Http://vc.creativeallianceservices.com. » Our behavior is built through the information we get from our outside world, which we interpret and integrate.

SENSATION &

PERCEPTION

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Introduction

» Our behavior is built through the information we get from our outside world, which we interpret and integrate into a set of knowledge.

» First, we get information through the cooperation of all our senses. It is said that when different sensory inputs are combined, our experiences are enriched.

» Example, listening a recorded lecture could be inferior as compared to listening to a lecturer live with her facial expressions, gestures, and visual aids.

Individual Activity:

Choose which picture you prefer in a given set.

A B

A

B

A

B

Listening to music of your favourite singer via

CDs

Watching a live concert?

A

B

A

B

Sensory & Perceptual Process

»Sensation and Perception are two distinct phases of one

process.»Sensation === Perception»Sensation + Perception =

Sensory & Perceptual Process

SENSATION

» Sensation is the process by which information about the world is registered by the senses and transmitted to the brain.

» A large amount of information is being sensed at any one time such as room temperature, brightness of the lights, someone talking, a distant train, or the smell of perfume. With all this information coming into our senses, the majority of our world never gets recognized.

SENSATION

» We don't notice radio waves, x-rays, or the microscopic parasites crawling on our skin. We don't sense all the odors around us or taste every individual spice in our gourmet dinner. We only sense those things we are able too since we don't have the sense of smell like a bloodhound or the sense of sight like a hawk; our thresholds are different from these animals and often even from each other.

» Sensation includes two stages: the physical stage (registration of stimulus through the senses), and the physiological stage (transmission of information through electro-chemical impulses to the brain)

PERCEPTION

» Prefers to interpretation of what we take in through our senses.

» Perception is the interpretation of the sensation.

» The way we perceive our environment is what makes us different from other animals and different from each other.

» It is the Psychological Stage of the process

STIMULUS: Made up of

colors, shapes, and

forms

Sensation: Physical StageInformation is registered by

the senses

Sensation: Physiological

StageInformation from

the senses is transmitted to the

brain

Perception: Psychological Stage

Sensation is interpreted

Uy, si Willie pala yun! Hmp!

Di naman gwapo. Ang

feeling. Eew!

Wow! Si Williiee!

Eeeeeeeh! Ang pogi pogi mo!

Psychophysics

»Branch of Psychology that studies the relationship

between the physical nature of stimuli and a person’s

sensory responses

Absolute Threshold

» The absolute threshold is the point where something becomes noticeable to our senses. It is the softest sound we can hear or the slightest touch we can feel. Anything less than this goes unnoticed. The absolute threshold is therefore the point at which a stimuli goes from undetectable to detectable to our senses.

Examples of Absolute Thresholds

» HearingIn hearing, the absolute threshold refers to the smallest level of a tone that can be detected by normal hearing when there are no other interfering sounds present. An example of this might be measuring at what levels a participants can detect the ticking sound of clock.

Young children generally have a lower absolute threshold for sounds since the ability to detect sounds at the lowest and highest ranges tends to decrease with age. Researchers suggest that the quietest sound that children with normal hearing can detect is around 1,000 Hz.

» VisionIn vision, the absolute threshold refers to the smallest level of light that a participant can detect. For example, determining the absolute threshold for vision might involve measuring the distance at which a participant can detect the presence of a candle flame in the dark.

In one classic experiment, researchers found that after controlling for dark adaptation, wavelength, location and stimulus size, the human eye was able to detect a stimulus of 90 photons could generate visual experience.

» SmellFor odors, the absolute threshold involves the smallest concentration that a participant is able to smell. An example of this would be to measure what the smallest amount of perfume that a subject is able to smell in a large room.

Terminal Threshold

» This term is generally used in the context of perception process. It refers to the maximum level at which an individual can experience a sensation.

» It is the maximum physical energy, which can still be detected by a sense organ, and beyond which, there will be no more sensation, or a sensation of a different modality.

» While in the field of consumer behaviour it denotes the maximum level of marketing stimuli, which is consciously noticed by a consumer.

