Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(Original PDF) Sensation and Perception 10th Edition by E. Bruce Goldstein
(Original PDF) Sensation and Perception 10th Edition by E. Bruce Goldstein
ChAPTer 1 ChAPTer 2
vi
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
MeThod | Preferential Looking 44
ChAPTer 4
TeST YoUrSeLF 2.2 45
Think AboUT iT 46
keY TerMS 47
Cortical Organization 73
ChAPTer 3
Neural Processing 49
Contents vii
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
ChAPTer 5 What Directs Our Attention? 127
Visual Salience 127
Perceiving Objects and Scenes 93 deMonSTrATion | Attentional Capture 127
Cognitive Factors 128
What Are the Benefits of Attention? 130
Attention Speeds Responding 130
MeThod | Precueing 130
Attention Can Influence Appearance 132
Attention Can Influence Physiological Responding 133
TeST YoUrSeLF 6.1 135
deMonSTrATion | Perceptual Puzzles in a Scene 93
Attention and Experiencing a Coherent World 136
Why Is It So Difficult to Design a Perceiving Why Is Binding Necessary? 136
Machine? 96 Feature Integration Theory 136
The Stimulus on the Receptors Is Ambiguous 96 deMonSTrATion | Searching for Conjunctions 138
Objects Can Be Hidden or Blurred 97
What Happens When We Don’t Attend? 138
Objects Look Different From Different Viewpoints 97
Inattentional Blindness 138
Perceptual Organization 98
Change Blindness 139
The Gestalt Approach to Perceptual Grouping 98 deMonSTrATion | Change Detection 139
Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization 100 Is Attention Necessary for Perceiving Scenes? 140
Perceptual Segregation 102
Distraction 141
deMonSTrATion | Finding Faces in a Landscape 105
Distraction and Task Characteristics 141
TeST YoUrSeLF 5.1 106
Attention and Perceptual Load 142
Perceiving Scenes and Objects in Scenes 106
Something to Consider: Distracted Driving 143
Perceiving the Gist of a Scene 107
MeThod | Using a Mask to Achieve Brief Stimulus
Developmental Dimension: Attention and Perceptual Completion 144
Presentations 107 MeThod | Habituation 145
Regularities in the Environment: Information for Perceiving 108 TeST YoUrSeLF 6.2 146
deMonSTrATion | Visualizing Scenes and Objects 109 Think AboUT iT 147
The Role of Inference in Perception 111 keY TerMS 147
TeST YoUrSeLF 5.2 112
Connecting Neural Activity and Object/Scene
Perception 113 ChAPTer 7
Brain Responses to Perceiving Faces and Places
Spotlight on the Parahippocampal Place Area
113
113
Taking Action 149
Neural Mind Reading 114
MeThod | Neural Mind Reading 114
Something to Consider: Are Faces Special? 116
Developmental Dimension: Infant Face Perception 119
TeST YoUrSeLF 5.3 120
Think AboUT iT 120
keY TerMS 122 The Ecological Approach to Perception 149
The Moving Observer Creates Information in the
ChAPTer 6 Environment 150
Self-Produced Information 151
Visual Attention 125 The Senses Do Not Work in Isolation 152
deMonSTrATion | Keeping Your Balance 152
Staying on Course: Walking and Driving 153
Walking 153
Driving a Car 154
Wayfinding 155
The Importance of Landmarks 155
The Brain’s “GPS” 157
Scanning a Scene 126 Individual Differences in Wayfinding 159
deMonSTrATion | Looking for a Face in the Crowd 126 TeST YoUrSeLF 7.1 160
viii Contents
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Acting on Objects 160 Something to Consider: Motion Responses to Still Pictures 189
Affordances: What Objects Are Used For 160 Developmental Dimension: Biological Motion Perception
The Physiology of Reaching and Grasping 161 in Newborns 191
Observing Other People’s Actions 163 TeST YoUrSeLF 8.2 192
Mirroring Others’ Actions in the Brain 163 Think AboUT iT 192
Predicting People’s Intentions 164 keY TerMS 193
Something to Consider: Action-Based Accounts of Perception 166
Developmental Dimension: Imitating Actions 167
TeST YoUrSeLF 7.2 168
ChAPTer 9
Think AboUT iT 169
keY TerMS 169
Perceiving Color 195
ChAPTer 8
Contents ix
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
deMonSTrATion | Perceiving Lightness at a Corner 219
ChAP Ter 11
Something to Consider: Color Is a Creation of the Nervous
System 219 Hearing 259
Developmental Dimension: Infant Color Vision 222
TeST YoUrSeLF 9.3 223
Think AboUT iT 223
keY TerMS 224
ChAPTer 10
Perceiving Depth and Size 227 The Perceptual Process for Hearing 260
Physical Aspects of Sound 260
Sound as Pressure Changes 260
Pure Tones 261
