UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY

By
Robert S. Feldman
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Sensation
 the stimulation of the sense organs
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Perception
 the sorting out, interpretation,
analysis, and integration of stimuli
involving our sense organs and brain
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Stimulus
 energy that produces a response in a
sense organ
 varies in both type and intensity
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Psychophysics
 the study of the relationship between
the physical nature of stimuli and the
sensory responses that they evoke
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Detecting What’s Out there:

 Absolute Threshold
 the smallest intensity of a stimulus
that must be present for it to be
detected
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Difference Threshold: Noticing

Distinctions Between Stimuli

 Difference Threshold (Just-

noticeable difference)
 the smallest detectable difference
between two stimuli
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Difference Threshold: Noticing

Distinctions Between Stimuli

 Weber’s law
 one the basic laws of psychophysics
stating that a just noticeable
difference is a constant proportion of
the intensity of an initial stimulus
 SENSING THE WORLD AROUND US

 Sensory Adaptation: Turning Down

Our Responses

 Sensory adaptation
 an adjustment in sensory capacity
following prolonged exposure to
stimuli
 VISION: SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE EYE

 Illuminating the
Structure of the Eye
 retina The part of the eye that
converts the electromagnetic energy
of light to electrical impulses for
transmission to the brain.
 VISION: SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE EYE
 rods Thin, cylindrical receptor cells in the retina that are highly sensitive to light.

 cones Cone-shaped, light-sensitive receptor cells in the retina that are responsible for
sharp focus and color perception, particularly in bright light.

 optic nerve A bundle of ganglion axons that carry visual information to the brain.
 HEARING AND THE OTHER SENSES

 Sensing Sound: sound The movement of air molecules brought about by

a source of vibration.
 HEARING AND THE OTHER SENSES

 eardrum The part of the ear that vibrates when sound waves hit it.

 cochlea (KOKE-lee-uh) A coiled tube in the ear filled with fluid that vibrates in
response to sound.

 basilar membrane A vibrating structure that runs through the center of the
cochlea, dividing it into an upper chamber and a lower chamber and containing
sense receptors for sound.
 SMELL AND TASTE
 Taste: Molecules from the food and beverages we consume dissolve in our saliva and
interact with taste receptors on our tongue (below) and in our mouth and throat
 SMELL AND TASTE
 Smell: Olfactory receptors are proteins with pockets that identify molecules of
chemicals in the air. This information is transmitted from the olfactory bulb to the brain.
 THE SKIN SENSES: TOUCH, PRESSURE,
TEMPERATURE, AND PAIN
 Touch
 Specific receptors in the skin convert stimulation to electrical nerve impulses, a
process called transduction
 Mechanoreceptors (below) respond to mechanical stimuli, such as stroking,
stretching, or vibration of the skin
 Thermoreceptors respond to cold or hot temperatures
 Chemoreceptors respond to certain types of chemicals either applied externally or
released within the skin
THE SKIN SENSES: TOUCH, PRESSURE,
TEMPERATURE, AND PAIN
 THE SKIN SENSES: TOUCH, PRESSURE,
TEMPERATURE, AND PAIN
 Pain
 Pain is adaptive because it makes us aware of an injury, and it motivates us to
remove ourselves from the cause of that injury
•Neuropathic pain
•Inflammatory pain
•Nociceptors are subtypes of chemoreceptors or mechanoreceptors that fire
specifically to potentially tissue-damaging stimuli

 Expectations and context shape how we experience pain