CHAPTER 3 - Sensation

PSYCHOLOGY
AN EXPLORATION
Second Edition
CHAPTER
sensation and
perception
Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Saundra K. Ciccarelli J. Noland White
why study sensation and perception?

Without sensations to tell us what is outside our own
mental world, we would live entirely in our own minds,
separate from one another and unable to find food or
any other basics that sustain life. Sensations are the
minds window to the world that exists around us.
Without perception, we would be unable to understand
what all those sensations meanperception is the
process of interpreting the sensations we experience so
that we can act upon them.

Learning Objectives
LO 3.1
Sensation and how it enters central nervous system
LO 3.2
What is Light?
LO 3.3
How eyes see and how eyes see color
LO 3.4
What is sound?
LO 3.5
Hearing impairment and improvement
LO 3.6
How senses of taste and smell work
LO 3.7
Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
LO 3.8
Perception and perceptual constancies
LO 3.9
Gestalt principles of perception
LO 3.10 What is depth perception?
LO 3.11 How visual illusions work and other factors influence
perception

What is Sensation?
LO 3.1 Sensation and the central nervous system
Sensation is the stimulation of sensory

receptors and the transmission of
sensory information to the brain.
Process where various forms of outside

stimuli become neural signals in the
brain

Sensory Thresholds
- Transduction:
Converting outside stimuli into neural
activity
Sensory receptors
Specialized neurons
Stimulated by energy
Absolute Threshold
Lowest level of stimulation energy
needed to detect a stimulus 50 percent
of the time
Table 3.1
Examples of Absolute Thresholds

Subliminal Sensation
Subliminal stimuli
Stimuli below the level of conscious
awareness
Strong enough to activate the sensory
receptors but not strong enough for
conscious awareness

Habituation and Sensory Adaptation

Habituation
Lower centers of the brain filter sensory
stimulation
"Ignores" or prevents conscious
attention to unchanging stimuli

Habituation and Sensory Adaptation

Sensory adaptation
Sensory receptor cells become less
responsive unchanging stimulus
Microsaccades
Constant movement of eyes
Prevents sensory adaptation

Perceptual Aspects to Light

LO 3.2 What is light
Three aspects of the perception of light

Brightness
Determined by amplitude of wave
height of wave
Higher waves are bright, low waves
dimmer



Color (hue)
Determined by wavelength
Visible spectrum
Portion of spectrum visible to the human
eye
Long wavelengths in red end, shorter

wavelengths found at blue end



Saturation
Purity of color
Less saturated contains larger variety of
wavelengths

Structure of the Eye

LO 3.3 How eyes see and see color
Cornea
Clear membrane, covers eyes surface
Protects eye
Focuses most light coming into the eye
Photoreactive Keratectomy (PRK)/
Laser-Assisted keratomileusis
(LASIK)
Vision-improving techniques
Small incisions in the cornea change
focus

Aqueous humor
Clear, watery fluid
Continually replenished
Supplies nourishment to the eye
Pupil
Hole where light from visual image
enters interior of the eye


Iris
Colored, round muscle
Controls light via pupil size


Lens
Located behind the iris
Suspended by muscles
Finishes focusing process begun by the
cornea


Lens
Visual accommodation
Change in the thickness of lens
Eye focuses on objects that are far away
or close
Vitreous humor
Jelly-like fluid
Nourishes the eye and gives it shape

Figure 3.2 Structure of the Eye

Light enters the eye through the cornea and pupil. The iris controls the size of the pupil. From the pupil, light
passes through the lens to the retina, where it is transformed into nerve impulses. The nerve impulses travel to
the brain along the optic nerve.


Retina
Final stop for light in the eye
Contains 3 layers:
Ganglion cells
Bipolar cells


Retina
Contains 3 layers:
Photoreceptors
Respond to various light waves
Rods
Sensitivity to low levels of light
Cones
Color vision, sharpness of vision

Figure 3.3 The Parts of the Retina

(a) Light passes through ganglion and bipolar cells until it reaches and stimulates the rods and cones. Nerve
impulses from the rods and cones travel along a nerve pathway to the brain. (b) On the right of the figure is a
photomicrograph of the long, thin rods and the shorter, thicker cones; the rods outnumber the cones by a ratio
of about 20 to 1.

Figure 3.3 (continued) The Parts of the Retina

(c) The blind spot demonstration. Hold the book in front of you. Close your right eye and stare at the picture of
the dog with your left eye. Slowly bring the book closer to your face. The picture of the cat will disappear at some
point because the light from the picture of the cat is falling on your blind spot.

