Sensation and Perception

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
Brief Contents......Page 10
Contents......Page 12
1 Introduction to Perception......Page 34
WHY READ THIS BOOK?......Page 35
The Stimulus......Page 36
Electricity......Page 38
Experience and Action......Page 39
Knowledge......Page 40
DEMONSTRATION: Perceiving a Picture......Page 41
HOW TO APPROACH THE STUDY OF PERCEPTION......Page 42
MEASURING PERCEPTION......Page 43
METHOD: Determining the Absolute Threshold......Page 44
METHOD: Determining the Difference Threshold......Page 46
METHOD: Magnitude Estimation......Page 47
Other Methods of Measurement......Page 48
TEST YOURSELF 1.1......Page 49
Media Resources......Page 50
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 51
2 Introduction to the Physiology of Perception......Page 54
Brief History of the Physiological Approach......Page 55
Structure of Neurons......Page 57
METHOD: Recording From a Neuron......Page 58
Chemical Basis of Action Potentials......Page 60
Events at the Synapse......Page 61
Excitation, Inhibition, and Neural Responding......Page 63
METHOD: Determining a Neuron's Receptive Field......Page 65
Specificity Coding: Representation by the Firing of Single Neurons......Page 67
Sparse Coding: Distributed Coding With Just a Few Neurons......Page 69
TEST YOURSELF 2.2......Page 70
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 71
3 Introduction to Vision......Page 74
Light Is Focused by the Eye......Page 75
DEMONSTRATION: Becoming Aware of What Is in Focus......Page 76
How Does Transduction Occur?......Page 78
Distribution of the Rods and Cones......Page 81
Dark Adaptation of the Rods and Cones......Page 83
METHOD: Measuring Dark Adaptation......Page 84
Spectral Sensitivity of the Rods and Cones......Page 87
TEST YOURSELF 3.1......Page 88
Why Rods Result in Greater Sensitivity Than Cones......Page 89
DEMONSTRATION: Foveal Versus Peripheral Acuity......Page 91
LATERAL INHIBITION AND PERCEPTION......Page 92
Lateral Inhibition and Lightness Perception......Page 93
DEMONSTRATION: Creating Mach Bands in Shadows......Page 95
DEMONSTRATION: Simultaneous Contrast......Page 97
A Display That Can't Be Explained by Lateral Inhibition......Page 98
Think About It......Page 99
Key Terms......Page 100
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 101
4 The Visual Cortex and Beyond......Page 104
The Visual System......Page 105
Processing in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus......Page 106
METHOD: Determining Retinotopic Maps by Recording From Neurons......Page 107
Receptive Fields of Neurons in the Striate Cortex......Page 108
Selective Adaptation and Feature Detectors......Page 110
Selective Rearing and Feature Detectors......Page 111
METHOD: Brain Imaging......Page 113
Columns in the Striate Cortex......Page 115
How Is an Object Represented in the Striate Cortex?......Page 117
STREAMS: PATHWAYS FOR WHAT, WHERE, AND HOW......Page 118
METHOD: Brain Ablation......Page 119
METHOD: Dissociations in Neuropsychology......Page 120
MODULARITY: STRUCTURES FOR FACES, PLACES, AND BODIES......Page 122
Areas for Faces, Places, and Bodies in the Human Brain......Page 123
How Neurons Can Be Shaped by Experience......Page 125
Think About It......Page 126
Key Terms......Page 127
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 128
5 Perceiving Objects and Scenes......Page 130
The Stimulus on the Receptors Is Ambiguous......Page 132
Objects Look Different From Different Viewpoints......Page 133
DEMONSTRATION: Making Illusory Contours Vanish......Page 135
The Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization......Page 136
DEMONSTRATION: Finding Faces in a Landscape......Page 138
Perceptual Segregation: How Objects Are Separated From the Background......Page 139
The Gestalt "Laws" as Heuristics......Page 140
RECOGNITION-BY-COMPONENTS THEORY......Page 141
DEMONSTRATION: Non-Accidental Properties......Page 142
TEST YOURSELF 5.1......Page 144
METHOD: Using a Mask to Achieve Brief Stimulus Presentations......Page 145
Regularities in the Environment: Information for Perceiving......Page 146
DEMONSTRATION: Shape From Shading......Page 147
DEMONSTRATION: Visualizing Scenes and Objects......Page 148
The Role of Inference in Perception......Page 149
Revisiting the Science Project: Designing a Perceiving Machine......Page 150
Neurons That Respond to Perceptual Grouping and Figure–Ground......Page 151
How Does the Brain Respond to Objects?......Page 152
METHOD: Region-of-Interest Approach......Page 153
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: MODELS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY THAT CAN PREDICT WHAT A PERSON IS LOOKING AT......Page 155
Think About It......Page 158
If You Want to Know More......Page 159
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 160
6 Visual Attention......Page 164
Why Is Selective Attention Necessary?......Page 165