MeThod | Using Decibels to Shrink Large Ranges
of Pressures 262
Complex Tones and Frequency Spectra 263
Perceptual Aspects of Sound 264
Perceiving Depth 227
Thresholds and Loudness 264
Oculomotor Cues 228 Pitch 266
deMonSTrATion | Feelings in Your Eyes 229 Timbre 267
Monocular Cues 229 TeST YoUrSeLF 11.1 267
Pictorial Cues 229 From Pressure Changes to Electricity 268
Motion-Produced Cues 232 The Outer Ear 268
deMonSTrATion | Deletion and Accretion 233 The Middle Ear 268
Binocular Depth Information 233 The Inner Ear 269
deMonSTrATion | Two Eyes: Two Viewpoints 233 How Frequency Is Represented in the Auditory
Seeing Depth With Two Eyes 234 Nerve 272
Binocular Disparity 235 Békésy Discovers How the Basilar Membrane
Disparity (Geometrical) Creates Stereopsis (Perceptual) 239 Vibrates 272
The Correspondence Problem 240 The Cochlea Functions as a Filter 273
The Physiology of Binocular Depth Perception 242 MeThod | Neural Frequency Tuning Curves 274
TeST YoUrSeLF 10.1 243 Returning to the Outer Hair Cells: The Cochlear
Amplifier 274
Perceiving Size 243
TeST YoUrSeLF 11.2 276
The Holway and Boring Experiment 244
Size Constancy 246 The Physiology of Pitch Perception 276
x Contents
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
ChAPTer 12 ChAPTer 13
Contents xi
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
The Plasticity of Cortical Body Maps 342 Individual Differences in Taste 367
Perceiving Details 342 TeST YoUrSeLF 15.1 368
MeThod | Measuring Tactile Acuity 343
Olfaction and Flavor
Receptor Mechanisms for Tactile Acuity 343
deMonSTrATion | Comparing Two-Point The Functions of Olfaction 368
Thresholds 344 Olfactory Abilities 369
Cortical Mechanisms for Tactile Acuity 344 Detecting Odors 369
Perceiving Vibration and Texture 344 MeThod | Measuring the Detection Threshold 369
Vibration of the Skin 345 Discriminating Between Odors 370
Surface Texture 345 Identifying Odors 370
deMonSTrATion | Perceiving Texture With deMonSTrATion | Naming and Odor
a Pen 347 Identification 370
Perceiving Objects 347 Individual Differences in Olfaction 370
deMonSTrATion | Identifying Objects 347 Analyzing Odorants: The Mucosa and
Identifying Objects by Haptic Exploration 348 Olfactory Bulb 371
The Cortical Physiology of Tactile Object Perception 348 The Puzzle of Olfactory Quality 371
TeST YoUrSeLF 14.1 351 The Olfactory Mucosa 372
How Olfactory Receptor Neurons Respond
Pain Perception to Odorants 373
The Gate Control Model of Pain 351 MeThod | Calcium Imaging 373
Top-Down Processes 353 The Search for Order in the Olfactory Bulb 374
Expectation 353 MeThod | Optical Imaging 374
Attention 353 MeThod | The 2-Deoxyglucose Technique 375
Emotions 354 Representing Odors in the Cortex 375
The Brain and Pain 354 How Odorants Are Represented in the
Brain Areas 355 Piriform Cortex 376
Chemicals and the Brain 355 How Odor Objects Are Represented 376
Observing Pain in Others 357 TeST YoUrSeLF 15.2 378
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
D The Signal Detection Probability Distributions 391
The Criterion 391
Approach 388 The Effect of Sensitivity on the ROC Curve 392
Contents xiii
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Demonstrations
xiv
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Methods
xv
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Preface
by Bruce Goldstein
xvi
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
■ MindTap for Sensation and Perception engages Perceptual Principles (Chapters 1–4)
and empowers students to produce their best work—
consistently. For those courses that include MindTap, the ■ New discussion emphasizing the difference between
textbook is supplemented with videos, activities, apps, physical and perceptual
and much more. MindTap creates a unique learning path ■ New research that questions the lateral inhibition
that fosters increased comprehension and efficiency. explanation of the Chevreul and Hermann grid illusions
(Geier & Hudach, 2010)
For students: ■ Distributed mapping of visual categories across the
■ MindTap delivers real-world relevance with activi- cortex (Huth et al., 2012)
ties and assignments that help students build critical Visual Qualities (Chapters 5–10: Object and Scene;
thinking and analytic skills that will transfer to other Attention, Action, Motion, Color, Depth, and Size)
courses and their professional lives.
