LECTURE 5

SENSATION &
PERCEPTION
Part 1

freepik.com
 Learning Outcomes

1. Distinguish between sensation and perception

2. Discuss the meaning and significance of sensory adaptation

3. Describe the role of the lens and the pupil in the functioning of the eye

4. Discuss the visual receptors of the retina

5. Describe the Gestalt principles of visual perception

6. Describe the monocular and binocular cues employed in depth perception

Sensation, perception and more
terminology
Sensation …is the stimulation of the senses

…is the selection, organisation and

interpretation of the incoming
Perception
sensation

Sensation begins with a stimuli – any detectable input

from the environment e.g.ringing bell, barking dog
 a dividing point between energy
Threshold levels that do and do not have an
effect

Absolute the minimum amount of stimulation

threshold an organism can detect

the smallest difference in the amount

Just
Noticeable of stimulation that a specific sense can
Difference detect
 Gradual decline in the sensitivity
to prolonged stimulation
sensory
adaptation
similar to habituation

What happens if you’ve been in a smelly room long enough?

If you ‘ve been swimming for 2hours, does the water still feel as
cold as it was when you started?
Clipartkey.com
 The Visual System
• to see there must be light
Electromagnetic radiation:

• Light is an electromagnetic radiation that travels as a wave Retrieved from: sites.google.com

• refers to changing electric and magnetic fields that travel through space
forming an electromagnetic wave
• each wave has different properties, e.g. wavelength and amplitude

• the visible spectrum is only a small portion of what humans can see
• us humans can’t see on the ultraviolet or infrared spectrum
• https://sites.google.com/a/coe.edu/principles-of-structural-chemistry/relationship-between-light-and-m
atter/electromagnetic-spectrum
• Incoming visual input (what you see) is converted into neural
impulses that are sent to the brain
https://www.intracoastaleye.com/understanding-the-basic-anatomy-of-the-eye/
 The
The role of Visual System:
the lens and the pupil in the
functioning of the eye
• Light (stimulus energy) enters the eye through the
transparent window at the front -cornea, and moves
through the pupil (black dot – hole) – the lens behind the
cornea focuses the light rays forming on the retina
• in so doing an upside down image of objects falls onto the
retina,
• the lens then adjusts/focuses the image.

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000109.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HGxjs_aYyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuWb1L2Vwsk
Light (object) ----------------cornea--------------pupil----------------lens------------------------retina (upside down)
 The Visual system
The role of the lens and the pupil in the functioning of the eye

Lens facilitates accommodation – meaning that the

curvature of the lens changes to alter visual focus
• If you are focusing on a close object – the lens gets rounder (and
fatter) to give a clear image,
• If you are focusing on a distant object – the lens flattens to give a
better image
• The pupil regulates the amount of light reaching the retina:
• constricts to allow less light and therefore gives a sharper image)
• The iris surrounds it and is a coloured ring of muscle
 Can see clearly objects that are close, but
nearsightedness blurry when objects are far - focus of light falls
short of the retina

Sees objects that are far very well, while close

farsightedness objects are blurry – focus of light falls behind
the retina

cataract When your lens is clouded

 The Visual System: visual receptors of
the retina
This is the neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the
The
eye,
Retina
It is a complex layer of specialised cells arranged in layers
• It absorbs light
• Processes images
• Sends visual information (images) to the brain

The axons that run from the retina to the brain converge at the optic disk – the
hole in the retina where the optic fibers exit the eye.
Images falling on the optic disk create a blindspot as images falling on it cannot
be seen – however the brain fills in
https://www.intracoastaleye.com/understanding-the-basic-anatomy-of-the-eye/
 The Visual System: visual
receptors of the retina
Two types of
Cones:
•Stubby (thick)
receptors
•Play a role in daylight
Rods:
and colour vision
•Elongated
•Provide better visual
•Play a role in night and
acuity – sharpness, detail These are neural peripheral vision
•Concentrated in the cells on the inner •Are found on the outer
centre of the retina: layer of the areas of the retina
• This area is called retina, which are
‘fovea’, where receptive to light
visual acuity is
greatest
The Visual System: visual
receptors of the retina

Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/science/photoreception/Structure-and-function-of-photoreceptors

The Visual System: visual receptors of
the retina
Light adaptation:
the process whereby our eyes become less sensitive to light in
high illumination e.g. when you live the house and step out to a
Cones & bright sunny day
Rods
receptors
also play a
role in: Dark adaptation:
the process in which our eyes become more sensitive to light in
low illumination, e.g. when you enter a dark room your eyes will
focus on whatever light that is available
 The Visual System: visual receptors of
the retina
When an image is presented on the retina:
•The receptors trigger neural firing that move through the cells in the retina

