SENSATION PERCEPTION

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

 SENSATION
Sense organs

• In simple meaning, Sensations are awareness

about the physical energies around us in the
form of taste, smell, sound, heat, etc.

• Thus, sensation is the initial, simple mental

process, whereas we will discuss about
perception ; that it is a complex mental
activity.
HOW IT WORKS:
SENSES
SIGHT
SMELL
TASTE
TOUCH
VESTIBULAR
PROPRIOCEPTION
SIGHT

What is the sense of sight ?

Sight or vision is the capability of the eyes to focus
and detect images of visible light and generate
electrical nerve impulses for varying colors, hues, and
brightness. Visual perception is how the brain
processes these impulses – recognising,
differentiating and interpreting visual stimuli through
comparison with experiences made earlier in life
HOW THE SENSE OF SIGHT WORKS :
We perceive shapes, distance, movement, color, heat, and depth by our sense
of sight. The organ for the sense of sight is the eye, about the shape of a ping-
pong ball. The eye alone cannot make sight possible. It works with the brain
and on the outside, needs light to be present.

The eye consists of three layers: The outer layer consists of the sclera and
cornea. The middle layer consists of the choroid, ciliary body, and iris. The
inner layer consists of the retina.
• .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8L3i-qxuE
 SMELL

What is sense of smell?

Smell or olfaction is our ability to detect scent –
chemical, odour molecules in the air. Our olfactory
system begins in our nose which has hundreds of
olfactory receptors. Odour molecules possess a variety of
features and, thus, excite specific receptors more or less
strongly. This combination of excitement is interpreted by
the brain to perceive the ‘smell’.
 HOW THE SENSE OF SMELL WORKS :
At the roof of our nasal cavity, there are very tiny
hairs (called olfactory cilia) that get stimulated after
they pick up chemicals in the air going into our lungs.
As they pick up the signal, they send it to the
olfactory bulb. The impulse is then sent to the brain
for interpretation. Note that for the brain to assign a
particular smell to a signal, it uses its memory. This
means, for the first time you smell something, good
or bad, the brain stores it appropriately.

The sensory receptors in the nose that pick up

chemicals are called Chemoreceptors. These receptors
get tired after constantly receiving signals of the
same stimuli. This is why if you stay in a smelly room
for a long time, it becomes normal until you go out
and come back in.
 WHAT IS THE SENSE OF TASTE?
The fleshy muscular organ in the mouth of a mammal, used for tasting,
licking, swallowing, and (in humans) articulating speech.
The tongue helps in perceiving various tastes and flavors. The taste
buds are present between the papillae on the tongue—these help in
sensing different tastes.
The senses of smell and taste tend to work together. If one could not
smell something, they could not taste it either. The sense of taste is
also known as Gustaoception.
Taste buds on the tongue contain chemoreceptors that work similarly
to the chemoreceptors in the nasal cavity.
However, the chemoreceptors in the nose would detect any kind of
smell, whereas there are five different types of taste buds and each
one can detect different types of tastes like sweetness, sourness,
bitterness. umami and saltiness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GnYHd9WVhA
 TASTE BUDS:-

Taste buds are the common name for the taste receptor cells, special kinds of
neurons found in the mouth that are responsible for the sense of taste, or gustation.

• Most taste buds are located on the tongue, but there are a few on the roof of the mouth, the
cheeks, and under the tongue as well.
• How sensitive people are to various tastes depends on how many taste buds they have;
some people have only around 500, whereas others have 20 times that number. The latter
are called “supertasters” and need far less seasoning in their food than those with fewer taste
buds.
• The bumps on our tongue are papillae and the taste buds lie on the walls of these papillae.

• Each taste bud has about 20 receptors that are very similar to the receptor sites on receiving
neurons at the synapse. The receptors on taste buds work exactly like receptor sites on
neurons—they receive molecules of various substances that fit into the receptor like a key
into a lock.
WHAT IS THE SENSE OF TOUCH?
CAN WE TRUST OUR SENSE OF TOUCH?

https://www.labroots.com/trending/videos/9303/here-
s-illusion-that-makes-brain-think-it-s-danger-when-
it-s-not
 EARS – HEARING OR AUDIOCEPTION

• Human ear, organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects and analyzes sound by
transduction (or the conversion of sound waves into electrochemical impulses) and
maintains the sense of balance (equilibrium).