■ MindTap helps students stay organized and efficient ■ Bayesian inference and object perception (Geisler, 2011;
with a single destination that reflects what’s important Tanenbaum et al., 2011)
to the instructor, along with the tools students need to ■ Lateralization of FFA response to faces (Meng et al., 2012)
master the content. ■ Parahippocampal Place Area responds to sense of 3D
■ MindTap empowers and motivates students with infor- space (Mullally & Maguire, 2011)
mation that shows where they stand at all times—both ■ Attention synchronizes neural activity in the cortex
individually and compared to the highest performers (Baldauf & Desimone, 2014; Bosman et al., 2012)
in class. ■ Distracted driving (Hickman & Hanowski, 2012; Strayer
et al., 2013)
Additionally, for instructors, MindTap allows you to: ■ 2014 Nobel Prize research on the brain’s GPS (O’Keefe,
■ Control what content students see and when they see it Moser and Moser’s research; Moser, 2014)
with a learning path that can be used as is, or matched ■ Revised description of Reichardt motion detectors
to your syllabus exactly. ■ Expanded discussion of Newton’s color experiments and
■ Create a unique learning path of relevant readings, history of trichromatic and opponent-process theories
multimedia, and activities that move students up the ■ Discussion of crossed and uncrossed disparity
learning taxonomy from basic knowledge and compre- Hearing (Chapters 11–12: Pitch, Location, Organization)
hension to analysis, application, and critical thinking.
■ Integrate your own content into the MindTap Reader, ■ Physiology of pitch perception updated to reflect shift in
using your own documents or pulling from sources thinking from Bekesy place theory to filtering action of
like RSS feeds, YouTube videos, websites, Google Docs, basilar membrane, and emphasis on temporal factors
and more. ■ Pitch perception of resolved and unresolved harmonics
■ Use powerful analytics and reports that provide a (Oxenham, 2013)
snapshot of class progress, time in course, engagement, ■ Localization of pitch in auditory cortex (Norman-
and completion. Haignere et al., 2013)
■ Hidden hearing loss (Kujawa & Liberman, 2009; Plack
In addition to the benefits of the platform, MindTap et al., 2014)
for Sensation and Perception includes: ■ New section on music perception, emphasizing rhythm,
■ Exploration. The MindTap Exploration feature en- musical organization, and motor response to music
ables students to view experimental stimuli, perceptual (Chen et al., 2008; Grahn & Rowe, 2009; Krumhansl,
demonstrations, and short film clips about the research 1985; Patel et al., 1996)
being discussed. These features have been updated in Speech (Chapter 13)
this edition, and new items have been added to the labs
carried over from the ninth edition. Most of these items ■ Perceiving degraded speech (Davis et al., 2005)
have been generously provided by researchers in vision, ■ Cortical response to phonemes and phonetic features
hearing, and perceptual development. (Mesgarani et al., 2014)
■ Link between speech production and perception in the
cortex (Silbert et al., 2014)
Changes in This Edition ■ Social gating hypothesis of infant speech perception
(Kuhl, 2014)
This edition offers many improvements in organization,
The Skin Senses (Chapter 14)
designed to make the text read more smoothly and flow
more logically. In addition, each chapter has been updated to ■ Response of SA1 and PC fibers to coarse and fine textures
highlight new advances in the field, supported by over 190 new (Weber et al., 2013)
references. Here are a few examples of new material that has ■ Effect of expectation on pain reduction by drugs (Bingel
been added in this edition. et al., 2011)
Preface xvii
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
■ Comparing social pain and physical pain (Eisenberger, in turning my manuscript into a book. Thank you, Jill,
2014; Woo et al., 2014) not only for taking care of details, but for your flexibility
and your willingness to take care of all of those “special
The Chemical Senses (Chapter 15) requests” that I made during the production process.
■ Vernon Boes, art guru, who directed the design for the
■ Social effects of anosmia (Croy et al., 2013)
book. Thanks, Vernon, for our continuing relationship,
■ Revised estimate of the number of odors that can be
and the great design and cover.
discriminated (Bashid et al., 2014)
■ Ellen Pettengell for the elegant design and Denise
■ Diffuse representation of odorants in piriform cortex
Davidson for the striking cover.
