Psychology: Sensation and Perception

Definition of Sensation and Perception

• Sensation: The process of detecting and encoding sensory information from the environment through our senses (e.g., seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling).
• Perception: The process of interpreting and understanding the meaning of sensory information, including recognition, identification, and organization of sensory stimuli.

Difference between Sensation and Perception

• Sensation is a more primitive and automatic process, whereas perception is a more complex and cognitive process.
• Sensation is concerned with the physical properties of stimuli, whereas perception is concerned with the meaning and significance of stimuli.

Factors Influencing Perception

• Attention: Focusing on certain stimuli or aspects of the environment can influence what we perceive.
• Motivation: Our desires, needs, and goals can influence how we perceive and interpret sensory information.
• Expectations: Our prior experiences, beliefs, and expectations can influence what we perceive and how we interpret it.
• Emotions: Our emotional state can influence how we perceive and respond to sensory information.
• Past experiences: Our past experiences and learning can influence how we perceive and interpret sensory information.

Types of Perception

• Bottom-up processing: Perception is driven by the sensory information itself, with the brain processing the information from the individual components up to the overall pattern.
• Top-down processing: Perception is driven by our expectations, past experiences, and prior knowledge, with the brain using this information to influence how we interpret sensory information.

Perceptual Constancies

• Size constancy: The ability to perceive objects as maintaining their size despite changes in distance or viewing angle.
• Shape constancy: The ability to perceive objects as maintaining their shape despite changes in viewing angle or orientation.
• Color constancy: The ability to perceive objects as maintaining their color despite changes in lighting conditions.

Illusions and Biases

• Optical illusions: Misinterpretations of visual stimuli, often due to the brain's tendency to make assumptions about the environment.
• Cognitive biases: Systematic errors in thinking and perception, often due to the influence of prior knowledge, expectations, and emotions.

The Role of the Brain in Perception

• Sensory cortex: The part of the brain responsible for processing sensory information from the environment.
• Association cortex: The part of the brain responsible for integrating sensory information and creating a meaningful perception of the world.

Sensation and Perception

• Sensation is the process of detecting and encoding sensory information from the environment through our senses (e.g., seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling).
• Perception is the process of interpreting and understanding the meaning of sensory information, including recognition, identification, and organization of sensory stimuli.

Difference between Sensation and Perception

• Sensation is a more primitive and automatic process, whereas perception is a more complex and cognitive process.
• Sensation is concerned with the physical properties of stimuli, whereas perception is concerned with the meaning and significance of stimuli.

Factors Influencing Perception

• Attention influences what we perceive by focusing on certain stimuli or aspects of the environment.
• Motivation influences how we perceive and interpret sensory information based on our desires, needs, and goals.
• Expectations influence what we perceive and how we interpret it based on our prior experiences, beliefs, and expectations.
• Emotions influence how we perceive and respond to sensory information based on our emotional state.
• Past experiences influence how we perceive and interpret sensory information based on our past experiences and learning.

Types of Perception

• Bottom-up processing is driven by the sensory information itself, with the brain processing the information from the individual components up to the overall pattern.
• Top-down processing is driven by our expectations, past experiences, and prior knowledge, with the brain using this information to influence how we interpret sensory information.

Perceptual Constancies

• Size constancy allows us to perceive objects as maintaining their size despite changes in distance or viewing angle.
• Shape constancy allows us to perceive objects as maintaining their shape despite changes in viewing angle or orientation.
• Color constancy allows us to perceive objects as maintaining their color despite changes in lighting conditions.

Illusions and Biases

• Optical illusions are misinterpretations of visual stimuli, often due to the brain's tendency to make assumptions about the environment.
• Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking and perception, often due to the influence of prior knowledge, expectations, and emotions.

The Role of the Brain in Perception

• The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for processing sensory information from the environment.
• The association cortex is the part of the brain responsible for integrating sensory information and creating a meaningful perception of the world.