SENSATION AND

PERCEPTION
a unit lesson plan
for high school
psychology teachers
Sandra Alvarado, Bonnie Kanter-
Braem, Kathleen Manz, Peter
Masciopinto, Eileen McKenna, Dana
Nelson, Christopher Williams, and Kent
Korek 2007 Revision Team

William Wozniak, PhD

University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE
Faculty Consultant
SENSATION AND
PERCEPTION
a unit lesson plan
for high school
psychology teachers
Sandra Alvarado, Bonnie Kanter-
Braem, Kathleen Manz, Peter
Masciopinto, Eileen McKenna, Dana
Nelson, Christopher Williams, and Kent
Korek 2007 Revision Team

William Wozniak, PhD

University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE
Faculty Consultant
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
a unit lesson plan
for high school
psychology teachers

Sandra Alvarado, Bonnie Kanter-Braem, Kathleen Manz,

Peter Masciopinto, Eileen McKenna, Dana Nelson,
Christopher Williams, and Kent Korek
2007 Revision Team

William Wozniak, PhD

University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE
Faculty Consultant

This unit is a revision of the original TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Sensation and
Perception, written by Nancy Grayson, Kathleen Self, Martha J. Whitacre, and
Marvin Ziegler (Randal M. Ernst, Editor) originally prepared at the Texas A&M-
NSF Summer Institute for the Teaching of AP and Honors Psychology in July
1992.

This unit is aligned with the following content standards of the National
Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (APA, 2011):

Standard Area: Sensation and Perception

Content Standards
1. The processes of sensation and perception
2. The capabilities and limitations of sensory processes
3. Interaction of the person and the environment in determining perception

The authors thank Bryan Burnham, PhD, of the University of Scranton; David
Kreiner, PhD, of the University of Central Missouri; and Stephanie Simon-Dack,
PhD, of Ball State University for their reviews of this document. The authors also
thank Alan Feldman of Glen Rock High School in Glen Rock, NJ, for providing
valuable recommendations for the resources section.
contents
1 Procedural Timeline

3 Introduction

5 Content Outline

19 Activities

39 References

41 Resources

49 Discussion Questions

Printing costs related to this lesson plan were supported by a grant from the
American Psychological Foundation.

Copyright © 2011 by the American Psychological Association.

procedural timeline

1
Lesson 1: Introduction to Sensation and Perception
Activity 1.1: Sensation: Movement Detectors

Lesson 2: Vision and Audition

Activity 2.1: Distribution of Rods, Cones, and Color Vision in the Retina
Activity 2.2: Blind Spot in Vision Activity 2.3: Locating Sound Sources

Lesson 3: Other Senses

Activity 3.1: Sensory Interdependencies

procedural
Lesson 4: Perception
Activity 4.1: The Stroop Effect
introduction

S
ensation and Perception is an area in psychology that is “demonstration- 3
rich.” In many cases, there is no need to collect many data points, compute
averages, or do statistical testing to determine if an effect occurred. In most
situations, the phenomenon can be seen or heard by the students.

Another bonus is that many of the demonstrations are available to teachers on websites.

introductio
Most websites have decent explanations presented alongside the demonstration (see the
Resources section for examples). Nonetheless, reviewing the websites prior to use is
essential. Although the demonstrations might be explained well, slight differences could
occur. These differences could be confusing to students. Thus, you will want to be sure
the explanation is accurate.

LESSON 1 is an overview of sensation and perception. The main purpose of the

lesson is to give students the vocabulary for the study of sensation and perception.
Lesson 1 connects these concepts to real-life situations such as hearing or vision tests.

LESSON 2 describes the visual and auditory systems. This lesson concerns
neuroanatomy, focusing on the eye and ear. It is possible to spice up the presentation
by discussing disorders of sensation and perception, such as near- and far-
sightedness, color blindness, and some relatively rare brain disorders (e.g.,
prosopagnosia).

LESSON 3 reviews the other senses (e.g., gustation, olfaction, and somesthesis).

LESSON 4 moves to perception, from the ability to sense a stimulus, to selecting and
interpreting the stimulus. Some of the material is historically significant, such as the
Gestalt approach, which remains an important set of concepts in contemporary
psychology. The role that expectations play on a person’s perception is also included.
content outline

LESSON 1: Introduction to Sensation and Perception 5

OVERVIEW: An important theme in this lesson is that external information gets recoded
(transduced) into neural activity. In other words, one type of information (e.g., light
energy) is changed into a different type of information (e.g., neural activity in the optic
nerve). There are limits on both the types and the amount of external information to
which a person is sensitive. It is also important to note that the relationship between the
external stimulus (i.e., the nominal stimulus) and the internal representation (i.e., the
functional stimulus) is NOT one-to-one.

content
I. Sensation is the process by which we
receive information from the environment.

A. What kind of information? A stimulus is a detectable input from the

environment:

1. Light—vision

2. Sound—hearing

3. Chemicals—taste and smell

4. Pressure, temperature, pain—sense of touch

5. Orientation, balance—kinesthetic senses

B. Environmental information (stimuli) exists in many forms:

1. A physical stimulus must first be introduced. For example: air

vibrations, gases, chemicals, tactile pressures
 2. Our senses respond to a limited range of environmental stimuli.
For example, we cannot hear sound of frequencies above 20,000
Hz, even though dogs can hear them.

C. Some physical stimuli that our bodies are sensitive to:

1. Light as experienced through vision

a. Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

b. Properties of light
i. Intensity (experienced as brightness)
ii. Wavelength (experienced as hue)
iii.Complexity or purity
(experienced as saturation)

2. Sound as experienced through audition

Properties of sound
i. Intensity (influences mainly loudness)
ii. Frequency (influences mainly pitch)
iii.Wave form (influences mainly timbre)
iv. As noted above, there is not a one-to-one
relationship between physical properties and
perceptual experience. For example, intensity can
also influence perception of pitch.

D. Sensory processes are the initial steps to perception.

6
1. Transduction is the process of converting energy of a stimulus
into neural activity. The stimulus is recoded as a neural pattern.

2. Transduction can be affected by our experiences, such as through

adaptation; a constant level of stimulus results in a decreased
response over time. With continued exposure, the neural response
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to the stimulus may change. Adaption is also perceptual, not just

sensory.

II. Perception is the process of selecting and

identifying information from the environment.

A. Perception is the interpretation of information from the environment so

that we can identify its meaning.

B. Sensation usually involves sensing the existence of a stimulus,

whereas perceptual systems involve the determination of what a
stimulus is.

C. Expectations and perception: Our knowledge about the world allows us to

make fairly accurate predictions about what should be there—so we don’t
need a lot of information from the stimulus itself.

1. Bottom-up processes are processes that are involved in

identifying a stimulus by analyzing the information available in the
external stimulus.

This also refers to information processing that begins at the

receptor level and continues to higher brain centers.
 2. Top-down processes are processes that are involved in
identifying a stimulus by using the knowledge we already possess
about the situation. This knowledge is based on past experiences
and allows us to form expectations about what we ought to
perceive.

a. This also refers to information processing that begins in

higher brain centers and proceeds to receptors.
b. Top-down processes allow for perceptual judgments and
bias to start influencing how we process incoming stimuli
and information. Early incoming information
is already being processed in terms of top-down
influences and previous experience.

III. Psychophysics is the study of the mathematical or

functional relationship between physical energy
and psychological experience. For example, how much more
intense must a stimulus be in order for us to perceive a change in intensity?
Psychophysics tells us that the amount of change needed depends on the initial
intensity. A quiet sound needs to be turned up less than a louder sound.
Classroom lights can provide a simple demonstration of this; if the main
lights are already on and you add an additional light, perception of
brightness changes little. But if you start with the room mostly dark and add
the same additional light, there is a large change in perception of
brightness.