•Signals move from receptors, to bipolar cells to ganglion cells (which integrate
and compress lots of signals) and then send impulses along the optic nerve (a
collection of axons that connect the eye to the brain)
•The axons carry away the information, encoded as a stream of neural impulses

•The receptive field of a visual cell, is the retinal area that, when stimulated,
effects the firing of that cell
•In receptive fields, light falling in the middle can have a different effect from
light falling on the side – this affects the speed of firing
 The Visual System: Pathways to the
Brain
• The optic chiasm is an X-shaped structure
located in the forebrain,
• the point at which axons from inside
half of each eye cross over (intersect)
and project to the opposite half of
the brain
• Meaning that signals (images) from both
eyes go to both halves of the brain
• After the optic chiasm the optic nerve splits
along two pathways
Retrieved from: http://www.google.co.za/imgres?biw=1600&bih=783&tbm=isch&tbnid=kelibfrvOtYyvM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F
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%2Focutech.com.saffron.arvixe.com%2Fimages%2Foptic-nerve-disorders-
004.jpg&w=225&h=264&ei=y17zUpW3N8qthQfm94CwAg&zoom=1&ved=0COUBEIQcMC8&iact=rc&dur=358&page=2&start=27&ndsp=29
 The Visual System: Pathways to
the Brain
Pathway I: Two Pathways Pathway 2:
goes to the thalamus, goes to the midbrain
where 90% of axons before traveling to
meet at the lateral the thalamus to the
geniculate nucleus occipital lobe.
(LGN) which processes Projects to a
the signal and sends it different part of the
to the occipital lobe thalamus and
and the primary visual occipital lobe.
cortex Coordinates visual
input with other
sensory input
Colour is a psychological interpretation, not a physical property of light. quora.com
Perceived colour is primarily the function of the predominant wavelength in
the mixture

Properties of colour: https://www.tutorialsteacher.com/sass/sass-color-

functions
• Wavelength determines colour
• Longer = red / shorter = violet
• Amplitude determines brightness
• Purity determines saturation (dispersion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_fZPHasdo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIMZDsoq6G8
 The Visual system: Theories of Colour Vision
1. Trichromatic Theory:
According to Young and Helmholtz:
• The human eye has 3 types of receptors, with differing
sensitivities to different light wavelengths
• The eye has specialized receptors that are sensitive to
wavelengths associated with red, green or blue
• The eye is able to do its own colour mixing by varying the ratio
of neural activity among the 3 types of receptors
• Colour blindness – a deficiency in the ability to distinguish among
colours
• Happens to people who are ‘dichromats’:
• i.e. they only have two instead of three receptor
types
https://azretina.sites.arizona.edu/index.php/
node/1152
 What number do you see?

Retrieved from: http://www.google.co.za/imgres?hl=en&biw=1600&bih=783&tbm=isch&tbnid=v9DmN99bZCzjkM%3A&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fsimple.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki

%2FColor_blindness&docid=d8bcWSfH-hV3TM&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fe
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 The Visual System: Theories of Colour Vision
2. Opponent Process Theory:
According to Ewald Hering:
•receptors make antagonistic (opposing) responses
to particular colours
•He identified three pairs of opposing colours:
• Red vs green, blue vs yellow, black vs white https://www.quora.com/How-can-you-explain-the-
Opponent-Process-Theory-using-pictures-for-clarification
(check out a ‘colour circle’ on the internet to see complementary colours)

•A receptor may be sensitive to a particular pair, and responds in opposite

ways to the colours of that pair

•Regarding colour blindness, - argues that colour blind people (dichromats)

typically find it difficult to distinguish either green from red or yellow from
blue – thus confirming the validity of these pairs (according to OPT)
The Visual System: Theories of Colour Vision
Reconciling Theories of Colour
Vision

Both theories are necessary to explain colour vision

• Perception of colour appears to involve stages of information

processing:
• first stage cells (cones) seem to follow trichromatic
theory,
• later stage cells in retina and brain seem to follow OPT
 The Visual system

•How are neural impulses converted

into perceptions?
 The Visual System

Retrieved from: http://www.google.co.za/imgres?biw=1600&bih=783&tbm=isch&tbnid=93kuwH31HEO5DM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F

%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOptical_illusion&docid=_lDJAJt0YwnOLM&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons
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 The Visual System

Retrieved from: http://www.google.co.za/imgres?biw=1600&bih=783&tbm=isch&tbnid=93kuwH31HEO5DM%3A&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOptical_illusion&docid=_lDJAJt0YwnOLM&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia

%2Fcommons%2F4%2F45%2FDuck-Rabbit_illusion.jpg&w=519&h=350&ei=g1zzUtWBHJKBhAf1w4HQBg&zoom=1&ved=0CFAQhBwwAA&iact=rc&dur=8378&page=1&start=0&ndsp=26
 The Visual System: Perception
• The same visual input can result in different
.perceptions
– perception is subjective – also explains why people’s
experience of the world is subjective
• We view the world / situations on the basis of:
• a perceptual set: a readiness to perceive a stimulus in a
particular way
• selection of sensory input or inattentional blindness - the
failure to see fully visible objects/events on display because
one’s attention is focused elsewhere
 The Visual System
To understand perception it is important to understand
how
. visual input is organised and interpreted i.e. feature
analysis:
•This is a process of detecting specific elements in visual
input and assembling them into a more complex form
•There is a series of organisational principles that
describe how the visual system organises information
• These principles help to understand how perceptions
result in representations of the real world
 The Visual System: Perception
The Gestalt Principles of Visual Organization:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wsu-sandbox/chapter/gestalt-principles-of-perception
Figure- The figure is the thing being looked at, and the ground is the background against
ground which it stands (which can change in reversable pictures)

Proximity Things that are near one another seem to belong together

Similarity Stimuli that are similar tend to be grouped together

Closure The tendency to ‘complete’ figures that have gaps – to find meaning

The tendency to follow in whatever direction is being led – to see elements as

Continuity
producing a smooth continuation

Simplicity Viewers tend to organise forms in the simplest way possible

 The Visual System: Perception
Visual stimuli may be divided into two groups:
• Distal - stimuli outside the body, in distance – object that is
being looked at
• Proximal - stimulus energies impinging on sensory receptors
– i.e. patterns of stimuli from these objects and events that
actually reach your senses (i.e. specific details of the object
and the context surrounding the object being looked at)

• The perceptual system makes a perceptual hypotheses

about which distal stimuli could be responsible, for the
proximal stimuli sensed
The Visual System: Depth & Distance Perception

Depth Perception:
•This involves the interpretation of visual cues that indicate how near or
far objects are,
•It relies on a variety of clues that can be divided into two:
• Binocular Cues
• Monocular Cues
 The Visual System: Depth & Distance Perception
Binocular depth cues:
•These are clues about distance that are based on differing views of the
two eyes.
•A principal binocular depth cue is retinal disparity:
• which refers to the fact that objects within 25 feet (~7 metres)
project images to slightly different locations on the right and left
retina, meaning that the right and left eye see slightly different
views of the same object.
• The closer an object is, the greater the disparity between the
images seen by each eye, meaning that retinal disparity increases as
objects become closer, which therefore provides the brain with
information about distance
The Visual System: Depth & Distance Perception
MONOCULAR CUES – clues about distance based on image in
either eye alone
• Motion parallax: refers to the fact that objects moving at a constant
speed across the frame will appear to move faster if they are closer to an
observer (or camera) than they would if they were at a greater distance.
• This gives clues about depth and the distance of the images you are looking at, as
they are moving across the retina at different rates in each eye.

• Pictorial depth cues: these are cues about distance, that can be given in a
flat surface
• There are many pictorial depth cues, which make many photographs and
paintings to look so real and ‘alive’
 Linear
Parallel lines that run away from the viewer seem to get closer together
perspective

Texture As distance increases texture gradually becomes less distinct, but for nearer areas
gradient it appears more defined (coarser)

Interposition The shapes of near objects overlap or mask those that are more distant

If separate objects are expected to be of the same size, the larger ones are
Relative size
perceived as closer

Height in Objects that are near appear low in the visual field, while more distant ones seem
plane to be higher up

Light & Patterns that are light and dark suggest shadows that can create an impression of
shadow three-dimensional forms
 The Visual System: Depth &
Distance Perception
Perceptual constancies & Visual illusions
• Perceptual constancies:
• A perceptual constancy is the tendency to experience a
stable perception in the face of continually changing sensory
input
• We tend to view objects as having a stable size, shape, colour
etc even though input from our eyes may slightly change (see
notes below).
• Visual illusions:
• A visual illusion involves an apparently inexplicable
discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and
its physical reality
 The Visual System

As the door opens, there

are slight changes of
sensory input on our
retina, however, we still
continue to perceive the
door as rectangular –
perceptual constancy

Retrieved from: slideshare.net

 The Visual system
Visual illusion: apparent inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of
a visual stimulus and its physical reality

Sometimes
perceptions are
based on
inappropriate
assumptions!
Could this wheel
be really moving?

Retrieved from: http://www.google.co.za/imgres?biw=1600&bih=783&tbm=isch&tbnid=vcYEmVfEZoeJHM

%3A&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttp%2Fwww.mental.visnsoft.com
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