What Determines How We Scan a Scene?......Page 166
Perception Can Occur Without Focused Attention......Page 168
Perception Can Be Affected by a Lack of Focused Attention......Page 169
DEMONSTRATION: Change Detection......Page 170
Effects of Attention on Information Processing......Page 172
Effects of Attention on Perception......Page 173
Why Is Binding Necessary?......Page 174
Feature Integration Theory......Page 175
DEMONSTRATION: Searching for Conjunctions......Page 176
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF ATTENTION......Page 177
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: ATTENTION IN AUTISM......Page 179
Think About It......Page 181
If You Want to Know More......Page 182
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 183
7 Taking Action......Page 186
The Moving Observer and Information in the Environment......Page 187
Self-Produced Information......Page 188
DEMONSTRATION: Keeping Your Balance......Page 189
Other Strategies for Navigating......Page 190
The Physiology of Navigation......Page 192
Affordances: What Objects Are Used For......Page 196
The Physiology of Reaching and Grasping......Page 197
Mirroring Others' Actions in the Brain......Page 199
Predicting People's Intentions......Page 200
Mirror Neurons and Experience......Page 201
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: CONTROLLING MOVEMENT WITH THE MIND......Page 202
TEST YOURSELF 7.2......Page 203
Key Terms......Page 204
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 205
8 Perceiving Motion......Page 208
Motion Helps Us Understand Events in Our Environment......Page 209
DEMONSTRATION: Perceiving a Camouflaged Bird......Page 210
When Do We Perceive Motion?......Page 211
Comparing Real and Apparent Motion......Page 212
What We Want to Explain......Page 213
MOTION PERCEPTION: INFORMATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT......Page 214
Motion of a Stimulus Across the Retina: The Aperture Problem......Page 215
DEMONSTRATION: Motion of a Bar Across an Aperture......Page 216
Motion of Arrays of Dots on the Retina......Page 217
TEST YOURSELF 8.1......Page 219
Corollary Discharge Theory......Page 220
DEMONSTRATION: Seeing Motion by Pushing on Your Eyelid......Page 221
Physiological Evidence for Corollary Discharge Theory......Page 222
Brain Activation by Point-Light Walkers......Page 223
METHOD: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)......Page 224
Implied Motion......Page 225
TEST YOURSELF 8.2......Page 226
If You Want to Know More......Page 227
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 228
9 Perceiving Color......Page 232
What Are Some Functions of Color Vision?......Page 233
What Colors Do We Perceive?......Page 234
Color and Wavelength......Page 235
Wavelengths Do Not Have Color!......Page 237
Physiology of Trichromatic Theory......Page 238
COLOR DEFICIENCY......Page 242
Dichromatism......Page 243
Behavioral Evidence for the Theory......Page 244
DEMONSTRATION: Visualizing Colors......Page 245
The Physiology of Opponent-Process Vision......Page 246
PERCEIVING COLORS UNDER CHANGING ILLUMINATION......Page 248
DEMONSTRATION: Color Perception Under Changing Illumination......Page 249
DEMONSTRATION: Adapting to Red......Page 250
LIGHTNESS CONSTANCY......Page 251
Lightness Perception Under Uneven Illumination......Page 252
DEMONSTRATION: The Penumbra and Lightness Perception......Page 253
DEMONSTRATION: Perceiving Lightness at a Corner......Page 254
Think About It......Page 255
If You Want to Know More......Page 256
Media Resources......Page 257
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 258
10 Perceiving Depth and Size......Page 260
Pictorial Cues......Page 262
Motion-Produced Cues......Page 264
DEMONSTRATION: Deletion and Accretion......Page 265
DEMONSTRATION: Two Eyes: Two Viewpoints......Page 266
DEMONSTRATION: Binocular Depth From a Picture, Without a Stereoscope......Page 269
DEPTH INFORMATION ACROSS SPECIES......Page 271
Connecting Binocular Depth Cells and Depth Perception......Page 273
PERCEIVING SIZE......Page 274
The Holway and Boring Experiment......Page 275
Size Constancy......Page 277
DEMONSTRATION: Size–Distance Scaling and Emmert's Law......Page 278
DEMONSTRATION: Measuring the Müller-Lyer Illusion......Page 280
DEMONSTRATION: The Müller-Lyer Illusion With Books......Page 281
The Ames Room......Page 282
The Moon Illusion......Page 283
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: DISTANCE PERCEPTION AND PERCEIVED EFFORT......Page 284
Think About It......Page 285
If You Want to Know More......Page 286
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 287
11 Sound, the Auditory System, and Pitch Perception......Page 290
Sound as Pressure Changes......Page 292
Pressure Changes: Pure Tones......Page 293
Pressure Changes: Complex Tones......Page 294
Loudness......Page 295
The Range of Hearing......Page 296
Timbre......Page 298
The Middle Ear......Page 299
