives a coin as circle even if it is
held at an angle that makes it appear to be an oval
on the retina.
• Shape constancy:
E.g. Dinner plates on a table are also seen as round,

even though from the angle of viewing they are
oval.
• Brightness constancy: the tendency to perceive the
apparent brightness of an object as same even when
the light condition change.
• E.g. If The person wearing white shirt and black pant in

broad daylight and also in thick clouds, the shirt will
appear to be just equally brighter in both situation,
even though the pants and shirt have different amount
of light to reflect and two different situations.
• Color constancy: the tendency to perceive the color
of an object as stable despite changing illumination.
• E.g. the color of your shirt is perceived as stable

even in low light and bright environment.
• Perceptual Constancy is the phenomenon in
which the physical objects are perceived as
unvarying and consistent despite changes in their
appearance or in the physical environment.
• Perceptual Constancy leads us to view objects as
having an unvarying size, shape, color, and
brightness, even if the image on our retina varies.
• E.g. airplane flying overhead
changing size of moon when it first appears at
night and when it moves high in the sky.
Depth Perception
• The ability to see the world in three dimensions is
called depth perception.
• There are various cues for perceiving depth in the
world:-
» 1.Monocular cues (use of one eye)
» 2.Binocular Cues (use of both eyes)
Depth Perception
• 1. Monocular cues:- referred to as pictorial depth
cues because artists can use these cues to give the
illusion of depth to paintings and drawings.
Depth Perception
• Monocular cues:- There are different monocular
cues to help perceive depth and distance.
– Linear Perspective
– Relative Size
– Overlap
– Aerial Perspective
– Texture Gradient
– Motion Parallax
– Accomodation
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Linear Perspective:
When looking down the a long highway, the two
sides of the highway appear to merge together in
the distance. This tendency for parallel lines to to
appear to converge on each other is called Linear
Perspective.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Relative size:
The size of the retinal image is normally larger for
nearby objects than for distant ones. We perceive
an object as farther away when the retinal image is
smaller, but we must acquainted with the actual
size of the object in order to make the distinction.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Relative size:
Experience has taught us that if two objects are
the same size, the one that makes a smaller image
on the retina is farther away than is the one that
provides a larger image.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Relative size:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Relative size:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Relative size: Movie Makers use this principle to
make their small models seem gigantic and in the
distance.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
distance.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
distance.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Overlap: If one objects seems to be blocking
another object, people assume that the blocked
object is behind the first one and therefore, farther
away. This cue is called interposition.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Overlap:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Overlap:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Aerial Perspective: The farther away an object is,
the hazier the object will appear to be.
E.g. Distant mountains often look fuzz, buildings far
in a distance are blurrier than those are close.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Aerial Perspective:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Texture Gradient: When you are on a field, the
pebbles and bricks that are close to you are
distinctly textured, but as you look farther off into
distance, their texture becomes smaller & finer.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Texture Gradient:
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Motion Parallax: When you are travelling inside a
bus, you will notice that objects at a distance seem
to move slowly whereas objects nearby seem to zip
very fast.
Depth Perception
( Monocular cues)
• Accomodation/ Muscular cue:
the shape of the lenses of the eye must change
to focus the visual images on the retina from stimuli
that are at different distances from the eye.
• Shape of the lens increases as the eye focus on
close objects and decreases when on distant
objects.
Depth Perception
( Binocular cues)
• 2. Binocular cues:- require visual input integrated
from the two eyes.
• Binocular cues includes:-
Convergence
Retinal Disparity
Depth Perception
( Binocular cues)
• Convergence: Kinesthetic sense – movement of eye
muscles.
• Retinal Disparity: Our eyes are two and half inches
apart our retina receives slightly different pictures
of same object.
Perceptual Illusion
• Perceptual illusion are false perception.
• Perceptual Illusion are misperception or
interpretations of stimuli that donot correspond
to the sensations received by the eye or other
senses.
• E.g. Perception of a coil of a rope in darkness as
a snake.
Perceptual Illusion
• Illusion may occur because of confusion,
perspectives, emotion, contrast perception,
habits etc.
Types of Illusion
• Illusion due to physical process.
• Illusion due to cognitive process.
Illusion due to physical process
• Illusion perceived without any existence of the
stimulus.
• E.g. Mirage
• These illusions are something that falsely
appears to be real.
Illusion due to cognitive process
• Cognitive illusions occur in the presence of the
stimulus but the individual simply misinterpret
the situation of the stimulus.
• Illusion of size.
• Illusion of shape.
• Illusion of size
• Muller Lyer illusion
• Horizontal – vertical illusion
• Straight line out side the circle appears bigger
than straight line within the circle.
• Ebbinghaus illusion ( Illusion of Contrast)
• Wudnt illusion ( Parallel lines are seen bent)
• Hering illusion ( Parallel lines are seen bent)
• Ponzo illusion
• Illusion of shape
• Moon illusion: Moon looks bigger at horizon
than at its highest point in the sky.
• Vertical distance are perceived as very longer.
• Illusion of shape
• Ames room:
Perceptual Illusion
• Illusions are not limited to visual processes.
There are several other illusions related to
sensory modalities like touch and
temperature.
• E.g: hot water and cold water.
Delusions and Hallucinations
• Stimulus is external in illusion whereas
stimulus is in the individual him/her self in
delusion and hallucination.
• Delusions: Delusions are unusual subjectively
determined beliefs.
E.g: imagining his/her enemy is following.
individual thinks s/he have divine power.
individual thinks s/he is suffering from diseases.
individual finds him/her self value less.
• Hallucination: it is a perception in the absence
of external stimuli.
E.g. Individual hears voices when there is no
sound.
sees non-existed objects.
Perceptual ambiguity and distortion
• Visual illusions are physical stimuli that

