2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E

Sensation and Perception
Sensation is the process of receiving,
converting, and transmitting information
from the outside world.
Sensory organs contain receptors that
transduce sensory energy into nerve impulses
that are carried to the brain.
Top-down processing versus bottom-up
processing

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Sensation/Perception
Transduction: sensory receptors convert
a physical energy into nerve impulses
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Understanding Sensation: Processing

Three Types of Processing:

1. Transduction: converts sensory stimuli into
neural impulses that are sent on to the brain

2. Sensory Reduction: filters and analyzes
incoming sensations before sending on to the
brain

3. Coding: converts particular sensory input into
a specific sensation sent to differing parts of
the brain
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Sensory Thresholds
Psychophysics: testing limits and changes

Absolute Threshold: smallest amount of a
stimulus we can detect

Difference Threshold: minimal difference
needed to detect a a stimulus change; also
called the just noticeable difference (JND)

2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Signal Detection Theory
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Modification of Sensation
A key function of sensory systems is to
detect change within the environment.
Movement in the peripheral aspects of the eye
may signal food or danger.
Constant pressure of an object on the skin may
not be important.
A stimulus that moves across the skin may be a
snake or a spider.
The skin adapts to constant pressure.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Sensory Adaptation
Sensory adaptation refers to the fact
that repeated or constant stimulation
decreases the number of sensory
messages sent to the brain, which
causes decreased sensation.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Gate-Control Theory of Pain
Pain sensations are processed and
altered by mechanisms within the spinal
cord.
Endorphins relieve pain by inhibiting pain
perception.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Vision
External light falls on receptors within the
eye to generate the visual message.
Light = electromagnetic radiation
Wavelength of light determines color
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Physical/Perceptual properties of light

2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Properties of Light
wavelength: distance between peaks
perceived as hue
some wavelengths beyond human
sensation

amplitude: height of wave
perceived as brightness

purity: mixture of wavelengths
perceived as saturation


2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Anatomy of the Eye
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Glaucoma: Open and Closed Angle

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Accommodation
Accommodation refers to automatic
adjustments of the eye, which occurs
when muscles change the shape of the
lens so that it focuses light on the retina
from objects at different distances.
Nearsightedness
Farsightedness
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Eye as optical instrument
Light refraction

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Three layers of eye

2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Structure of the Eye: Retina
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Structure of the Eye: Retina
Rods
sensitive to even dim light, but not
color
function well in low illumination
humans have 120 million rods
Cones
respond to color
operate best under high illumination
humans have 6 million cones
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Retinal Photoreceptors
Light passes through the
retinal layers to reach the
photoreceptors at the inner
retinal surface.
Photoreceptors and bipolar
cells conduct potentials to
the ganglion cells, which in
turn initiate action potentials
which are transmitted to the
thalamus.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Visual System

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Color Perception
Humans are able to discriminate 7 million
different hues.
Colors convey important information:
Ripeness of food
Danger signals
Trichromatic theory
Eye contains 3 different color sensitive elements
Blue, green or red elements
Trichromatic theory accounts for color mixing of lights.
Opponent-Process theory
Visual system is organized into red-green, blue-
yellow and black-white units.
Theory can account for negative color afterimages.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Sensory Coding
Activation of retinal
cells by light results
in action potentials
that travel along
neurons that project
to the occipital cortex
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Properties of Sound
Wavelength (distance between peaks)
- determines frequency
- perceived as pitch
- some wavelengths cannot be perceived

Amplitude (height of wave)
- perceived as loudness

Mixture of Wavelengths; Complex
Sounds
- perceived as timbre / tone saturation
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Sound Loudness (dB)
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Anatomy of the Ear
(Sound Waves)
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Cross-
section
of
cochlea
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Theories of Hearing
Place Theory of Pitch Perception
location of stimulation is important
only explains perception of high
frequencies

Frequency Theory of Pitch Perception
frequency of nerve firing
limitations of neuronal firing rate
volley principle
cell clusters can exceed limitations of firing
rate

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Hearing Loss
Conduction deafness: Middle-ear
deafness resulting from problems with
transferring sound waves to the inner-
ear.
Nerve Deafness: Inner-ear deafness
resulting from damage to the cochlea,
hair cells, or auditory nerve.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Olfaction
Receptors are embedded in a mucus-coated
membrane called the olfactory epithelium.
When chemical molecules in the air pass
through the nose, the receptors initiate a
neural impulse which travels to the olfactory
bulb, where most olfactory information is
interpreted.
Lock-and-Key Theory: humans can smell
various odors because each three-
dimensional odor molecule fits into only one
type of receptor.

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Gustation
Taste receptors are located on the
tongue and are sensitive to five major
tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and
umami.
Taste receptors respond differentially to
the varying shapes of food and liquid
molecules.


2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
The Body Senses
Skin Senses: there are three basic skin
sensations: touch, temperature, and pain.
Vestibular Sense: sense of body orientation
with respect to gravity and three-dimensional
space
The semicircular canals provide the brain with balance
information.
Kinesthetic Sense: sensory system for body
posture, orientation and movement
Kinsethetic receptors are found throughout the muscles,
joints, and tendons of the body.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Perception
Perceptual processes
include:
Selection refers to choosing
which of many stimuli that will
be processed.
Organization involves
collecting the information into
some pattern.
Interpretation involves
understanding the pattern.
Perceptions can be in error
Illusions are visual stimuli
that are misinterpreted .
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Horizontal-Vertical Illusion
WHICH LINE IS LONGER?
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Selection
Selective attention: filtering out and attending
only to important sensory messages.
Feature detectors: specialized cells in the
brain that respond only to certain sensory
information
Habituation: tendency of the brain to ignore
environmental factors that remain constant

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Form Perception
Gestaltists proposed laws of
organization that specify how people
perceive form.
Figure and ground are basic
organizational themes for perception.
Figure is perceived as distinct from the
background.
Figure is closer to the viewer than the
background.
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Visual Perception: Depth
Monocular Cues Pictorial
Cues

familiar size
height in the field of view
linear perspective
overlap
shading
texture gradients
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Monocular Cues:
Shading, Texture Gradient
2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Monocular Cues:
Linear Perspective, Height in Field
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Gestalt Organizational Principles
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Perceptual Constancies
Perceptual Constancy is the tendency
for the environment to be perceived as
remaining the same even with changes
in sensory input.
Size constancy
Shape constancy
Color constancy
Brightness constancy
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Depth Perception
Depth perception is the ability to perceive
three-dimensional space and to accurately
judge distance.
Binocular cues include retinal disparity and
convergence.
Monocular cues include linear perspective,
interposition, relative size, texture gradient,
aerial perspective, light and shadow,
accommodation and motion parallax.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Interpretation
Interpretation is influenced by:
perceptual adaptation
perceptual set
individual motivation
frame of reference

2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Subliminal Perception
Subliminal stimuli are stimuli presented
below the threshold of awareness; the
effect on behavior is uncertain.
2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, 7E
Extrasensory Perception
ESP refers to the ability to perceive
stimuli that are outside the 5 senses
Telepathy: the ability to read minds
Clairvoyance: the ability to perceive objects
or events
Precognition: the ability to predict the future
Psychokinesis: the ability to move objects