Macmillan Online Learning Center for Unit 4
Unit 4: Sensation and Perception Reading Guide:
Module 16: Read this module IN DEPTH – there are a lot of important principles that will come up throughout the unit.
Module 17: Read this Module (no Reading Quiz). NOTE: This is a short Module; you might want to get a head start on Module 18, which is very long and dense.
Module 18: Read this Module IN DEPTH. NOTE: This is a long and dense section; I suggest spreading it out our over two or more days.
Module 19: Read this Module IN DEPTH
Module 20: Read this Module IN DEPTH.
Module 21: SKIM this Module for the following (we will also cover this Module in a lecture and class activities) – No Quiz
Module 16: Read this module IN DEPTH – there are a lot of important principles that will come up throughout the unit.
- Know the definitions for sensation and perception and the difference between them.
- Understand the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing.
- Know what selective attention is a be able to come up with a couple of examples.
- How is selective attention different than selective inattention.
- Define and give examples of inattentional blindness, change blindness, and choice blindness
- Know the three steps that are basic to all sensory systems and how transduction and psychophysics work in sensation.
- Understand what an absolute threshold is and what signal detection theorists seek to understand. How might our detection of a stimulus depend on our psychological state?
- What are subliminal stimuli and how have experiments confirmed that we can evaluate a stimulus even though we are unaware of our evaluation?
- What is the difference threshold (or just noticeable difference), and how does Weber’s law apply?
- Define sensory adaptation and give a couple of examples of how constant exposure to a stimulus affects our sensation and perception. What is a key benefit of sensory adaptation?
Module 17: Read this Module (no Reading Quiz). NOTE: This is a short Module; you might want to get a head start on Module 18, which is very long and dense.
- perceptual set – Once we have formed a wrong idea about reality, why do we have more difficulty seeing the truth? Give an example of how perceptual set can effect what we see, hear, and taste.
- context effects – How does context effect our perceptions? Make sure to read and understand the examples given in the textbook.
- How do emotion and motivation influence our perceptions? Give a couple of examples.
- Define extrasensory perception (ESP) and parapsychology. Explain the scientific attitude toward ESP and parapsychology.
Module 18: Read this Module IN DEPTH. NOTE: This is a long and dense section; I suggest spreading it out our over two or more days.
- Know the steps involved in vision:
- Eyes receive light
- Eyes transform light into neural messages
- Brain processes these messages into what we see (from the thalamus and onto the visual cortex in the occipital lobe)
- Stimulus Input – light energy: How do the following effect our visual perception?
- wavelength
- hue
- intensity
- Draw the figure of the eye on p. 172, or find a good visual online to cut and paste into your notes. Label the following AND know the function of each.
- pupil
- iris
- lens
- retina
- fovea
- cornea
- optic nerve
- How do rods and cones help us see, and how do they differ in where they are found and what they do?
- What and where is the blind spot?
- Make sure you understand Figure 18.6 (Pathway from the eyes to the visual cortex) on p. 175.
- Define feature detectors and how do they enable parallel processing?
- Where is the facial recognition area?
- What is meant by the following: We see with our brain as much as we see with our eyes?
- What happens when a stroke or injury damages the brain’s visual cortex?
- What is blindsight?
- Figure 18.10 (crouching tiger) is a good summary of visual information processing.
- Why is a tomato “everything but red”?
- Explain the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory. What leads to color-deficient vision, and why don’t we say these people are colorblind?
- How does opponent-process theory explain afterimages?
- Explain the two stages of color processing.
Module 19: Read this Module IN DEPTH
- Define gestalt and explain what is emphasized by Gestalt psychologists.
- What is meant by the following: Our brain does more than register information about the world?
- For each of the following, understand how each of the following is related to perceptual organization:
- figure-ground
- grouping
- proximity
- continuity
- closure
- What is depth perception, and what did Gibson and Walk’s visual cliff experiment reveal?
- How are depth cues such as binocular cues, retinal disparity, and monocular cues used to judge depth and the distance of nearby objects?
- Explain and give an example of the phi phenomenon.
- Define perceptual constancy and color constancy and explain the difference. Also know:
- brightness/lightness constancy
- shape constancy
- size constancy
- What is meant by the following: Comparisons govern our perceptions?
- Make sure to understand Figure 19.8 (p. 188) and Figure 19.10 (p. 189).
- Do a quick summary of research on restored vision, sensory restriction, and perceptual adaptation. How do those studies address the question: How does experience effect perception?
Module 20: Read this Module IN DEPTH.
- Include definitions of the following:
- audition
- frequency
- pitch
- Draw or cut and paste diagram of the ear (p. 196). Identify and understand the function of each:
- middle ear
- cochlea
- inner ear
- auditory nerve
- auditory cortex
- Understand the difference between sensorineural hearing loss and conduction hearing loss, and how a cochlear implant can restore hearing loss for people with nerve deafness.
- How do we detect loundness and pitch, and how do we locate sounds? Make sure to understand:
- place theory
- frequency theory
Module 21: SKIM this Module for the following (we will also cover this Module in a lecture and class activities) – No Quiz
- biological influences of pain – gate-control theory
- psychological influences – memories of pain
- social-cultural influences
- controlling pain – placebos, distraction
- Read and understand Table 21.1 (p. 207)
- Understand Figure 21.5, specifically how smell moves from sensory input to higher regions of the brain.
- How can we explain an odor’s power to evoke memories?
- Define and understand:
- kinesthesia
- vestibular sense
- sensory interaction
- embodied cognition
- Table 21.2 (p. 211) is a good summary of how all of the senses work.