The Difference Between Sensation & Perception (AQA GCSE Psychology)

Sensation refers to the activation of any of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste

Sense receptors process external stimuli as follows:

• The eyes process visual information e.g. the sight of a burger

• The ears process auditory information e.g. the sound of the burger sizzling on the hot-plate

• The nose processes olfactory information e.g. the smell of the burger

• The mouth and tongue process taste-based information e.g. the flavour of the burger

• The skin and mouth process touch-based information e.g. the texture of the burger in the hands or in the mouth

Sensation refers to anything that a human being can physically feel, therefore humans are sensate beings

Human beings can detect a stimulus in their environment - as are other animals but to a much larger extent than humans due to their reliance on being able to detect predators

Perception refers to the meaning that human beings give to the sensations that they experience

Human beings use perception to process and organise sensory information, giving them the ability to identify and respond to environmental stimuli

Perception is the meeting point between the sense receptors (e.g. the eyes) and the brain: without the brain doing its work then sensations would be meaningless e.g. the sight of a beautiful sunset would not be interpreted as ‘beautiful sunset’ but would simply be viewed as a set of shapes and colours

Perception takes place using information built up via past experience e.g. ‘This is a burger, I am meant to eat it’; ‘This is a bed, I am meant to lie in it’

Perception involves the cognitive process of thinking - although some types of perception do not require much thought at all e.g. smelling milk that has gone off