SENSATION AND

PERCEPTION
a unit lesson plan
for BHM, NTHMC
contents
1 Procedural Timeline

3 Introduction

5 Content Outline

19 Activities

39 References

41 Resources

49 Discussion Questions
procedural timeline

1
Lesson 1: Introduction to Sensation and Perception
Activity 1.1: Sensation: Movement Detectors

Lesson 2: Vision and Audition

Activity 2.1: Distribution of Rods, Cones, and Color Vision in the
Retina
Activity 2.2: Blind Spot in Vision Activity 2.3: Locating Sound
Sources

Lesson 3: Other Senses

Activity 3.1: Sensory Interdependencies

Lesson 4: Perception
Activity 4.1: The Stroop Effect
introduction

S
ensation and Perception is an area in psychology that is “demonstration- 3
rich.” In many cases, there is no need to collect many data
points, compute averages, or do statistical testing to determine if
an effect occurred. In most
situations, the phenomenon can be seen or heard by the students.

Another bonus is that many of the demonstrations are available to

teachers on websites. Most websites have decent explanations
presented alongside the demonstration (see the Resources section for
examples). Nonetheless, reviewing the websites prior to use is
essential. Although the demonstrations might be explained well, slight
differences could occur. These differences could be confusing to
students. Thus, you will want to be sure the explanation is accurate.

LESSON 1 is an overview of sensation and perception. The main

purpose of the lesson is to give students the vocabulary for the study
of sensation and perception. Lesson 1 connects these concepts to
real-life situations such as hearing or vision tests.

LESSON 2 describes the visual and auditory systems. This lesson

concerns neuroanatomy, focusing on the eye and ear. It is possible
to spice up the presentation by discussing disorders of sensation
and perception, such as near- and far-sightedness, color blindness,
and some relatively rare brain disorders (e.g., prosopagnosia).

LESSON 3 reviews the other senses (e.g., gustation, olfaction, and somesthesis).

LESSON 4 moves to perception, from the ability to sense a stimulus,

to selecting and interpreting the stimulus. Some of the material is
historically significant, such as the Gestalt approach, which remains
an important set of concepts in contemporary psychology. The role
that expectations play on a person’s perception is also included.
content outline

LESSON 1: Introduction to Sensation and Perception 5

OVERVIEW:An important theme in this lesson is that external information

gets recoded (transduced) into neural activity. In other words, one type
of information (e.g., light energy) is changed into a different type of
information (e.g., neural activity in the optic nerve). There are limits on
both the types and the amount of external information to which a
person is sensitive. It is also important to note that the relationship
between the external stimulus (i.e., the nominal stimulus) and the
internal representation (i.e., the functional stimulus) is NOT one-to-
one.

I. Sensation is the process by which we

receive information from the environment.

A. What kind of information? A stimulus is a detectable input

from the environment:

1. Light—vision

2. Sound—hearing

3. Chemicals—taste and smell

4. Pressure, temperature, pain—sense of touch

5. Orientation, balance—kinesthetic senses

B. Environmental information (stimuli) exists in many forms:

1. A physical stimulus must first be introduced. For

example: air vibrations, gases, chemicals, tactile
pressures
 2. Our senses respond to a limited range of
environmental stimuli. For example, we cannot
hear sound of frequencies above 20,000 Hz, even
though dogs can hear them.

C. Some physical stimuli that our bodies are sensitive to:

1. Light as experienced through vision

a.Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

b.Properties of light
i. Intensity (experienced as brightness)
ii. Wavelength (experienced as hue)
iii.Complexity or purity
(experienced as
saturation)

2. Sound as experienced through

audition Properties of sound

i. Intensity (influences mainly loudness)
ii. Frequency (influences mainly pitch)
iii. Wave form (influences mainly timbre)
iv. As noted above, there is not a one-
to-one relationship between physical
properties and perceptual experience.
For example, intensity can also
influence perception of pitch.

D.Sensory processes are the initial steps to perception.

6
1. Transduction is the process of converting energy of a
stimulus into neural activity. The stimulus is recoded
as a neural pattern.

2.Transduction can be affected by our experiences,

such as through adaptation; a constant level of
stimulus results in a decreased response over time.
With continued exposure, the neural response to the
stimulus may change. Adaption is also perceptual,
not just sensory.

II. Perception is the process of selecting and

identifying information from the environment.

A. Perception is the interpretation of information from the

environment so that we can identify its meaning.