• Ears are the auditory sense organs of our body. They help us to perceive sounds. Our auditory system
detects vibrations in the air, and this is how we hear sounds. This is known as hearing or Audioception.
 HOW YOUR EAR WORK:-
1) Sound is transmitted as sound waves from the
environment. The sound waves are gathered by the
outer ear and sent down the ear canal to the eardrum.
2) The sound waves cause the eardrum to vibrate, which
sets the three tiny bones in the middle ear into motion.
3) The motion of the bones causes the fluid in the inner
ear or cochlea to move.
4) The movement of the inner ear fluid causes the hair
cells in the cochlea to bend. The hair cells change the
movement into electrical pluses.
5) These electrical impulses are transmitted to the
hearing (auditory) nerve and up to the brain, where
they are interpreted as sound.
SOMESTHETIC SENSES
2. Kinesthetic sense - sense of the location of
body parts in relation to the ground and
each other.
• Proprioceptive receptors (proprioceptors)
3. Vestibular senses - the sensations of
movement, balance, and body position
sensory conflict theory an explanation of
motion sickness in which the information from
the eyes conflicts with the information from
the vestibular senses, resulting in dizziness,
nausea, and other physical discomforts.
 VESTIBULAR SYSTEM
The vestibular system acts as a sensory system of the body and is responsible
for transmitting the information to our brain about the motions, head position
and spatial orientation. This system is also involved with motor functions and
helps in:-
1. Maintain our body posture.
2. Maintaining our body balance.
3. Stabilize our head and body during movement.
4. Identifying the orientation and posture of our bodies in relation to the
environment.
Thus, the vestibular system is essential for normal movement and equilibrium.
EXAMPLES OF THE SENSE OF VESTIBULAR
WHAT IS THE SENSE OF PROPRIOCEPTION?
 STIMULUS THRESHOLD

The minimum intensity required from a stimulus

to produce a response from a human or an animal

For example, imagine someone puts sand in the

palm of your hand, one grain at a time. You may
not notice the sand until 10 grains are placed in
your hand. In this case, the Stimulus Threshold
would be 10 grains of sand.

19
WEBER’S LAW

• Ernst Weber (1795–1878) did studies trying to determine

the smallest difference between two weights that could be
detected. His research led to the formulation of the
Weber’s law of just noticeable differences (JND, or the
difference threshold).
• A JND is the smallest difference between two stimuli that
is detectable 50 percent of the time, and Weber’s law
simply means that whatever the difference between stimuli
might be, it is always a constant.
EXAMPLE
ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD

• Gustav Fechner (1801–1887) expanded on

Weber’s work by studying something he called
the absolute threshold (Fechner, 1860). An
absolute threshold is the lowest level of
stimulation that a person can consciously detect
50 percent of the time the stimulation is
present. (Remember, the JND is detecting a
difference between two stimuli.)
EXAMPLES

• Sight- A candle flame at 30 miles on a clear, dark night

• Hearing- The tick of a watch 20 feet away in a quiet room
• Smell- One drop of perfume diffused throughout a three-room
apartment
• Taste- 1 teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons of water
• Touch- A bee’s wing falling on the cheek from 1 centimetre
above
SUBLIMINAL SENSATION
• Subliminal stimuli - stimuli that are below the level of
conscious awareness.
• Just strong enough to activate the sensory receptors but not
strong enough for people to be consciously aware of them.
• Limin - “threshold”
• Sublimin - “below the threshold.”
• Subliminal perception – process by why subliminal stimuli
act upon the unconscious mind, influencing behavior.
• What is Subliminal message | Explained in 2 min -
YouTube
 SUPRALIMINAL
• In about every other case where subliminal perception has
reportedly occurred, these studies use stimuli that are
supraliminal—“above the threshold”—and detectable by
our sensory systems.
• However, they are below the level of conscious perception
and participants are not aware or conscious that they have
been exposed to the stimuli due to masking or manipulation
of attention.
• Furthermore, the stimuli typically influence automatic reactions
(such as an increase in facial tension) rather than direct
voluntary behaviours (such as going to buy something
suggested by advertising)
 THE BASIC DIFFERENCE

• People often think subconscious influence is subliminal influence, which is wrong.

• To clarify, both supraliminal and subliminal messages can have an influence on the
subconscious mind.
• The only major difference is that supraliminal messages can have both conscious and
subconscious influence, while subliminal messages can only have subconscious influence.
• As long as you can see or hear a message but you’re not conscious of hearing and seeing it,
that message is subliminal.
 HABITUATION AND SENSORY ADAPTATION
• Habituation - tendency of the brain to stop attending to
constant, unchanging information.
• Sensory adaptation - tendency of sensory receptor cells to
become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging.
• Saccades - constant movement of the eyes, tiny little
vibrations called that people do not notice consciously;
prevents sensory adaptation to visual stimuli.
PERCEPTION
Perception refers to the occurrence when the brain performs
organization of information it obtains from the neural impulses, and
then begins the process of INTERPRETATION.
• Perception occurs when the brain processes information to give
meaning to it, by means of emotions, memories etc.
 WHAT IS PERCEPTION?
S
E
N Selection
S
A
T Organisation
I
O
N Interpretation
S
 Perception is the organization, identification, and

WHAT IS PERCEPTION
interpretation of sensory information in order to
represent and understand the presented
information or environment.