consistently produce errors in perception.
E.g. The structure of Parthenon
• Muller-Lyer illusion is another illusion that
fascinated psychologists for decades.
E.g. The lengths of the lines
Home Assignment- 2
• Explain about the different kinds of Gestalt
principles with examples.
Social / Person’s Perception
(Making judgment about others)
• Person’s perception is making judgment about
others.
• It is about how one individual perceives other
individuals.
• It is affected by the factors in perceiver, target
and situation.
• Social/Person’s perception is influenced by the
assumptions made about other person’s
internal state.
• The internal state refers to beliefs, motives,
emotions, attitude, values.
The tools used for person perception are:
• Attribution Theory
• Frequently used shortcuts
• Attribution Theory:
• Internally caused behavior are under the control
of the individuals.
Internal causes (personality traits, emotions,
motives, ability)
• Externally caused behavior results from the
situation.
External causes (other person, the situation,
chance/luck)
• Attribution Theory: Attribution is how people
explain the cause of behavior.
• This theory states: “When individuals observe
behavior, they attempt to determine whether
it is internally or externally caused.”
• This theory interprets behavior in terms of the
person or situation.
Attribution Theory:
• The determinants of internal and external
causes of behavior depends on:
a) Distinctiveness
b) Consensus
c) consistency
Attribution Theory:
• The determinants of internal and external causes
of behavior depends on:
a) Consistency: It refers to whether the person
responds the same way over time. Consistent
behavior can be attributed to internal causes.
a) Consistency:
E.g. Late coming employee (Ram)
- Ram is late 2-3 times a week. Today, Ram is late for
office = Internal Attribution (Ram is faulty)
- Ram has not been late for several months. Today,
Ram is late for office. = External attribution (Ram
is not faulty)
Attribution Theory:
b) Distinctiveness: It refers to the extent to which
the same person behaves in the same fashion in
different situations. Distinctive behaviors are
those that are relatively unique to a situation.
b) Distinctiveness:
E.g. Tom is laughing at a comedian.
- Tom only laughs at this comedian, Distinctiveness is
high. Attribution is External
- If Tom laughs at everything, Distinctiveness is low.
Attribution is internal.
Attribution Theory:
c) Consensus: It is the extent to which other people
in the same situation behave in the same way as
the person under observation.
c) Consensus:
E.g. Tom is laughing at a comedian.
- Everybody in the audience is laughing. Consensus
is high. Attribution is external.
- If only Tom is laughing, consensus is low.
Attribution is internal.
Attribution errors:
Attribution is distorted by following errors:
• Fundamental attribution errors: This is the
tendency to underestimate the influence of
external factors and overestimate the influence
of internal factors in making judgments about the
behavior of others.
Attribution errors:
Attribution is distorted by following errors:
• Self-serving bias: This is the tendency for
individuals to attribute their own success to
internal factors while putting blame for failures
on external factors.
They take credit for success, blame others for failure.
(Frequently used shortcuts in judging others
• People generally use number of shortcuts when

they judge others. They are also called perceptual
errors or barriers to perceptual accuracy. They are:
1. Selective Perception
2. Halo effect
3. Stereotyping
4. Contrast effect
5. Projection
6. Impression
1. Selective Perception: People selectively

interpret what they see on the basis of their
interests, background, experiences, attitudes.
We cannot observe everything going around
us.
2. Halo Effect: It refers to the tendency is judging

the person entirely on the basis of a single
trait which may be favourable or
unfavourable.
Single trait dominates other characteristics.
3. Stereotyping/Generalizing:
Stereotype is generalized notion of how
people of given race, religion, or other group
will appear, think, feel or act.
Usually people make judgments on the basis