A. Thresholds
7
1. Absolute threshold

a. The point at which a stimulus can be detected 50

percent of the time
b. Given a particular stimulus, the minimum stimulation
needed for detection
c. Students should be familiar with hearing tests and vision
tests. It may be possible to have the school nurse or
speech pathologist come in and talk about hearing

content
tests and how they are designed. Similarly, an
ophthalmologist or optometrist could address vision
tests.

2. Difference threshold

a. The minimal change in stimulation that can be reliably

detected 50 percent of the time
b. Also called the just noticeable difference (jnd)

B. Signal-detection theory: theory which suggests how individuals are

able to detect a minimal stimulus (signal) among other background stimuli
(noise). This may influence how individuals make a decision in a specific
situation.

C. Receptor sensitivity is subject to change.

1. Sensory adaptation: a decline in receptor activity when stimuli

are unchanging (e.g., noticing a noisy fan as one first enters a room,
yet the noise seems to abate after a short time)
 2. Habituation or adaptation: a decline in response to a
stimulus due to repeated presentation of the stimulus; this
happens at the neural level.

See Activity 1.1: Sensation: Movement Detectors.

LESSON 2: Vision and Audition

OVERVIEW: This section concerns the anatomy of two important sensory systems, the visual
and the auditory systems. The description of the organization of each begins with the
“outermost” structures and works toward the brain. The outermost parts of the systems are
designed to be sensitive to information in the environment (light and sound), to protect
themselves and other sensitive structures (e.g., position of the cheekbone, eyelids, tears, ear
drum position, etc.), and to be able to direct the system toward relevant stimuli—e.g., eye
movements. Once the light or sound energy is initially encoded on the retina or inner ear,
the remainder of the system is described by tracing the paths of the sensory neurons to
higher centers in the brain.

I. Vision

A. Vision begins with light entering the eye.

1. Human photoreceptors in the eye are sensitive to

wavelengths of light energy called the visible spectrum.

2. The visible spectrum ranges from red to violet.

8
B. Structures of the eye

1. Sclera: mostly “white part” of eye that provides protection and

structure

2. Cornea: specialized, transparent portion of the sclera through

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which light enters

3. The iris is the pigmented muscle that gives the eye its color and
regulates the size of the pupil. The muscles of the iris control the
amount of light entering the eye.

4. Pupil: opening in iris

5. The lens is the transparent, shape-changing convex structure that

focuses images on the retina. The lens must accommodate in order to
focus on a specific object. The ciliary muscles relax for objects in the
distance and constrict, which thickens the lens, for close items.

6. Retina: layer containing two types of photoreceptors—rods and

cones—that transduce light energy to electrochemical energy

See Activity 2.1: Distribution of Rods, Cones, and Color

Vision in the Retina.

a. Rods
i. Located primarily in the retina’s periphery
ii. Capable of receiving light energy in low light
iii.Not involved with color perception
 b. Cones
i. Concentrated in the middle of the retina in the
fovea
ii. Involved with color perception in bright light
c. Both rods and cones synapse with bipolar cells,
which synapse with ganglion cells, which form the
optic nerve.
d. The blind spot is where the optic nerve connects to the
eye and contains neither rods nor cones.

See Activity 2.2: Blind Spot in Vision.

C. Coding information in the retina

1. A receptive field is an area in the retina to which a particular

neuron is sensitive. Receptive fields are made up of only rod or
cone receptors, which send visual signals to a ganglion cell in the
retina.

2. In the retina, there are sets of receptor cells connected to ganglion

cells. There are two general types of receptor cells:

a. On-center, off-surround
b. Off-center, on-surround
c. Receptive fields are described by their response
properties. For example, an on-center, off-surround
receptive field’s ganglion cell will respond maximally
to light projected on the center of the field (on-center) 9
as long as no light is projected on the surrounding
region (off-surround.). The reverse is true for off-
center, on-surround cells.
d. The existence of these types of cell organization makes the
visual system more sensitive to changes in amount of light
—which correspondingly helps us to distinguish objects
from the background.

D. Visual pathways from the eye

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1. The optic chiasm is the junction of the two optic nerves where
fibers from the nasal (i.e., side closer to the nose) sides of the two
retinas cross. The nerve fibers from the peripheral (i.e., side further
from the nose) sides of the two retinas do not cross to the other side
of the brain. The result is that the left half of the world is
represented in the right hemisphere of the brain and vice-versa.

2. Visual cortex: located in the occipital lobe of both hemispheres

and contains the many specialized cells for visual perception

E. Color theories

1. Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

a. The retinas contain three types of cone cells, each

responding best to a particular wavelength of
light. One type of cone cell responds best to short
wavelengths (blue light), a second type responds best to
medium wavelengths (green light), and a third type
responds best to long wavelengths (red light).
b. “Other colors” are perceived through the mixing of
signals from the cones.
 2. Opponent process theory

a. Two-color processes, one for red versus green perception,

and one for yellow versus blue perception
b. In the thalamus, some neurons are turned on by red but
off by green, for example, which helps explain
afterimages. The negative color after-image of the
U.S. flag is a great demonstration of this.

3. How we perceive color is informed by types of color blindness.

a. In monochromatic color blindness, the person cannot see

any color at all.
b. In dichromatic color blindness, the person perceives only
two of the three visual pigments.

F. Common problems with vision

1. Cataracts: clouding of the lens of the eye; affects acuity and

color vision

2. Retinopathy: damage to the small blood vessels; begins to leak

and may cause blurred vision, blind spots, or floaters

1. Glaucoma: fluid pressure builds up inside the eye, damaging the

optic nerve; blurred vision and loss of peripheral vision
10
2. Macular degeneration: inability to see objects clearly;
distorted vision and dark spots in the center of vision

3. Hyperopia (farsightedness): focusing the image behind the

retina; difficulty in seeing objects close up
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4. Myopia (nearsightedness): focusing the image in front of the

retina; difficulty in seeing objects far away

II. Audition

A. Begins with sound entering the ear

1. Sound is mechanical energy typically caused by vibrating

objects.

2. Vibrations produce movement of air molecules (sound waves).

3. Moving one’s head helps in detecting the source of a sound.

See Activity 2.3: Locating Sound Sources.

B. Structures

1. Pinna: external (visible) flap of skin and cartilage

2. Auditory canal: part of outer ear along with pinna, leads to

tympanic membrane

3. Tympanic membrane: also called eardrum, separates outer ear

from middle ear and vibrates with reception of sound
 4. Ossicles: three bones in middle ear (malleus/incus/stapes or
hammer/anvil/stirrup) set in motion by ear drum that transmit
sound vibrations to the cochlea

5. Cochlea: a part of the inner ear, contains fluid and receptors

a. Basilar membrane: subject to pressure changes in

cochlear fluid; contains the organ of Corti, an organ
that contains auditory sensory (hair) cells
b. Hair cells: Hair cells of the organ of Corti deflected by
fluid movement trigger neural impulses to the brain via the
auditory nerve.

C. Characteristics of sound

1. Frequency corresponds to the perceptual term pitch. Frequency is

measured in hertz (Hz).

2. Amplitude corresponds to the perceptual term loudness

(volume). Amplitude is measured in decibels (dB). The decibel
scale is logarithmic, so a small change in dB is actually
a large change in intensity. Exposure to intense sounds can
cause hearing loss. You may want to give examples of
common sounds at different dB levels as a
demonstration.

3. Complexity corresponds to the perceptual term timbre

(quality). Complexity is measured by looking at the shape 11
of the sound waveform. This can be assessed by looking at
how much the sound wave deviates from a sine wave
(a waveform with a variation) or by decomposing the sound into its
sine wave components in Fourier analysis. For example, it is
interesting to compare a tone played by a violin to the same tone
played by a trumpet. They can have identical loudness and pitch
but certainly will sound different.

D. Auditory theories

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1. Place theory: Differences in pitch result from stimulation of
different areas of the basilar membrane.

2. Frequency theory: Differences in pitch are due to rate of

neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve.

