Module Outline

Module 6: Sensation

Module 6 discusses the senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. It begins by explaining the differences between sensation and perception and the limits, or thresholds, of sensation. How humans use their senses to adapt is detailed next.

The sense of sight has profound effects on our behavior. This module lists the structures and functions of the parts of the eye. The theories on color vision are mentioned.

Like vision, hearing and the parts of the ear are explained. Sound localization—how we know where a sound is coming from—is also discussed.

Lastly, the other senses—taste, smell, and touch—are covered, as well as the kinesthetic and vestibular senses.

Introduction
	Sensation
	Bottom-up processing
	Perception
	Top-down processing
Basic Principles: Thresholds, Signal Detection, Sensory Adaptation, and Selective Attention
	Threshold
	Absolute threshold
	Difference threshold
	Just noticeable difference
	Signal detection theory
	Sensory adaptation
	Selective attention
The Visual System
	Electromagnetic energy
	Wavelength
	Hue
	Amplitude
	Cornea
	Iris
	Pupil
	Lens
	Nearsightedness
	Farsightedness
	Retina
	Receptor cells
	Rods
	Cones
	Fovea
	Bipolar cells
	Ganglion cells
	Optic nerve
	Blind spot
	Trichromatic (three color) theory
	Subtractive process
	Additive process
	Color deficient (color blindness)
	Opponent process theory
Hearing
	Pitch
	Hertz (Hz)
	Loudness
	Decibels (dB)
	Auditory canal
	Eardrum
	Tympanic membrane
	Ossicles
	Hammer
	Anvil
	Stirrup
	Cochlea
	Oval window
	Hair cells
	Auditory nerve
	Sound localization
Other Senses
	Taste
	Sweet, sour, bitter, salty
	Umami
	Supertasters
	Nontasters
	Smell
	Olfactory cells
	Touch
	Pain, warmth, cold, pressure
	Gate control theory of pain
	Kinesthetic sense
	Vestibular sense