Chapter 4 Critical & Creative Thinking Questions
Tania Correia
PSY103
January 26, 2015
Brian Hawkins
Chapter 4 Critical & Creative Thinking Questions
1. Sensation and perception are closely linked. What is the central distinction between the two?

The central distinction between sensation and perception would be the sensation begins with specialized receptor cells located in our sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and internal body tissues). When these sense organs detect stimulus (light, mechanical pressure, chemical molecules), they convert it into neural impulses (action potentials) that are transmitted to our brain. The brain then assigns meaning to this sensory information which is called perception therefore sensation must occur first in order to be agree with our perceptions.

2. If we sensed and attended equally to each stimulus in the world, the amount of information would be overwhelming. What sensory and perceptual processes help us lessen the din?

The processes that help us lessen the din would be the process of transduction, which is when the receptors convert the stimulus into neural impulses that are sent to the brain. Through a process known as coding, different physical stimuli are interpreted as distinct sensations because their neural impulses travel by different routes and arrive at different parts of the brain. Another process to consider would be sensory adaptation which is repeated or constant stimulation decreases the number of