E. Hearing deficits

1. Conductive deafness: This is when sound waves are unable to be

transferred from outer to inner ear; causes include tumors, objects in
ear canal, infections, otosclerosis (genetic; degeneration of the
middle ear bones). Other than treating the infection and swelling,
metal bones can serve as replacements.

2. Sensorineural deafness: This is damage to the inner ear or

auditory nerve leading to the brain. Causes include infections,
genetic defects, exposure to loud noises, trauma, high blood
pressure, diabetes, MS. Treatments include hearing aids and
cochlear implants (electronic device implanted under the skin
behind ear which bypasses damaged cells and transmits electronic
signals from sounds directly to the brain).
 3. Perception and attention change to make other incoming
information more important with the lack of auditory input. For
example, deaf people focus more on mouth movements and other
visual inputs from the environment, which change the nature of
how they process information. The same is true for deficits in the
other senses.

LESSON 3: Other Senses

I. Gustation (taste)

A. Taste cells are chemical-sensitive receptors located in taste bud clusters.

1. Taste buds and papillae are located on the tongue, in the throat, and
on the soft palate.

2. For a stimulus to be tasted, it must be dissolved.

B. Receptors are sensitive to five basic taste qualities:

1. Sweetness

2. Saltiness

3. Sourness

12 4. Bitterness

5. Umami—glutamates

Given the complexities and recent discovery of umami, its

classification as a fifth taste quality is a source of current
debate (for an overview of umami research, see Beauchamp,
content

2009).

C. Other influences on taste: Smell, touch, and temperature can influence taste.
It is possible to demonstrate how the flavor of food can be changed by the
food’s texture or the aroma it exudes. For example, have students taste a
jelly bean or chocolate while holding their nose so they can’t smell the
aroma—then have them release their nose and breathe, which will
enhance the flavor (always be sure to check about food allergies
before introducing foods in the classroom). This type of test is also
possible for foods with different textures and temperatures.

D. Types of tasters: This is based primarily on the work of Linda Bartoshuk

(e.g., Bartoshuk, Duffy, & Miller, 1994), who differentiated different types of
tasters based on the density of taste buds on their tongues. Bartoshuk
distinguished three types of tasters based on their sensitivity to different tastes.
This can lead to a great discussion of food preferences and “picky” eaters.

1. Non-tasters are people who are unable to taste the chemical

propylthiouracil (PROP), a bitter compound.

2. Medium tasters are people with an average number of taste buds;

they taste the bitter PROP at an average or medium level.
 3. Supertasters are people who are extremely sensitive to some
tastes, have a high number of taste buds, and are highly sensitive to
PROP; women are more likely than men to be supertasters.

II. Olfaction (smell)

A. Receptors for smell are located on the olfactory epithelium, a thin

membrane found in the upper nasal cavity.

1. Olfactory cells carry information to the olfactory bulb. The

olfactory bulb activates the prefrontal cortex.

2. Olfactory receptor neurons have a life cycle of about 30 days and

are continually created.

3. Olfactory cells in the olfactory epithelium are stimulated by

gases dissolved in the fluid covering the membrane.

4. For a stimulus to be smelled, it must be dissolved.

B. Odors or scents stimulate the olfactory epithelium.

1. Odors can evoke highly emotional memories (e.g., Herz, 2004).

2. On average, women detect odors more readily than men. Also,

brain responses to odors are stronger in women than in men (Kalat,
2007). 1

C. Pheromones: same-species odors, used as a form of chemical

communication

D. Anosmia is the loss or lack of sense of smell. Specific anosmia is the

inability to smell a single chemical.

III. Somesthesis—the mechanical senses

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A. Somesthesis refers to the mechanical senses, including kinesthesis,
vestibular sensation, and the skin senses.

B. Kinesthesis

1. Communicates information about movement and location of

body parts

2. Receptors found in joints and ligaments

C. Vestibular sense

1. This is also called equilibratory sense.

2. Receptors are in semicircular canals and vestibular sacs found

in the inner ear.

3. This is concerned with the sense of balance and knowledge of body

position.
 4. The vestibular organ monitors head movements and
movements of the eyes.

5. The semicircular canals are filled with a jelly-like substance

lined with hair cells.

D. Skin senses

1. Basic skin sensations include cold, warmth, pressure, and pain.

2. Current research does not support the belief that specialized

receptor cells for each of the four skin sensations exist.

E. Touch plasticity

When an area of the skin is used a lot, it becomes more sensitive,

and the receptors actually “take over” more brain space in the
corresponding sensory region of the brain. Thus, when blind people
use their first two fingers for brail, it has been found that in the
brain, the region of the cortex devoted to these two fingers actually
spreads and takes over less- used cortex from other touch areas.
Thus, physical experience
changes the brain directly (this has broader connections for the influence of
experience on perceptual processing and thought).
14
F.Pain

1. Pain (Kalat, 2007): the experience evoked by a harmful stimulus;

directs our attention toward a danger and holds our attention

2. Basics of pain
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a. Pain is not triggered by one stimulus (e.g., as light does for

vision), and at certain intensities other stimuli can cause
pain (e.g., coolness).
b. Pain circuit: Sensory receptors respond to potentially
damaging stimuli by sending an impulse to the spinal
cord, which sends the message to the brain, which
interprets the signal as pain.
c. Thicker and faster axons convey sharp pain, and thinner
ones convey dull pain. These axons enter the spinal cord,
where they release two neurotransmitters depending on the
severity of the pain:
i. Mild pain releases glutamate.
ii. Severe pain releases both glutamate and
Substance P, a neuromodulator.
iii.Pain receptors can also react to chemicals.
(1) For example, capsaicin is a chemical
found in hot peppers that stimulates
pain receptors.
(2) Capsaicin also leads to insensitivity to
pain.

3. Pain relief: Endorphins block the release of Substance P in the spinal

cord and brain stem.
 4. Gate control theory of pain: The brain can only focus on one
pain stimulus at a time (see Melzack & Wall, 1965).

a. Pain messages from the body travel along a set of

spinal cord nerve fibers, and all other sensory
messages travel along another set. These pain
messages are an example of bottom-up processing.
b. Fibers carrying pain messages have pain gates,
which open during a painful experience.
c. The non-pain fibers, however, can sometimes close the
pain gates if there is competing stimulation to larger
nerve fibers. This can explain how rubbing or icing can
seem to help relieve pain.

5. Top-down processing can also occur during the pain experience

because your brain plays an important role in whether or not you
will perceive pain and how that perception will occur. For example,
athletes are so focused on the competition that they often are
unaware of any injuries until after they have finished competing.

6. Phantom limb pain: The person feels pain in area of

amputated limb.

a. Phantom limb sensations suggest that the brain can 15

misinterpret spontaneous central nervous system
activity that still occurs even when normal sensory
input (from limbs, eyes, nose, or skin) is not there.
b. See Melzak (1992, 1993) and Ramachandran (2007).

See Activity 3.1: Sensory Interdependencies.

LESSON 4: PERCEPTION

content
OVERVIEW: Perception first involves finding and attending to a stimulus, then
distinguishing the stimulus from everything else (the background) and identifying the
stimulus. These steps occur so quickly and with so little effort that it takes careful study
to understand how complicated it all is.

Activity 4.1: The Stroop Effect is a good example of interference, suggesting we

are not always in control of what we pay attention to.

I. Attentional processes
A. Attention: a process in which consciousness is focused on particular
stimuli

1. Selective attention: ability to focus on one stimulus while

excluding other stimuli that are present

2. Divided attention: ability to respond to more than one stimulus

II. Perceptual abilities

A. Perceptual organization: processes that group smaller units of the
perceptual world into larger units
 B. Gestalt (German for “whole”): The whole experience is greater than the
sum of the individual parts.

C. Figure-ground perception: tendency to organize the visual field into

objects (figures) that stand apart from surroundings (ground)

D. Gestalt principles of perceptual organization: Gestalt psychologists

believed that the world is organized around best forms—some of which are
defined geometrically, such as a circle, square. Perceptual systems tend to
“gravitate” toward those forms so that the resultant perception may be biased
toward a particular interpretation.