B. Sensation usually involves sensing the existence of a

stimulus, whereas perceptual systems involve the
determination of what a stimulus is.

C. Expectations and perception: Our knowledge about the world

allows us to make fairly accurate predictions about what
should be there—so we don’t need a lot of information from
the stimulus itself.

1. Bottom-up processes are processes that are involved

in identifying a stimulus by analyzing the information
available in the external stimulus.
This also refers to information processing that
begins at the receptor level and continues to
higher brain centers.
 2. Top-down processes are processes that are involved
in identifying a stimulus by using the knowledge we
already possess about the situation. This knowledge
is based on past experiences and allows us to form
expectations about what we ought to perceive.

a.This also refers to information processing that

begins in higher brain centers and proceeds
to receptors.
b.Top-down processes allow for perceptual
judgments and bias to start influencing how we
process incoming stimuli and information. Early
incoming information
is already being processed in terms of
top-down influences and previous
experience.

III. Psychophysics is the study of the mathematical or

functional relationship between physical energy
and psychological experience. For example, how much
more
intense must a stimulus be in order for us to perceive a change in intensity?
Psychophysics tells us that the amount of change needed depends
on the initial intensity. A quiet sound needs to be turned up less
than a louder sound.
Classroom lights can provide a simple demonstration of this; if the main
lights are already on and you add an additional light, perception of
brightness changes little. But if you start with the room mostly dark and add
the same additional light, there is a large change in perception of
brightness.

A.Thresholds
7
1. Absolute threshold

a.The point at which a stimulus can be

detected 50 percent of the time
b.Given a particular stimulus, the minimum
stimulation needed for detection
c. Students should be familiar with hearing
tests and vision tests. It may be possible to have
the school nurse or speech pathologist come in and
talk about hearing tests and how they are
designed. Similarly, an ophthalmologist or
optometrist could address vision tests.

2. Difference threshold

a.The minimal change in stimulation that can be

reliably detected 50 percent of the time
b.Also called the just noticeable difference (jnd)

B. Signal-detection theory: theory which suggests how

individuals are able to detect a minimal stimulus (signal)
among other background stimuli (noise). This may influence
how individuals make a decision in a specific situation.

C. Receptor sensitivity is subject to change.

1. Sensory adaptation: a decline in receptor activity when

stimuli are unchanging (e.g., noticing a noisy fan as
one first enters a room, yet the noise seems to abate
after a short time)
 2. Habituation or adaptation: a decline in response to
a stimulus due to repeated presentation of the
stimulus; this happens at the neural level.

See Activity 1.1: Sensation: Movement Detectors.

LESSON 2: Vision and Audition

OVERVIEW: This section concerns the anatomy of two important sensory

systems, the visual and the auditory systems. The description of the
organization of each begins with the “outermost” structures and works
toward the brain. The outermost parts of the systems are designed to
be sensitive to information in the environment (light and sound), to
protect themselves and other sensitive structures (e.g., position of the
cheekbone, eyelids, tears, ear drum position, etc.), and to be able to
direct the system toward relevant stimuli—e.g., eye movements. Once
the light or sound energy is initially encoded on the retina or inner ear,
the remainder of the system is described by tracing the paths of the
sensory neurons to higher centers in the brain.

I. Vision

A. Vision begins with light entering the eye.

1. Human photoreceptors in the eye are sensitive

to wavelengths of light energy called the visible
spectrum.

2.The visible spectrum ranges from red to violet.

8
B. Structures of the eye

1. Sclera: mostly “white part” of eye that provides

protection and structure

2. Cornea: specialized, transparent portion of the sclera

content

through which light enters

3.The iris is the pigmented muscle that gives the eye

its color and regulates the size of the pupil. The
muscles of the iris control the amount of light
entering the eye.

4. Pupil: opening in iris

5.The lens is the transparent, shape-changing convex

structure that focuses images on the retina. The lens
must accommodate in order to focus on a specific
object. The ciliary muscles relax for objects in the
distance and constrict, which thickens the lens, for
close items.

6. Retina: layer containing two types of photoreceptors—

rods and cones—that transduce light energy to
electrochemical energy

See Activity 2.1: Distribution of Rods, Cones, and Color

Vision in the Retina.

a.Rods
i. Located primarily in the retina’s periphery
ii. Capable of receiving light energy in low light
iii.Not involved with color perception
 b. Cones
i. Concentrated in the middle of the
retina in the fovea
ii. Involved with color perception in bright light
c.Both rods and cones synapse with bipolar
cells, which synapse with ganglion cells,
which form the optic nerve.
d.The blind spot is where the optic nerve
connects to the eye and contains neither
rods nor cones.

