Making sense out of sensations

Essay 5 is an essay that describes sensation in great detail. It lists the structures of the eyeball and describes the processes of sight. It also describes the same things concerning the nose, ears, tongue and skin (touch). Essay 6 contrast Essay 5 in the way it deals with who information acquired in senses is then interpreted. It also deals with different phenomena that occur during interpretation of senses and the process of sensation like monocular and binocular cues, shape constancy and perceptual constancy. Essay 5 established the grounds in understanding the definition of sensation and essay 6 expound on the many concepts within the perception of sensation. The first of the four most important things I learned through the readings lied in essay 5. There was an interesting story at the end about a man that lost his ability to sense his own body movements. We are not usually aware that we have this sense although we use it every day. This sense is called proprioception and it is also known as the “sixth sense”. It was interesting to read how this disability affected his life. Although the process of sensation was quite fascinating I really valued to the explanation of perception. Perception is the process of taking stimulation whether it be chemical or mechanical and giving it meaning. Perception can even vary between individuals although both individuals experience the same stimulus. I also found that selection is very important. Selection is the process in which certain stimuli fire off sensory receptors. There are three ways in which these stimuli get selected. Stimuli that grab the most attention are most likely chosen. One of the most compelling illustrations made in Essay 6 was selection based on needs. The illustration involved how when a person is hungry the stimuli that will be more than likely chosen was food. I found that to be very true after examining my personal experiences when I was hungry. Finally, I learned how binocular and monocular cues are essential to our perception of our world. We need both of our eyes to give us both of these important depth perceptions. There are many things that fall under the operation of binocular and monocular cues. Relative size, interposition, shadow are all essential in how we see our world. Each eye on our faces views the world from a position. Being that both our eyes have their own position things tend to appear as if they move when you utilize each eye individually and this is called binocular disparity.