1. Law of Pragnanz

a. Also called the law of simplicity

b. Tendency to see things in the simplest form

2. Closure: filling in missing information from the perceptual

array by closing in gaps

3. Laws of grouping

a. Similarity: grouping things on the basis of how similar

they are to one another
16 b. Proximity: grouping things on the basis of how near
they are to one another

E. Perceptual constancy

1. Shape constancy: Perceived shape of an object remains

constant despite changes in the shape of the retinal image of that
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object.

2. Size constancy: Perceived size of an object remains constant

despite changes in the size of the retinal image of that object.

F. Depth perception: perceived by using a number of cues

1. Binocular cues: depth cues provided by both eyes

a. Binocular disparity: takes account of the disparate

images of each retina; a depth cue resulting from slightly
different images produced by the retina of the left eye and
the retina of the right eye (Blair-Broeker & Ernst, 2008)

2. Monocular cues: depth cues provided by one eye

a. Motion parallax is the phenomenon where near

objects are seen as moving more rapidly than far
objects when the viewer’s head is moving.
b. Texture gradient is when the texture of a surface
receding in the distance changes in clarity, blurring at
further distances.
c. Linear perspective is produced by apparent
converging of parallel lines in the distance.
 d. Interposition: One item blocks the view of items in
back of it.
e. Relative height: Objects higher in the perceptual
field are farther away.
f. Light and shadow: Lighter objects appear closer.

3. An occulomotor cue is a depth cue based on our ability to

sense the tension in our eye muscles and the position of our eyes.

a. Accommodation
i. Bulging and elongating of lens
ii. Effective only for objects within 25 feet
b. Convergence is the name of the cue that takes account of
the muscle tension resulting from external eye muscles that
control eye movement. Convergence is sometimes
classified as a binocular cue since it requires both eyes.

G. Pattern perception

1. Also called form perception

2. Refers to recognition and identification of faces, words,

shapes, melodies, and so on 17

3. Begins with specific features, such as lines, and builds a

perception that provides a more complex form

a. Feature-analysis theory: Patterns are identified by a

step-wise perceptual and decisional analysis of their
distinctive features.
b. A template theory describes pattern recognition.
Patterns are identified by comparing whole patterns to
mental blueprints (templates) stored in memory until an

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exact match is found.

III. Perceptual illusions occur when sensory stimuli

are misinterpreted; demonstrate how we typically
interpret sensations.
A. Perceptual illusions include the Müller-Lyer illusion, the Ames room,
other illusions based on Gestalt principles (e.g., closure), and other
perceptual sets mentioned above.

B. Perceptual illusions demonstrate how easy it is to misinterpret sensory

input. However, illusions also reveal the strategies we use to interpret
sensations correctly.

The resources at the end of this Unit Lesson Plan provide some examples of cases
where top-down processing can mislead us to see (or hear) things that are not
actually there.
activities activity 1.1
sensation: movement detectors
From original TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Sensation and Perception

19
CONCeP
This is an extremely effective demonstration that is well worth the time required to prepare
the equipment the first time you do it. The demonstration allows students to learn about
habituation; you can also use this during a discussion on the function of movement
detector cells in the visual cortex and the processing of visual input.

MateRIa

activiti
To do this demonstration, you will need a rotating disc with the spiral pattern. The
easiest way to make this is to cut out Handout 1.1 (labeled “Spiral Pattern”) and glue it
to a piece of cardboard. Trim the cardboard into a circle and punch
a pencil through its center. By rotating the pencil as you hold it behind the disc, you
can make the spiral turn at a reasonably steady rate. (A rotating disc can also be found
at http://dogfeathers.com/java/spirals.html.)

INStRUCtION
The demonstration involves having the students stare at the rotating disc for about a
minute. Tell students to fix their gaze on the center of the spiral and to try not to let
their eyes move. After a minute has passed, have students shift their gaze to your head.
If you were spinning the disc so that it was spiraling inward, when students shift their
gaze they will experience a dramatic illusion of your head expanding or rushing toward
them. If the disc was spiraling outward, it will produce the opposite effect.

What produces this startling illusion? Remember that the visual cortex contains
DeSCRIPtIO
specialized feature and movement detector cells that respond only to a particular type
of visual input. When the disc spirals in, you are overstimulating and fatiguing the cells
that are programmed to respond to this type of inward movement. When students shift
their gaze and the inward movement detectors stop firing, there is a tendency for the
corresponding outward movement

(activity 1.1 continued on next page)

 (activity 1.1 continued from previous page)

detectors to start firing for a few seconds. It is this process, similar to the process that
produces color afterimages in the ganglion cells of the retina, that accounts for the
illusion.

You can demonstrate that this effect takes place in the brain and not in the retina. To do
this, have students view the spinning disc with one eye covered with their hand. Then,
when they shift their gaze, have them also shift their hand to the other eye. The effect is
visible with the left eye even though the disc was viewed with the right eye, and vice
versa. This means the effect must be produced by brain cells rather than by cells in the
retina. Color afterimages, on the other hand, are produced by ganglion cells located in
the retina. If you try shifting eyes for a color afterimage demonstration, the effect will
not appear.

This demonstration produces the most dramatic effect when students view it from
straight on. Have them gather in the center of the room before you begin. It is also
possible to see the effect in natural settings. If you stare at a waterfall, for example, and
then shift your gaze to the trees beside the waterfall, they will appear to fly up in the
air. A large faucet, such as the one in the bathtub, can be used to produce the effect as
well.

20
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This activity was prepared by Charles Blair-Broeker. Many of the ideas in this handout
were taken from an exercise written by Douglas A. Bernstein and Sandra S. Goss of the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
HaNDOUt 1.1
spiral pattern

Cut out this spiral pattern and glue it to a piece of cardboard. Trim the cardboard into a
circle and punch a pencil through its center. By rotating the pencil as you hold it behind
the disc, you can make the spiral turn at a reasonably steady rate.

21
 activity 2.1
distribution of rods, cones,
and color vision in the retina
Charles T. Blair-Broker
Cedar Falls High School, IA

Douglas A. Bernstein
University of South Florida and University of Southampton

This simple activity illustrates the distribution of rods and cones in the retina 23
and the differing ability of these photoreceptors to detect color. It can be used in classes
in introductory psychology, sensation/perception, or cognition. This in- class activity
takes as few as 10 minutes and can be done in any size class. It is a demonstration
involving a single student but could involve greater numbers with additional time and
materials.

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CONCeP
The demonstration shows that stimuli in the center of the visual field are detected mainly
by color-sensitive cones concentrated in the fovea, whereas stimuli at the edges of the
visual field are detected mainly by non-color-sensitive rods in the periphery of the retina.

You will need a few pens, magic markers or other objects of various colors (e.g., red,
MateRIa
blue, green, yellow, black), and a student volunteer with normal color vision.

INStRUCtION
Ask your volunteer to sit or stand at the front of the room facing the class and, at your
signal, to stare fixedly ahead at a spot or object at the back of the room. If the
volunteer’s eyes stray from the fixation point, the demonstration will probably not work
very well. Emphasize the need for concentrated fixation. Instruct the class to not
provide any feedback to the volunteer regarding the accuracy of his or her answers.

Now stand at the volunteer’s side. Hold one of the colored objects 3 or 4 feet away from
the volunteer’s ear, at about eye level. (Keep the object concealed prior to this time.) Ask
the volunteer to identify the color of the object in your hand. The volunteer is not likely
to be able to do this. If the volunteer answers, you can determine the level of confidence
by asking how much he or she would

(activity 2.1 continued on next page)

 (activity 2.1 continued from previous page)

be willing to bet on the correctness of the answer. Move a step toward the class and
slightly more in front of the volunteer (imagine you are moving on an arching track that
would eventually place you directly in front of the volunteer) and ask the same question.
Continue to move, one small step at a time, along the arc until the volunteer is certain of
the object’s color. You may want to pause before each step, briefly conceal the object, and
give the volunteer a chance to relax the eyes. Make sure the volunteer is staring at the
fixation point again before proceeding.

