Download Methods and Ethics of Psychology

Sensation and Perception
Presented by
Rachel D. Barnes, Ph.D.
Definitions
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Sensation - simple awareness due to
stimulation of organ
Perception - organization,
identification, and interpertation of
sensation in order to transform mental
representation
Transduction - converts physical signs
to neural signals
Vision
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Human eye
– Retina --> Rods + Cones -->
Optic chiasm --> Thalamus -> Cortex
– Occipital lobe: receives
information from visual field
– Temporal lobe: ventral
stream - “what”, shape and
identity
– Parietal lobe: dorsal stream “where”, location and motion of
object
Audition
We pick up: frequency, amplitude,
timbre
Place code - cochlea encodes
different frequencies at different
locations
Temporal code - cochlea registers
low frequencies via firing rate in
auditory nerve
Haptic Perception/Touch
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Different sensitivities in
different body parts
Pain:
– Important for our survival
– Referred pain: sensory
information from internal and
external areas converge
– Gate control theory: signal from
pain receptors stopped/ gated by
interneurons in spinal cord
Smell
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Molecules stimulate olfactory
receptor neurons in nose -->
cause olfactory nerve to fire -> olfactory bulb
Glomerulus - grouped by
different types of smells
Pheremones -odors emitted
by other members of species
that affect behavior of
physiology
Taste
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Taste buds in papillae
Each taste bud has 50
to 100 receptor cells
Perception changes
with age
Various buds activate
different
neurotransmitters
What are your thoughts?
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Do you feel that some of your senses
might be unusually sensitive,
compared to others?
What would happen if one of your
senses suddenly started working? How
would your world be different?
Have you ever had any unusual
sensory experiences? Please describe
them.
And for the rest of the week…
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Please be sure to answer both discussion
questions
This chapter is full of information that may be
brand new to many of you - please check out
the links in the following slide for further,
simplified information
Keep up with the reading and email me
questions and ideas as they come up
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
Additional resources
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzl9
VPnA3OY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAy
PbFYGJw
http://www.alleydog.com/101notes/s&p
.html