What is Sensory Processes

Sensory processes is the process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and the
environment, thus making it possible to use the body effectively within the environment.
Specifically, it deals with how the brain processes multiple sensory modality inputs,such as
proprioception, vision, auditory system, tactile, olfactory, vestibular system, interoception, and
taste into usable functional outputs.

"Some General Characteristics of the Senses"

1.Absolute Thresholds:
A spot of light in a dark room must reach some measurable intensity before it can be
distinguished from darkness.a sound emitted in an otherwise soundproof room must reach a
certain intensity level before it can beheard. In neuroscience and psychophysics, an absolute
threshold was originally defined as the lowest level of a stimulus – light, sound, touch, etc. – that
an organism could detect. Under the influence of signal detection theory, absolute threshold has
been redefined as the level at which a stimulus will be detected a specified percentage (often
50%) of the time.The absolute threshold can be influenced by several different factors, such as
the subject's motivations and expectations, cognitive processes, and whether the subject is
adapted to the stimulus.

The absolute threshold can be compared to the difference threshold, which is the measure of how
different two stimuli must be for the subject to notice that they are not the same.

2. Difference Thresholds:
just as there must be a certain minimum amount of stimulation to evoke a sensory experience,so
there must also be a certain magnitude of difference between two stimuli before one can be
distinguished from the other. A difference threshold is the minimum amount that something
needs to change in order for a person to notice a difference 50% of the time. The concept of
difference thresholds applies to all areas of perception: hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell all
have thresholds that need to be met before any changes in stimuli are sensed. For example, if I
were to give you a pile of five marshmallows and then give you one more, you'd probably notice
the difference. It only took adding one marshmallow for you to notice a change, so the difference
threshold was one marshmallow.

3. Weber’s Law: Weber's law, also called Weber-Fechner law, historically important
psychological law quantifying the perception of change in a given stimulus. The law states that
the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus.
Weber’s law states “Simple differential sensitivity is inversely proportional to the size of the
components of the difference; relative differential sensitivity remains the same regardless
of size”

"The visual Sense"

Each sense organ responds to a particular type of physical energy.the eye is sensitive to the
portion of electromagnetic energy traveling through space that we call light.it is convenient to
thing of electromagnetic enargy as traveling in waves,with wavelengths varying tremendously
from the shortest cosmic rays to long radio waves that may measure many miles.

The Human Eye:

The human eye is an organ which reacts to light and pressure. As a sense organ, the mammalian
eye allows vision. Human eyes help provide a three dimensional, moving image, normally
coloured in daylight. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision
including color differentiation and the perception of depth. The human eye can differentiate
between about 10 million colors and is possibly capable of detecting a single photon.

Similar to the eyes of other mammals, the human eye's non-image-forming photosensitive
ganglion cells in the retina receive light signals which affect adjustment of the size of the pupil,
regulation and suppression of the hormone melatonin and entrainment of the body clock.

Difference Between Rods and Cones:

Rods
1. Rod cells are far numerous in
number than cones.
2. Usually located around the periphery
of retina.
3. All rod cells are alike and do not
give color vision.
4. Sensitive to dim light and gives
twilight vision.
5. Outer segment is cylindrical.
6. Inner end has a small knob.
Cones
1. Cone cells are fewer in number than
rods.
2. Usually located around the center of
retina.
3. All cone cells are not alike and give
color vision.
4. Sensitive to bright light and gives
daylight vision.
5. Outer segment is conical.
6. Inner end is branched.

color vision:

Color vision deficiency is the inability to distinguish certain shades of color. The term "color
blindness" is also used to describe this visual condition, but very few people are completely color
blind.Color deficiencyMost people with color vision deficiency can see colors, but they have
difficulty differentiating between the following colors:particular shades of reds and greens (most
common)blues and yellows (less common)People who are totally color blind, a condition called
achromatopsia, can only see things as black and white or in shades of gray.Color vision
deficiency can range from mild to severe, depending on the cause. It affects both eyes if it is
inherited and usually just one if it is caused by injury or illness.Color vision is possible due to
photoreceptors in the retina of the eye known as cones. These cones have light-sensitive
pigments that enable us to recognize color. Found in the macula (the central part of the retina),
each cone is sensitive to either red, green or blue light. The cones recognize these lights based on
their wavelengths.Normally, the pigments inside the cones register different colors and send that
information through the optic nerve to the brain. This enables you to distinguish countless shades
of color. But if the cones don't have one or more light-sensitive pigments, you will be unable to
see one or more of the three primary colors.The most common form of color deficiency is red-
green. This does not mean that people with this deficiency cannot see these colors at all. They
simply have a harder time differentiating between them, which can depend on the darkness or
lightness of the colors.Another form of color deficiency is blue-yellow. This is a rarer and more
severe form of color vision loss than red-green, because people with blue-yellow deficiency
frequently have red-green blindness too.In both cases, people with color vision deficiency often
see neutral or gray areas where a particular color should appear.

Auditory Sense:
The human sense of hearing is attributed to the auditory system, which uses the ear to collect,
amplify, and transfer sound waves into electrical impulses that allow the brain to perceive and
localize sounds. The cochlea is the major sensory organ of hearing within the inner ear.
Some terms related to auditory sense are given below:
1. Pitch: The psychological correlation of frequency is pitch, the higher the vibration
frequency, the higher the perceived pitch.
2. Amplitude: The amplitude of the sound wave determines the intensity with which sound
pressure strikes the eardrum. The psychological correlate of intensity is loudness, the greater the
intensity, the louder the tone.

Tones and Noise:

i) Any sound considered with reference to its quality, pitch, strength, source is known as tone.
ii) A noise is a sound composed of many frequencies not in a harmonious relation to one another.

Common Parts of Human Ear:

1. Auditory canal.
2. Ear drum.
3. Oval window.
4. Round window.
5. Eustachian window.
6. Hammer.
7. Anvil.
8. Stirrup.
9. Semicircular canals.
10. Bone.
11. Auditory nerve.

Some of the facts arising from the study of auditory sense:

a) The chief dimensions of auditory experience are pitch , correlated with the frequency of
vibration of the sound waves that constitute the stimulus, and loudness, correlated with the
amplitude of these waves.
b) Most tones are not pure, that is, composed of only a single frequency. Musical instruments
may be differentiated by the timbre of their tones, a quality that depends on the overtones and
other impurities differing from one instrument to another.
c) The auditory apparatus consists of the external ear leading by way of the auditory canal to the
eardrum, giving access to the middle ear leading by bones of the middle ear transmit the sound
waves to the oval window, leading to the inner ear.
d) Theories attempting to give a psychological explanation of pitch are the place theory place
theory, which emphasizes the place on the basilar membrane where a particular frequency
produces its maximum effect, and the frequency theory, which assumes that pitch, is determined
by the frequency of impulses travelling up the auditory nerve.