Perception: More Than Just Five Senses
This lecture dives into the complexities of perception, going beyond the traditional five senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch).
Key Points:
- There are more than five senses: The vestibular system, which helps us with spatial orientation, is an additional sense.
- Senses have multiple modalities: Touch, for example, can include feeling light touches, hair bending, vibration, temperature, and pain.
- We perceive combinations of senses: Flavor is a combination of taste, smell, and texture (temperature and mouthfeel).
- Wetness requires multiple sensory inputs: We perceive wetness through the combination of touch and cold sensation. Without both, like in room temperature water, we wouldn’t feel wet. This explains why competitive swimmers who shave their bodies struggle to feel the water initially.
The takeaway: Our brains use a complex interplay of various senses and their modalities to create a unified perception of the world around us.