Resource: Visualizing Psychology
Read questions 1, 2, & 4 located in Critical and Creative Thinking Questions in Ch. 4 of Visualizing Psychology.
Answer each question in at least 50 words.
1. Sensation and perception are closely linked. What is the central distinction between the two?
The central distinction between the two are: Sensation is the way we receive information through our five senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste) and relays that information to the brain through our sensory receptors, neurons then carry this information to the brain. Perception is how we interpret that information and translate it from our sensory receptors to our real world environment. 2. If we sensed and attended equally to each stimulus in the world, the amount of information would be overwhelming. What sensory and perceptual processes help us lessen the din?
We have sensory receptors that are specialized for sensory reduction. This is the process where our sensory receptors are filtered and analyzed before being sent to the various parts of the brain. Once the information travels to the brain there is a coding process that differentiates between the various stimuli and perceives this information before sending that information through to various parts of the brain. This process helps lighten the load on the brain from having overwhelming information being sent to the brain all at once.
4. What senses would likely be impaired if a person were somehow missing all of the apparatus of the ear (including the outer, middle, and inner ear)?
The sense of hearing would greatly be affected if you were missing all the ear apparatuses. You would no longer be able it receive information through sound and your body would have to compensate for that. With one sense shut down you would have a heighten sense of sight and smell to compensate and would receive far