Sensation and perception assignment

Sensation and Perception Writing Assignment

PSY 2012

Sensation and Perception are essential to normal human functioning. Without the constant

interaction between body and mind, much of our world becomes confusing, incoherent, or even

non-existent. In fact, several commonly occurring disabilities are nothing more than a problem

involving sensation, perception, or communication between the two. For example, several

learning disabilities are the result of our brains grouping information incorrectly, ignoring

specific stimuli, or having trouble integrating two or more sensations. By knowing more about

both sensation and perception, psychologists can better understand what may be happening with

some types of disabilities or limitations. Your job is to demonstrate your understanding of

sensation and perception processes by discussing how the same limitation can occur because of

different causes.

First, chose a human sensory disability or malfunctions that is interesting to you or that

you have personal experience with. This could be anything including the bizarre (phantom limbs,

auditory hallucinations, etc), the commonly occurring (deafness, autism, etc.), or the incredibly

rare (prosopagnosia, loss of vestibular sense, etc.). The possibilities are staggering so do not rely

on my examples for your topic.

Describe the behavioral and mental outcomes that accompany the sensory issues you read

about. Imagine and describe what your daily routine would look like. Also, explain at least two

different potential causes for the disability. For example, blindness could be either sensation

based or perception based so you would explain how both of those could occur and where the

problem would be. If necessary, explain how the different causes would relate to different

behaviors, mental processes, or perceptions. Finally, explain how those types of sensation or

perception problems could be fixed (assuming the technology exists).

Be sure to be descriptive in your writing and be careful to not omit necessary

information. Think seriously about your topic and try to imagine yourself experiencing these

difficulties. After completing the first section, conclude by answering these questions: 1) if you

had to lose one of your senses, which would you choose? 2) Why would you choose that one? 3)

Which of your senses are you least willing to lose? 4) Why is that one so important to you?

Your assignment should be typed in APA format. Please use your book as a reference

about the sensory/perceptual information information. You may google search the

disability/malfunction. It must be original work. I will do plagiarism checks, so be sure to cite all

work (reminder: if you reword something you need to cite it, because it was not your original

research). Your final paper should be approximately 2 pages, and will count as 1 extra credit

point toward your final grade. Papers are due in class on March 8.