See Activity 2.2: Blind Spot in Vision.

C. Coding information in the retina

1. A receptive field is an area in the retina to which a

particular neuron is sensitive. Receptive fields are
made up of only rod or cone receptors, which send
visual signals to a ganglion cell in the retina.

2. In the retina, there are sets of receptor cells

connected to ganglion cells. There are two general
types of receptor cells:

a. On-center, off-surround
b.Off-center, on-surround
c. Receptive fields are described by their
response properties. For example, an on-
center, off-surround receptive field’s ganglion
cell will respond maximally
to light projected on the center of the field (on-center) 9
as long as no light is projected on the
surrounding region (off-surround.). The
reverse is true for off- center, on-surround
cells.
d.The existence of these types of cell
organization makes the visual system more
sensitive to changes in amount of light—which
correspondingly helps us to distinguish objects
from the background.

D.Visual pathways from the eye

1.The optic chiasm is the junction of the two optic

nerves where fibers from the nasal (i.e., side closer to
the nose) sides of the two retinas cross. The nerve
fibers from the peripheral (i.e., side further from the
nose) sides of the two retinas do not cross to the other
side of the brain. The result is that the left half of the
world is represented in the right hemisphere of the
brain and vice-versa.

2. Visual cortex: located in the occipital lobe of both

hemispheres and contains the many specialized cells
for visual perception

E. Color theories

1. Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

a.The retinas contain three types of cone

 cells, each responding best to a particular
wavelength of
light. One type of cone cell responds best to
short wavelengths (blue light), a second type
responds best to medium wavelengths (green
light), and a third type responds best to long
wavelengths (red light).
b.“Other colors” are perceived through the
mixing of signals from the cones.
 2. Opponent process theory

a.Two-color processes, one for red versus green

perception, and one for yellow versus blue
perception
b.In the thalamus, some neurons are turned on
by red but off by green, for example, which
helps explain afterimages. The negative color
after-image of the
U.S. flag is a great demonstration of this.

3. How we perceive color is informed by types of color blindness.

a. In monochromatic color blindness, the person

cannot see any color at all.
b.In dichromatic color blindness, the person
perceives only two of the three visual
pigments.

F.Common problems with vision

1. Cataracts: clouding of the lens of the eye; affects

acuity and color vision

2. Retinopathy: damage to the small blood vessels;

begins to leak and may cause blurred vision, blind
spots, or floaters

1. Glaucoma: fluid pressure builds up inside the eye,

damaging the optic nerve; blurred vision and loss of
10 peripheral vision

2. Macular degeneration: inability to see objects

clearly; distorted vision and dark spots in the
center of vision

3. Hyperopia (farsightedness): focusing the image

behind the retina; difficulty in seeing objects close
up

II. Audition 4. Myopia (nearsightedness): focusing the image in

front of the retina; difficulty in seeing objects far
away

A. Begins with sound entering the ear

1. Sound is mechanical energy typically caused by

vibrating objects.

2.Vibrations produce movement of air molecules (sound waves).

3. Moving one’s head helps in detecting the source of a sound.

See Activity 2.3: Locating Sound Sources.

B. Structures

1. Pinna: external (visible) flap of skin and cartilage

2. Auditory canal: part of outer ear along with pinna,

 leads to tympanic membrane

3. Tympanic membrane: also called eardrum, separates

outer ear from middle ear and vibrates with
reception of sound
 4. Ossicles: three bones in middle ear
(malleus/incus/stapes or hammer/anvil/stirrup) set in
motion by ear drum that transmit sound vibrations to
the cochlea

5. Cochlea: a part of the inner ear, contains fluid and receptors

a. Basilar membrane: subject to pressure

changes in cochlear fluid; contains the organ
of Corti, an organ that contains auditory
sensory (hair) cells
b.Hair cells: Hair cells of the organ of Corti
deflected by fluid movement trigger neural
impulses to the brain via the auditory nerve.

C. Characteristics of sound

1. Frequency corresponds to the perceptual term pitch.

Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).

