Chapter Outline

SENSORY PROCESSES
Stimulus Detection: The Absolute Threshold
Signal Detection Theory
Subliminal Stimuli: Can They Affect Behaviour?
BENEATH THE SURFACE Are Subliminal Self-Help Products Effective?
The Difference ThresholdSensory Adaptation

THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
Vision Audition
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Navigating in Fog: Professor Mayer’s Topophone
Taste and Smell: The Chemical Senses
The Skin and Body Senses
APPLYING PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Sensory Prosthetics: ‘Eyes’ for the Blind, ‘Ears’ for the Hearing Impaired

PERCEPTION: THE CREATION OF EXPERIENCE
Perception Is Selective: The Role of Attention
Perceptions Have Organization and Structure
Perception Involves Hypothesis Testing
Perception Is Influenced by Expectations: Perceptual Sets
Stimuli Are Recognizable under Changing Conditions: Perceptual Constancies
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Why Does That Rising Moon Look So Big?

PERCEPTION OF DEPTH, DISTANCE AND MOVEMENT
Depth and Distance Perception
Perception of Movement

ILLUSIONS: FALSE PERCEPTUAL HYPOTHESES
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Explain This Striking Illusion
RESEARCH CLOSE-UP Stalking a Deadly Illusion

EXPERIENCE, CRITICAL PERIODS AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Cross-Cultural Research on Perception
Critical Periods: The Role of Early Experience
Restored Sensory Capacity
Some Final Reflections