How the Eyes Work

Dark adaptation
Rods work best in low light
Eyes adapt to low light after exposure to
bright light
Light adaptation
Cones adapt to increase in light rapidly
6 million cones in each eye

While this deer may see quite well when using its rods at night, the bright headlights of a car will activate the
cones. The cones will adapt rather quickly, but it takes time for the deers pupil to contract, leaving the deer
blinded by the light until then.

Theories of Color Vision

Trichromatic theory
Proposes three types of cones:
Red, blue, and green
Mixing of direct light is additive;

painting is subtractive
Afterimage
Visual sensation persists for a brief time
after original stimulus is removed
Colors contrast to those initially seen
Theories of Color Vision

Opponent-process theory
Proposes four primary colors with cones
paired:
Red and green, blue and yellow
Theory explains colors in afterimage

Figure 3.5 Color Afterimage

Stare at the white dot in the center of this oddly colored flag for about 30 seconds. Now look at a white piece of
paper or a white wall. Notice that the colors are now the normal, expected colors of the American flag. They are
also the primary colors that are opposites of the colors in the picture and provide evidence for the opponentprocess theory of color vision.

Color Blindness
Caused by defective cones in the retina

Color deficient more accurate
description

Color Blindness
Three types:
Monochrome colorblindness
Either have no cones or cones not
working
Red-green colorblindness
Either red or the green cones are not
working
Sex-linked inheritance
Recessive inheritance pattern
Figure 3.6 The Ishihara Color Test

Two facsimiles of the Ishihara Color Test. In the circle on the left, the number 5 should be easier to see for those
with normal color vision, and on the right, the number 96. In both circles, individuals with color-deficient vision
will have difficulty identifying the numbers or may see nothing but a circle of dots.

Sound
LO 3.4 What is sound?
Sound waves are vibrations of the

molecules of air that surround us.
Hertz (Hz): measurement of frequency
Has the same properties as light

waves: wavelength, amplitude, and
purity

Sound
Wavelength
Frequency or pitch (high, medium, or
low)
Amplitude
Volume (how soft or loud a sound is)
Purity
Timbre (richness in the tone of the
sound)

Figure 3.7 Sound Waves and Decibels

(a) A typical sound wave. The higher the wave, the louder the sound; the lower the wave, the softer the sound.
If the waves are close together in time (high frequency), the pitch will be perceived as a high pitch. Waves that
are farther apart (low frequency) will be perceived as having a lower pitch.

Figure 3.7 (continued) Sound Waves and Decibels

(b) Decibels of various stimuli. A decibel is a unit of measure for loudness. Psychologists study the effects that
noise has on stress, learning, performance, aggression, and psychological and physical well-being.

Structure of the Ear

Pinna
Visible, external part of the ear
Funnels sound waves
Auditory canal
Short tunnel runs to the eardrum
(tympanic membrane)


Eardrum
Tightly covers opening into the middle
part of the ear
Sound waves cause eardrum to vibrate
In turn, three tiny bones in the middle
ear vibrate
Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup


Cochlea
Snail-shaped structure of the inner ear
Filled with fluid
Organ of Corti
Rests in the basilar membrane
Contains receptor cells for hearing


Auditory nerve
Bundle of axons from hair cells of inner
ear
Receives neural message from organ of
Corti

Figure 3.8 The Structure of the Ear

(a) This drawing shows the entire ear, beginning with the outer ear (pinna, ear canal, and eardrum). The
vestibular organ includes the semicircular canals and the otolith organs (inside the round structures just above
the cochlea). (b) The middle ear. Sound waves entering through the ear canal cause the eardrum to vibrate,
which causes each of the three bones of the middle ear to vibrate, amplifying the sound. The stirrup rests on the
oval window, which transmits its vibration to the fluid in the inner ear.

Figure 3.8 (continued) The Structure of the Ear

(c) The inner ear. Large spaces are filled with fluid (shown in purple) that vibrates as the oval window vibrates. A
thin membrane suspended in this fluid is called the basilar membrane, which contains the organ of Corti, the
structure composed of the hairlike cells that send signals to the auditory cortex of the brain by way of the
auditory nerve. (d) A close-up view of the basilar membrane (in dark pink) with the hair cells of the organ of
Corti (in lighter pink). Notice the axons (small green lines) leaving the hair cells to form the auditory nerve.

