Scarince, Collin2023-06-072023-06-074/6/2023https://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/96424Module 6: Sensation Versus Perception Perry's finger is still feeling a bit sensitive from touching his hot cup of cocoa. He feels a small jolt of pain each time he presses a computer key. Why does my finger feel like that? he wonders. He knows that nerves in his peripheral nervous system are sending signals to his central nervous system, but why does he feel the pain in his finger? He looks away from his bright computer monitor to ponder this question, and he notices his room appears dimmer than it should. After a few moments of looking around the room, he begins to see more details of the objects in his room. The lighting hasn't changed, but what Perry can see has changed. The topics of sensation and perception are among the oldest and most important in all of psychology. People are equipped with senses such as sight, hearing and taste that help us to take in the world around us. Amazingly, our senses have the ability to convert real-world information into electrical information that can be processed by the brain. The way we interpret this information—our perceptions—is what leads to our experiences of the world.en-USAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/open educational resourcescognitive psychologysensationperceptionBook chapter