2. Amplitude corresponds to the perceptual term loudness

(volume). Amplitude is measured in decibels (dB). The
decibel scale is logarithmic, so a small change in dB is
actually
a large change in intensity. Exposure to intense
sounds can cause hearing loss. You may want to give
examples of common sounds at different dB levels as a
demonstration.

3. Complexity corresponds to the perceptual term timbre

(quality). Complexity is measured by looking at the shape 11
of the sound waveform. This can be assessed by
looking at how much the sound wave deviates
from a sine wave
(a waveform with a variation) or by decomposing the
sound into its sine wave components in Fourier
analysis. For example, it is interesting to compare a
tone played by a violin to the same tone played by a
trumpet. They can have identical loudness and pitch
but certainly will sound different.

D.Auditory theories

1. Place theory: Differences in pitch result from

stimulation of different areas of the basilar
membrane.

2. Frequency theory: Differences in pitch are due to

rate of neural impulses traveling up the auditory
nerve.

E. Hearing deficits

1. Conductive deafness: This is when sound waves are

unable to be transferred from outer to inner ear;
causes include tumors, objects in ear canal, infections,
otosclerosis (genetic; degeneration of the middle ear
bones). Other than treating the infection and swelling,
metal bones can serve as replacements.
2. Sensorineural deafness: This is damage to the inner
ear or auditory nerve leading to the brain. Causes
include infections, genetic defects, exposure to loud
noises, trauma, high blood pressure, diabetes, MS.
Treatments include hearing aids and cochlear
implants (electronic device implanted under the skin
behind ear which bypasses damaged cells and
transmits electronic signals from sounds directly to
the brain).
 3. Perception and attention change to make other
incoming information more important with the lack of
auditory input. For example, deaf people focus more
on mouth movements and other visual inputs from
the environment, which change the nature of how
they process information. The same is true for deficits
in the other senses.

LESSON 3: Other Senses

I. Gustation (taste)

A. Taste cells are chemical-sensitive receptors located in taste bud clusters.

1.Taste buds and papillae are located on the tongue, in

the throat, and on the soft palate.

2. For a stimulus to be tasted, it must be dissolved.

B. Receptors are sensitive to five basic taste qualities:

1. Sweetness

2. Saltiness

3. Sourness

12 4. Bitterness

5. Umami—glutamates

Given the complexities and recent discovery of

umami, its classification as a fifth taste quality is
a source of current debate (for an overview of
umami research, see Beauchamp, 2009).

C. Other influences on taste: Smell, touch, and temperature can

influence taste. It is possible to demonstrate how the flavor of
food can be changed by the food’s texture or the aroma it
exudes. For example, have students taste a jelly bean or chocolate
while holding their nose so they can’t smell the aroma—then have
them release their nose and breathe, which will enhance the flavor
(always be sure to check about food allergies before introducing foods
in the classroom). This type of test is also possible for foods with
different textures and temperatures.

D.Types of tasters: This is based primarily on the work of Linda

Bartoshuk (e.g., Bartoshuk, Duffy, & Miller, 1994), who
differentiated different types of tasters based on the density
of taste buds on their tongues. Bartoshuk distinguished three
types of tasters based on their sensitivity to different tastes.
This can lead to a great discussion of food preferences and
“picky” eaters.

1. Non-tasters are people who are unable to taste the

chemical propylthiouracil (PROP), a bitter compound.

2. Medium tasters are people with an average number of

taste buds; they taste the bitter PROP at an average or
medium level.
 3. Supertasters are people who are extremely sensitive
to some tastes, have a high number of taste buds,
and are highly sensitive to PROP; women are more
likely than men to be supertasters.

II. Olfaction (smell)

A. Receptors for smell are located on the olfactory epithelium,

a thin membrane found in the upper nasal cavity.

1. Olfactory cells carry information to the olfactory

bulb. The olfactory bulb activates the prefrontal
cortex.

2. Olfactory receptor neurons have a life cycle of about

30 days and are continually created.

3. Olfactory cells in the olfactory epithelium are

stimulated by gases dissolved in the fluid covering
the membrane.

4. For a stimulus to be smelled, it must be dissolved.

B. Odors or scents stimulate the olfactory epithelium.

1. Odors can evoke highly emotional memories (e.g., Herz, 2004).

2. On average, women detect odors more readily than

men. Also, brain responses to odors are stronger in
women than in men (Kalat, 2007). 1

C. Pheromones: same-species odors, used as a form of

chemical communication

D.Anosmia is the loss or lack of sense of smell. Specific

anosmia is the inability to smell a single chemical.

