Perception:
TASK 1
Goldstein, Chapter 1:
The paradox we face is that although we still don’t understand perception, perceiving is something that occurs
almost effortlessly. In most situations, we simply open our eyes and see what is around us, listen and hear
sounds, eat and taste, without expending any particular effort.
In this chapter, we will consider a few practical reasons for studying perception, how perception occurs in a
sequence of steps, and how to measure perception.
But one of the things you will learn as you study perception is that everything you see, hear, taste, feel, or smell
is created by the mechanisms of your senses.
Perception depends on the properties of sensory receptors.
The Perceptual Process:
,Perception begins with a stimulus (I see something) and
ends with conscious experience of perceiving it (It is a tree),
recognition (it is not an oak tree but a maple tree)
taking action (getting closer to the tree)
Step 1&2: Stimuli
The reflection of light from the tree introduces one of the central principles of perception, the
principle of transformation, which states that stimuli and responses created by stimuli are
transformed, or changed, between the environmental stimulus and perception.
The fact that an image of the tree is focused on the retina introduces another principle of
perception, the principle of representation, which states that everything a person perceives is
based not on direct contact with stimuli but on representations of stimuli that are formed on
the receptors and on activity in the person’s nervous system.
The environmental stimulus (tree) is transformed into the image on the retina, and this image
represents the tree in person’s eyes.
n The tree (environmental stimulus, step 1) becomes ‘image of the tree on the
retina.’(the stimulus on the receptors, step 2)
Step 3: Receptor Processes & Transduction
Transduction: transforming light energy into electrical energy.
Sensory receptors: cells specialized to respond to environmental energy. Each sensory
system responds to a specific type of energy.
Visual receptors = light energy
Auditory receptors = pressure changes in the air
Touch receptors = pressure changes through the skin
Smell and taste receptors = chemical energy
, When the visual receptors receive the light reflected from the tree, two things happen:
1) Transforming environmental energy into chemical energy. (transduction)
2) They shape perception by the way they respond to a stimulus.
Visual receptors transform light energy into electrical energy because they contain a light
sensitive chemical called visual pigment, which reacts to light.
Transduction by the visual pigments is crucial for perception, because without it information
about the representation of the tree formed on the retina would not reach the brain and
perception would not occur.
TASK 1
Goldstein, Chapter 1:
The paradox we face is that although we still don’t understand perception, perceiving is something that occurs
almost effortlessly. In most situations, we simply open our eyes and see what is around us, listen and hear
sounds, eat and taste, without expending any particular effort.
In this chapter, we will consider a few practical reasons for studying perception, how perception occurs in a
sequence of steps, and how to measure perception.
But one of the things you will learn as you study perception is that everything you see, hear, taste, feel, or smell
is created by the mechanisms of your senses.
Perception depends on the properties of sensory receptors.
The Perceptual Process:
,Perception begins with a stimulus (I see something) and
ends with conscious experience of perceiving it (It is a tree),
recognition (it is not an oak tree but a maple tree)
taking action (getting closer to the tree)
Step 1&2: Stimuli
The reflection of light from the tree introduces one of the central principles of perception, the
principle of transformation, which states that stimuli and responses created by stimuli are
transformed, or changed, between the environmental stimulus and perception.
The fact that an image of the tree is focused on the retina introduces another principle of
perception, the principle of representation, which states that everything a person perceives is
based not on direct contact with stimuli but on representations of stimuli that are formed on
the receptors and on activity in the person’s nervous system.
The environmental stimulus (tree) is transformed into the image on the retina, and this image
represents the tree in person’s eyes.
n The tree (environmental stimulus, step 1) becomes ‘image of the tree on the
retina.’(the stimulus on the receptors, step 2)
Step 3: Receptor Processes & Transduction
Transduction: transforming light energy into electrical energy.
Sensory receptors: cells specialized to respond to environmental energy. Each sensory
system responds to a specific type of energy.
Visual receptors = light energy
Auditory receptors = pressure changes in the air
Touch receptors = pressure changes through the skin
Smell and taste receptors = chemical energy
, When the visual receptors receive the light reflected from the tree, two things happen:
1) Transforming environmental energy into chemical energy. (transduction)
2) They shape perception by the way they respond to a stimulus.
Visual receptors transform light energy into electrical energy because they contain a light
sensitive chemical called visual pigment, which reacts to light.
Transduction by the visual pigments is crucial for perception, because without it information
about the representation of the tree formed on the retina would not reach the brain and
perception would not occur.
