Content Category 6A: Sensing the Environment

Psychological, sociocultural, and biological factors affect our sensation and perception of the world. All sensory processing begins with first detecting a stimulus in the environment through sensory cells, receptors, and biological pathways.

After collecting sensory information, we then interpret and make sense of it. Although sensation and perception are distinct functions, they are both influenced by psychological, social, and biological factors and therefore become almost indistinguishable in practice. This complexity is illuminated by examining human sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

The content in this category covers sensation and perception across all human senses.

Topic Our Social World Introduction to Sociology Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Exploring Psychology

Sensory Processing (PSY, BIO):

  • Sensation
    • Threshold
    • Weber’s Law (PSY)
    • Signal detection theory (PSY)
    • Sensory adaptation
    • Psychophysics
  • Sensory receptors
    • Sensory pathways
    • Types of sensory receptors
NA NA NA
  • Ch. 6, pp. 189-232

Vision (PSY, BIO)

  • Structure and function of the eye
  • Visual processing
    • Visual pathways in the brain
    • Parallel processing (PSY)
    • Feature detection (PSY)
NA NA NA
  • Ch. 6, pp. 199-215

Hearing (PSY, BIO)

  • Structure and function of the ear
  • Auditory processing (e.g., auditory pathways in the brain)
  • Sensory reception by hair cells
NA NA NA
  • Ch. 6, pp. 216-220

Other Senses (PSY, BIO)

  • Somatosensation (e.g., pain perception)
  • Taste (e.g., taste buds/chemoreceptors that detect specific chemicals)
  • Smell
    • Olfactory cells (chemoreceptors) that detect specific chemicals
    • Pheromones (BIO)
    • Olfactory pathways in the brain (BIO)
  • Kinesthetic sense (PSY)
  • Vestibular sense
NA NA NA
  • Ch. 6, pp. 220-228

Perception (PSY)

  • Bottom-up/top-down processing
  • Perceptual organization (e.g., depth, form, motion, constancy)
  • Gestalt principles
NA NA NA
  • Ch. 6, pp. 189-232