elementary features or building blocks of an experience

Purpose: transform stimuli or energy from the environment into the language of the brain; first contact of stimuli w/ receptors

collection of processes used to arrive at meaningful interpretation of the sesations

experience of stimulit

Tasks of sensory systems

(2)

1. Transduction: process by which receptors make elctrical changes in response to a receptor potential

2. Coding: Preservation of info about the quantity and quality of a stimulus

1. Taste

2. Touch(pain&temp)

3. vision

4.Hearing

5. Smell

already have pre-existing knowledge and beliefs that is driving the perceptual process;

top refers to the brain

Vision

Structure of the Eye

1. Parts that focus light

1. Cornea: clear tissue, protects eye ball

2. Iris: ring of colored tissue around center hole, muscle fibers(colored), widens pupil regulating how much light enters the eye

3. Pupil: allows light to enter eye

4. Lens: flexible piece of tissue that helps focus light toward the back of the inner eyeball

Structures of the Eye

2. Parts that transduce light

1. Retina: photosensitive surface around the eye, receptor cells

Rods: 120 million located on the side, seeing something out of the corner of your eye, active in low light, sensitive to light, night vision, not good detail

Cones: takes a lot of light to activate, can see things in fine detail with cones, primarily used for processing color(day vision)

Fovea: process images when looking straight at them

Blind-Spot: no photoreceptors, where optic nerve exits the eye

3 colors theory, light hues

Red, blue, green primary colors

3 photorecptors corresponding to these 3 hues, each photorecptor respond to a certain wavelenght

Color Blindness

Dichromats

Color Blindness

Monochromats

Perception of Objects

Gestalt Principles of Organization

1. Proximity: elements in display are close to each other, tend to be grouped together as part of the same object

2. Similarity: if items share similar physical characters, tend to be grouped together in the same set

3. Good Continuation: idea that if lines are crossed/interuppted tend to see them as continually flowing lines

4. Figure: ground relationship (figue&background)

5. Closure: even if in figure there is a gap/missing we tend to perceive the object as complete

6. Common Fate: if thing appear to be moving in same direction tend to group them together

Perception of Depth

Binocular Cues

2 eye perceive depth

eye convergence(crossed-eyes)

inocular disparity: difference between location of images on retina between left & right eye

Perception of Depth

Monocular Cues

(6)

1 eye to perceive depth

Relative Size: same sized objects will produce different sized retinal images (either close/farther away)

Overlap: objects that are overlapped are seen as being behind those that overlap them

Linear Perspective: parallel lines off in the distance are seen as coming together the further away they are

Haze: distance objects in a field of view tend to look blurry & bluish

Height: higher objects in field of view are usually percieved as being further away than objects closer

Shading...

Parts of the Ear

OUter ear

direct sounds inward (high quality sound)

1. auditory canal

2. Tympanic membrane (eardrum)

Parts of the Ear

Middle Ear

Parts of the Ear

Inner ear

Inner Ear

Cochlea

boney structure, shaped like a snail, is the sound transducer

Parts...

a. Basilar membrane: lines the cochlea, containing fluid

b. hair cells: move back & forth in the fluid

C. cilia: start to move when fluid moves, are receptors which send neurons to auditory nerve

Inner ear

Auditory Nerve

Inner ear

 Semi-Circular Canals

Auditory Perception

Place theory

(high pitch)

Auditory Perception

Frequency theory

(low pitch)

pitch perception is determined by the frequency of neural impulses corresponds to the frequency of the sound waves