Most of us have an area on the underside of our brains right hemisphere that helps us recognize

a familiar human face as soon as we detect itonly one-seventh of a second

- Frogs, which feed on flying insects, have cells in their eyes that fire only in response
to small, dark, moving objects. A frog could starve to death knee-deep in motionless flies.
But let one zoom by and the frogs bug detector cells snap awake.

- Human ears are most sensitive to sound frequencies that include human voices, especially
a babys cry.

What are sensation and perception?

Sensation: The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and
represent stimulus energies from our environment.

When she looks at a friend, her sensation is normal: Her senses detect the same information
yours would, and they transmit that information to her brain.

Perception: The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information,
transforming it into meaningful objects and events.

And her perceptionthe processes by which her brain organizes and interprets the sensory
inputis almost normal. Thus, she may recognize people from their hair, walk, voice, or
peculiar build, just not from their face. Her experience is much like the struggle you or I would
have trying to recognize a specific penguin.

What do we mean by bottom-up processing and top-down processing?

Our bottom-up processing starts at the very basic level of sensory receptors (more on those
below) and works up to higher levels of processing.

Bottom-up Processing: Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the
brains integration of sensory information.

Our top-down processing constructs perceptions from the sensory input by drawing on our
experience and expectations.

bottom-up processing enables your sensory systems to detect the lines, angles, and colors that
form the flower and leaves. Using top-down processing, you interpret what your senses detect.

Top-down Processing: Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when

we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
 What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems?

- receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells.

- transform that stimulation into neural impulses.
- deliver the neural information to your brain.

The process of converting one form of energy into another form that your brain can use is called
transduction.

Transduction changing one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of
stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can
interpret.

How do absolute thresholds and difference thresholds differ, and what is Webers law?