Sensation and Perception Review

Absence of normal levels of sensory stimuli

• Sensory Deprivation

• Sensory overload

• Sensation

• Senses

• Excessive stimulation. Can lead to fatigue and mental confusion.

• Sensory deprivation

• Sensory overload

• Sensation

• Senses

The weakest amount of stimulation required to produce a sensation

• Absolute threshold

• Difference threshold

The smallest change of a stimuli that an individual can detect.

• Absolute threshold

• Difference threshold

Reduction or loss of sensory responsiveness in receptor cells when stimulation is unchanged or repetitious.

• Sensory deprivation

• Sensory overload

• Sensory adaptation

• Sensation

Failing to notice changes in the environment 

• Change blindness

• Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

• Change blindness

• Inattentional blindness

• Focusing on conscious awareness of a particular stimulus

• Change blindness

• Selective attention

• Inattentional blindness

Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.

• Bottom up

• Top down

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes as we construct perceptions, drawing on our experience, beliefs, and expectations.

• Bottom up

• Top down