A Wisdom Archive on Sensation

Octopuses have keen eyesight. Although their slit-shaped pupils might be expected to afflict them with astigmatism, it appears that this is not a problem in the light levels in which an octopus typically hunts. Surprisingly, they do not appear to have color vision, although they can distinguish the polarization of light. Attached to the brain are two special organs, called statocysts, that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body relative to horizontal. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that ...

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In psychology, sensation is the first stage in the biochemical and neurologic events that begins with the impinging of a stimulus upon the receptor cells of a sensory organ, which then leads to perception, the mental state that is reflected in statements like "I see a uniformly blue wall." A sensation that might lead to that statement could include the excitation of cone cells in the retina, spatially varying in the proportion of "blue" and "green" cone excitation due to portions of the wall receiving different proportions of y ... Including:

• Sensation - Visual sense
• Sensation - Auditory sense
• Sensation - Gustatory sense
• Sensation - Olfactory sense
• Sensation - Cutaneous Sense
• Sensation - Kinesthetic Sense
• Sensation - Vestibular Sense
• Sensation - Organic Sense

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A sensation of falling occurs when the labyrinth or vestibular apparatus, a system of fluid-filled passages in the inner ear, detects motion. The same system also detects rotary motion. A similar sensation of falling can be induced when the eyes detect rapid apparent motion with respect to the environment. This system enables us to keep our balance by signalling when a physical correction is necessary. When a human [Alyson Innes] is in free fall in an orbiting spacecraft, or in an aircraft in a steep dive, the sensation ...

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Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. Sense - Definition of sense. There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to exactly how many senses there are, because of differing definitions of a sense. In general, one can say that a "sense" is a faculty by which outside stimuli ... Including:

• Sense - Definition of sense
• Sense - List of Human senses
• Sense - Special senses
• Sense - Somatic senses
• Sense - Other
• Sense - Non-human senses

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Using this definition several senses can be identified. Based on this outline and depending on the chosen method of classification, somewhere between 9 and 21 human senses have been identified. In addition, there are some other candidate physiological experiences which may or may not fall within the above classification (for example the sensory awareness of hunger and thirst). Finally, some individuals report synesthesia, the "crossing-over" of one sense to another, or even of senses associated with certain pure concepts. For example, the letter "A" may appear "black," certain no ...

Read more here: » Sense: Encyclopedia II - Sense - List of Human senses

Psychophysics is the branch of cognitive psychology dealing with the relationship between physical stimuli and their perception. While the majority of research has been done on vision, the discipline covers all the senses; papers have even been published on extrasensory perception, although more prosaic alternatives like hearing, taste, touch (including skin and enteric perception), smell, and sense of time are the more prevalent. The most straightforward use of psychophysics is the study of perceptual correlates for var ...

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Falling is movement due to gravity. By analogy, falling has other uses not directly related to gravity. Falling - Sensation. A sensation of falling occurs when the labyrinth or vestibular apparatus, a system of fluid-filled passages in the inner ear, detects motion. The same system also detects rotary motion. A similar sensation of falling can be induced when the eyes detect rapid apparent motion with respect to the environment. This system enables us to keep our balance by signalling w ... Including:

• Falling - Sensation
• Falling - Accidents
• Falling - Classical physics
• Falling - Mathematics
• Falling - EXTERNAL LINKS

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Other living organisms have receptors to sense the world around them, including many of the senses listed above for humans. However, the mechanisms and capabilities vary widely. Among non-human animals, dogs have a much keener sense of smell than humans, although the mechanism is similar. Pit vipers and some boas have organs that allow them to detect infrared light, such that these snakes are able to sense the body heat of their prey. This is, however, also just sight extended to include more frequencies. Insects have olfactory receptors on ...

Read more here: » Sense: Encyclopedia II - Sense - Non-human senses

There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to exactly how many senses there are, because of differing definitions of a sense. In general, one can say that a "sense" is a faculty by which outside stimuli are perceived. School children are routinely taught that there are five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste; a classification first devised by Aristotle), it is generally agreed that there are at least nine different senses in humans, and a min ...

Read more here: » Sense: Encyclopedia II - Sense - Definition of sense

Many of Whiteread's works are casts of ordinary domestic objects and, in numerous cases, the space the objects do not inhabit (often termed the "negative space" - instead producing a solid cast of where the space within a container would be; particular parts of rooms, the area underneath furniture, for example. She says the casts carry "the residue of years and years of use". Unlike many other Young British Artists who often seem to welcome controversy, Whiteread has often said how uncomfortable she feels about it. On 24 May 2004, a fire in a storage warehouse destroyed many works from the Saatchi collection, inc ...

Read more here: » Rachel Whiteread: Encyclopedia II - Rachel Whiteread - Works