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Example research essay topic: Pay Attention Objective Reality - 1,376 words

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H 2 >The Senses Act as A Data Reduction System Sensation is the stimulation of the sense organs by the external and internal environments. Sensations shape impressions of reality by interpreting the process that the individual feels, touches, smells and sees the world around. As Coon (1995) states The senses act as a data reduction system. Not only do the senses reduce data from both environments, but they also create a subjective reality by going beyond the raw data. The senses only experience a limited potion of energy available. Each of the five senses respond to different energy forms, the eye only responds electromagnetic energy (Waves which vary in the distance between one peak and the next), which is further reduced as the human can only see 10 % of the electromagnetic spectrum although humans rely heavily on the eye to perceive the objective reality.

It is believed that humans can only detect sensations necessary for their survival, as humans can not see things such as sona, while bats can. It may appear simple process to create reality, but infact it is a very complex process. There are several stages that the eye goes though to enable sight as the eyes and brain together form the visual system. When the light falls on the retina the feature detectors (specialised neutrons that respond to certain attributes of the stimuli) then respond to specific features of the information received.

Transduction is a process that converts electromagnetic energy from the external reality into electrochemical energy so the brain and nervous system can use. It occurs at the back of the eye, and happens because the brain can only interpret one form of energy, meaning that all senses detect other forms of energy and then transducer it into electrochemical energy. As the electromagnetic energy is being transducer, it is also sorted and isolated. This process is known as selection. While moving though anywhere in the neural pathways to the brain, the image is coded into things such as size, colour and movement by things known as feature detectors. The image is further then reconstructed at the back of the brain.

Interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to sensory information detected previously by the visual detectors. Our ability to detect the environment depends on what signals our nervous system is able to detect, further contributing to Coons statement that the senses act as a data reduction system. The senses act limit and filter reality, otherwise the individual would be bombarded with unnecessary information. All senses have absolute thresholds meaning that each sense has a minimum amount of energy that it can respond to. Anything below this level is said to be subliminal. The weakest visual stimulus that can be detected is a candle flame fifty kilometres away in ideal conditions.

It is presumed that it could only be seen 50 % of the time because other factors such as fog, or other lights come into the equation. All five senses have absolute thresholds. They reduce data from the outside world. Humans also have just noticeable thresholds (JND) that detect the smallest perceptible different or change that can be detected between two stimuli by a certain sensory receptor. Wvbres law states that the amount of change in the stimulus, the original stimulus needs to be doubled in order to be noticed. Thresholds reduce the data received and taken to the brain as they only detect sensations strong enough to be registered.

Adaptation (The weakened magnitude of a sensation resulting from prolonged presentation of the stimulus) occurs when the sensory cells stop responding to a certain stimulus in the objective world. It is a data reducing mechanism, which all sensory systems undergo. After prolonged presentation of an unchanging stimulus, the receptor cells become fatigued, resulting in a weakened sensation. An example of this is entering a room with a strong odour. At first the smell is strong, but after time it becomes less striking. Sensory adaptation only occurs if the stimulus is unchanging.

It enables humans to pay attention to other stimuli that are more important and are changing. The eye differs from normal sense organs, as sacc ades enable the human eye to see constantly, and stop the individual becoming temporarily blind. The individuals eyes are constantly moving back and forth so that light does not constantly hit the same part of the retina. (Gardner, 1990) Although when then individual is exposed to extremes of light, the individual becomes temporally blind, until the rods and cones adjust. Colour is seen when the cones replenish. Adaptation is a data reducing mechanism, reducing the amount of stimuli that the individual can pay attention to. Attention (responding selectively to a limited amount of information in a visual stimulus while ignoring other information) enables humans to give some messages priority and put others on hold.

Objective reality can tell the individual what to pay attention to, as individuals are more likely to pay attention to intense, repetitious, changing or incongruent stimuli. Cocktail party effect is evidence to support selective attention, when in a room with several convocations, individuals can only pay attention to one conversation at a time, can switch convocations, but cannot pay attention to both at one. Reid argues the bottle neck theory where individuals can only pay attention to one lot of stimuli, which prevents others from passing though to bottle neck. The individual constructs reality by not only limiting and reducing data, but by creating and interpreting sensations. The original retinal image is extremely flawed as it has holes, it is upside down, flat, distorted and obscured by blood vessels. The final image seen is very different, with all the these being fixed.

The senses go beyond the original data by creating colour. The retinal contains two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. These enable colour and light intensity. Cones provide colour, which fire to produce an electrical impulse on the nerve fibre, and do not operate well in dim light. Rods are more sensitive than cones, but are not sensitive to colour.

They have a lower threshold than cones, enabling humans to see in the dark, but only in black and white. Several rods converge in on one nerve fibre making the image inaccurate and blurry, but cones have one nerve fibre each, enabling accurately in vision. The colour the individual sees depends on the wavelengths stimulating the visual system. Colour is not part of the external reality, but simply created by sensation. The colour is determined by the frequency and length of the wave.

There are two major theories concerning colour. The Young Halmholz theory and the Hering opponent process theory. The opponent process theory attempts to explain why there is no such thing as a reddish green or a yellowish blue. It suggests that the visual system analyses colour into either or messages.

It is assumed that the visual system can produce messages for either red or green, yellow or blue, or black or white. Coding in one colour in a pair seems to block the opposite message, so a reddish green is impossible, but a yellowish red (orange) can occur. The strongest evidence for this is the after image effect as when staring at a particular colour for a period of time, and then looking at white, the opponent colour is seen. A simultaneous presentation of both colours usually results in the perception of white, yet colours can be seen that are mixtures of either red, green mechanism with yellow blue, as blue and red would make purple. The trichromatic theory suggests that there are three types of cones, each most sensitive to a specific colour, red, green or blue. Other colours are assumed to result from combinations of these three colours.

These three cones have different firing rates, where if red is firing at large, the green and blue is firing a little. Reality is purely a perceptual construction sensation not only limits and filters reality, but its goes beyond by creating colour from wavelengths which is necessary for survival. Individuals perceive the world in their own private world. Although sensation may seem obvious it is a very complex process. Written in response to a year 12 psychology exam question. Received B+ B+ (AUSTRALIA)


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Research essay sample on Pay Attention Objective Reality

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