DISCUSSIO
You will find that most participants have excellent peripheral vision, as reflected in
their ability to recognize that the object is present even when it is far off to the side.
However, for most people, it will take several small steps before they can recognize the
object’s color (most will first say it is black, because they
are seeing it only with rods). The students will be surprised at how close to the center of
the visual field the object must be before its color is clearly apparent. In real life, we
perceive color in the periphery of the visual field because the brain remembers what
color belongs there or makes an assumption about the likely color (e.g., the sky is usually
blue). In this demonstration, however, there is no way for the brain to accurately guess
the color of the object.

If the expected sequence of results does not occur, it is probably because the
participant lost fixation or made a lucky guess about color. To confirm the
distribution of rods and cones and their color sensitivity, you can run more trials
using different colors.
24
You can make this demonstration an active learning experience by asking students to
predict the results of this procedure and to justify their predictions on the basis of
material presented in class or in the textbook. Another option is to divide the class into
teams of three and have them conduct the procedure, perhaps using objects of different
sizes and colors, held at differing distances. Team members can take turns acting as
volunteer, experimenter, and data recorder (whose job is to note the point on each trial
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where the object is first detected, correctly named, and its color identified). Afterward,
teams can be asked to report their results to
the class, including the effect of object size and distance, and to suggest plausible
explanations for the discrepant data (e.g., individual differences in retinal anatomy,
restricted peripheral vision, or less fixation during a trial).

RefeReNCeS aND SUGGeSteD

Bernstein, D. A., Penner, L. A., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Roy, E. J. (2008).
Psychology (8th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Goldstein, E.B. (2007). Sensation and perception (7th ed.). Belmont, CD:
Thomson Wadsworth.
Mollon, J. D., Pokorny, J., & Knoblauch, K. (2003). Norman and defective colour
vision. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wolfe, J. M., Kluender, K. R., Levi, D. M., Bartoshuk, L. M., Herz, R. S, Klatzky, R. L.,
& Lederman, S. J. (2006). Sensation and perception. Sunderland, MA:
Sinauer Associates.

Copyright © 2008 by the American Psychological Association. The official citation that
should be used in referencing this material is:
Blair-Broeker, C. T., & Bernstein, D. A. (2008). Distribution of rods, cones, and color
vision in the retina. In J. T. Benjamin, Jr. (Ed.), Favorite activities for the
teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.

No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the

American Psychological Association.
 activity 2.2
blind spot in vision
John J. Duda

25
CONCeP
That area at the back of the eye where the nerve fibers from all parts of the retina collect
to form the optic nerve is called the optic disc or, more commonly, the “blind spot.”
Indeed, that portion of the retina is functionally blind—incoming light is ineffective
because there are no photoreceptors in that region. The two exercises described here
provide interesting illustrations of the blind spot.

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MateRIa
Take a blank piece of white paper that measures 8½ by 11 inches and cut it in half so it
is 5½ inches.

INStRUCtION
On one side of the paper, center and type (or print in corresponding size) a capital X and
a capital Y about 4 inches apart. On the other side, center and type capitals X, Y, and Z
about 3 inches apart (with Y in the center).

For the first demonstration, hold the side of the paper with the X and Y at arm’s length
while covering one eye with the other hand. If the left eye is covered, fixate on the X
(assuming it is on the left), and vice versa. Then slowly advance the paper toward the eye.
Notice what happens to the Y: At some critical distance from the eye it disappears, but as
the distance from the eye is further decreased, it reappears. You should then be able to
tune the Y in and out by adjusting the distance of the paper from the eye.

The second demonstration involves using the side of the paper with the X, Y, and Z;
holding it at arm’s length; fixating on the Y with the left eye covered; and slowly
advancing the paper toward the eye. At some critical distance from the eye, the Z will
disappear. If the paper is then held at this point, it is possible to observe an unusual
phenomenon: Shifting fixation to the X causes the Y to disappear and
the Z to reappear. Thus, by shifting fixation back and forth between and Y and the X, you
can make the Z and the Y alternately pop in and out of view.
(activity 2.2 continued on next page)
 (activity 2.2 continued from previous page)

DISCUSSIO
Explain that we have a blind spot in each eye, or a total of two such spots in our typical
visual field. Why don’t we see holes in that visual field? Partly because these holes are
eliminated by eye movements that shift the parts of the visual field to different portions
of the retina. In addition, our visual system tends to fill in gaps in what we see in a
manner similar to the Gestalt principle of closure. As a result, we are unaware of our
blind spots and require a demonstration such as the one described above to illustrate
their existence.

26
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Copyright © 1981 by the American Psychological Association. The official citation that
should be used in referencing this material is:
Duda, J. J. (1981). Blind spot in vision. In J. T. Benjamin, Jr., & K. D. Lowman
(Eds.), Activities handbook for the teaching of psychology, Volume 1.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the

American Psychological Association.
 activity 2.3
locating sound sources
From original TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Sensation and Perception

Laura Maitland

27
CONCeP
Just as we perceive depth visually as a result of slight differences in the images on each
of our two retinas, we perceive stereophonic sound as a result of receiving slightly
different sound messages in our two cochleas. This is because our ears are about six
inches apart. A sound coming from the right will have slightly more energy and be sensed
slightly sooner at the right ear than at the left ear.

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MateRIa
This works best if you have several pairs of metal crickets/clickers (obtained in the
party favors sections of stationery stores) and empty paper towel or toilet paper
cylinders.

INStRUCtION
There are many variations of this activity. One effective way of observing how well
people can locate sound sources is to divide the class into cooperative learning groups of
four students each. One is the subject, two are the experimenters, the fourth is the
recorder/reporter. The subject sits in a chair with the experimenters at either side of
him/her. The subject is asked to listen for each click and indicate the direction the sound is
coming from. The subject closes his/her eyes. In any order, the experimenters click from
either side of the subject, above the subject’s head, directly in front, directly in back,
under the chair. The recorder writes
the direction of the sound, the subject’s response, and the quickness of the response. This
can be repeated several times. Roles can be switched. Next, the subject uses the cylinder
as an ear extension. (The roller is held with the hand as a seal between the cylinder and
ear.) The same procedure is followed as without the use of the cylinder. The groups
summarize and compare their observations.

DISCUSSIO
Because the ear closer to the sound receives a louder stimulus, receives it before the
other ear, and may perceive a wave-phase difference, sounds coming

(activity 2.3 continued on next page)

 (activity 2.3 continued from previous page)

from either the left or right can be quickly located by subjects. Sounds from above,
below, in front, and back are more difficult to locate. Students who cock their heads are
better able to locate sounds coming from above, below, in front, or back than those who
keep their heads still. When the cylinder is used, the result is similar to that of using
displacement goggles with vision. The effect of the cylinder is to move the ears further
from one another. Clicks directly above, below, from front or back seem closer to the ear
without the extension, off- center. (If you don’t have metal crickets/clickers, tapping a
beaker with a pencil or snapping fingers will do. Because the crickets consistently make
the same sound, they are preferable.)

28
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 activity 3.1
sensory interdependencies
George M. Diekhoff
Midwestern State University

The four demonstrations described here show how information obtained through 29
one sensory modality shapes our experience of other sensory modalities. The sensory
systems work together, not independently. This activity is appropriate for classes of any
size in introductory psychology or for upper-division perception/ cognition classes.
Each demonstration takes about 10 minutes. Demonstrations 1 through 3 involve small
groups of volunteer participants or individual volunteers who are observed by the rest of
the class. Demonstration 4 involves all students.

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CONCeP
With his doctrine of specific nerve energies, Johannes Müller formalized the
observation that sensory experience depends less on the nature of the physical stimulus
than on the cortical project areas into which the sensory nerve terminates (Benjamin,
2007; Müller, 1842). Thus, for example, stimulation of the optic nerve with light,
pressure, or electricity results in a visual experience. The existence of separate, highly
specialized sensory projection areas suggests that sensory experiences would be
equally separate and independent. In fact, however, the senses are less independent than
one might expect. The following activities demonstrate some of the interdependencies
that exist among the sensory modalities.

For Demonstration 1, you will need bite-sized slices of apple and potato. For
MateRIa
Demonstration 2, you will need four 8-ounce glasses of water (ice cold, cool, lukewarm,
and hot) and 1 teaspoon of sugar. For Demonstration 3, you will need two coffee cans,
one 1-lb can and one 3-lb can, filled with sand until they weigh the same. For
Demonstration 4 you will need the list of vowel sounds in the Instructions section.

(activity 3.1 continued on next page)

 (activity 3.1 continued from previous page)

INStRUCtION
Demonstration 1—The influence of smell on taste: Have volunteer participants close
their eyes and hold their noses while they are fed bite-sized slices of apple and potato in
a random sequence. The participants’ task is to identify what they are eating. The
accuracy of their perceptions is given by the percentage of responses that are correct.

Next, repeat the procedure, but have participants breathe normally as they eat. Compare
the accuracy of their taste perceptions with and without the contribution of the olfactory
sense to show that the sense of smell is a major component of taste. (Always be sure to
check about food allergies before introducing foods in the classroom.)

Demonstration 2—The influence of temperature on taste: The water in the four small
glasses should be ice cold, cool, lukewarm, and hot, respectively. To each glass of water,
add ¼ teaspoon of sugar and stir until dissolved. Have a volunteer taste each sugar
solution with instructions to rank its sweetness. (Obviously, the volunteer should not
know in advance that the glasses contain equal amounts of sugar.) Reflecting the
influence of temperature on taste, the cool and lukewarm solutions will be perceived as
being sweeter than the ice cold or hot solutions.

Demonstration 3—The influence of size on perceived weight. Tell a volunteer that you
are testing his or her difference threshold for weight. Have the volunteer lift each
container and select the one that feels heavier. Despite their equal
30 weight, participants almost invariably identify the smaller container as weighing
more, illustrating the size-weight illusion. The influence of visual size on perceived
weight is well established. Smaller objects of a given weight are judged to be heavier than
larger objects of the same weight. That is, our perception of “weight” is, in part, the
perception of density (i.e., weight/size).

Demonstration 4—Auditory-visual synesthesia: Read the list of vowel sounds shown

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below to your class with instructions to “Imagine that each sound has its own color. Your
task is to match each sound to one of the following colors: red, yellow, white, black, blue.”

Vowel sounds
ah, as in mama
eh, as in let
o, as in home
oo, as in boot

In a study of 400 nonsynesthetic subjects, Lawrence Marks (1975b) found evidence for a
considerable degree of “cross-translation of the sensory modalities.” Tabulate your
students’ most frequent responses to each of the vowel sounds and compare them with
Marks’ results:

Vowel sounds Most frequent color response

ah red or yellow
eh white
o red or black
oo blue or black

Although the extent to which individuals display synesthesia varies widely, it is

sufficiently salient in the experience of enough individuals to have led to the
formation of the American Synesthesia Association, Inc.
(http://www.synesthesia.info)
 DISCUSSIO
The sensory interdependencies demonstrated in this activity illustrate two fundamental
principles of perception. First, the Gestalt part–whole attitude (i.e., the whole is
different from the sum of its parts) applies not just to stimulus elements within sensory
modalities, but across sensory modalities as well.
Stimulus elements in one modality combine interactively with those in other
modalities to determine the total sensory experience. Second, synesthetic
experiences in particular suggest that incoming stimulation is translated into a
database that is not modality specific but to which all sensory modalities
have access. Thus, an auditory experience can give rise to a visual impression because
both visual and auditory systems access the same modality-nonspecific sensory database.
This notion also helps explain some other interesting facts of perception, including cross-
modal transfer of perceptual learning, people’s ability to match intensities across sensory
modality, and nonverbal infants’ ability to recognize visually objects that have only been
experienced previously through touch. Through the sensory-nonspecific database,
information presented in one sensory modality becomes available to the other modalities.

Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (2007). A brief history of modern psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell
RefeReNCe Publishing.
Garfield, K. (2006). Are we all synesthetes? Discover, 27 (12), 19.
Goldstein, E. B. (2007). Sensation and perception (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Harrison, J. E., & Baron-Cohen, S. (Eds.). (1996). Synesthesia: Classical and contemporary
readings. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Marks, L. E. (1975a). On colored-hearing synesthesia: Cross-modal translation of sensory 3
dimensions. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 303-331.
Marks, L. E. (1975). Synesthesia: The lucky people with mixed-up senses. Psychology Today,
9(1), 48-52.
Müller, J. (1842). Elements of physiology (W. Baly, Trans.). London: Taylor & Walton.

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Copyright © 2008 by the American Psychological Association. The official citation that
should be used in referencing this material is:
Diekhoff, G. M. (2008). Sensory interdependencies. In J. T. Benjamin, Jr. (Ed.),
Favorite activities for the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.

No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the

American Psychological Association.
 activity 4.1
the stroop effect
From original TOPSS Unit Lesson Plan on Sensation and Perception

Laura Maitland

33
CONCeP
In this activity, the subject sees the name of a color printed in a different color ink
than its name. Because these two pieces of information conflict, the subject
experiences interference. As a result of experience, the subject usually ignores
the ink color and attends to the meaning of the words. When directed to ignore the word
and focus on the ink color, the subject has difficulty and may name the word instead of
the ink color. This particular demonstration of interference is attributed to the work of

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James Stroop (1935) and is referred to as the “Stroop Effect.”

MateRIa
You may use the color version of Handout 4.1 (labeled “Interference”) or the uncolored
version. If you use the uncolored version, students will need brightly colored markers in
blue, yellow, red, and green. An online listing can be found at
http://www.apa.org/science/resources/stroop.aspx.

INStRUCtION
Use either the preprinted color page labeled “Interference” in this packet or the uncolored
sheet in this unit. The colored sheet can be used as a demonstration. If you use the
uncolored sheet, make photocopies for the students. For homework a day or two in
advance of this activity, direct students to fill in the outlines with colored markers of red,
blue, green, and yellow that differ from the names of the colors written. For example,
students might color one word “red” with the green marker and another word “red” with
the blue marker.

For the activity students work in pairs, with one acting as the experimenter and one as
the subject. The experimenter tells the subject not to say the words that are printed, but
to say aloud the colors that the words are printed in, as fast as possible. The
experimenter records the number of errors. Then the experimenter tells the subject to try
the activity with the stimulus upside down. Ask the teams to account for the difference
in the number of errors. If the students attribute the difference to practice, have the
subjects and experimenters switch roles and try the activity in reverse order.
(activity 4.1 continued on next page)
 (activity 4.1 continued from previous page)

DISCUSSIO
Students are usually surprised at their inability to control what they pay attention to. This
activity also helps them become aware of how many stimuli they usually ignore. This
activity may be used in a unit on cognition and memory instead, if desired.

RefeReNC
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of intervention in serial verbal reactions. Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-662.

34
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This activity was adapted from material in the American Psychological Association’s
former traveling psychology exhibition, Psychology: Understanding Ourselves, Understanding
Each Other.
HaNDOUt 4.1
interference

DON’T read the words below. Just say the colors they’re printed in as fast as you can,
out loud. You’re in for a surprise!

green
blue
red
yellow
red 35

green
blue

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yellow
If you’re like most people, your first inclination was to read the words, “green, blue, red …,” rather
that the colors they are printed in, “yellow, red, green …”

You’ve just experienced interference.

When you look at one of the words, you see both its color and its meaning. If those two pieces
of evidence are in conflict, you have to make a choice. Because experience has taught you that
word meaning is more important than ink color, interference occurs when you try to pay attention
only to the ink color.

