Course Text:

Goldstein, E. B. (2017). Sensation and Perception. 10th edition. California: Cengage.

Original Question:

By now you've probably noticed in your assigned readings that the study of sensation and perception focuses on things you may have experienced but never given any thought to--for example, the "Purkinje shift". We don't think much about these phenomena because our world is full of them, and if we had to be conscious of every sensation and its accompanying perception that we ever experienced our brains would have little time for anything else (!) but research scientists have studied them in detail.

This leaves us with the question--do these interesting and sometimes odd things matter? The answer is yes, but why and how varies depending on the particular phenomenon. Because there are real-life phenomena associated with everything discussed in our readings and dialoguing about them can bring theory and fact to life, for the remainder of our forum assignments we will be doing the following:

In the initial forum post, please describe how one of the phenomena mentioned in the readings explains an everyday event that you have experienced or observed and then suggest how this phenomenon might have serious consequences (so first its everyday occurrence and impact and then ways in which it can have serious impact).

For the purpose of this assignment, we will define "serious impact" as something that has negative consequences to health and safety of the self or others rather than something that is inconvenient or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain light may lead to getting home after a shopping trip only to find out an outfit isn't the color you thought it was, which can be inconvenient and/or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain war zone conditions can be safety and life threatening.

Please be specific, thorough and concrete. Adding onto the end of a post a statement or two that something could be a problem is not sufficient. Additionally, saying you don't know of any negative consequences isn't permitted. Doing so will void your forum assignment points. You will need to explain how the phenomenon specifically has a negative impact. An example, described in Nicholas Wade's 2000 "The Natural History of Vision" is below (NOTE: Because this one has already been applied, you must select another).

Unless discussing one of the more common disorders, like a lack of depth perception or hearing loss, please avoid "I think I have this" syndrome. This is something that medical students often fall prey to in the early years of medical school because they spend so much time studying human disorders, from the very common to the exceedingly rare.

Reply to the following response with 200 words minimum. (please make response as if having a conversation, respond directly to some of the statements in below post.)

This week I chose to discuss the Epiphenomenon. I chose this topic in particular because I found it interesting that Pylyshyn stated that "The spatial experience of mental images, is an epiphenomenon-something that accompanies the real mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism." The example that they use in the course book refers to a computer, when a computer has an indicator light, and you click on a webpage the page is thinking and the indicator begins flashing, and turns solid once the process is complete.

In a real life scenario, I can relate to this example because every time I am experiencing issues with my modem, I have to reset the box. Once you hit the button on the back the box goes completely blank, and the indicator lights begin to flash and I then know that the modem is thinking, one by one the lights turn solid and if there is a red light or one still blinking then I know that the modem has detected some type of issue. The best way for me to understand some of the phenomenon's described in the text, is through personal life experiences and examples. I cannot really see this as being something that would have a long term effect on me; however, it is educational to know how to explain why certain things happen in order to put us on alert.

One thing that I read that was very interesting about the epiphenomenon is that it generally is not a stand-alone phenomenon. This phenomenon in particular generally stands by another phenomenon and is considered the understudy, whereas a lot of the other phenomenon's stand alone in their purpose. "A causal relationship between the phenomena is implied: the epiphenomenon is a consequence of the primary phenomenon."

Mental images are generally considered an epiphenomenon. Mental images, according to Pylyshyn, are similar-they indicate that something is happening in the mind, but don't tell us how it is happening. (Cognitive Psychology, pg. 280) This makes sense to me, because there have been many times where I am just day dreaming and I can see something in my head yet, I ask myself what is that or what could that possibly mean? Not until reading up on this phenomenon was I able to actually put a name to what I have been experiencing on and off for years.

Citation

Goldstein, E. B. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 4th Edition. Cengage Learning, 2015. [Bookshelf Online].