SLIDES 20-24

🟦 1. Flag White Dot Illusion

 Description: Stare at the white dot in the center of a cyan, black, and
yellow flag for 20 seconds, then look at a white surface. You'll see the
red, white, and blue American flag due to color afterimage effects.

 Your task: focus on the white dot in the center of the image. It might be
useful to have someone manage the mouse for you and click away any
pop-ups that come up on the screen. You can do it yourself but don’t
get too distracted. Keep staring!

 Your focus remains fixed on that white dot and nothing else. You may
feel like you’re getting tunnel vision as your peripheral vision gets a
little fuzzy. About all you can see is that white dot.

 After 20 seconds or so, the strange color combination disappears and

is instantly replaced with the familiar red, white, and blue of the US
flag. It’s kind of a relief, actually.

 When you stare at a color for a long time, the cones detecting that
color get tired or fatigued and your eyes become less responsive to
that color of light. After several seconds of staring and then looking
away at a white surface, what you see is an afterimage that results
from the photoreceptors not being balanced.

 The cells temporarily “subtract” cyan, black, and yellow light from the
white light coming off the white page. The colors of the US flag occur
because red, white, and blue are the complementary colors of cyan,
black, and yellow light. After a few seconds, chemical balance is
restored in the cells and the afterimage fades away.

🟨 2. Müller-Lyer Illusion

 Description: Two lines of equal length appear different because of the

direction of arrowheads at their ends. One looks longer due to
contextual visual cues.

🟥 3. Ames Room Illusion

 Description: A distorted room viewed through a peephole makes

people appear to grow or shrink as they move across the room. This
illusion plays with depth perception and perspective.

One key aspect of preventing the observer from perceiving the true shape of the room is
the peephole. It has at least three consequences:
 It forces the observer to be at the location where the image projected into the eye
is of an ordinary room. From any other location, the observer would see the
room's true shape.
 It forces the observer to use one eye to look into the room, preventing any
information about the real shape of the room from stereopsis, which requires two
eyes.
 It prevents the observer from moving to a different location so as to get any
information about the real shape of the room from motion parallax.
 Other sources of information about the true shape of the room are also removed
by its designer. For example, by strategic lighting, the true far corner is as bright
as the true near corner. For another example, patterns on the walls (such as
windows) and floor (such as a black-and-white chequerboard of tiles) can be
made consistent with its illusory geometry.
 The illusion is powerful enough to overcome other information about the true
locations of objects in the room, such as familiar size. For example, although the
observer knows that adults are all about the same size, an adult standing in the
true near corner appears to be a giant, while another adult standing in the true far
appears to be a dwarf. For another example, although the observer knows that
an adult cannot change size, they see an adult who walks back and forth
between the true far and true near corners appear to grow and shrink.

🟩 4. Rotating Snakes Illusion

 Description: A static image appears to rotate due to peripheral drift

and differences in visual processing latency. The illusion is strongest in
your peripheral vision.

 NSTRUCTIONS
 INSTRUCTIONS: Allow your gaze to move naturally over the figure, coming to
rest from time to time. Try fixing your gaze at a point and see what happens.

 EFFECT: You should have a visual experience as of the ‘snakes’ rotating, when
in fact they are stationary. When you fix your gaze this illusory motion ceases.
Note that some snakes rotate clockwise, others anticlockwise.

 It is one of a class of peripheral drift illusions; whatever part of the figure is in the
centre of our visual field appears motionless (as indeed it is), while the parts
seen in our peripheral vision appear to move.

 No-one is quite sure as to how the Rotating Snakes illusion works, although there
is some consensus that it involves a difference in the processing latency of
signals corresponding to different parts of the figure
 SLIDE 3 – INTRODUCTION TO SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
have a vis
🧠 Definition of Sensation
Sensation is the process of detecting physical stimuli from the environment,
such as:
 Light (vision)
 Sound (hearing)
 Temperature (touch)
 Pressure, taste, and smell
🔍 Example:
 When light enters your eyes and activates photoreceptors in the retina, that’s
sensation.

🧠 Definition of Perception
Perception is the brain’s interpretation of sensory signals to make sense of the
environment.
🔍 Example:
 Recognizing that the light pattern you see is a stop sign is perception.