(Omanski et al., 2014)
■ Peggy Tropp, for her expert and creative copyediting.
■ Kyra Kane, associate content developer, for helping initi-
ate the process involved in obtaining new interactions for
A Note on the Creation of This Edition MindTap.
I wrote the first nine editions of this book myself, but with the ■ Mary Noel for making MindTap for Sensation and
addition of James Brockmole of the University of Notre Dame, Perception happen.
this edition became a team effort. Taking the ninth edition as ■ Brittani Morgan and Deanna Ettinger for their relentless
the starting point, I revised Chapters 1–5 and 11–15, and Jim quests for permissions.
revised Chapters 6–10. Having Jim revise these chapters had a ■ Michelle Clark, senior content project manager, who
number of benefits. First, he brought new ideas to the material, coordinated all of the elements of the book during
which are reflected in changes such as updating the description production and made sure everything happened when
of the Reichardt motion detector, adding historical highlights it was supposed to so the book would get to the printer
about Newton, Helmholtz, and Hering to the discussion on time.
of color vision, and creating a number of new Developmental ■ Joshua Taylor, associate content vendor services manager,
Dimensions. Second, the process of revising all of the chapters for coordinating the Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and
was collaborative. We read and commented on each other’s PowerPoint slides.
chapters and made suggestions about new material to add and
In addition to the help I received from all of these people
old material that needed to be omitted. A third collaborator,
on the editorial and production side, I also received a great
who was crucial to the success of this project, was my longtime
deal of help from perception researchers. One of the things I
developmental editor, Shannon LeMay-Finn, who made sure
have learned in my years of writing is that other people’s ad-
we explained things clearly and in the same style throughout
vice is crucial. The field of perception is a broad one, and I
the book. The goal was to create a book that instructors
rely heavily on the advice of experts in specific areas to alert
would easily recognize because of its similarity to the previous
me to emerging new research and to check the content for
editions, but that also contains new research and reflects
accuracy. The following is a list of “expert reviewers.” Some
changing trends in the field.
checked entire chapters for accuracy and completeness (indi-
cated by *) and others checked portions of chapters that re-
lated directly to their research.
Acknowledgments Chapter 3
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the following people who Karl Gegenfurtner
worked tirelessly to turn the manuscript into an actual book. Giessen University, Germany
Without these people, this book would not exist, and both Jim
and I are grateful to all of them. János Geier
Stereo Vision Ltd., Budapest, Hungary
■ Tim Matray, editor, for providing resources to support
the book, and, most important, for your willingness to Chapter 6
listen to my concerns and to provide advice and support
regarding various situations that came up as I was writ- Conrado Bosman
ing the book. University of Amsterdam
■ Shannon LeMay-Finn, developmental editor extraordi- * Michael Dodd
naire, who has spoiled me with her attention to details, University of Nebraska
and with queries and suggestions that often amazed me.
Many of the details of this edition of the book owe their Pascal Fries
existence to Shannon’s perceptive feedback. Also thank Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt
you, Shannon, for your humor, for your appreciation of
Chapter 7
my humor, and for becoming interested in perception.
■ Jill Traut of MPS Limited Production Services, for * Rob McIntosh
taking care of the amazing number of details involved University of Edinburgh
xviii Preface
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 8 Chapter 14
* Duje Tadin Naomi Eisenberger
University of Rochester University of California, Los Angeles
Chapter 9 Tor Wager
University of Colorado
* Hannah Smithson
University of Oxford Chapter 15
Chapter 10 Marion Frank
University of Connecticut
* Julie Harris
University of St. Andrews Donald Wilson
New York University
Chapter 11
I also thank the following people who donated photographs
Nancy Kanwisher
and research records for illustrations that are new to this
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
edition.
Sam Norman-Haignere
Coronado Bosman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Radbond University, Nijmegen
* Andrew Oxenham
Matt Cashore
University of Minnesota
University of Notre Dame
Christopher Plack
Edward Chang
University of Manchester
University of California, San Francisco
William Yost
Naomi Eisenberger
Arizona State University
University of California, Los Angeles
Chapter 12
János Geier
Flavio Chamis Stereo Vision Ltd., Budapest
Composer/Conductor
Hirac Gurden
Matthew Davis University of Paris, Orsay
Medical Research Council, Cambridge
Uri Hasson
Diana Deutsch Princeton University
University of California, San Diego
Alex Huth
* Jessica Grahn University of Prague
University of Western Ontario
Ewald Hering
Stefan Koelsch University of California, Berkeley
Freie Universität Berlin
George L. Malcolm
* Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis George Washington University
University of Arkansas
Sam Norman-Haignere
Stephen McAdams Massachusetts Institute of Technology
McGill University
Andrew Oxenham
Robert Zatorre University of Minnesota
McGill University
Sarah Shomstein
Chapter 13 George Washington University
Edward Chang Pawan Sinha
University of California, San Francisco Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Uri Hasson I also thank Michael Hout of the University of New Mexico
Princeton University for tracking down many new demonstrations for the Explo-
ration feature of MindTap, and the many researchers who
contributed the demonstrations. These researchers are cred-
ited in the online Exploration feature.
