Part Four IV › Division III III › Section 432 432

Influence of the Current Environment on a Person’s Behaviour and Conscious Experience

Subject Outline

AAttention to the environment: awareness of internal and external events [see 341]
- 1The problem of defining attention
- 2Development of theories of attention: influence of stimulus-response and behaviourist studies
- 3Classification of attentive phenomena: influence of adaptive processes on modes and degrees of attention
- 4Determinants of attention: temperament, health, social suggestion, novelty, interests, and unconscious influences
- 5Physiological mechanisms of attention
- 6Analysis of attentive phenomena in terms of information theory
BSensation: the reception of information about the environment
- 1The senses in general [see 421.J. and 423.F.9.]
- 2Vision
  - aThe work of the retina
  - bThe transduction process: the conversion of the retinal image into a set of messages in the brain
  - cPerceptual processes of vision
  - dResponses of the cerebral cortex to visual stimuli
- 3Audition
  - aThe mechanisms of the external, middle, and inner ear: functions and processes involved in the transmission of sound and its conversion into neural messages
  - bThe work of the auditory nerve and the auditory pathways of the central nervous system: encoding, processing, and discrimination of pitch, loudness, localization, and duration of sound
  - cThe measurement of auditory phenomena: diagnosis and correction of hearing disorders
  - dThe function of the semicircular canals in maintaining equilibrium: the vestibular systems [see B.6., below]
- 4Cutaneous senses: the punctate nature and discriminatory capacity of skin to respond to pressure, pain, heat, and cold
  - aThe variety of nerve terminals exhibiting a broad range of sensitivity to different stimuli
  - bLocalization of skin sensations: the nature of dermatomes
  - cThe concept of adequate stimulation and paradoxical cold: adaptation to pressure and thermal situations; itch, tickle, and vibration
  - dThe sensory experience of pain: its cause and function; external signs and qualities, theories of pain, modes of treatment
- 5Kinesthesis: the function and types of sensory structures and the role of kinesthetic feedback in movement control and orientation
- 6Vestibular senses: the role of the vestibular receptors and the semicircular canals of the inner ear in maintaining equilibrium
- 7The taste sense: the form and location of taste buds, the neural pathways, types of taste receptors, factors affecting taste
- 8The olfactory sense: the form, location, and nerve supply of olfactory receptors; olfactory qualities; odour-inducing factors; factors affecting odour sensitivity; effects on behaviour
CPerception: the process of translating sensory stimulation into organized experience
- 1Contemporary theories and new concerns: the influence of Gestalt and behaviourist theories
- 2Central problems of continuing concern
- 3Principles of perceptual organization
  - aThe Gestalt principle of Pragnanz, or good form, and the laws of grouping under it: closure, good continuation, similarity, proximity, and common fate; the significance of the phi phenomenon
  - bContext effects: the influence of surrounding stimuli and of previously experienced stimuli on the observer
  - cPerceptual constancy: the tendency of objects to appear stable in size, shape, brightness, or colour despite changing conditions of stimulation
- 4Differences in perceptual functioning among individuals, among classes of individuals, and within individuals
DThe perception of time
- 1Sequential activities related to time perception
- 2Perception of sequence and duration
- 3Factors affecting time perception; e.g., type of activity, level of motivation, personality traits, drugs, sensory deprivation, hypnosis
EThe perception of space
- 1The nature of space perception: orientation to the environment
- 2Perception of depth and distance: gross tactual-kinesthetic, eye muscle, visual, and auditory cues
- 3Interrelations among the senses
- 4Social and interpersonal aspects of space perception: territorial behaviour, reason in perception, and nativistic and empiricistic considerations
FThe perception of movement
- 1Visual cues for perceiving self-motion and motion of objects
- 2Nonvisual cues: auditory, kinesthetic, and vestibular cues
GPerceptual illusions and hallucinations
- 1Types of illusory experience
- 2Hallucinations
  - aNeurological factors in hallucinations
  - bTypes of hallucinatory experience
HTheories of parapsychological phenomena
- 1Extrasensory perception: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and prophecy
- 2Parapsychological phenomena of a nonperceptual nature: psychokinesis