The Inner Ear......Page 301
THE REPRESENTATION OF FREQUENCY IN THE COCHLEA......Page 303
Békésy's Place Theory of Hearing......Page 304
METHOD: Neural Frequency Tuning Curves......Page 305
METHOD: Auditory Masking......Page 306
How the Basilar Membrane Vibrates to Complex Tones......Page 307
How the Timing of Neural Firing Can Signal Frequency......Page 308
Hearing Loss Due to Hair Cell Damage......Page 309
TEST YOURSELF 11.2......Page 310
Auditory Areas in the Cortex......Page 311
What and Where Streams for Hearing......Page 312
Linking Physiological Responding and Perception......Page 314
How the Auditory Cortex Is Shaped by Experience......Page 315
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: COCHLEAR IMPLANTS—WHERE SCIENCE AND CULTURE MEET......Page 316
The Technology......Page 317
If You Want to Know More......Page 318
Media Resources......Page 319
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 320
12 Sound Localization and the Auditory Scene......Page 322
DEMONSTRATION: Sound Localization......Page 323
Binaural Cues for Sound Location......Page 324
Monaural Cue for Localization......Page 326
Narrowly Tuned ITD Neurons......Page 328
TEST YOURSELF 12.1......Page 329
Auditory Scene Analysis......Page 330
Principles of Auditory Grouping......Page 331
HEARING INSIDE ROOMS......Page 334
Perceiving Two Sounds That Reach the Ears at Different Times......Page 335
Architectural Acoustics......Page 336
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN VISION AND HEARING......Page 337
Think About It......Page 338
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 339
13 Speech Perception......Page 342
The Acoustic Signal......Page 343
Basic Units of Speech......Page 344
Variability From Different Speakers......Page 346
Categorical Perception......Page 347
Information From Our Knowledge of Language......Page 349
DEMONSTRATION: Perceiving Degraded Sentences......Page 350
DEMONSTRATION: Organizing Strings of Sounds......Page 351
Information From Speaker Characteristics......Page 353
Cortical Location of Speech Perception......Page 354
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: SPEECH PERCEPTION AND ACTION......Page 355
Think About It......Page 356
Media Resources......Page 357
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 358
14 The Cutaneous Senses......Page 360
The Skin......Page 361
Pathways From Skin to Cortex......Page 362
Maps of the Body on the Cortex......Page 363
The Plasticity of Cortical Body Maps......Page 364
PERCEIVING DETAILS......Page 365
DEMONSTRATION: Comparing Two-Point Thresholds......Page 366
Cortical Mechanisms for Tactile Acuity......Page 367
PERCEIVING VIBRATION......Page 368
PERCEIVING TEXTURE......Page 369
TEST YOURSELF 14.1......Page 370
Identifying Objects by Haptic Exploration......Page 371
The Physiology of Tactile Object Perception......Page 372
Questioning the Direct Pathway Model of Pain......Page 374
Cognition and Pain......Page 376
The Brain and Pain......Page 377
TEST YOURSELF 14.2......Page 380
If You Want to Know More......Page 381
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 382
15 The Chemical Senses......Page 386
Functions of Olfaction......Page 387
METHOD: Measuring the Detection Threshold......Page 388
The Puzzle of Olfactory Quality......Page 389
Olfactory Receptor Neurons......Page 390
Activating the Olfactory Bulb......Page 392
METHOD: 2-Deoxyglucose Technique......Page 393
Olfaction in the Environment......Page 395
The Physiology of Higher-Order Processing......Page 396
Functions of Taste......Page 397
Structure of the Taste System......Page 398
Distributed Coding......Page 400
Specificity Coding......Page 401
THE PERCEPTION OF FLAVOR......Page 403
The Physiology of Flavor Perception......Page 404
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN TASTING......Page 405
If You Want to Know More......Page 407
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 408
16 Perceptual Development......Page 410
METHODS: Preferential Looking and Visual Evoked Potential......Page 411
Contrast Sensitivity......Page 414
Perceiving Color......Page 415
METHOD: Habituation......Page 416
Perceiving Depth......Page 417
Recognizing Their Mother's Face......Page 418
Is There a Special Mechanism for Perceiving Faces?......Page 419
PERCEIVING OBJECT UNITY......Page 420
Recognizing Their Mother's Voice......Page 422
PERCEIVING SPEECH......Page 423
The Categorical Perception of Phonemes......Page 424
INTERMODAL PERCEPTION......Page 425
OLFACTION AND TASTE......Page 426
METHOD: Paired Comparison......Page 427
Think About It......Page 428
If You Want to Know More......Page 429
VL: VIRTUAL LAB......Page 430
A SIGNAL DETECTION EXPERIMENT......Page 432
Signal and Noise......Page 434
The Criterion......Page 435
The Effect of Sensitivity on the ROC Curve......Page 436
Glossary......Page 438
References......Page 456
Name Index......Page 474
Subject Index......Page 480