Introduction to Perception

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From the course by The University of Chicago

Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

619 ratings

The University of Chicago

Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

619 ratings

Learn how the nervous system produces behavior, how we use our brain every day, and how neuroscience can explain the common problems afflicting people today. We will study functional human neuroanatomy and neuronal communication, and then use this information to understand how we perceive the outside world, move our bodies voluntarily, stay alive, and play well with others.

From the lesson

Perception and Vision

Perception is how the brain interprets incoming stimuli. Not all stimuli that can be sensed are perceivable, and sometimes those that can be perceived play tricks on us. The systematic ways that stimuli are interpreted (or misinterpreted) show how well the brain can understand our surroundings, sometimes with limited information. This module we will explore perception and vision.This module contains a lot of material, so be sure to start early so that you have time to finish!

Introduction to Perception4:01

Sensory Interpretation: Optical Illusions3:33

Sensory Interpretation: Auditory Illusions3:09

Sensory Interpretation: Weber's Law4:06

Stimulus Set7:07

The Road to Perception5:10

Name the Senses4:53

Meet the Instructors

Peggy Mason
Professor
Neurobiology

[MUSIC]

Okay, in this unit, we’re gonna talk about perception, and

we’re gonna take two examples and look at them in more detail.

We’re gonna take vision and hearing but we're gonna start off, and today,

what we'll look at is, what is perception, some of the features, shared features,

of perception, then we'll go to vision and

we'll look at how the eye gets the light into the retina.

How the light, which reaches the retina is turned into a neuro signal.

Then, we'll look at how, when the retina sends on the information to the rest of

the brain, how that information gets interpreted into a perceptual, percept.

And finally,

we're gonna talk about the fact that we're not born knowing how to see.

We learn how to see and the importance of early experience

on seeing correctly but in this segment, what I wanna

concentrate on is some terminology and specifically let's define perception.

Well, we have to start with a stimulus, and a stimulus is defined as any change.

A change in, it can be in the environment, it could be inside the body.

So I just ate a bagel.

Well I'm starting to feel that.

My stomach is starting to expand.

That's a change.

If a light flashes outside that's a change.

So a stimulus can be inside or outside and

it can result in either a sensation or a perception.

In a sensation, it will result in a stimulus that is of adequate strength,

will always be sensed, but that sensation may not turn into a perception.

So, these are not synonymous terms.

A perception is a conscious appreciation of

some stimulus or energy.

Now we also actually can perceive without our stimulus

and one easy example of that is amputation.

Phantom limbs sometimes painful, sometimes just a phantom limb,

just the sense that it's there when it's not there.

So there often times, we have perceptions, and there are other examples

that we'll look at in a moment, where we have a perception without a stimulus.

So a stimulus does not necessarily create a perception,

it does typically create a sensation.

Sensation.

We have all these senses.

Things like blood gasses.

So, how much oxygen, how much CO2 is in our blood.

Never reaches consciousness.

Can't even access it.

Can't learn to access it.

We have no idea how much O2 or CO2 is in our blood.

On the other hand, I can look out and

see whether there's a bird flying across the sky.

So some sensations reach consciousness and produce a perception.

Some sensations don't do that.

They do other things like evoke reflexes or adjustments in the body.

Okay, so in the next segment what we're gonna

do is understand what the biggest issue is in perception.

[MUSIC]

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