Preface xix
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Perception is a miracle. Somehow,
the markings on this page become a
sidewalk, stone walls, and a quaint ivy-
covered house. Even more miraculous
is that if you were standing in the real
scene, the flat image on the back of
your eye would be transformed into
three-dimensional space that you could
walk through. This book explains how
this miracle occurs.
© Bruce Goldstein
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CHApTer 1
Introduction
to Perception
CHApTer CONTeNTs
Why Read This Book? Studying the Perceptual Process Five Questions About the Perceptual
The Two “Stimulus” Relationships World
The Perceptual Process
But What About “Sensation”? (A and B) something to consider: Why Is
Distal and Proximal Stimuli (Steps 1 The Physiology–Perception the Difference Between Physical
and 2) Relationship (C) and Perceptual Important?
Receptor Processes (Step 3) Cognitive Influences on Perception
THINK ABOUT IT
Neural Processing (Step 4) Measuring Perception
Behavioral Responses (Steps 5–7) Gustav Fechner Introduces Methods
Knowledge to Measure Thresholds
Some Questions We Will Consider: Hint: Humans and animals have solved these problems
in a number of elegant ways. They use (1) two spheri-
■■ Why should you read this book? (p. 4) cal sensors called “eyes,” which contain a light-sensitive
■■ What is the sequence of steps from looking at a stimulus like a chemical, to sense light; (2) two detectors on the sides of
tree to perceiving the tree? (p. 5) the head, called “ears,” which are fitted with tiny vibrat-
■■ What is the difference between perceiving something and ing hairs to sense pressure changes in the air; (3) small
recognizing it? (p. 8) pressure detectors of various shapes imbedded under the
■■ How do perceptual psychologists go about measuring the skin to sense stimuli on the skin; and (4) two types of
varied ways that we perceive the environment. (p. 13) chemical detectors to detect gases that are inhaled and
solids and liquids that are ingested.
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
The “science project” just described is about perception— they pass through airport security, speech recognition systems
conscious experience that results from stimulation of the that can understand what someone is saying, and highway
senses. Our goal in this book is to understand how humans signs that are visible to drivers under a variety of conditions.
and animals perceive, starting with the detectors—the eyes, But reasons to study perception extend beyond the pos-
ears, skin receptors, and receptors in the nose and mouth— sibility of useful applications. Studying perception can help
and then moving on to the computer—the brain. We want to you become more aware of the nature of your own perceptual
understand how we sense things in the environment and in- experiences. Many of the everyday experiences that you take
teract with them. The paradox we face is that although we still for granted—such as tasting food, looking at a painting in a
don’t understand perception, perceiving is something that oc- museum, or listening to someone talking—can be appreciated
curs almost effortlessly. In most situations, we simply open at a deeper level by considering questions such as “Why do I
our eyes and see what is around us, listen and hear sounds, eat lose my sense of taste when I have a cold?” “How do artists cre-
and taste, without expending any particular effort. ate an impression of depth in a picture?” and “Why does an
Because of the ease with which we perceive, many people unfamiliar language sound as if it is one continuous stream of
see perception as something that “just happens” and don’t see sound, without breaks between words?” This book will not only
the feats achieved by our senses as complex or amazing. “After answer these questions but will answer other questions that
all,” the skeptic might say, “for vision, a picture of the envi- you may not have thought of, such as “Why don’t I see colors at
ronment is focused on the back of my eye, and that picture dusk?” and “How come the scene around me doesn’t appear to
provides all the information my brain needs to duplicate the move as I walk through it?” Thus, even if you aren’t planning to
environment in my consciousness.” But the idea that percep- become a physician or a robotic vehicle designer, you will come
tion is not very complex is exactly what misled computer sci- away from reading this book with a heightened appreciation of
entists in the 1950s and 1960s to propose that it would take both the complexity and the beauty of the mechanisms respon-
only about a decade or so to create “perceiving machines” that sible for your perceptual experiences, and perhaps even with an
could negotiate the environment with humanlike ease. That enhanced awareness of the world around you.