🔄 Sensation vs. Perception

Feature Sensation Perception
Function Detects raw sensory input Interprets sensory input
Sensory organs (eyes, ears, Brain (especially cerebral
Location
skin) cortex)
Example Feeling heat from a

🔹 Sensation Examples (Raw data from the senses)

1. Feeling the heat from a stove when you place your hand near it.

2. Hearing a siren in the distance.

3. Seeing light enter your eyes when you walk outside.

4. Smelling popcorn in the hallway.

5. Tasting salt on a pretzel.

🔸 Perception Examples (Interpretation of sensory data)

1. Recognizing the stove is hot and deciding not to touch it.

2. Identifying the siren as an ambulance and wondering if there’s an

emergency.

3. Realizing it’s sunny and deciding to wear sunglasses.

4. Associating the popcorn smell with movie night and feeling excited.

5. Judging the pretzel as too salty and choosing not to eat more.
 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

🧠 Classroom Discussion Prompt: Sensation vs. Perception

Prompt:
Can you think of a time when your sensation told you one thing, but
your perception interpreted it differently?

Follow-up Question:
How might context or past experience influence perception?

💬 Example to Share:

 Sensation: You hear a rustling sound in the bushes.

 Perception: You think it’s a wild animal — but it turns out to be the
wind or a squirrel.

 Context Influence: If you’ve watched a scary movie recently, your

perception may be biased toward danger.
 SLIDE 4 – ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD

🔹 Absolute Threshold (Made Simple)

Definition:
The absolute threshold is the smallest amount of a stimulus (like
sound, light, or touch) that a person can detect at least 50% of the
time.

🧠 Think of It Like This:

It’s the moment when something goes from “nothing” to “I noticed

that!”

📌 Real-Life Example:

 The quietest sound you can hear — like a watch ticking across the
room.

 The dimmest light you can see in a dark room.

 The lightest touch you can feel on your skin.

💬 Classroom Analogy:

Imagine slowly turning up the volume on a speaker. The absolute

threshold is the point where someone says, “Okay, now I hear it!”
SLIDE 5 – DIFFERENCE THRESHOLD AND JUST NOTICEABLE
DIFFERENCE

🔹 Difference Threshold

Also called the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) — they’re essentially the
same thing!

Definition:
It’s the smallest change in a stimulus that you can detect 50% of the
time.

🧠 Easy Example:

Imagine you're holding a book that weighs 1 pound.

If someone adds a tiny paperclip, you probably won’t notice.
But if they add another book, you’ll feel the difference.

That point where you first notice the change — that’s the difference
threshold or JND.

🛒 Real-Life Example:

 Shopping: You notice a price change from $5.00 to $5.50, but not
from $5.00 to $5.05.

 Volume: You notice when someone turns up the music slightly — but
only after a certain amount.
SLIDE 6 – SENSORY ADAPTATION

🔄 What Is Sensory Adaptation?

It’s when your senses get used to a stimulus over time, so you stop
noticing it.

🧠 Everyday Examples

1. Smell

 You walk into a room with a strong scent (like popcorn or perfume).

 After a few minutes, you don’t notice the smell anymore.

 Your nose has adapted to the scent.

2. Touch

 You put on a watch or ring.

 At first, you feel it on your skin.

 After a while, you forget it’s there — your skin has adapted.

3. Sight

 You walk into a dark room.

 At first, you can’t see anything.

 After a few minutes, your eyes adjust — that’s sensory adaptation.

4. Sound

 You’re in a noisy café.

 At first, it’s loud and distracting.

 After a while, you tune it out and focus on your conversation.

🧪 Why It Matters

Sensory adaptation helps your brain focus on new or important changes

instead of constant background stimuli.
SLIDE 7 - TRANSDUCTION

⚡ What Is Transduction?

Transduction is when your senses turn physical energy into electrical

signals that your brain can understand.

🧠 Think of It Like This:

Your senses are like translators — they take things like light, sound, or
touch and convert them into messages your brain can read.

🛒 Everyday Examples

1. Vision

 Light enters your eye and hits the retina.

 Special cells (cones and rods) convert light into electrical signals.

 Your brain reads those signals and you “see” an image.

2. Hearing

 Sound waves enter your ear and vibrate tiny bones.

 Hair cells in the cochlea convert vibrations into electrical signals.

 Your brain interprets those signals as sound.

3. Touch

 You touch something hot.

 Nerve endings in your skin convert heat into electrical signals.

 Your brain gets the message: “Ouch! That’s hot!”