The interference effect suggests you’re not always in complete control of what you pay attention
to.

This demonstration is called the Stroop Effect. It is based on the work of Stroop (1935).
HaNDOUt 4.1
interference

37

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references

39
Bartoshuk, L. M., Duffy, V. B., & Miller, I. J. (1994). PTC/PROP taste: Anatomy,
psychophysics, and sex effects. Physiology & Behavior, 56(6), 1165–1171.

Beauchamp, G. K. (2009). Sensory and receptor responses to umami: An overview

of pioneering work. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90(3),
723S–727S.

referenc
Herz, R. S. (2004). A naturalistic analysis of autobiographical memories triggered by
olfactory, visual, and auditory stimuli. Chemical Senses, 29, 217–224.

Kalat, J. W. (2007). Biological psychology (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Melzak, R. (1992, April). Phantom limbs. Scientific American, 266, 120–126.

Melzak, R. (1993). Distinguished contribution series. Canadian Journal of

Experimental Psychology, 47, 615–629.

Melzack, R., & Wall, P. D. (1965). Pain mechanisms: A new theory. Science, 150,
971–979.

Ramachandran, V. S. (2007). On your mind [Video]. Available for free download at

TED Talks at TEDTalks.com or http://blog.ted.com/2007/10/23/
vilayanur_ramac/
resources

Textbooks 41
Blake, R., & Sekuler, R. (2006). Perception (5th ed.). Boston:
McGraw-Hill.

Coren, S., Ward, L. M., & Enns, J. T. (2004). Sensation and perception
(6th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

resourc
Foley, H. J., & Matlin, M. W. (2010). Sensation and perception (5th
ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Goldstein, E. B. (2010). Sensation and perception (8th ed.). Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Marr, D., Poggio, T., & Ullman, S. (2010). Vision: A computational

investigation into the human representation and processing
of visual information (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

May, M., & Chudler, E. H. (2007). Sensation and perception. New

York, NY: Chelsea House Publications.

Purves, D., & Lotto, R. B. (2010). Why we see what we do redux: A

wholly empirical theory of vision (2nd ed.). Sunderland, MA:
Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Wolfe, J. M., Kluender, K. R., Levi, D. M., Bartoshuck, L. M., Herz, R.

S., Klatzky, R. L., Lederman, S. J., & Merfeld, D. M (2008).
Sensation and perception (2nd ed.). Sunderland, MA:
Sinauer Associates, Inc.
 Books on Vision
Changizi, M. (2009). The vision revolution: How the latest research overturns
everything we thought we knew about human vision. Dallas, TX:
BenBella Books.

Fineman, M. B. (1996). The nature of visual illusion. Mineola, NY: Dover

Publications.

Gregory, R. L. (1997). Eye and brain (5th ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.

Gregory, R. L. (1994). Even odder perceptions. New York, NY: Routledge. Gregory,

R. L. (2009). Seeing through illusions. New York, NY: Oxford University

Press.

Hoffman, D. D. (2000). Visual intelligence: How we create what we see. New York,
NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

Livingstone, M. S. (2008). Vision and art: The biology of seeing. New York, NY:
Abrams Books.

Books on Other Senses

4
Ackerman, D. (1991). Natural history of the senses. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Barry, S. R. (2010). Fixing my gaze: A scientist’s journey into seeing in three

dimensions. Philadelphia, PA: Basic Books.

Brynie, F. H. (2009). The science of the senses and how we process the world
resourc

around us. New York, NY: AMACOM.

Chabris, C. F. & Simons, D. J. (2010). The invisible gorilla: And other ways our
intuitions deceive us. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

Gallagher, W. (2010). Rapt: Attention and the focused life. New York, NY: The
Penguin Press.

Gladwell, M. (2005) Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. New York, NY:
Little, Brown.

Hughes, H. C. (1999). Sensory exotica. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Macknik, S. L., Martinez-Conde, S., & Blakeslee, S. (2010). Sleights of the mind:
What the neuroscience of magic reveals about our everyday
deceptions. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co.

Power, R. P., Hausfeld, S., & Gorta, A. (1981). Workshops in perception. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Note. This book is out of print but easy to obtain;
has some excellent unique demonstrations.)

Powell, J. (2010). How music works: The science and psychology of beautiful
sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and beyond. New York, NY: Little,
Brown and Company.
Rosenblum, L. D. (2010). See what I’m saying: The extraordinary powers of our
five senses. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Sellers, H. (2010). You don’t look like anyone I know. New York, NY: Riverhead
Publisher.

Shepard, R. N. (1990). Mind sights: Original visual illusions, ambiguities, and

other anomalies with commentary on the play of mind in perception and
art. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman & Co.

Turin, L. (2007). The secret of scent: Adventures in perfume and the science of
smell. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.

Books by Oliver Sacks

Sacks, O. W. (1998). Island of the color blind. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Sacks, O. (1987). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales.
New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Sacks, O. W. (2000). Seeing voices. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Sacks, O. W. (2010). The mind’s eye. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
43
Books With Activities
Bolt M. (2008). Instructor’s resources. New York, NY: Worth. Accompanies
Exploring Psychology (7th ed.) by D. G. Myers.

Doherty, P., & Rathjen, D. (1995). The Cheshire cat and other eye-popping

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experiments on how we see the world. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley and Sons.

Doherty, P., & Rathjen, D. (1995). The magic wand and other bright experiments
on light and color. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley and Sons.

Children’s Books About Perception

Banyai, I. (1998). Re-zoom. New York, NY: Puffin.

Banyai, I. (1998). Zoom. New York, NY: Puffin.

Other Resources
Deutsch, D. (1997). Musical illusions and paradoxes [CD]. La Jolla, CA: Philomel
Records, Inc.

Deutsch, D. (2003). Phantom words and other curiosities [CD]. La Jolla, CA:
Philomel Records, Inc.

Five Senses Human Biology Poster Series [Apparatus]. (2001). Charleston, WV: Jaguar
Educational.

Strobotop LightPhase Animator [Apparatus]. (2010). Waltham, MA: Eye Think,

Inc.Videos.
 Videos
Demetrios, E., & Eames, L. (Producers). (2000). The films of Charles and Ray
Eames—the powers of 10 (vol. 1, 1968) [DVD].

Discovery Channel. (Producer). (2008). Pushing the limits [DVD]. Available from
http://ffh.films.com/id/6826/Human_Senses.htm

PBS. (Producer). (2007). NOVA: Mystery of the senses [DVD].

Scientific American. (2001). Cockpit confusion! [DVD]. Scientific American

frontiers: Introductory psychology video collection (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Worth Publishers. Available from 41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
10010 or www.worthpublishers.com

Scientific American. (2001). Lights, camera, magic! [DVD]. Scientific American

frontiers: Introductory psychology video collection (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Worth Publishers. Available from 41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
10010 or www.worthpublishers.com

Scientific American. (2002). Tasters and supertasters! [DVD]. Scientific American

frontiers: Introductory psychology video collection (2nd ed.). Available
through Worth Publishers, 41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010 or
www.worthpublishers.com
44 Sensation and Perception [Video]. (2001). Discovering psychology (video series, each
26 minutes, color). Available through Annenberg/CPB Project, P.O. Box 2345,
Burlington, VT 05407-2345 or call 1 (800) LEARNER or http://
www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/index.html

Sensory-Motor Integration. [DVD]. (1997). The brain: Teaching modules. Available

through Annenberg Media, 1-800-LEARNER or http://www.learner.org/
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resources/series142.html.

Shermer, M. (2006). On believing strange things [Video]. Available for free download
at TED Talks at http://www.TED.com or http://www.ted.com/
talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things.html

Shermer, M. (n.d.). The pattern behind self-deception [Video]. Available for free
download at TED Talks at http://www.TED.com or http://www.ted.com/talks/
lang/eng/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception.html

Websites
General sites
1. http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html
Eighty-four optical illusions and visual phenomena are divided into categories to
make this site user-friendly.

