The Human Mind

Introduction to Sensation and Perception  Sensation : how an organism receives (or detects) stimuli and information from the surrounding world via the sensory organs    Perception : the interpretation of sensations  Cognitive processes of receiving, encoding, storing and organizing sensations   Absolute Threshold   The weakest amount of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time  Bottom-up Processing : analysis of the stimulus begins with the sense receptors and works up to the level of the brain and mind Top- down Processing : into processing guided by higher level mental processes as we construct perception, drawing on our experience and expectation Signal Detection Theory Predicts when an individual will decide if a stimulus is present or not based on both the signal's intensity and the individual's motivation.  Based on the idea that an individual's absolute threshold is not constant and can imp...

States of Consciousness  Sleep  Hypnosis  Drugs  In a state of consciousness - our awareness of ourselves and our surroundings  Conscious Daydream  Fancies  why do we daydream? They help us prepare for future events  They can nourish our social development  Can substitute for impulsive behavior  Biological Rhythms  Annual cycle : seasonal variations (bears hibernate, seasonal affective disorder) 28 day cycle : Menstrual cycle 24 hour cycle : our circadian rhythm  90 minute cycle : sleep cycle  Circadian rhythm  Our 24 hour biological clock  Our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day  It is best to take a test and study during your circadian peaks  Sleep Sleep stages  There are 5 identified stages of sleep  It takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through the 5 stages  The brain waves will change according to the...