All perceptions involve signals that go through the

nervous system, which in turn results from physical
or chemical stimulations of the sensory system.

Simply speaking perception is the method by

which the brain interprets the sensations that we
experience.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERCEPTION

LEARNING MEMORY

MOTIVATION
EXPECTATIONS

PAST
EMOTIONS
EXPERIENCES
Factors
Influencing
Perception
SAKS AND JOHN’S THREE COMPONENTS OF
PERCEPTION
• The three major ones include (1)motivational state,
• (2) emotional state, and
• (3) experience. All of these factors, especially the first two, greatly contribute
to how the person perceives a situation. Oftentimes, the perceiver may employ
what is called a "perceptual defence," where the person will only "see what
they want to see"—i.e., they will only perceive what they want to perceive
even though the stimulus acts on his or her senses.
 DIFFERENCES
SENSATION PERCEPTION
• Detecting or receiving an • Making sense or understanding
external stimulus.
of that external stimulus.
• Physical process involving the • Psychological process by which
sensory receptors converting
the physical energy received
the brain selects, organizes, and
into electrical energy interprets these sensations.
(transduction).
• Therefore, the source of • Source of perception is the
sensation is the stimulus from signals sent to the brain in the
the external environment. process of sensation.
 IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES:

SENSATIONS PERCEPTIONS
• Perceptions develop over
• Sensations are inherent in nature
time.

• Sensation is something that we apply • Whereas, Perception is

rather an evolving
differently to different situations.
concept.
But it’s basis remains constant.
 ATTENTION IN PERCEPTION
• Divided attention is defined as • Selective attention is the process of
focusing on a particular object in the
our brain's ability to attend to two
environment for a certain period of
different stimuli at the same time,
time.
and respond to the multiple
demands of your surroundings • Looking for admission, looking for job, planning trips
Cocktail Party Phenomenon

36
PERCEPTION AND ITS CONSTANCIES

INDIVIDUALITY
ASPECT
Perception has some
individuality to it. That means
two people might be looking at
the same object but might
perceive it in different ways.
RUBIN’S VASE

• Rubin's vase (sometimes known as the

Rubin face or the figure–ground vase)
is a famous set of ambiguous or bi-
stable (i.e., reversing) two-dimensional
forms developed around 1915 by
Edgar Rubin.
NECKER CUBE
The Necker cube is an optical illusion
first published as a rhomboid in
1832 by Louis Albert Necker. It is a
simple wire-frame drawing of a
cube with no visual cues as to its
orientation, so it can be interpreted
to have either the lower-left or the
upper-right square as its front side.
PERCEPTION
CONSTANCIES

• Similarities also exist in how

people perceive the world
around them these are called
perception constancies.
SIZE
CONSTANCY

• Size constancy refers to the fact

that our perceptions of the size of
objects are relatively constant
despite the fact that the size of
objects on the retina vary greatly
with distance.
SHAPE CONSTANCY

• Shape Constancy is the tendency to perceive an

object as having the same shape regardless of its
orientation or the angle from which we view it. For
example, when we look head-on at a rectangular
picture frame hanging on the wall, it appears as a
rectangle. If we walk off of to the side and look at
the frame from an angle, we still recognize that it’s
in the shape of a rectangle, but really, from that
angle, the image processed by our retina is that of
a trapezoid.
BRIGHTNESS CONSTANCY
Brightness constancy is our visual ability to
perceive objects as having the same level
of brightness even though the level of
lighting changes. For example, something
white will appear to be the same shade of
white no matter how much light it is being
exposed to - noontime sunlight or a soft
lamplight at night. Although the lighting has
changed the shade of white seems to be
the same. An object will retain brightness
constancy as long as the object and its
surroundings are in light of the same
intensity. Brightness constancy is not
maintained when the brightness of the
background is different from the object. An
object will appear darker if the
background is lighter than the object.
 GESTALT’S PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

GESTALT PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY REPRESENT INVESTIGATIONS INTO AMBIGUOUS

STIMULI TO DETERMINE WHERE AND HOW THESE AMBIGUITIES ARE BEING RESOLVED BY THE
BRAIN. THEY ARE ALSO AIMED AT UNDERSTANDING SENSORY AND PERCEPTION AS
PROCESSING INFORMATION AS GROUPS OR WHOLES INSTEAD OF CONSTRUCTED WHOLES
FROM MANY SMALL PARTS.
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PERCEPTION
PROPOSED BY GESTALT ARE :
1. FIGURE-GROUND RELATIONSHIP
2. PROXIMITY

3. SIMILARITY
4. CLOSURE
5. CONTINUITY

6. CONTIGUITY
7. FOCAL POINT
 PRINCIPLE OF CONTIGUITY
Contiguity refers to the tendency to perceive two things that happen close together in
time as being related.

• Usually the first event is seen causing the second event.

• In the study of human memory, the contiguity effect has been found in studies of free
recall.
 EXAMPLES OF CONTIGUITY PRINCIPLE.

1. Ventriloquists make vocalizations without appearing to move their own

mouths but move their dummy’s mouth instead. the tendency to believe
that dummy is doing all the talking is largely due to contiguity.
2. A baseball player wearing a certain pair of socks on the day he hits three
home runs associates wearing the socks and hitting home runs.
3. A student making a good grade on a test after trying a new study technique
makes an association between the stimulus of studying and response of
getting a good grade.
4. If two items a and b are learned together, when cued with b, a is retrieved
and vice versa due to their temporal contiguity, although there will be a
stronger forward association (when cued with a, b is recalled)
PRINCIPLE OF FOCAL
POINT
THE FOCAL POINT PRINCIPLE STATES THAT WHATEVER STANDS OUT
VISUALLY WILL CAPTURE AND HOLD THE VIEWER'S ATTENTION FIRST.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE IMAGE BELOW , FOR EXAMPLE, THE FIRST
THING THAT GRABS YOUR ATTENTION IS THE RED SQUARE BECAUSE
IT'S DIFFERENT THAN ALL OF THE BLACK CIRCLES AROUND IT.
 Example of the focal point principle

Twilio uses the focal point principle to draw your eye to their call-to-action button.
GESTALT’S PRINCIPLE OF GROUPING
THE PRINCIPLES OF GROUPING ARE A SET OF PRINCIPLES IN
PSYCHOLOGY , FIRST PROPOSED BY GESTALT TO
ACCOUNT FOR THE OBSERVATION THAT HUMANS
NATURALLY PERCEIVE OBJECTS AS ORGANIZED PATTERNS
AND OBJECTS.

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGISTS ARGUED THAT THESE PRINCIPLES

EXIST BECAUSE THE MIND HAS AN INNATE DISPOSITION TO
PERCEIVE PATTERNS IN THE STIMULUS BASED ON CERTAIN
RULES .
THESE PRINCIPLES ARE ORGANISED
INTO SIX CATEGORIES :
❖ PROXIMITY
❖ SIMILARITY
❖ CLOSURE
❖ GOOD CONTINUATION
❖ COMMON FATE
❖ GOOD FORM
1. PROXIMITY
• This principle states that , “objects or shapes that are close to one another appear
to form groups”.
• Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as a
group if they are close.
• This allows for the grouping together of elements into larger sets, and reduces the
need to process a larger number of smaller stimuli.
• Elements which are grouped together create the illusion of shapes or planes in space,
even if the elements are not touching.
FOR THIS REASON , PEOPLE TEND TO SEE CLUSTERS OF
DOTS ON A PAGE INSTEAD OF A LARGE NUMBER OF
INDIVIDUAL DOTS. THE BRAIN GROUPS TOGETHER THE
ELEMENTS INSTEAD OF PROCESSING A LARGE NUMBER OF
SMALLER STIMULI, ALLOWING US TO UNDERSTAND AND
CONCEPTUALIZE INFORMATION MORE QUICKLY.
2. SIMILARITY

➢The principle of similarity states that perception lends itself to seeing

stimuli that physically resemble each other as part of the same object.
➢This allows for people to distinguish between adjacent and overlapping
objects based on their visual texture and resemblance.
➢Other stimuli that have different features are generally not perceived as part
of the object.
EXAMPLES OF SIMILARITY PRINCIPLE :

➢An example of this is a large area of land used by numerous

independent farmers to grow crops. Our brain uses similarity to
distinguish between objects which might lie adjacent to or overlap with
each other based upon their visual texture. Each farmer may use a unique
planting style which distinguishes his field from another.

➢ Another example is a field of flowers which differ only by color.

