Sensation and Perception - Assignment Example

The ears, eyes, tongue, nose, and the skin sense the world around a person; in some cases, they also process the incoming information. However, in many cases, individuals do not feel sensations – but get experiences of the perceptual outcomes (May 2). Sensations refer to the packages formulated by the brain, from the incoming data received from the senses, so that the individual can get a certain experience. This is the case, when a person looks at the face of a friend, noting that they do not see a mix of shapes and colors, but they see an image of the friend (May 2).

 Among these is sensory interaction, which refers to the cooperative work of the varied senses and sensory functions to formulate an experience for the individual (Crowe 134). One application of sensory interaction is the collection of processes involved when the interpreted sensations of smell, taste, and texture are integrated to formulate (perceive) the experience of flavor, which is experienced for different foods and drinks. Sensory interaction is also actualized, during the experience of watching a movie, where the individual combines the sensory data collected by the ears, the eyes and the sensations triggered in their mind and body, which leads to an interpretation of the ways in which the music and the images work in harmony (Crowe 134).

Selective attention refers to an individual’s ability to focus on some incoming sensory signals, while at the same time closing out on others (Goldstein 351). Selective attention allows a person watching a football match, to avoid taking in the visual data of the actions of the audience outside the field, irrespective of the fact that the different messages are coming in simultaneously (Goldstein 351). In the case of selective attention, sensation, which is the process through which the human sensory systems and the nervous system receives and presents stimulus from incoming data channels conscious awareness to the data, which is filtered in.

As a result, the perception, which is the organization and interpretation of sensory information, focuses on the data which is filtered in, therefore making meaning of events and objects for the individual to remain consciously aware of, and not aware of other experiences (Goldstein 351).Sensory adaptation refers to the case where the sensory receptors of an individual vary their sensitivity to the stimulus being received (Nevid 94). The phenomenon takes place for all senses, except in the cases of the sense of pain, in some cases.

In orchestrating this response, the sensation of signals from the environment is varied – allowing for more or less intense reception of signals – and also the representation of the stimulus energies to be perceived (Nevid 94). In complementing the changes in sensation, the perception organizes the varied levels of stimulus energies and interprets the sensory information, which allows the individual to develop the meaning of the events or the objects. One example of such a case is a dark adaptation, where the sensation of darkness is lessened through the increment of the size of the pupil and the sensitivity of color receptors (Nevid 94).

The more light allowed into the eye allows for the stimulation of the retina, and the increment of light sensitivity enables the individual to see in relatively dark surroundings. Through the working of the sensation of an object and the perception, the individual is able to detect data about the visual object and interpret that it is the same one, despite the fact that it may produce different images or sizes on the retina (Goldstein 455). For example, when the individual sees a picture of his car in a picture, the perception interprets its color, model, and shape – allowing him to recognize it – despite the fact that it will be smaller than it appears in real-life.