This chapter discusses human senses and perception. It covers the five senses - sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. It explains that sensation is when the senses are stimulated, while perception is how we organize sensory information. The chapter discusses sensory development from in utero to early childhood. It emphasizes the importance of multi-sensory experiences and exploring nature. The chapter also addresses individual differences in sensory needs, integration, and signs of sensory impairment.

1. Chapter 6:
Perception
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

2. Senses
• Sensation is the stimulation of the sense organs.
• Perception is the ability to take in and organize
this sensory information.
• Neural Pathways are made stronger from
sensory experiences.
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3. Senses
• Sensory Integration:
– Is the process of combining and integrating information
across the senses
– Is critical to the development of perception
– Helps children apply information learned from one
sense to another sense
How do children
demonstrate sensory
integration?
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4. Senses
• Early sense experiences
– The brain can process tactile sensations by the 4th month in utero.
– Vision is the slowest sense to develop.
– As early as 7 weeks after conception, 10,000 taste buds appear
on the tongue.
– By 28 weeks in utero, the auditory cortex can perceive loud
noises.
– At birth, infants can distinguish their mother’s smell.
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5. Hearing
• Young babies are especially responsive to a
high-pitched, expressive voice.
• This voice is called parentese.
– Parentese used to be known as baby talk.
• Infants need exposure to a variety of sounds and
quiet time to appreciate differences in sounds.
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6. Hearing
• The optimum noise level varies with each child.
• Some children are over stimulated by excessive
noise.
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7. Smell and Taste
• Newborns can distinguish their mother’s scent from other
scents.
• When encouraging smell and taste development:
– Don’t make things that aren’t edible smell delicious.
– Be careful not to condition infants to the taste of salt.
What scents do you find unpleasant? What scents do you find enjoyable?
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8. Touch
• Individual babies vary in their sensitivity to touch.
• Where and how we touch is bound up in culture.
• Tactile perception:
– Relates to motor skills.
– Is encouraged by a touchable and mouthable
environment.
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9. Touch
• Give toddlers words for their tactile sensations:
– Soft, warm, fuzzy, rough, smooth
• To encourage tactile experiences:
– Provide a sensory tub.
– Use sandboxes, water play, and dress-up activities
with a variety of material.
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10. Touch
• Be aware that some toddlers do not want to get
messy.
– This may be due to family influence.
– This may be due to the child’s personality.
– This may be due to the child’s stage of development.
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11. Sight
• Infants can distinguish light from dark at birth.
• At a few weeks of age, infants can discriminate among
colors.
• The human face is the most interesting object to look at.
What kind of problems might result from too much
visual stimulation?
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12. Sight
• To reduce visual stimulation and encourage
beneficial visual interest:
– Put up low barricades to block areas of the toddler
room.
– Put photographs of familiar objects or people at
children’s eye level.
– Promote aesthetics.
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13. Multi-Sensory Experiences and the
Outdoor Environment
• Outdoor settings positively support all the
sensory and perceptual domains.
• Natural light, fresh air and the sights and sounds
of nature contribute to a young child’s sensory
integration.
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14. Multi-Sensory Experiences and the
Outdoor Environment
• To plan more sensory experience outdoors:
– Allow for individual experiences.
– Follow indoor planning guides for outdoor spaces.
– Encourage children to observe changes in nature.
– Plan sensory-motor activities such as moving and
building with rocks.
– Provide hands-on activities using natural materials.
– Create outdoor spaces with vegetation that will
encourage the presence of insects, birds, or animals.
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15. Children with Special Needs
• Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP)
– Must include:
• The child’s present level of physical, cognitive,
communication, emotional/social, and adaptative
development.
• Family information (with consent) including resources,
priorities, and concerns.
• Major outcomes expected to be achieved.
• Specific early intervention services necessary.
• The natural environments to provide early intervention
services.
• A written projected timeline.
• The steps to be taken to support the child’s transitions.
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16. Children with Special Needs
• Early warning signs of sensory impairment
– Frequently rubs eyes or complains eyes hurt
– Avoids eye contact
– Easily distracted
– Often bumps into things or falls frequently
– Talks very loudly or very softly
– Shies away from touch
– Uses one side of the body more than the other
– Usually turns the same ear toward a sound to hear
– Reacts strongly to the feel of certain substances or textures
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17. Online Learning Center
• See Chapter 6 of the text’s Online Learning
Center for chapter quizzes, Theory Into Action
activities, Video Observations, and more.
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