Chapter 2

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

Figural Pattern
 Brain: Information Processor

How does the various forms of physical energy gets converted into signals that the brain
understand?
 Concept and Processes
 Sensory receptors: cells specialized in converting physical energy (light,
sound) into neural impulses
 Transduction: The translation of physical energy into electrical signals by
specialized receptor cells
 Sensation: Input about the physical world provided by sensory receptors
 Perception: Process through which we select, organize, and interpret
input from our sensory receptors (meaningful interpretation of sensory inputs)
 Perception of Minimal Stimuli
 Earliest research done to determine the weakest sounds, lights, and
touches people could detect
 Perception of Minimal Stimuli
 Aim: To determine the minimum
intensity required to detect
 Stimulus presented in varying
intensities in random order or
absent
 Stimulus ‘Present’/’Absent’
responses are recorded
 Signal Detection Theory (SDT)
 Detection of weak stimuli:
Correct (‘Hit’ and ‘Correct Rejection’)
Wrong (‘Miss’ and ‘False Alarm’)

 SDT: the study of people’s tendencies to

make ‘Hits’, ‘Correct Rejections’, ‘Misses’,
and ‘False Alarms’ (Green & Swets, 1966)
 Detection responses also depend on
internal factors (Incentives, Values etc.)
E.g., Whether to recommend a (expensive) COVID
test to a very poor person showing mild symptoms
 Sensory Thresholds
 Absolute Threshold: The smallest magnitude of a stimulus that we can
detect perfectly 50 percent of the time.
Fluctuations in sensitivity to stimuli:
o Dynamicity of the mechanisms involved to maintain body’s internal environment at
optimal levels (Homeostasis)
o Motivational factors: rewards or costs associated with stimulus detection (prospect
of being fired for a wrong decision)

 Difference Threshold: Amount of change in a stimulus required for a

person to detect it
o The smallest amount of change in a physical stimulus necessary for an individual to
notice a difference in the intensity of a stimulus (Just Noticeable Difference- jnd).
 Sensory Thresholds
 Subliminal Perception: The presumed ability to perceive a stimulus that is
below the threshold for conscious experience
o Typically, stimulus is flashed briefly (beyond subject’s awareness)
o Aim is to see whether such presented stimuli influences behavior (decision making)

Researches do not provide strong support for the possibility of subliminal

perception (Smith & Rogers, 1994; Greenwald et al., 1991; Urban, 1992)
Sensory Adaptation: Reduced sensitivity to unchanging stimuli over time
o Avoids getting distracted from stream of sensations (eye blinks, swallowing etc.)
o After about a minute, odor sensitivity drops by ~70%.
 Major Senses
 Vision
 Hearing (Auditory)
 Touch (Tactile)
 Smell (Olfaction)
 Taste (Gustatory)
 Kinesthetic (Sense of location and relative position of body parts)
 Vestibular (Sense of balance; body position, movement, and acceleration)
 Sensation
 Sensory receptors
 Transduction
 Threshold (Types)
o Subliminal perception
o Sensory adaptation

 Signal Detection Theory