4. Taste

 Chemicals from food touch your taste buds.

 Taste receptors convert chemical info into signals.

 Your brain says: “Mmm, sweet!” or “Yuck, bitter!”

SLIDE 8 – PERCEPTION

🧠 Active Sensory Interpretation

Definition:
Your brain doesn’t just receive sensory information — it actively interprets
it based on context, expectations, and experience.

Example:

 You hear a rustling sound in the bushes.

If you're in a park, you might think it's a squirrel.
If you're camping in bear country, you might think it's a bear.
👉 Same sound, different interpretation based on context.

👓 Influences on Perception

Definition:
Perception is shaped by past experiences, culture, emotions, and
expectations.

Examples:

 Culture: Someone raised in a city might perceive silence as eerie,

while someone from the countryside finds it peaceful.

 Emotion: If you're anxious, you might perceive a neutral face as angry.

 Expectation: If you expect to taste lemon, but it’s actually lime, you
might misidentify the flavor.

🤖 Applications in Technology

Definition:
Technology uses principles of sensation and perception to improve user
experience, safety, and functionality.

Examples:

 Touchscreens: Use haptic feedback to simulate texture or pressure.

 Voice Assistants: Use auditory perception to recognize speech

patterns.

 Virtual Reality (VR): Tricks your visual and spatial perception to

create immersive environments.

 Self-driving cars: Use sensors to detect objects and interpret them

like human perception.
SLIDE 9 – VISION AND THE EYE

DRAW THE EYE ON THE WHITEBOARD

RODS AND CONES

Rods and Cones: The Eye’s Light Sensors

 Rods help us see in dim light.

o They are very sensitive to light but don’t detect color.

o They’re mostly used for night vision and peripheral vision.

 Cones help us see in bright light and detect colors.

o There are three types of cones for red, green, and blue light.

o They give us sharp, detailed vision in daylight.

🌙 Rods – Night and Motion Helpers

 Example 1: When you're walking in a dark room and can still see
shapes and movement — that's your rods working.

 Example 2: Seeing a shadow move in your peripheral vision at night

— rods help with motion detection and low light.

🌞 Cones – Daylight and Color Detectives

 Example 1: Noticing the bright red of a stop sign or the green of a

tree — that's your cones detecting color.

 Example 2: Reading a book in daylight — cones help with sharp,

detailed vision in bright light.

SLIDE 10 – VISIBLE SPECTRUM

🌈 Visible Spectrum – Simple Definition

The visible spectrum is the part of light that humans can see.
It includes all the colors from red to violet, like a rainbow.
These colors are part of white light, which can be split using a prism.

✅ Real-Life Examples

1. Rainbow – Sunlight passing through rain shows all the colors of the
visible spectrum.

2. Prism Experiment – A glass prism splits white light into red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

3. TV or Phone Screen – Uses red, green, and blue light to create all
visible colors.

4. Paints and Crayons – The colors you see are part of the visible
spectrum.

5. Traffic Lights – Red, yellow, and green are visible spectrum colors
used for signals.
SLIDE 11 – AUDITORY SYSTEM AND HEARING

👂 Auditory System – Simple Definition

The auditory system is the part of your body that helps you hear
sounds.
It includes your ears, auditory nerve, and parts of the brain that
process sound.

🔊 Hearing – Simple Definition

Hearing is the ability to detect and understand sounds like voices,

music, or noise.
It happens when sound waves travel into your ear and are turned
into signals your brain can understand.

✅ Real-Life Examples

1. Listening to music through headphones – your ears and brain

work together to enjoy the sound.

2. Hearing a fire alarm – your auditory system helps you

recognize danger.

3. Talking with a friend – you hear their voice and understand

what they say.

4. Birds chirping outside – your ears pick up the sound, and your
brain identifies it.

5. Watching a movie – you hear dialogue, sound effects, and

music all thanks to your auditory system.
SLIDE 13 – PITCH, TIMBRE, AND HEARING LOSS

🎵 Pitch – How High or Low a Sound Is

 Definition: Pitch is how high or low a sound seems.

 Example: A whistle has a high pitch, while a drum has a low pitch.

🎶 Timbre – The Quality or Color of a Sound

 Definition: Timbre is what makes sounds different, even if they have

the same pitch. Quality or character of a sound.

 Example: A piano and a guitar can play the same note, but they
sound different because of their timbre.