Figure 3.9 Cochlear Implant

(a) In a cochlear implant, a microphone implanted just behind the ear picks up sound from the surrounding
environment. A speech processor, attached to the implant and worn outside the body, selects and arranges the
sound picked up by the microphone. The implant itself is a transmitter and receiver, converting the signals from
the speech processor into electrical impulses that are collected by the electrode array in the cochlea and then
sent to the brain.

Figure 3.9 (continued) Cochlear Implant

(b) This child is able to hear with the help of a cochlear implant. Hearing spoken language during the early years
of a childs life helps in the development of the childs own speech.

Taste
LO 3.6 Senses of taste and smell
Taste buds
Taste receptor cells in mouth
Line the walls of papillae
Gustation
Sensation of a taste
Chemical sense like neurotransmitters

Taste
Five Basic Tastes:

Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Umami

Figure 3.10 The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(a) The right side of this drawing shows the nerves in the tongues deep tissue.

Figure 3.10 (continued) The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(b) The taste bud is located inside the papillae and is composed of small cells that send signals to the brain when
stimulated by molecules of food.

Figure 3.10 (continued) The Tongue and Taste BudsA Crosscut View of the Tongue
(c) Microphotograph of the surface of the tongue, showing two different sizes of papillae. The taste buds are
located under the surface of the larger red papillae, whereas the smaller and more numerous papillae form a
touch-sensitive rough surface that helps in chewing and moving food around the mouth.

Smell
Olfaction
Sense of smell
Cilia
Small hair projecting into nasal cavity
Receptors for smell
At least 10 million receptors in each
cavity

Smell
Olfaction
Olfactory bulbs
Located just above the sinus cavity
Receive information from the olfactory
receptor cells.

Figure 3.11 The Olfactory Receptors

(a) A cross section of the nose and mouth. This drawing shows the nerve fibers inside the nasal cavity that carry
information about smell directly to the olfactory bulb just under the frontal lobe of the brain (shown in green).

Figure 3.11 (continued) The Olfactory Receptors

(b) A diagram of the cells in the nose that process smell. The olfactory bulb is on top. Notice the cilia, tiny
hairlike cells that project into the nasal cavity. These are the receptors for the sense of smell.

Somesthetic Senses
Consists of three systems

Skin senses, kinesthetic senses, and
vestibular senses
Skin senses
Touch, pressure, temperature, and pain
Sensory receptors located in the skin
Pacinian corpuscle
Responds to deep pressure

Somesthetic Senses
LO 3.7 Sense of touch, pain, motion and balance
Skin senses
Sensory receptors located in the skin
Free Nerve endings
Respond to changes in temperature,
pressure, pain

Somesthetic Senses: Pain

Different types of pain:

Visceral Pain
Pain in organs
Somatic pain
Pain sensations in skin, muscles,
tendons, and joints
Carried on large nerve fibers

Somesthetic Senses: Pain

Congenital analgesia and congenital

insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis
(CIPA)
Inability to feel pain

Figure 3.12 Cross Section of the Skin and Its Receptors

The skin is composed of several types of cells that process pain, pressure, and temperature. Some of these cells
are wrapped around the ends of the hairs on the skin and are sensitive to touch on the hair itself, whereas others
are located near the surface, and still others just under the top layer of tissue.

Somesthetic Senses
Kinesthetic sense
Sense provides information
about bodys movement and
location in space
Proprioceptive receptors
Special receptors located in
the muscles, tendons, and joints

This tightrope-walking violinist is performing an amazing feat of coordination and muscular control. He must not
only use his vestibular organs to help maintain his balance, but also his kinesthetic sense to be aware of exactly
where each foot is in relation to the rope.

Somesthetic Senses
Vestibular sense
Receptor structures in inner ear
Sense of balance


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PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

why study sensation and perception?

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Sensation is the stimulation of sensory

Process where various forms of outside

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Examples of Absolute Thresholds

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Habituation and Sensory Adaptation

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Habituation and Sensory Adaptation

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Perceptual Aspects to Light

Three aspects of the perception of light

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Perceptual Aspects to Light

Three aspects of the perception of light

Long wavelengths in red end, shorter

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Perceptual Aspects to Light

Three aspects of the perception of light

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.2 Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Structure of the Eye

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.3 The Parts of the Retina

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.3 (continued) The Parts of the Retina

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

How the Eyes Work

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Theories of Color Vision

Mixing of direct light is additive;

Theories of Color Vision

Theory explains colors in afterimage

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.5 Color Afterimage

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Caused by defective cones in the retina

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.6 The Ishihara Color Test

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Sound waves are vibrations of the

Has the same properties as light

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition

Figure 3.7 Sound Waves and Decibels

Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition