Sensation and Perception

2-1 Blog Post Sensation and perception are both essential, involuntary parts of the functioning human body. Sensation is the feeling one physically experiences when touched, or when further senses are stimulated. Perception is the act of actually identifying sights, smells, and other sensations (dictionary.com). Although there are many different intriguing aspects of human perception, only a couple subject matters really stand out that are easily relatable to a real-life scenario: Perceptual constancy and depth perception. Perceptual constancy is the human ability to distinguish and identify shapes after having only a glimpse of the object (Myers 2010). This trait is especially important when performing high-consequence activities such as driving, climbing, or skateboarding. Depth perception is the ability to determine distance, and distinguish three dimensional figures, when they appear to be only two dimensional figures from a distance (Myers 2010). A memorable story comes to mind when discussing the topics of perceptual constancy and depth perception: It was roughly two years ago when I was visiting a good friend in Brooklyn, New York. He was a photographer at the time, so all we did for the entirety of my trip was skateboard around the city to different concerts, art shows, and whatever else he thought was photo-worthy at the time. Needless to say, the New York City streets are not the most ideal surface to skateboard on, but I was forced to adapt quickly. One afternoon, we were pushing down a crowded street where there were consistent lines of patched-up asphalt where large cracks and pot holes used to be (my perceptual constancy had identified these lines almost immediately). As I was getting familiar with the terrain on which I was skating, I rolled straight into a giant crack in the middle of the street and fell only inches away from a moving car. My depth perception had failed to recognize that this crack was not just another patched-up whole in the road, but rather an obstacle in my way that put me at extreme risk for injury. As you now hopefully understand, sensation and perception are a crucial part of everyday life that we very much take for granted.