👂 Hearing Loss – Trouble Detecting Sounds

 Definition: Hearing loss means a person has difficulty hearing

sounds clearly.

 Example: Someone might not hear soft voices or may need the TV
volume turned up high.
SLIDE 14 – TASTE AND SMELL

👅 Basic Taste Sensations

There are five basic tastes:

1. Sweet – sugar, candy, fruit

2. Sour – lemon, vinegar

3. Salty – chips, pretzels

4. Bitter – coffee, dark chocolate

5. Umami (savory) – cheese, soy sauce, meat

These are detected by taste buds on the tongue.

👃 Smell and Chemical Detection

 The nose detects odors using special cells that respond to

chemical molecules in the air.

 Smell helps us identify flavors, even when taste is limited.

 Smell and taste work together to create the full experience of

flavor.

Role in Flavor Perception

 Flavor is a mix of taste, smell, texture, and temperature.

 Example: When you eat pizza, you taste salt and umami, but
smell the spices and cheese — all combine to create the full
flavor.

 If you hold your nose, food tastes bland — because smell is

missing!

🔬 Applications in Science

1. Food Science – creating better-tasting and healthier foods.

2. Medicine – detecting taste/smell disorders or using flavor to

help patients eat.

3. Chemistry – studying how molecules interact with taste and

smell receptors.

4. Perfume and Flavor Industry – designing scents and flavors

using chemical detection.
✅ Real-Life Examples

 Tasting ice cream: sweet and cold, with smell enhancing flavor.

 Smelling flowers: your nose detects chemical scents.

 Cooking with garlic: strong smell and umami taste combine.

 COVID-19 loss of smell: shows how important smell is to flavor.

SLIDE 15 – TOUCH, PAIN, AND TEMPERATURE

✋ Mechanoreceptors – Touch Sensors

 These detect pressure, vibration, and texture.

 Found in the skin, they help us feel things like soft, rough, or
bumpy surfaces.

Examples:

 Feeling the smooth screen of a phone.

 Noticing the vibration of a speaker or phone.

 Detecting the texture of sandpaper or fabric.

⚠️Nociceptors – Pain Detectors

 These sense damage or danger to the body.

 They alert the brain to pain, like cuts, burns, or pressure.

Examples:

 Feeling pain when you touch something sharp.

 Burning sensation from touching a hot stove.

 Aching muscles after exercise.

Thermoreceptors – Temperature Sensors

 These detect heat and cold.

 Found in the skin and body, they help us respond to

temperature changes.

Examples:

 Feeling warmth from sunlight.

 Sensing cold when holding ice.

 Noticing the change in temperature when entering a warm

room from outside.

🔬 Applications in Science

1. Medical research – understanding pain and touch helps treat

injuries and nerve disorders.
2. Robotics – designing artificial skin that can feel pressure and
temperature.

3. Prosthetics – creating limbs that can sense touch and heat.

4. Neuroscience – studying how the brain processes sensory

information.
SLIDE 16 – VESTIBULAR SYSTEM AND BALANCE

🧠 Vestibular System – Simple Definition

The vestibular system is part of the inner ear that helps you:

 Keep your balance

 Know your body’s position

 Stay steady when you move

It works with your eyes, muscles, and brain to help you move
smoothly and stay upright.

🔄 Coordination with Other Senses

 Works with vision to keep your eyes focused when your head
moves.

 Works with touch and muscles to help you walk, run, or stand
without falling.

 Helps you know if you're spinning, tilting, or moving.

🏥 Clinical Importance

 Problems with the vestibular system can cause dizziness,

vertigo, or balance issues.

 Doctors use tests to check vestibular function in people with

fall risks, ear infections, or neurological conditions.

✅ Real-Life Examples

1. Riding a bike – your vestibular system helps you stay balanced.

2. Walking in a straight line – it keeps your body steady.

3. Spinning in a chair – you feel dizzy because your vestibular

system is confused.

4. Gymnastics or dancing – it helps you control your movements

and posture.

5. Closing your eyes and standing on one foot – your vestibular

system works harder without visual help.
SLIDE 17 – DEPTH PERCEPTION AND CUES

👀 Depth Perception – Simple Definition

Depth perception is your ability to tell how far away something is or

how deep space is.
It helps you see the world in 3D, not just flat like a photo.