prediction, made half a century ago, has yet to come true, even Because perception is something you experience con-
though a computer defeated the world chess champion in 1997 stantly, knowing about how it works is interesting in its own
and defeated two Jeopardy! champions in 2010. From a com- right. To appreciate why, consider what you are experiencing
puter’s point of view, perceiving a scene is more difficult than right now. If you touch the page of this book, or look out at
playing world championship chess or accessing vast amounts what’s around you, you might get the feeling that you are per-
of knowledge to answer quiz questions. In this chapter, we will ceiving exactly what is “out there” in the environment. After
consider a few practical reasons for studying perception, how all, touching this page puts you in direct contact with it, and it
perception occurs in a sequence of steps, and how to measure seems likely that what you are seeing is what is actually there.
perception. But one of the things you will learn as you study perception is
that everything you see, hear, taste, feel, or smell is the result of
the activity in your nervous system and your knowledge gained
from past experience.
Why Read This Book? Think about what this means. There are things out there
that you want to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. But the only
The most obvious answer to the question “Why read this way to achieve this is by activating sensory receptors in your body
book?” is that it is required reading for a course you are taking. designed to respond to light energy, sound energy, chemical
Thus, it is probably an important thing to do if you want to stimuli, and pressure on the skin. When you run your fingers
get a good grade. But beyond that, there are a number of other over the pages of this book, you feel the page and its texture
reasons for reading this book. For one thing, it will provide because the pressure and movement are activating small
you with information that may be helpful in other courses and receptors just below the skin. Thus, whatever you are feeling
perhaps even your future career. If you plan to go to gradu- depends on the activation of these receptors. If the receptors
ate school to become a researcher or teacher in perception or a weren’t there, you would feel nothing, or if they had different
related area, this book will provide you with a solid background properties, you might feel something different from what you
to build on. In fact, many of the research studies you will read feel now. This idea that perception depends on the properties of the
about were carried out by researchers who read earlier editions sensory receptors is one of the themes of this book.
of this book when they were undergraduates. A few years ago, I received an email from a student (not
The material in this book is also relevant to future stud- one of my own, but from another university) who was using
ies in medicine or related fields, because much of our discus- an earlier edition of this book.1 In her email, “Jenny” made a
sion is about how the body operates. Medical applications that
depend on an understanding of perception include devices to 1
Who is “I”? In various places in the book you will see first-person references such
restore perception to people who have lost vision or hearing as this one (“I received an email”) or others, like “a student in my class,” or “I tell my
and treatments for pain. Other applications include robotic students,” or “I had an interesting experience.” Because this book has two authors,
you may wonder who I or my is. The answer is that, unless otherwise noted, it is
vehicles that can find their way through unfamiliar environ- author B. G., because most of the first-person references in this edition are carried
ments, face recognition systems that can identify people as over from the 9th edition, which was written by B. G.
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
number of comments about the book, but the one that struck involves understanding not only how cells called neurons
me as being particularly relevant to the question “Why read work, but how they interact with each other and how they op-
this book?” is the following: “By reading your book, I got to erate within different areas of the brain. Another reason we say
know the fascinating processes that take place every second in the series of boxes in Figure 1.1 is simplified is that steps in the
my brain, that are doing things I don’t even think about.” Your perceptual process do not always unfold in a one-follows-the-
reasons for reading this book may turn out to be totally differ- other order. For example, research has shown that perception
ent from Jenny’s, but hopefully you will find out some things (“I see something”) and recognition (That’s a tree”) may not al-
that will be useful, or fascinating, or both. ways happen one after another, but could happen at the same
time, or even in reverse order (Gibson & Peterson, 1994). And
when perception or recognition leads to action (“Let’s have a
The Perceptual Process closer look at the tree”), that action could change perception
and recognition (“Looking closer shows that what I thought
Perception happens at the end of what can be described, was an oak tree turns out to be a maple tree”). This is why there
with apologies to the Beatles, as a long and winding road are reverse arrows between perception, recognition, and action.