III. Somesthesis—the mechanical senses

A. Somesthesis refers to the mechanical senses, including

kinesthesis, vestibular sensation, and the skin senses.

B.Kinesthesis

1. Communicates information about movement and

location of body parts

2. Receptors found in joints and ligaments

C.Vestibular sense

1.This is also called equilibratory sense.

2. Receptors are in semicircular canals and

vestibular sacs found in the inner ear.

3.This is concerned with the sense of balance and

knowledge of body position.
 4.The vestibular organ monitors head
movements and movements of the eyes.

5.The semicircular canals are filled with a jelly-like

substance lined with hair cells.

D. Skin senses

1. Basic skin sensations include cold, warmth, pressure, and pain.

2. Current research does not support the belief that

specialized receptor cells for each of the four skin
sensations exist.

E. Touch plasticity

When an area of the skin is used a lot, it becomes

more sensitive, and the receptors actually “take over”
more brain space in the corresponding sensory region
of the brain. Thus, when blind people use their first
two fingers for brail, it has been found that in the
brain, the region of the cortex devoted to these two
fingers actually spreads and takes over less- used
cortex from other touch areas. Thus, physical
experience
14 changes the brain directly (this has broader connections for
F. Pai the influence of experience on perceptual processing and
n thought).

1. Pain (Kalat, 2007): the experience evoked by a harmful

stimulus; directs our attention toward a danger and
holds our attention

2. Basics of pain

a. Pain is not triggered by one stimulus (e.g., as

light does for vision), and at certain intensities
other stimuli can cause pain (e.g., coolness).
b.Pain circuit: Sensory receptors respond to
potentially damaging stimuli by sending an
impulse to the spinal cord, which sends the
message to the brain, which interprets the
signal as pain.
c.Thicker and faster axons convey sharp pain,
and thinner ones convey dull pain. These
axons enter the spinal cord, where they
release two neurotransmitters depending on
the severity of the pain:
i. Mild pain releases glutamate.
ii. Severe pain releases both
glutamate and Substance P, a
neuromodulator.
iii.Pain receptors can also react to chemicals.
(1)For example, capsaicin is a
chemical found in hot peppers
that stimulates pain receptors.
(2)Capsaicin also leads to
insensitivity to pain.
3. Pain relief: Endorphins block the release of Substance
P in the spinal cord and brain stem.
 4. Gate control theory of pain: The brain can only focus on
one pain stimulus at a time (see Melzack & Wall,
1965).

a. Pain messages from the body travel along

a set of spinal cord nerve fibers, and all
other sensory messages travel along
another set. These pain
messages are an example of bottom-up processing.
b.Fibers carrying pain messages have pain
gates, which open during a painful
experience.
c.The non-pain fibers, however, can
sometimes close the pain gates if there is
competing stimulation to larger nerve fibers.
This can explain how rubbing or icing can
seem to help relieve pain.

5.Top-down processing can also occur during the pain

experience because your brain plays an important
role in whether or not you will perceive pain and how
that perception will occur. For example, athletes are
so focused on the competition that they often are
unaware of any injuries until after they have finished
competing.

6. Phantom limb pain: The person feels pain in

area of amputated limb.

a.Phantom limb sensations suggest that the brain can 15

misinterpret spontaneous central nervous
system activity that still occurs even when
normal sensory input (from limbs, eyes,
nose, or skin) is not there.
b.See Melzak (1992, 1993) and Ramachandran (2007).

See Activity 3.1: Sensory Interdependencies.

LESSON 4: PERCEPTION

OVERVIEW:Perception first involves finding and attending to a stimulus,

then distinguishing the stimulus from everything else (the
background) and identifying the stimulus. These steps occur so quickly
and with so little effort that it takes careful study to understand how
complicated it all is.

Activity 4.1: The Stroop Effect is a good example of interference, suggesting we

are not always in control of what we pay attention to.

I. Attentional processes
A. Attention: a process in which consciousness is focused on
particular stimuli

1. Selective attention: ability to focus on one stimulus

while excluding other stimuli that are present
 2. Divided attention: ability to respond to more than one stimulus

II. Perceptual abilities

A. Perceptual organization: processes that group smaller units
of the perceptual world into larger units
 B. Gestalt (German for “whole”): The whole experience is
greater than the sum of the individual parts.

