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Sensation is defined as, the stimulation of sensory receptors and the transmission of sensory information to the central nervous system. Sensation is the pickup of information by our sensory receptors, for example the eyes, ears, skin, nostrils, and tongue. An example for sensation would be if you walk into a room and without you knowing that someone was using bleach your sense of smell automatically picks up the scent.
Perception is defined as, the process by which sensations are organized into an inner representation of the world. Perception is how we select, organize, and interpret the information we sense. The interpretation is done in the brain. Information is sensed by the person, but then that information is taken to the brain for interpretation. An example of perception would be if I sense that there is a ball coming towards me, my first thought would be to catch it or move out of the way.
Single detection theory is defined as, the view that the perception of sensory stimuli involves the interaction of physical, biological, and psychological factors. As told in the textbook “the detection of signals is determined not only by the physical characteristics of the signals but also by psychological factors such as motivation and attention. An example would be a group of people watching television and not paying any attention to each other, but paying attention to what is on the television screen.
Sensory adaptation is defined as, the process by which organisms become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in magnitude and less sensitive to stimuli that are constant or ongoing in magnitude. There are two types of sensory adaptation. There is sensitization which is defined as the type of sensory adaptation in which we become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in magnitude. It is also called positive adaptation. An example taking from the textbook is walking into a dark movie theater and not being able to see anything but the images...