4

Sensation: Studying

the Gateways

of Experience

45

PREVIEW QUIZ

True or False

1. TFThe word sensationrefers to the raw data of experience.


2. TFThe trichromatic theory of color perception hypothesizes that we
   have three kinds of cones, differentially sensitive to three wavelengths
   of light, in the retina of the eye.


3. TFA sound wave has the remarkable property of being able to travel
   through a vacuum.


4. TFThe units that make taste possible are clusters of neurons located on
   the tongue called taste buds.


5. TFYou have no receptor neurons in the joints of your body.

(Answers can be found on page 55.)

The study of sensation—including such processes as seeing and hearing—

grows logically from the study of the biology of behavior. Seeing, for exam-

ple, is possible because we have biological structures such as the eye and the

optic nerve. In this chapter we examine how basic sensory impressions

relate to behavior.