Download A.P. Psychology 4 (E)

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A.P. Psychology
Unit 4: Sensation and Perception
“Other Senses”
Touch:
 Includes four distinct skin senses:
o Pressure
o Warmth
o Cold
o Pain

Kinesthesis:
o The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body
parts

Vestibular Sense:
o The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of
balance
o Located in the inner ear
Touch: Understanding Pain
 Gate-Control Theory:
o The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that
blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
o The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small
nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information
coming from the brain
o E.g. Rubbing the area around a stubbed toe will create competing
stimulation that will block some pain messages

Biopsychosocial Influences of Pain:

Methods of Pain Control:
o Drugs
o Surgery
o Acupuncture
o Exercise
o Hypnosis
o Thought Distraction
Taste:
 Survival Functions of Taste:
o Sweet: Energy source
o Salty: Sodium essential to physiological processes
o Sour: Potentially toxic acid
o Bitter: Potential poisons
o Umami: Proteins to grow and repair tissue
Smell:
 Like taste, smell is a chemical sense
 Odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate 5 million receptors to sense
smell
 Unlike taste, there are many different forms of smell
Sensory Interaction:
 Sensory Interaction:
o The principle that one sense may influence another
o E.g. the taste of strawberry interacts with its smell and its texture on
the tongue to produce flavor