THE PRINCIPLES OF SIMILARITY AND PROXIMITY OFTEN
WORK TOGETHER TO FORM A VISUAL HIERARCHY.
EITHER PRINCIPLE CAN DOMINATE THE OTHER,
DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION AND
COMBINATION OF THE TWO. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE
GRID , THE SIMILARITY PRINCIPLE DOMINATES THE
PROXIMITY PRINCIPLE AND YOU PROBABLY SEE ROWS
BEFORE YOU SEE COLUMNS.
3. CLOSURE
• The principle of closure refers to the mind ’s tendency to see complete figures or forms even if a
picture is incomplete, partially hidden by other objects, or if part of the information needed to
make a complete picture in our minds is missing.

• For example, if part of a shape’s border is missing people still tend to see the shape as completely
enclosed by the border and ignore the gaps. This reaction stems from our mind’s natural tendency to
recognize patterns that are familiar to us and thus fill in any information that may be missing.
4. GOOD CONTINUATION

•When there is an intersection between two or

more objects, people tend to perceive each
object as a single uninterrupted object.

• This allows differentiation of stimuli even

when they come in visual overlap.

•We have a tendency to group and organize

lines or curves that follow an established
direction over those defined by sharp and
abrupt changes in direction.
5. COMMON FATE
•When visual elements are seen moving in the
same direction at the same rate, perception
associates the movement as part of the same
stimulus.

• For example, birds may be distinguished from

their background as a single flock because they
are moving in the same direction and at the
same velocity, even when each bird is seen—
from a distance— as little more than a dot.
The moving 'dots‘ appear to be part of a
unified whole. Similarly, two flocks of birds can
cross each other in a viewer's visual field, but
they will nonetheless continue to be
experienced as separate flocks because each
bird has a direction common to its flock.
 • The principle of good form refers to the
6. GOOD FORM tendency to group together forms of similar
shape, pattern, color, etc.

• Even in cases where two or more forms

clearly overlap , the human brain interprets
them in a way that allows people to
differentiate different patterns or shapes.

• An example would be a pile of presents

where a dozen packages of different size
and shape are wrapped in just three or so
patterns of wrapping paper, or the Olympic
Rings.
• Let’s watch the principles of grouping by gestalt.
• https://youtu.be/c1qdyszaeTU
 Distance Perception
Monocular cues- Cues to depth 1
or distance provided by one eye
Size cues-Larger it is, closer it is 2
felt
Linear Perspective-Converging
parallel lines-greater the
convergence, father the object 3

Texture gradient- Appears

smoother with distance
4
67
Distance Perception
Atmospheric Perspective-Farther the object, less is the
distinctiveness in case of smog, dust, haze etc
Overlap(Interposition)-Overlapping object appears 1
closer than the one it covers
Height cues-Below horizon-closer, above horizon-
farther
Motion Parallax-When we are moving, far objects 2
appear to move in same direction, closer objects in
opposite direction.

4 68
Distance Perception
1

Binocular cues-Cues to depth or

distance from the fact that we have
two eyes
2
Convergence- Eyes move inwards
when we see objects closer to us.
Retinal Disparity- Two eyes see
things with slightly difference in
space and height and converged in 3
brain.
69
WHAT IS ILLUSION?
HOW ILLUSIONS AND OTHER FACTORS
INFLUENCE PERCEPTION?
 LITERAL
OPTICAL
ILLUSIONS
When the mind receives
visual information, it will fill
in details or gaps that do not
actually exist. The eye and
brain will choose and focus
on specific objects which
causes on part of the image
to appear one way or the
other. Depending on what the
72
brain chooses to focus on, it
can perceive two different
 PHYSIOLOGIC
AL ILLUSIONS

These are the effects of

excessive stimulation of
a specific type such as
brightness or color,
such as an ‘afterimage'. 73
 COGNITIVE
ILLUSIONS

A cognitive illusion is a
common thinking error
or thinking trap
74
THE HERMANN GRID
THE MÜLLER-LYER ILLUSION
THE MOON ILLUSION
ILLUSIONS OF MOTION
PERCEIVING AN OBJECT AS MOVING WHEN IT
IS ACTUALLY STILL.
ROTATING SNAKES
OTHER FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PERCEPTION
TOP-DOWN PROCESSING

BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING
WHAT IS THE AMES ILLUSION?
PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS

86
Perceptual Stereotyping
occurs when a person
ascribes the collective
characteristics associated
with a particular group to
every member of that
group, discounting
individual characteristics.

A civilian standing besides

army men 87
Projection is where
we see attributes that
we possess showing
up in other people

Eye color, Height,

Instruments,
Language
88
Perceptual defense is
the process by which
it is thought that
certain stimuli are
either not perceived
or are distorted due
to their offensive,
unpleasant, or
threatening nature
89