Sensory Adaptation Topic: Describe the phenomenon of sensory adaptation and show how it focuses our attention on changing stimulation.
Sensory adaptation is a very incredible process of the body. It is the way our body adapts to new experiences, or diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. The way you adjust to smell, touch, and sound are all covered by sensory adaptation. For example, when you first get into a pool, and it's freezing cold. In a few minutes, the water becomes nice and you forget about the temperature altogether.
For eyesight, however, sensory adaptation is different. Why is it that after staring at something for a long period of time, we continue to see it? The object doesn't disappear because our eyes are in constant movement. However, with new instruments created by psychologists, we can find out if these sights would vanish if the eye's movement stops.
But back to the point. Sensory adaptation focuses our attention on changing stimulation because as the eye continues to be stimulated, we don't get used to the image we perceive, so to speak. Although sensory adaptation reduces our sensitivity, it offers an important benefit. it enables us to focus our attention on informative changes, without being distracted by other stimulations of the senses in the environment around us.
More Mental Health
essays:
Down Syndrome by Ali Oterrab, describes the definition of down syndrome, the causes and the symptoms.
... Down Syndrome is a disorder caused by an extra chromosome on the chromosome 21 pair, giving the person a total of 47 chromosomes rather than the normal 46. This disorder results in mild to severe learning disabilities and physical symptoms including ...
Alcoholism and the Use of Peer Pressure as a Treatment
... alcohol depresses the brain's control mechanisms, situations, events and periods of times may not be remembered later. 4. Confusion - when blood alcohol ...
The Therapeutic Intervention of Antipsychotic Medication and the Process of a Patient Changing to a New Medication to Hopefully Improve His Quality of Life
... long period of time. Treatment of Schizophrenia should be based on an understanding of each individuals needs and make further psychological development possible through interactive relations (Alanen, 1997). People with Schizophrenia may experience persistent ...
Essay on Thought Contagion. Explains Thought Contagion and examples of how MEMES effect the mind. Teacher of class was very impressed.
... spread of the human race to all corners of our planet, the influence of humanity on the earth has increased. We modify gene pools, we force them into new environments ...
Written for nursing school: Self-concept is the capability of being able to see ourselves "from the outside"; the picture we gain of how other see us.
... nightmare. Sitting around the house did allow me a lot of time to think about the future, who I was, and who ... and behaviors suggesting an altered self- concept. Living through this experience and writing this paper has now given me the confidence ...
The Bipolar Disorder Experience
... episodes experience a period of depression. Mood is either elated, expansive, or irritable, hyperactivity, pressure of speech, flight of ideas, inflated self esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, and excessive involvement in activities with high potential for painful consequences ...
Overall discussion on what it does and how the memory stores info.
... from sensory information storage into short-term memory, where again it is held for only a short period of time, a few seconds or minutes. Whereas sensory memory ... length of time it can hold information). Example is if you were asked to remember a telephone number that is new to ...
Malleable Memory. References are included in APA format.
... emotional experiences vs. emotional experiences kept secret: Differential characteristics and consequences. Journal of Social ... recollections of events are constantly changing, and the changes made are usually unavoidable. Not only are we susceptible to effects of time and ...