(McCartney, 1970). This road begins outside of you, with stim- In addition, there is an arrow from “action” back to the stimu-
uli in the environment—trees, buildings, birds chirping, smells lus. This turns the perceptual process into a “cycle” in which
in the air—and ends with the behavioral responses of perceiv- taking action, for example, walking toward the tree, changes
ing, recognizing, and taking action. We picture this journey the observer’s view of the tree.
from stimuli to responses by the seven steps in Figure 1.1, Even though the process is simplified, Figure 1.1 provides
called the perceptual process. The process begins with a stim- a good way to think about how perception occurs and intro-
ulus in the environment (a tree in this example) and ends with duces some important principles that will guide our discus-
the conscious experiences of perceiving the tree, recognizing sion of perception throughout this book. In the first part of
the tree, and taking action with respect to the tree. this chapter, we will briefly describe each stage of the process;
Because this process is involved in everything we will be in the second part, we will consider ways of measuring the
describing in this book, it is important to note that Figure relationship between stimuli and perception.
1.1 is a simplified version of what happens. First, many things
happen within each “box.” For example, “neural processing,”
But What About “Sensation”?
Before we begin describing the stages of the perceptual pro-
cess, let’s consider something that may have occurred to you:
Why is Figure 1.1 called the perceptual process, when the title
of this book is Sensation and Perception? To answer this ques-
Perception Recognition Action
tion, let’s consider the terms sensation and perception. When a
distinction is made between sensation and perception, sensation
is often identified as involving simple “elementary” processes
5 6 7 that occur right at the beginning of a sensory system, as when
light stimulates receptors in the eye. In contrast, perception is
identified with complex processes that involve higher-order
mechanisms such as interpretation and memory that involve
Neural Knowledge activity in the brain. It is therefore often stated, especially in
processing introductory psychology textbooks, that sensation involves de-
tecting elementary properties of a stimulus (Carlson, 2010),
4 and perception involves the higher brain functions involved in
interpreting events and objects (Myers, 2004).
Keeping this distinction in mind, let’s consider the dis-
plays in Figure 1.2. Figure 1.2a is extremely simple—a single
Receptor Light is reflected Stimulus in the dot. Let’s for the moment assume that this simplicity means
processes and focused environment that there is no interpretation or higher-order processes, so
sensation is involved. Looking at Figure 1.2b, with three dots,
3 2 1 we might now think that we are dealing with perception, be-
cause we interpret the three dots as creating a triangle. Going
Figure 1.1 The perceptual process. These seven steps, plus
“knowledge” inside the person’s brain, summarize the major events
even further, we can say that Figure 1.2c, which is made up of
that occur between the time a person looks at the stimulus in the many dots, is a “house.” Surely this must be perception because
environment (the tree in this example) and perceives the tree, it involves many dots and our past experience with houses. But
recognizes it, and takes action toward it. Figures 1.3–1.6 describe let’s return to Figure 1.2a, which we called a dot. As it turns
the steps in the perceptual process in more detail. out, even a stimulus this simple can be seen in more than one
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Soitto kaikuu ulkoravintoloista ja torvet kimaltelevat auringossa.
Pikkulapset juoksentelevat punaisina, valkoisina taikka sinisinä ja
leikkivät hiekkaläjissä tynnyrinvanteilla, palloilla taikka
ilmarakkuloilla. Ne nauravat ja lörpöttelevät, taikka itkevät
hillittömästi, kun ilmarakkula on karannut ja josta pian näkyy
ainoastaan pieni pilkku kaukana, kaukana — lähellä aurinkoa.
3.
Helsingissä 1900.
Äiti
Siis olet sinä tullut, rakas poikani — kiitos, kiitos, että tahdoit
vaivata itseäsi pitkällä matkalla. Varmaankaan ei ollut niin hauska
jättää elämää siellä, opinnoita, suuria kaupunkia, rikasta luontoa ja
mahtavia vuoria, tullaksesi tänne vähävaraiseen kotiisi näkemään
vanhan äitisi kuolevan pois luotasi ja isäsi luota — kiitos tulemastasi
— nyt olette te minulla molemmat vieressäni — elä itke, katsos, ei
koko maailman tiede voi pelastaa minua, sillä ääni sydämmessäni
puhuu tyynesti ja varmasti, että kuolema lähenee — —
*****
*****
*****
Ei, antakaa minun vaan puhua nyt, kun kerran olen alkanut. Niin,
minä kiitän molempia sydämellisesti kaikesta siitä onnesta, mikä on
tullut osakseni, kaikesta mitä olette antaneet minulle. Olen
tyytyväinen ja onnellinen vielä kuollessanikin — joka ei ollenkaan
tunnu minusta vaikealta. Kuoleman kauhun asemasta, josta olen
lukenut ja kuullut puhuttavan, on, kuten jo sanoin ihmeellinen
sopusointu sydämessäni — ei mitään tuskia enää, ainoastaan
väsymystä — ja sitten nuo ihmeen ihanat soinnut — joiden syytä ja
alkua en täydellisesti voi selvittää. — Mutta ehkä sentään voinkin —
se johtui juuri mieleeni, kun kohtasin katseesi, rakas poikani. Mutta
minä kokoan vähän voimia.
