SENSATION & PERCEPTION (TOP-DOWN / BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING)

SENSATION (bottom-up processing)

The physiological arousal of a sense organ by a stimulus. The passive process of bringing information from the
outside world into the body and to the brain.

Basic Human Senses
Eyes (Visual)
Ears (Auditory)
Nose (Olfactory)
Tongue (Gustatory)
hand & skin (Cutaneous- feet/head)
Input-Senses (Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch)
Processing-Brain
Out-put-Reaction

THE SENSORY SYSTEM
STIMULUS anything inside or outside the body, which initiates activity of some form of radiant, chemical, or other
energy.
Light Odor
Heat Cold
Sounds Touch
Pressure
Our brain only deal with bioelectrical impulses so transduction must occur.
A minimum sense-receptor stimulation called absolute threshold is required.
SENSORY DEPRIVATION too little stimulation
SENSORY OVERLOAD too much stimulation
SELECTIVE ATTENTION!
FACTS ABOUT SENSATION
Specificity of Sensory Stimulation
lightwave sight
soundwave hearing
TRANSDUCTION: the transmission process of physical energy to neural impulse
(stimulus-neural impulse*flower)
Sensory Thresholds
Absolute Thresholds (The least or minimum stimulation required to detect a signal)
FACTORS FOR SIGNAL DETECTION
-Stimulus Physical quality
-Persons condition (Physical/Psychological)
SIGNAL- SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION (-50)- CONSCIOUS AWARENESS (+50)
SENSORY ADAPTATION (The diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus)
See, touch, hear, smell, taste.

The Eye VISION Human Camera
THE VISUAL SYSTEM
Works on sensing and perceiving light waves.
WAVE LENGTH/FREQUENCY
The longer a wave, the less often/quickly it occurs
WAVE AMPLITUDE
The size/height of the wave which affects brightness perception
Vision is affected by the wavelength, frequency of light which produces psychological
dimensions of visual experience-hue, brightness, and saturation.

COMMON DEFFECTS
o hyperopia/farsightedness
o myopia/
o nearsightedness
o astigmatism
o scotoma
THE EAR -sensing sound waves
AUDITORY DEFECTS
o TONE DEAFNESS
The Nose OLFACTORY SENSATION
Olfactory area auditory tube
Nasal cavity Pharynx
Palate Larynx
SINUSES : frontal, ethmoid, maxillary
The Tongue GUSTATORY SENSATION
Front: salty and sweet
Sides: sour
Back: bitter
The Skin SENSE OF TOUCH & PAIN
Epidermis
Dermis
Subcutaneous tissue




PERCEPTION (top-down)
Interpretation of sensed stimulus. The active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting the information
brought to the brain by the senses.
PERCEPTUAL RELATIVITY
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
Selection
Organization
Interpretation
SELECTIVE ATTENTION - A perceptual process of selectively focusing on a particular stimulus
element. (distinguish voices)
ORGANIZATION - The process of combining perceptual elements to form a whole coherent
object. (13)
-Figure -Ground -Parts
GROUPING/ORGANIZATION PRINCIPLES
LAW OF SIMILARITY (Fat- pig)
LAW OF PROXIMITY (objects near each other tend to be grouped together)
LAW OF CONTINUITY (lines are seen as following the smoothest path)
LAW OF CLOSURE (supply missing element to complete the figure)
LAW OF CONNECTEDNESS (Figures which are uniformed and linked tend to be
perceived as a single unit)
INTERPRETATION- The complete understanding of the things being perceived.
-Experiences -Expectations -Beliefs
Ambiguous Figures: figures that can be perceived in more than one way