This document discusses the concepts of perception and sensation, detailing how our senses gather information and how we interpret this data. It covers various aspects of perception, including form perception, depth perception, perceptual consistency, and extra-sensory perception (ESP). The text also illustrates these concepts with examples and explores organizational principles in perception, such as proximity, closure, similarity, continuity, and simultaneous movements.

1. B Y C . S E T T L E Y
STUDY UNIT 8:
PERCEPTION & SENSATION

2. OUTCOMES
• Be able to:
• - Explain the concepts perception and sensation in
terms of the functioning of the sense organs
• - Discuss organisation under: form perception, depth
perception, perceptual consistency, perception of
movement
• - Describe the concept Illusion
• - Describe extra sensory perception (ESP)
• - Outline 3 main types of ESP

3. PERCEPTION
• The process through which we give meaning to the
information that our senses receive from the environment.
• It involves: the selection, organisation and interpretation of
stimuli ( Louw & Edwards, pg 11).
• Example 1: A plane crashes and we both see it happen. I see
something exciting and my adrenaline rushes. YOU see
something horrible and sad.
• Example 2 : We both see a bee. I see a terrifying insect and
want to run. YOU see a wonderful sign of nature.
• Perception is how your mind takes things in and makes sense
of them.

4. SENSATION
• Stimulation of our senses
• The process through which our senses gather
information from the environment( Louw & Edwards,
pg 11).
• Example 1: A burning sensation began in her throat
and she realized she was going to heave.
• Example 2 : There was no denying the sensation of
sweat dripping off her body.

5. SENSATION & PERCEPTION
• It is not separate processes, they are coordinated to give us
information which gives meaning and useful information about
the “world” around us.
• Sensations are a raw mechanism that allows us to see, hear, feel
(touch), smell or taste things that surround us.
• Perception is how we interpret what we see, hear, smell etc.
Perception is what makes us understand the sensations and
integrate them into our psyche.
• Sensations can be defined as the passive process of bringing
information from the outside world into the body and to the brain.
The process is passive in the sense that we do not have to be
consciously engaging in a "sensing" process.Perception can be
defined as the active process of selecting, organizing, and
interpreting the information brought to the brain by the senses.
• Read more:
http://www.alleydog.com/101notes/s&p.html#ixzz38HnLXtUz

6. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
- 2nd stage in the perceptual process
- Mentally arrange stimuli
- Meaningful and comprehensible patterns

7. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES:
• a) Form perception
- Shapes and
patterns
- Figure- Ground
principle
- Example: ( Louw &
Edwards, pg 151
• What do you see
first?

8. FIGURE- GROUND REVERSAL
White vas/ two
dark faces?

9. FIGURE- GROUND REVERSAL
White set of legs? /
Black setof legs?

10. FIGURE- GROUND REVERSAL
• A man playing an
instrument?
• The face of a lady?

11. FORM PERCEPTION CONTINUED
( LOUW & EDWARDS, PG 151)
• Gestalt
psychologists
research
• German
psychologists
• Formed 5 principles
• Also called Gestalt
5 laws
• 1) Proximity
• 2) Closure
• 3) Similarity
• 4) Continuity
• 5) Simultaneous
Movements

12. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
• 1) Proximity
• - refers to how close subjects are
• - visual field, grouped together
II II II
Three sets of two not 6 lines

14. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
• 2) Closure
• - incomplete figures
• - perceived as complete figures
• - we tend to order our experience in a
manner that is regular, orderly,
symmetric, and simple

15. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
Closure

16. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
• 3) Similarity
- Similar elements
- Grouped together
- This similarity can occur in the form of shape, colour,
shading or other qualities

17. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
similarity similarity

18. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED

19. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
• Continuity
• - broken figures
• - organised to appear continuous and flowing
• - where there is an intersection between objects,
individuals tend to perceive the two objects as two
single uninterrupted entities
• - Stimuli remain distinct even with overlap. We are
less likely to group elements with sharp abrupt
directional changes as being one object.

20. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED

21. GESTALT 5 LAWS CONTINUED
• Simultaneous Movement
• - elements that move together
• - perceived as one unit
• - eg. birds flying together
are seen as a flock
not as individual birds

23. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES:
• b) Perceptual Consistency
• Consists of
• 1) Size constancy
• - when an object looks the same at any distance
• - perceived size & distance
• 2) Shape constancy
• - size and shape constancy is important so that you will not see you
lovers lips - getting larger and larger as he/she is about to kiss you

24. SIZE CONSTANCY
• This scene depicts a
larger man chasing a
smaller man. Or does
it?
• The two men are
absolutely identical.
• What you see is
not always what you
perceive.

25. SIZE CONSTANCY
• According to optical principles,
for the same object, the size of
the image on the retina
changes as the distance from
the object to the observer
changes. The greater the
distance, the smaller the image
is sensed by the retina. When
someone is observing an
object, although the distance
of observation is different, the
perceptional size is similar to
the actual size. However,
sensory and perception
systems can be tricked by the
use of illusions. Size constancy is
related to distance,
experience, and environmen

26. SHAPE CONSTANCY
• Objects viewed from
different angles will produce
different shapes on our
retinas, but we know that
the shape of the object
remains constant
• Take a look at the doors
above. The one to the left
looks like a rectangle, The
one in the middle is shaped
like a parallelogram.
• The shape looks different in
our retinas, but our mind
maintains that the shape of
the door remains a
rectangle.

27. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES:
• c) Depth Perception, pg 154
• - how far or near things are
• - is the visual ability to perceive the world in three
dimensions (3D)
• arises from a variety of depth cues

28. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES
DEPTH PERCEPTION, PG 154
BINOCULAR CUES:
• Both eyes determined
• Convergence
• - When someone uses both eyes
to focus on the same object,
their eyes converge. The
convergence then stretches the
extraocular muscles, and
sensations from the extraocular
muscles help with depth and
distance perception
• Retinal disparity
• - Retinal disparity simply means
that each eye receives a slightly
different image due to the
different angle from which each
eye views an object.

29. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES
DEPTH PERCEPTION, PG 154- 155

30. ORGANISATION IN PERCEPTION
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES, PG 156
• c) Perception of
Movement, pg 156
• Signals that make
the eyes turn
• 1) speed
adaptation
• 2) apparent
movement

31. ILLUSIONS PG 157
• Deceiving by producing a false or misleading
impression of reality.
• The state or condition of being deceived
• Misapprehension.
• In Psychology- a perception, as of visual stimuli
(optical illusion) that represents what is perceived in
a way different from the way it is in reality.

32. ILLUSIONS PG 157

33. EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION (ESP)
SEE STORY OF PILOT P 166
• 3 types:
• 1) Telepathy - perceiving another
person’s thoughts directly
• 2) Clairvoyance - perceiving objects and events
that lie outside the reach of the senses, such as the
content of a sealed envelope
• 3) Pre cognition – perceiving future events

34. PSYCHOKINESIS
• The direct influence of the mind on the physical
world, eg the moving of tables and chairs
• Controversy

35. WHY ARE PEOPLE SCEPTIC / REASONS
FOR SCEPTICISM ?
• Rarely able to prove the ESP under controlled scientific
conditions.
• Several experiments with “prestige” (important) has later
proved to have many methodological flaws
• History of ESP is full of cases of fraud and was proven as
such.
• Where ESP can be of great value it rarely helps- solving
crimes
• James Randi – a Magician offered a very large reward
20 years ago, for anybody to perform these claims on
stage. He proved them all fake, the reward still stands.
• ESP can be pure chance when you dream about
numbers and win. It does not state how many times you
have dreamt before and never won anything.

36. THE END
THANK YOU

37. REFERENCES
• Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)
• "Depth Perception." The Gale Encyclopedia of
Psychology. Ed. Bonnie Strickland. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale,
2001. 177. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 July
2014.
• http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX34060
00183&v=2.1&u=morenetuomcolum&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=
w&asid=4486e577b7a9bbb534e9ba4909d04112
• Teaching and Developing online. Blog Author: Darren
Cannell. Retrieved on 18 August 2014. Available at:
http://blog.darrencannell.com/2009_02_01_archive.html
• http://youtu.be/axW3IjULZv4