C. Figure-ground perception: tendency to organize the visual

field into objects (figures) that stand apart from
surroundings (ground)

D.Gestalt principles of perceptual organization: Gestalt

psychologists believed that the world is organized around
best forms—some of which are defined geometrically, such as
a circle, square. Perceptual systems tend to “gravitate”
toward those forms so that the resultant perception may be
biased toward a particular interpretation.

1. Law of Pragnanz

a. Also called the law of simplicity

b.Tendency to see things in the simplest form

2. Closure: filling in missing information from the

perceptual array by closing in gaps

3. Laws of grouping

a. Similarity: grouping things on the basis of how

similar they are to one another
16 b. Proximity: grouping things on the basis of
how near they are to one another

E. Perceptual constancy

1. Shape constancy: Perceived shape of an object

remains constant despite changes in the shape of
the retinal image of that object.

2. Size constancy: Perceived size of an object remains

constant despite changes in the size of the retinal
image of that object.

F.Depth perception: perceived by using a number of cues

1. Binocular cues: depth cues provided by both eyes

a. Binocular disparity: takes account of the

disparate images of each retina; a depth cue
resulting from slightly different images
produced by the retina of the left eye and the
retina of the right eye (Blair-Broeker & Ernst,
2008)

2. Monocular cues: depth cues provided by one eye

a. Motion parallax is the phenomenon where

near objects are seen as moving more
rapidly than far objects when the viewer’s
head is moving.
b.Texture gradient is when the texture of a
surface receding in the distance changes in
 clarity, blurring at further distances.
c. Linear perspective is produced by
apparent converging of parallel lines in
the distance.
 d. Interposition: One item blocks the view of
items in back of it.
e. Relative height: Objects higher in the
perceptual field are farther away.
f. Light and shadow: Lighter objects appear closer.

3. An occulomotor cue is a depth cue based on our

ability to sense the tension in our eye muscles and
the position of our eyes.

a.Accommodation
i. Bulging and elongating of lens
ii.Effective only for objects within 25 feet
b.Convergence is the name of the cue that takes
account of the muscle tension resulting from
external eye muscles that control eye
movement. Convergence is sometimes
classified as a binocular cue since it requires
both eyes.

G.Pattern perception

1. Also called form perception

2. Refers to recognition and identification of faces, words,

shapes, melodies, and so on 17

3. Begins with specific features, such as lines, and

builds a perception that provides a more
complex form

a. Feature-analysis theory: Patterns are identified

by a step-wise perceptual and decisional
analysis of their distinctive features.
b.A template theory describes pattern recognition.
Patterns are identified by comparing whole
patterns to mental blueprints (templates) stored
in memory until an exact match is found.

III. Perceptual illusions occur when sensory stimuli

are misinterpreted; demonstrate how we typically
interpret sensations.
A. Perceptual illusions include the Müller-Lyer illusion, the Ames
room, other illusions based on Gestalt principles (e.g.,
closure), and other perceptual sets mentioned above.

B. Perceptual illusions demonstrate how easy it is to

misinterpret sensory input. However, illusions also reveal
the strategies we use to interpret sensations correctly.

The resources at the end of this Unit Lesson Plan provide some
examples of cases where top-down processing can mislead us to
see (or hear) things that are not actually there.
\
discussion questions

1.
Why are human beings sensitive only to certain types of stimuli? For 49
example, why can’t we see ultraviolet light or hear sounds that a dog can?

2.
List occupations in which good vision, hearing, or other senses
would be important for success. Be sure to list the reasons why.
Are there occupations in which poor ability in one of the senses
would be dangerous?

3.
Do good readers need to use less bottom-up processing
(processing the printed words) than poor readers? Why? Use
examples.

4.
Why do our eyes point in the same direction, yet our ears point
in opposite directions?

5.
Explain how an aftereffect works.

6.
In neuroanatomical terms, what are the fundamental
differences between sensation and perception?

7.
Why do we have senses of smell and taste? What purpose do
those senses serve with regard to survival?

8.
Give an example of the gate theory. Why do you believe the
brain reacts to pain in this fashion?

9.
Which sense do you feel is the most important? Least important?

10.
Why do artists, especially painters, need to understand
perception? Give examples of how they use the fundamental
ideas of perception.

11.
What are some of the ways road signs are designed to help
drivers see them accurately?

12.
Can you think of occupations where excellent depth perception is required?