of the past experience to which s/he belongs.
4. Contrast effect:
Contrast effect states that our reaction to one
person is influenced by other persons we
have recently encountered.
5. Projection:
Tendency to see their own traits in other
people.
When people make judgement about others,
they project their own characteristics into
others.
“Honest person feel other every person honest”
6. Impression:
“First impression is the last impression.”
The first information that we are exposed to
about a person tends to be given greater
weight than later information.
Social cognition and behavior
• Social cognition is a sub-topic of social psychology that

focuses on how people process, store, and apply
information about other people and social situations.
• Social cognition, therefore, is the study of the mental
processes involved in perceiving, attending to,
remembering, thinking about, and making sense of the
people in our social world.“
• "One of the cornerstones of social cognition theory and
research is that different individuals may understand the
same situation quite differently, if they view it through
the lenses of different knowledge structures, goals, and
feelings.”
Contd….
• People diagnosed with certain mental illnesses are also known to
show differences in how they process social information.
• There is now an expanding research field examining how such
conditions may bias cognitive processes involved in social
interaction, or conversely, how such biases may lead to the
symptoms associated with the condition.
• It is also becoming clear that some aspects of psychological
processes that promote social behavior (such as face recognition)
may be innate.
• Studies have shown that newborn babies, younger than one hour
old can selectively recognize and respond to faces, while people
with some developmental disorders such as autism or Williams
syndrome may show differences in social interaction and social
communication when compared to their unaffected peers.
Contd…
• Autism is a lifelong developmental disability
that affects how a person communicates
with, and relates to, other people. It also
affects how they make sense of the world
around them.
Person Perception
• People have beliefs, motives, or intentions
which let them to observe, explain to behave
them in certain way.
• Person perception is the subject matter of
social psychology.
• It is the cognitive aspect of an individual.
• People make observation about others through
the information they obtain about them, and
the attribution (inferences) about the cause for
their behavior.
Attribution Theory
• The perceptual activity which helps us to interpret
the world around us is called the attribution
process.
• Attribution is our efforts to understand the causes
behind others behavior or why people act as they
do.
• Social psychologist began to show interest in
describing the meaning of other people’s behavior
after Fritz Heider’s theory.
• This theory was concerned with how we attempt to
understand the meaning of other people’s behavior.
Contd…
• It is concerned particularly with the causes of
their actions.
• E.g. Why Rajan is so friendly with me?
Why has Radha arrived late?
Why is Rafey so frustrated?
Fritz Heider has categorized causes of behavior into two main forces:
Personal forces and the Environmental forces.
– Personal Forces (Internal)
– Environmental Forces (External)
Examples:
• Rama scored A grade on her exam. Was her
grade due to effort (internal cause) or any easy
test (external cause)?
• A person made a large donation to the
orphanage. Was the desire to help (internal) or
by the need to deduct his taxes (external
cause).
Social influence of perception
Techniques for judging others
1. Selective perception
2. Halo effect
3. Contrast effects
4. Projection
5. Stereotypes
6. Primacy effect
7. Recency effect
Importance of short-cuts in judging others
in organizations
Specific applications
• Employment interviews
• Employment interview
• Performance expectations
• Performance evaluation
• Employee effort
• Employee loyalty

Unit 3: Understanding Sensation and Perception

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Unit 3: Understanding Sensation and Perception

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Unit 3: SENSATION AND

Thermoreceptors- which detect temperature.

Mechanoreceptors- which are sensitive to touch,

Chemoreceptors- which are sensitive to chemicals

Photoreceptors- which are sensitive to light.

• The answer to this question leads to the

Sight A candle flame at 30 miles on a clear, dark night

Hearing The tick of a watch 20 feet away in a quiet room

Smell One drop of perfume diffused throughout a three-room apartment

Taste 1 teaspoon of sugar in 10 litres of water

Touch A bee’s wing falling on the cheek from 1 centimeter above

• A stimulus is any passing source of physical

The “bumps” that can be seen on the tongue are called

What happens to taste buds when tongue is burned?

The five taste sensation work together with sense of smell,

The information of touch or pressure, temperature and pain are

Blind people use touch, pressure and smell

Wide varieties of skin receptors for touch or

• Brightness is determined by the amplitude of the

Light is focused primarily by the cornea — the clear

Cons: Cones are active only in daylight vision, permits us

1. Frequency: It is the number of wave cycles that occurs per

• The eye differentiates an object form its

• Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole".

The nine squares above are placed without proximity.

E.g. Dinner plates on a table are also seen as round,

• E.g. If The person wearing white shirt and black pant in

• E.g. the color of your shirt is perceived as stable

• Visual illusions are physical stimuli that

• People generally use number of shortcuts when

1. Selective Perception: People selectively

2. Halo Effect: It refers to the tendency is judging

Usually people make judgments on the basis

• Social cognition is a sub-topic of social psychology that

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