Intro to Sensation & Perception

Question 1

What are the three definitions of sensation

Answer 1

1.activation of sensory receptor cells at the level of the stimulus (physics definition)
2.physical feeling from something that comes into contact with the body (psychology definition)
3.When a stimulus (i.e., light, chemical, pressure, vibration) causes a sensory receptor to trigger a signal that travels to the brain (physics)

Question 2

What is perception?

Answer 2

The organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment

Question 3

What are the two different stages of the perception?

Answer 3

Perceptual experience of an object is a copy of the object’s primary qualities, mixed with subjective elements caused by the observer.( two separate ideas)

Question 4

Who proposed the theory of perception that occurs into the two stages?

Answer 4

John Locke

Question 5

How can a thought (non-physical) lead to a bodily action (physical)?

Answer 5

Dualism(Descartes): Separation between mind(non physical) and body(physical)

Question 6

How can physical matter (light/sound etc.) give rise to non-physical thought?

Answer 6

Monism(William James): Perception arises solely from brain activity; no mind-body separation.

Question 7

Why has monism become a more acceptable explanation?

Answer 7

1. Advances in 20th-century neuroscience confirm the brain’s causal role in perception.
2. Cognitive neuroscience largely rejects dualism, supporting monism.