SENSOPERCEPTION: CHARACTERISTICS, COMPONENTS, ORGANIZATION - NEUROPSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The sensory perception is a process performed by the sensory organs and the central nervous system jointly, based on capture and convert stimuli sensations and Interpretations.

This process is presented by all people and develops already during the first stages of life. Likewise, it is a basic activity to allow learning processes.

Sensory perception begins with physical detection through a sensory organ (eg sight). In this first moment, the physical components intervene in the perception of stimuli. For example, light reaching the eyes.

Later, the process continues with the conversion of the stimulus into signals transmitted by the brain through nerve impulses, which end in the development of a mental interpretation of the stimulus.

Sensory perception characteristics

Sensory perception is the process that allows the capture of physical stimuli and their interpretation through brain activity. It is a process that encompasses both sensation and perception.

It is a process that develops from the first months of life. Babies begin to relate to the world and learn through the stimuli they receive through the different senses such as taste, hearing, smell or sight.

During the first months of life, babies begin to be curious about the external stimuli with which they come in contact. They listen, touch and smell all objects to experience sensations through the different elements of life.

All these experiences contribute to education and continue during the rest of the life stages of the person.

In fact, all information that a person processes through their brain has been previously captured by one of their senses, so all human experience is based on sensory perception.

Components of sensory perception

Sensory perception is made up of two basic processes: the sensation that is carried out through the bodily organs and the perception that is carried out through the brain mechanisms.

- Sensation

Sensation is the first activity that sensory perception performs. It is a neurophysiological process that carries out the reception of information through the body's senses.

Said stimulation uptake is carried out through different brain receptors that are distributed throughout different regions of the body. Some of them occupy specific places and others are more generalized.

Specifically, the sensations can be divided into three large groups:

Interoceptive

These types of sensations inform the internal processes of the body, capturing stimuli from the viscera and have a certain affinity with emotional states.

Proprioceptive sensations

These sensations are responsible for informing the brain of the body's situation in space, in terms of posture and movement. They receive kinesthetic and vestibular information, and are linked to motor behavior, muscles and joints.

Exteroceptive sensations

Finally, these sensations are responsible for recapturing information about the environment through the five senses of the body: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

- Perception

Perception is the second process of senso-perception, which is carried out only if the sensation has been previously carried out. It consists of a mental process that is responsible for interpreting and coding the data that the sensation provides.

Perception is the result of higher-order processes by integrating or adding messages. This process has three main phases: reception, discrimination and unification.

The perception is an activity of incorporation of sensory information and is accompanied by the attention that is a selective perception. So perceiving means selecting that piece of information and giving it the necessary attention.

Perception is a simultaneous and bidirectional process to sensation, so one cannot be carried out without the other, and the combination of both becomes the main source of knowledge for people.

The difference between perception and sensation lies in the internal workings of both processes. Perception involves active participation by the subject who interprets and structures the information, while sensation is a passive process in which all stimuli are directly perceived.

Perceptual and sensory organization

Capturing and transmitting the information received from abroad requires the participation of both biological mechanisms and psychological processes.

- Sensory organization

The sensory organization is responsible for capturing the stimuli through the senses and transmitting the information received to the brain, where they are subsequently recorded as sensations.

This organization is in operation from the first moment after birth. The organs, nerves and areas in charge of each sense come into action when the body is stimulated by an external element.

Likewise, it is estimated that between 5 and 6 months of life, the sensory organization is already similar to that of adults.

On the other hand, several authors suggest that sensory organization feeds off each other through three basic principles:

- Triggering effects: a sense receives a stimulus and requests the cooperation of others.

-Simultaneous effect: a single stimulus causes the intervention of several senses.

-Inhibitory effect: different senses perform screening activities, inhibiting some and activating others.

- Perceptual organization

Parallel to the sensory organization, the perceptual organization develops, which is responsible for providing structure, interpretation and coding to the sensations, thus giving them meaning.

The perceptual organization presents several processes that can be divided into three main aspects:

-Organization of a physiological type: this type of perceptual organization is responsible for modulating the quality of the sensory receptors, the state of the person, age, etc.

-Organization of a psychological type: in this case, it structures and encodes past experience and processes such as attention, memory or affectivity.

-Organization of a mechanical type: this perceptual activity is responsible for interpreting the intensity of the stimuli and the physical conditions of the environment.

Examples of sensory perception

- Touch the water with your hands and determine if it is cold, warm or hot.

- Sit on a sofa and see if it is comfortable or uncomfortable.

- Read a novel and imagine the events it tells.

- Eat a meal and indicate whether it is delicious or not.

- See a light in the distance and distinguish if it is an incandescent bulb or a flashlight.

Sensory perception disorders

Sensory perception disorders modify the way the brain analyzes, discriminates, or describes the environment around it. This alters the behavior of the individual, reacting to external stimuli inappropriately. Some of these disorders are:

Micropsy

The person perceives objects smaller than they really are.

Macropsia

The person perceives objects larger than they really are.

Pomopsia

The person perceives objects of the same size no matter how far away they are.

Chloropsy

The person perceives objects with a greenish color.

Xanthopsia

The person perceives objects with a yellowish color.

Hyperesthesia

The person feels tactile sensations increased, which is usually painful.

Hypoesthesia

In this disorder, the individual perceives tactile sensations in a diminished way.

Delusion

The individual misperceives the sensations produced by real external stimuli.

Hallucination

The person mistakenly interprets the environment that surrounds him through external stimuli that are not real.

References

1. Estaún, S. (2016). An initiation to Psychophysics. Bellaterra. UAB Publications.
2. Fuentes, L. and Garcia Sevilla, J. (2008). Attentional psychology manual: a neuroscientific perspective. Madrid: Synthesis.
3. Goldstein, EB (2006). Sensation and perception. Madrid: International Thomson Editores.
4. Myers, David G. (2007). Psychology. Editorial Médica Panamericana.