Difference Threshold/ Differential Threshold

» Once a stimulus becomes detectable to us, how do we recognize if this stimulus changes. When we notice the sound of the radio in the other room, how do we notice when it becomes louder. It's conceivable that someone could be turning it up so slightly that the difference is undetectable. The difference threshold is the amount of change needed for us to recognize that a change has occurred. This change is referred to as the Just Noticeable Difference.

» This difference is not absolute, however. Imagine holding a five pound weight and one pound was added. Most of us would notice this difference. But what if we were holding a fifty pound weight? Would we notice if another pound were added? The reason many of us would not is because the change required to detect a difference has to represent a percentage. In the first scenario, one pound would increase the weight by 20%, in the second, that same weight would add only an additional 2%. This theory, named after its original observer, is referred to as Weber's Law.

Signal Detection Theory

» Have you ever been in a crowded room with lots of people talking? Situations like that can make it difficult to focus on any particular stimulus, like the conversation we are having with a friend. We are often faced with the daunting task of focusing our attention on certain things while at the same time attempting to ignore the flood of information entering our senses. When we do this, we are making a determination as to what is important to sense and what is background noise.

» This concept is referred to as signal detection because we attempt detect what we want to focus on and ignore or minimize everything else.

» The last concept refers to stimuli which has become redundant or remains unchanged for an extended period of time. Ever wonder why we notice certain smells or sounds right away and then after a while they fade into the background? Once we adapt to the perfume or the ticking of the clock, we stop recognizing it.

» This process of becoming less sensitive to unchanging stimulus is referred to as sensory adaptation, after all, if it doesn't change, why do we need to constantly sense it?

» Refers to the reduction in sensitivity to stimulation as stimulation persists through time, and to increase in sensitivity with lack of stimulation

Sensory Adaptation

PHYSIOLOGICAL STAGE OF THE

SENSATION

» This stage refers to the physiological processes that start with the action of the stimulus on a receptor, which then triggers a flow of nerve impulses from the receptor to some terminal point in the nervous system.

Aspects of Sensations

» MODALITY of a Sensation» Refers to the different categories of a sensation» Visual (Color) vs Auditory (Sound)

» QUALITY of a Sensation» Refers to the different experiences within the same modality.» Blue vs Red vs Yellow ; Bitter vs Sweet» INTENSITY of a Sensation» Refers to a distinction in a degree within the same quality» Light blue vs dark blue vs navy blue» DURATION of a Sensation» Indicates the length of time a sensation lasts in the consciousness.» REACTTION TIME of a Sensation» Refers to the time interval between the application of a sensory

stimulus on a receptor and the recognition of this sensory experience as manifested by the reaction of the subject.

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Notes on ESP

» Extrasensory Perception is defined as the acquisition by the mind of some information, which could not have been perceived by the normal sense organs.

» Hence, it refers to perceptions that require no organ stimulation.

» Activity: The Pendulum

Some Phenomena in the Field of ESP

» Precognition» In parapsychology, precognition (from the Latin præ-, “before,” + cognitio,

“acquiring knowledge”), also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics and/or nature. A premonition (from the Latin praemonēre) and a presentiment are information about future events that is perceived as emotion.

» Example: Nostradamus’ Predictions of the Future (Video)

» Clairvoyance» The term clairvoyance (from French clair meaning "clear" and voyance

meaning "vision") is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception. A person said to have the ability of clairvoyance is referred to as a clairvoyant ("one who sees clearly").

Some Phenomena in the Field of ESP

» Psychokinesis» (from the Greek ψυχή, "psyche", meaning mind, soul, heart, or breath; and

κίνησις, "kinesis", meaning motion, movement; literally "mind-movement"), also referred to as telekinesis (Greek τῆλε + κίνησις, literally "distant-movement") with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term coined by publisher Henry Holt to refer to the direct influence of mind on a physical system that cannot be entirely accounted for by the mediation of any known physical energy (i.e. moving objects with the mind). Examples of psychokinesis could include distorting or moving an object, and influencing the output of a random number generator.

» Telepathy» (from the Greek τηλε, tele meaning "distant" and πάθη, pathe meaning

"affliction, experience"),]is the transmission of information from one person to another without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers, founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the earlier expression thought-transference.