TRY THIS YOURSELF:

What do you see?

 All outside information comes into us through our

senses.
Sensationthe process of detecting, receiving,
converting and transmitting information resulting from
stimulation of sensory receptors.
Perceptionthe process of selecting, identifying,
organizing and interpreting sensory input into a useful
and meaningful mental representations of the world in
the light of relevant memories from past experiences.

 The basic function of sensation

is detection of sensory stimuli,
whereas perception generally
involves interpretation of the
same stimuli.
Our senses tell us something is
out there. Our perception tell us
what that something is.
In practice, sensation and
perception are virtually
impossible to separate,
because they are part of one
continuous process.

 SENSATION IS THE PROCESS OF

DETECTING AND ENCODING STIMULUS
IN THE WORLD.

 Vision (sense of sight)

sensitive to LIGHT ENERGY
Auditory (sense of hearing)
stimulated by SOUND
ENERGY
Olfaction (sense of smell)
stimulates our nostrils by
CHEMICAL ENERGY
Gustation (sense of taste)
Tactile (skin senses for
pressure, temperature, pain)
THERMAL ENERGY

Vestibular (sense of balance)

Kinesthesia (sense of posture and
movement)
Organic (sensation from internal organs
such as hunger, thirst, drowsiness)

Information (e.g. light, sound)activate our sense

receptors in the sensory organs which receive and
process sensory information from environment.
Transductionafter stimuli enter sensory organs, the sense
receptor will change/covert the stimulus into electrical signals
called neural impulses which are sent to the brain.
When neural impulses reach the particular area in the brain,
they are changed into meaningless bits of information called
sensation which involves the detection of sensory stimuli.
These meaningless bits of information are then changed into
meaningful and complete images called perceptionthe
interpretation of sensory stimuli.

 Our sense organs translate

physical energy from the
environment into electrical
impulses processed by the
brain.
For example, light, in the form of
electromagnetic radiation, causes
receptor cells in our eyes to
activate and send signals to the
brain.

But we do not understand

these signals as pure energy.
The process of perception
allows us to interpret them as
objects, events, people, and
situations.

 Without the ability to

organize and interpret
sensations, life would
seem like a
meaningless jumble of
colors, shapes, and
sounds. A person
without any perceptual
ability would not be able
to recognize faces,
understand language,
or avoid threats.

 Sensory reductionthe
process in which we filter and
analyze sensory information
before they are sent to the
brain.
Why do we need to reduce
the amount of sensory
information we receive?
So that the brain is not
overwhelmed with unnecessary
information because it needs to
be free to respond to stimuli that
have meaning for survival.
All species have evolved
selective receptors that suppress
or amplify information to allow
survival.

Sensory adaptation
repeated or constant
stimulation decreases
the number of sensory
messages sent to the
brain, which causes
decreased sensation.

Thresholdrefers to a
point above which a
stimulus is perceived
and below which it is
not perceived. It
determines when we
first become aware of
a stimulus.

SENSORY
THRESHOLDS
HOW CLOSE DOES AN
APPROACHING BUMBLE
BEE HAVE TO BE,
BEFORE YOU CAN HEAR
IT BUZZING?
HOW FAR DOES A
BREWING COFFEE POT
HAVE TO BE, FOR YOU
TO DETECT THE AROMA
OF THE COFFEE.

 Difference thresholdor
just noticeable difference,
is the smallest change in
stimulus that we can detect.
Example: An artist might
detect the difference
between two very similar
shades of color

Absolute threshold
the smallest amount of
stimulus that can be
detected.
When a stimulus has more
energy than the absolute
threshold, we can detect its
presence.
When a stimulus has less
energy than the absolute
threshold, we cannot detect
its presence.

 Some established absolute thresholds are:

vision: a candle flame 30 miles away on a clear night.
hearing: a watch ticking 20 feet away
taste: 1 teaspoon of sugar dissoved in 2 gallons of water
smell: a single drop of perfume in a three-room house

touch: a bee's wing falling a distance of 1 centimeter onto the cheek.

Absolute threshold
PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT THRESHOLDS,
BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE HAVE BETTER HEARING
THAN OTHERS, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE BETTER
VISIONS THAN OTHERS.

The word perception

comes from the Latin
perception-,
percepio, meaning
"receiving, collecting,
action of taking
possession,
apprehension with
the mind or senses."

To identify a pattern of
sensory input is to
categorize it, in which
various expectations,
motives, experiences are
brought into play.
Example:
If this is a mouse, it is
afraid of cat.

The first step in

perception is
selectionchoosing
where to direct our
attention.

We do not perceive everything at oncewe

select certain objects to perceive while ignoring
others.

Attentionis the
direction of
perception toward
certain selected
objects.

Attention is selectivewe focus on

specific and important aspects of
experience while ignoring others.
Attention is
shiftablewe may
focus from one
specific object to
another.

 Naturewhether visual or
auditory, words or images,
animate or inanimate objects
Realityreal, concrete things
are more attention-getting
than hypothetical, abstract or
mental
Familiaritypeople pay more
attention to things that are
familiar
Location/Proximitywe pay
attention to things that are
near than those that are far
Noveltywe pay attention to
things that are new and
different in contrast to what is
customary

Suspensepeople pay attention

to things that build suspense.
Conflictpeople pay attention to
a good fight.
Humorpeople pay attention to
things that are funny.
The vitalpeople nearly always
pay attention to matters that affect
their health, reputation, property, or
employment.
Activitythings that move, flash
or blink
Intensitysounds that are louder
are more attention-getting than soft
music

Having selected
incoming
information, we
organize it into
patterns and
principles that will
help us understand
the world.

After selectively sorting through

incoming sensory information and
organizing it into patterns, the brain
uses this information to explain and
make judgments about the external
world. This is the final stage of
perceptioninterpretation.

Try to read the following passage:

Can you read this text when it is upside down?
Knowledge and experience are extremely
important for perception, because they
help us make sense of the input to our
sensory systems.
In the example above, you did not stop to
read every single letter carefully. Instead,
you probably perceived whole words and
phrases.

In mentally organizing stimuli, objects

that are physically close to one
another are grouped together or seen
as a unit.

In organizing stimuli,
elements that appear
similar in color,
lightness, texture,
shape, or any other
quality are grouped
together.

The law of continuity leads us

to see a line as continuing in a
particular direction, rather than
making an abrupt turn.
We tend to favor smooth or
continuous paths when
interpreting a series of points
or lines.

In organizing stimuli, we tend to fill in any missing

part or incomplete figures and see them as
complete figures.

In organizing stimuli, we tend to

favor symmetrical objects or
relationships.

 Perception does not only

involve organization and
grouping, it also involves
distinguishing an object
from its surroundings.
Once an object is
perceived, the area around
that object (figure)
becomes the background.

In organizing a
stimuli, we tend to
automatically
distinguish between a
figure or foreground
(object with more
details) and a
ground (has less
detail).

 Gestalt psychologists
have devised
ambiguous figureground relationships
that is, drawings in which
the figure and ground
can be reversedto
illustrate their point that
the whole is different
from the sum of its parts.

Reversible figures are

those objects that are so
shaped that both may
be seen as either the
figure or the ground
the object that the
individual is set to
perceive will probably
be noticed first.

Interests or motives
Set of expectations
Socio-cultural factors
Past experiences
Situational context

ESP
IT IS A PERCEPTION WITHOUT THE
MEDIATION OF THE SENSES. IT
INCLUDES:
CLAIRVOYANCE IS EXTRA SENSORY
AWARENESS OF OBJECTS.
CONTACT BETWEEN THE MIND OF THE
PERSON AND ON THE OJECT.

 TELEPATHY IS A THOUGHT
TRANSMISSION FROM ONE MIND TO
ANOTHER.
PRECOGNITION IS FOREKNOWLEDGE
OF SPECIFIC EVENTS WITHOUT ANY
RATIONAL MEANS.
PSYCHOKINESIS (MIND OVER MATTER)
INCLUDES MENTAL OPERATIONS THAT
INFLUENCES A MATERIAL BODY OR AN
ENERGY SYSTEM.