Monocular Cues (One Eye)

These are depth clues you can see with just one eye:

 Size – smaller objects look farther away.

 Overlap – if one object covers another, it’s closer.

 Texture – more detail means it’s closer.

 Linear perspective – lines seem to meet in the distance (like

train tracks).

 Shadow and light – show depth and shape.

Example: Looking at a painting and knowing which objects are

closer.

👀 Binocular Cues (Both Eyes)

These use both eyes working together:

 Retinal disparity – each eye sees a slightly different image;

your brain combines them to judge depth.

 Convergence – your eyes turn inward more when looking at

something close.

Example: Catching a ball — your eyes help you judge how far it is.

🔬 Applications in Real Life and Science

1. Driving – judging distance between cars.

2. Sports – hitting or catching a ball.

3. Virtual reality (VR) – creating 3D worlds using depth cues.

4. Robotics and AI – teaching machines to “see” depth.

5. Medical imaging – understanding 3D scans like MRIs or CTs.

✅ Real-Life Examples

 Walking down stairs – depth perception helps you step safely.

 Playing video games – 3D graphics use depth cues.

 Watching a 3D movie – uses binocular cues to create depth.

 Driving in fog – depth perception is harder, so people slow

down.
SLIDE 18 – GESTALT PRINCIPLES

🧠 Who Is Gestalt in Psychology?

Gestalt is not a person — it's a school of thought in psychology that

began in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. The word
Gestalt is German and means “form,” “shape,” or “whole.” In
psychology, it refers to how we naturally perceive things as
organized wholes rather than just a collection of parts.

📚 Founders of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology was founded by three key psychologists:

 Max Wertheimer – discovered the phi phenomenon (how we

perceive motion from still images, like in movies).

 Kurt Koffka – helped expand Gestalt ideas to learning and

development.

 Wolfgang Köhler – studied problem-solving and insight,

especially in animals. [What is Ge...Principles], [Gestalt
ps...Wikipedia], [Gestalt ps...amples ...]

🔍 Core Idea

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

This means our brains tend to group and organize information

automatically to make sense of the world. For example, we see a
face instead of just eyes, nose, and mouth separately.

🧩 Gestalt Principles of Perception

These include:

 Proximity – grouping things that are close together.

 Similarity – grouping things that look alike.

 Closure – filling in gaps to see complete shapes.

 Good Continuation – seeing smooth lines and patterns.

✅ Real-Life Examples

 Seeing a smiley face in emojis 😊.

 Reading words as whole units, not just letters.

 Recognizing a melody even if played in a different key.

Here’s a simple explanation of four important principles in visual
perception — how we organize what we see

👥 1. Proximity Principle

We tend to group things that are close together as part of the same
group.

Example:
On a bulletin board, if photos are placed close together, we assume
they’re related — like a family or event.

🎨 2. Similarity Principle

We group things that look similar — same color, shape, or size.

Example:
In a classroom, students wearing the same uniform are seen as part
of the same group.

🧩 3. Closure Principle

We tend to fill in missing parts of a picture to see a complete shape.

Example:
When you see a dotted outline of a circle, your brain still sees a full
circle.

➰ 4. Good Continuation

We prefer to see smooth, continuous lines or patterns, not broken

or sharp changes.

Example:
When looking at a curving road, your brain follows the path even if
part of it is blocked by trees.

🔬 Applications in Real Life and Science

 Design and advertising – arranging elements to guide

attention.

 Education – helping students understand visual patterns.

 User interfaces – making websites and apps easier to navigate.

  Psychology – studying how people organize visual information.

SLIDE 19 – VISUAL ILLUSIONS

‍Visual Illusions – Simple Explanation

Visual illusions are images or patterns that trick your brain into
seeing something that isn’t really there or seeing it differently than
it actually is.

They happen because your brain tries to make sense of what your
eyes see, but sometimes it misinterprets the information.

🧠 Why They Happen

 Your brain uses past experiences and shortcuts to understand

what you see.

 Sometimes, these shortcuts cause mistakes, leading to

illusions.

✅ Real-Life Examples

1. Mirages – Seeing water on a hot road that isn’t really there.

2. Optical illusions – Like the famous image where one person

sees a young woman, and another sees an old lady.

3. 3D sidewalk art – Looks like a hole or object, but it’s just a flat
drawing.

4. Magic tricks – Often use visual illusions to fool the audience.