*****
Niin, se oli sinun kotiintulosi, joka saatti sopusointuisuuden
sydämessäni ylimmilleen — se herätti täyteläisempään eloon
tunteen, joka aikaisemmin piili siellä pohjalla — nyt on se paisunut
ilahuttamaan viimeisiä hetkiäni. Se on päässyt valtaan aina, kun olen
lukenut rakkaita kirjeitäsi, poikani katsos, se on nuoruuden runous,
joka on herännyt täyteen kukoistukseen, se on kaikkein
näköalavuorella haaveilemieni unelmain täyttymys, joka vaikuttaa
tämän onnellisen tunteen kuoleman läheisyydessä. Katsos, lapseni,
— niin, sinähän olet kaikessa tapauksessa minun lapseni, niin vanha
kuin oletkin — katsos, sinä olet saavuttanut sen, josta minä
haaveilin, sinä olet nähnyt välkkyvät meret, suuret kaupungit ja
pulppuavan elämän, sinä olet tutkinut tieteitten pesäpaikoissa, sinä
olet katsellut äärettömiä avaruuksia ja kiivennyt korkeille alpeille,
jotka lumikoristuksessaan loistavat punaisina ilta-auringossa ja
ikäänkuin mahtavat aatteet ja ajatukset pyrkivät avaruutta kohti —
sinä olet nähnyt kaiken tämän ja saavuttanut. Ja sittenhän on, kuin
jos minä itse olisin tehnyt sen — nähkääs, tämä mahtoi sentään olla
kaikkein nuoruuden unelmaini sisältö. — Niin poikani, vanha äitisi on
elänyt useamman elämän, isän ja sinun ja hän on ollut onnellinen
teidän menestyksistänne, hänellä on mielestään ollut osansa
kaikesta, mitä te olette toimittaneet — ja tämä tietoisuus, joka nyt on
selvinnyt varmuudeksi, mahtaa olla se, joka hymnin lailla kaikuu
minulle ja täyttää sydämeni elämän täyteläisyydellä ja taittaa
kuolemalta kärjen.
*****
Päiväkirjasta.
Toukokuun 3 päivä.
Kuinka vanha hän nyt olisikaan? kun lasken. Niin, hän olisi nyt
kolmenkymmenen vuotias, koska Signe on kuuden.
Minä muistan esim. vielä aivan hyvin, kuinka minä muutama päivä
jälkeen kuolemantapauksen osottauduin taitamattomaksi ja
tuhmaksi. Minun oli onnistunut pukea Signen päälle noin jotensakin
ilman muistutuksia hänen puoleltaan, ja kun hän oli valmis, oli hän
mielestäni erinomaisen hyvin puettu. Sitten menimme me
kahvipöytään.
"Jos hän näkisi, niin kyllä kai Signe hänen mielestään olisi oikein
taitava, kun voi kaataa kahvia isälle."
"Kyllä varmaan."
"Mihin, torilleko?"
"Niin, torille."
Toukokuun 10 päivä.
Niin, minä luotan itseeni, minä uskon, että minä voin johtaa hänen
mahdollisuutensa kehitykseen, minä ainakin teen mitä voin, se on
oleva elämäni tarkoitus ja päämäärä — pöytäkirjain tästedes vaan
ollessa sivuseikkana, välikappaleena.
Toukokuun 20 päivä.
Tänne tulee tätejä sekä isän että äidin puolelta puhumaan Signen
tulevaisuudesta, hänen koulunkäynnistään — vaikka se onkin liian
aikaista vielä, voi ja tuleekin joka tapauksessa sitä ajatella, eihän
keskusteleminen vahingoita asiaa.
"Mitä se on? Tuleeko hänen oppia lukemaan ulkona, tai mitä sinä
tarkoitat?"
"Ehkä."
Toukokuun 25 päivä.
"Isä, Fiina sanoo, että jos Signellä ei olisi sinua, niin ei Signellä
olisi ketään, jonka luona olla, sitten kun äiti on mennyt taivaaseen."
"Äidin täytyi mennä, mutta isän ei täydy, isän täytyy olla täällä —
miten on sinun uuden nukenvaunusi laita, sopiiko se hyvin nukelle?"
"Kuinka hyvä sinä olet, isä, annat Signelle uusia vaatteita, uudet
kengät ja leikit kanssani kaikenmoista."
Toukokuun 27 päivä.