2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/interactives/senseschallenge/ This is
a 20-question quiz to see how much students know about their senses.

3. http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/illusions.htm
This site has more than 15 illusions that can be easily shown in a classroom.
4. http://www.skytopia.com/project/illusion/illusion.html
This site contains some familiar illusions and some of the owner’s creation. Some
are animated.

5. http://homepage.mac.com/jabaro/insight_software/demo.html
This site contains two demonstrations based on the work of John Baro.

6. http://www.skidmore.edu/~hfoley/perception.htm
This is Foley and Matlin’s website on perception, which has visuals on all aspects
of perception.

7. http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/modules/MM/n_net/n_net.html
This website is devoted to the relationship between physics and perception.

8. http://www.exploratorium.edu
This is the website of the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco. The website has
a wealth of information on the senses and perception, many of which are interactive.

9. http://www.planetperplex.com/en/index.html
This interactive site contains optical illusions, ambiguous images, upside down
images, and impossible figures.

10. http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/stripped_features/try_
online/tryonline.html 45
Demonstrations are available including the McGurk effect, psychic phenomenon,
afterimages, and some memory experiments.

Other interesting sites on sight and hearing

11. http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/
This is on cow eye dissection.

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12. http://webvision.med.utah.edu/
This is on human eye anatomy.

13. http://www.iknow.net
This CD on eye anatomy is available for purchase.

14. http://asa.aip.org/discs.html
This CD on hearing is available for purchase.

15. http://www.gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html This

is about camouflage in World War II.

16. http://www.ski.org/CWTyler_lab/Eyepage/index.html
This is on vision in various species.

17. http://www.musipedia.org
This site can generate sounds that can be useful in demonstrating pitch and loudness.
(If the instructor can borrow an electric keyboard or have the music teacher help, a
demonstration of the different qualities of sound can be a fun class demonstration.)

Apparent movement and movement aftereffects

18. http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/
This is on cow eye dissection.
 19. http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/rotate-e.html
Try this illusion of the rotating snakes.

20. http://dogfeathers.com/java/spirals.html
This website contains illusions and effects, some of which are animated and others in
3D.

21. http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/George_Mather/Motion/ This

website is devoted to different types of motion perception.

Applied topics
22. http://www.atoptics.co.uk/
This illustrates how atmospheric conditions, such as shadows and water droplets,
create natural illusions.

23. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/hearingloss/hlsoundslike.htm This

government website illustrates the effects of hearing loss with and without
background noise.

24. http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7567 This

website portrays sidewalk art that make illusion and reality difficult to distinguish.

25. http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/index.html
46 Protection of the ears of pets is discussed and demonstrated here.

Lightness perception and lightness illusions

26. http://persci.mit.edu/gallery
This MIT website contains demonstrations and explanations of such illusions as the
Checker Shadow and the Munker-White.
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Color aftereffects
27. http://www.cheswick.com/ches/me/
This is an online demonstration of the McCullough effect

28. http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.php This

is a very good demonstration of color aftereffects.

Magic eye
29. http://www.magiceye.com/3dfun/stwkdisp.shtml This
site is devoted to magic eye demonstrations.

Other Websites
Hearing Loop
http://www.hearingloop.org/
HearingLoop.org is a nonprofit informational website created and maintained by Hope
College psychology professor David G. Myers and his assistant Kathryn Brownson.

Mosquito Ring Tone Website

http://www.freemosquitoringtone.org/
Download free high-frequency ring tones here (may be blocked from school computer
systems).
Neuroscience for Kids
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.html
See “Sensory Systems” for helpful information, charts, and references about the senses.

Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2)

Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology: Sensation and Perception
http://teachpsych.org/otrp/resources/index.php?category=Sensation Includes links
to resources on “Using the Drawing and Animation Tools in
PowerPoint to Build Our Own Visual Perception Demonstrations” and “Problem- Based
Group Activities for a Sensation and Perception Course.”

TED Talks
www.TEDtalks.com
This is a useful set of presentations of 20 or fewer minutes by noted researchers in
technology, entertainment, and design. Many relate to psychology in general, but some
concern basic research in perception, neurology, and applied psychology, such as the
effects of noise on behavior.

Online Psychology Laboratory (OPL)

Sensation and Perception Activities
The following experiments are available to teachers at http://opl.apa.org
47
Covert Attention
This activity presents participants with the task of pressing one of two buttons
depending on where a target stimulus is located. Each trial first presents participants
with either a valid or invalid cue (arrow), directing them toward or away from the
stimulus they are about to see. This experiment illustrates studies done on central cues
and their effect on covert attention.

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Dichotic Listening
This experiment uses 15 different pairs of nonsense syllables, one played in each of the
participants’ two ears simultaneously. It explores dichotic listening by seeing which
syllable is distinguished by the listener first in order to draw some larger conclusions
about hemispheric specialization.

Line Motion
This experiment tests the strength of apparent motion by manipulating the speed with
which a line moves onto the screen. Cues precede the “movement” of a line. The trials in
which a false cue precedes apparent (as opposed to actual) motion demonstrate how
powerful apparent motion truly is.

Lexical Decision Making

This experiment asks participants to look at different strings of letters and determine if
the letters are words or non-words. Focusing on the actual structure of words, this
experiment adds another variable by sometimes displaying non- words that look very
similar to the words they have been paired with. This is done in order to investigate how
helpful non-words can be in recognizing actual words that seem to be related to those
non-words.

Müller-Lyer
This study focuses on the perception of length and the power of illusion. Using a
computer program, students are asked to adjust the length of one line until they believe
it is the same length as another line right next to it.
 Poggendorff
This is another experiment looking at misperception and illusion. Participants are
presented with two vertical parallel lines and a partial diagonal line running through
them with its middle removed. This gives the illusion of a discontinuous diagonal line,
despite the fact that it is actually straight. Students are given the opportunity to adjust
both the length of the diagonal and the distance between the vertical lines to explore
which manipulations have a greater effect on the illusion.

Ponzo
Another illusion experiment, this activity presents students with two horizontal lines a
certain distance apart, either against a plain background or a background of converging
lines. This second scenario creates a three-dimensional illusion.
Students are asked to adjust one of the horizontal lines until they believe it is the same
length as the other line. The converging-lines background creates a three- dimensional
illusion and its effect on the students’ accuracy is measured.

Reaction Time: Color

This experiment presents visual stimuli, such as blocks of color, and asks participants
to respond by pressing a button after seeing target stimuli under three different
conditions of varying complexity. Students see how their reaction time is affected by
the different nature of the three tasks.

Reaction Time: Sound

48 This experiment presents auditory stimuli and asks participants to respond after they
hear target stimuli under conditions varying in complexity. Students are made aware of
each different task’s effect on their reaction times.
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discussion questions

1.
Why are human beings sensitive only to certain types of stimuli? For 49
example, why can’t we see ultraviolet light or hear sounds that a dog can?

2.
List occupations in which good vision, hearing, or other senses would be important
for success. Be sure to list the reasons why. Are there occupations in which poor
ability in one of the senses would be dangerous?

3.
Do good readers need to use less bottom-up processing (processing the printed
words) than poor readers? Why? Use examples.

4.
Why do our eyes point in the same direction, yet our ears point in opposite
directions?

discussion
5.
Explain how an aftereffect works.

6.
In neuroanatomical terms, what are the fundamental differences between
sensation and perception?

7.
Why do we have senses of smell and taste? What purpose do those senses serve
with regard to survival?

8.
Give an example of the gate theory. Why do you believe the brain reacts to pain in
this fashion?

9.
Which sense do you feel is the most important? Least important?

10.
Why do artists, especially painters, need to understand perception? Give
examples of how they use the fundamental ideas of perception.

11.
What are some of the ways road signs are designed to help drivers see them
accurately?

12.
Can you think of occupations where excellent depth perception is required?