The active

process of

selecting,

organizing,

and

interpreting the

information

brought to

the brain by

the senses

the passive

process of

bringing

information

from the

outside world

into the body

and to the

brain

&

SENSAT

ION

PERCEP

TIO

N

passiv

e

selecting,

organizing,

and

interpreting the

HOW

THEY

WO

RK

TOGETH

ER

SENSATIO

N 

sensory organs absorb energy

from a physical stimulus in

the environment.

OCCU

RS

sensory receptors convert this energy into neural impulses and send them to the brain.

PERCEP

TION

the brain organizes

the information and translates it into something

meaningful.

FOLLO

WS

meaningful.

HOW D

O WE

KNOW W

HAT

INFO

RMATIO

N IS

IMPO

RTANT

AND SHOULD

BE F

OCUSED

ON?

SELE

CTIVE

process of discriminating

between what is important & is irrelevant, and is

influenced by motivation.

ATTENTIO

N

EXAMPLE

students in class should focus on what the teachers are saying and the

overheads being presented. Students walking by the classroom may focus on people in the room, who is the teacher,

etc., and not the same thing the students in the class.

PERCEP

TUAL

how we perceive

the world is a function

of our past experiences,

culture, and biological makeup.

EXPECTANCY

EXAMPLE

You may look at a painting and not really understand the message the artist is trying to convey. But, if someone tells you about it, you

might begin to see things in the painting that you were unable to see before.

* It has been widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern man.* I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature.

ALL OF THESE…are called

Psychophysics(the relationship between

physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they affect.)

SENSORY

RECEP

TORS

Specia

lized

cel

ls th

at c

onve

rt

physic

al e

nergy

into

ele

ctric

al

ener

gy th

at c

an b

e tr

ansm

itted

as n

erve

impuls

es to

the

brain

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION PROCESS