Developmental psychologists study how humans develop throughout their lives. Their studies often rely on differentiating between perception and sensation, as a human develops over the course of its life. It is important to understand how these two concepts are connected and what makes them different, in order to understand problems faced by developmental psychologists. These two facets of human existence seem integrated, yet are completely different from one another. This paper will attempt to define and distinguish between perception and sensation, discuss problems for study that these concepts present developmental psychologists, and discuss practical problems that the study of such things might solve.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sensation as, “a mental process (as seeing, hearing, or smelling) resulting from the immediate external stimulation of a sense organ” (“Sensation”). This same dictionary also defines perception as the, “awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation” (“Perception”). Bearing these two definitions in mind, it is easy to see how the two concepts are related, but it may be difficult to distinguish how they differ. It’s important to realize that sensation refers to the physical processes involved in feeling stimulus, while perception refers to the mental processes involved in understanding that stimulus. An example of sensation could be sight or the difference between internal and external temperature, while the perception of these things would involve interpretation of what is being seen and an understanding that the temperature being sensed is “hot” or “cold”. These two processes are inherently involved with each other, but describe different aspects of how we interact with the world around us. Studies on how these two processes relate can reveal a lot about what’s behind human development.
Developmental psychologists seek to understand the processes involved in the development of a human being during childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and indeed the entire lifespan of a given individual. Studying these two processes can provide developmentalist psychologists with interesting problems to address. Newborns, for example, are born with a full complement of sensory organs and the ability to, “respond adaptively to many of these sensations” (Shaffer, Kipp, 2014). However these newborns lack a basis for comparison and therefore their perception of these sensations invariably change and grow over time. That is where the adaptive part of their responses comes in. Understanding the relationship between perception and sensation is fundamental to understanding how newborns develop over time in response to their external stimuli. However, understanding this relationship is not just important for the study of newborns. For example, aging humans experience changes in sensory thresholds or, “the level of strength a stimulus must reach to be perceived” (Aging and Sensory Perception: Changes in Sensory Thresholds). This leads to a change in how we perceive sensations over time, during the normal course of a human lifespan. These are just two of the many interesting problems for study that these two concepts present developmental psychologists with. The practical application of studies of these topics are incalculable.
Understanding how perception and sensation relate and studying their interaction over the course of a human’s lifespan can help us in a number of practical ways. For example, it is this understanding that has led to breakthroughs in things like hearing aids for those whose sense of hearing has degraded. This understanding has also led to breakthroughs in understanding nerve related disorders such as fibromyalgia. Research suggests, “that people with fibromyalgia may perceive pain differently than healthy people. Fibromyalgia may involve too much activity in the parts of the central nervous system that process pain (the nociceptive system)” (“Fibromyalgia In-Depth Report”). The increased activity in the central nervous system’s pain processing centers indicates that people suffering from fibromyalgia likely are more sensitive to sensations of pain than healthy individuals. Understanding the differences between sensory perception in people with fibromyalgia and people without it is key to developing treatment of this vicious disorder. Without understanding the difference between perception and sensation, it would be impossible to have come to that conclusion. The fact is that people with fibromyalgia experience the same sensations as people without it, however, because of the increased perception of that sensation, their experience of it is wholly different. What would be a minor discomfort for a healthy individual becomes a disturbing pain for sufferers of fibromyalgia. As further studies are done to distinguish differences between the sensory perception of people with fibromyalgia and people without it, it becomes more and more likely that this disorder will become something easily treatable. These are just a couple examples of how studying the differences between sensation and perception can have practical application. The possibilities for further advances in how we treat illness seem nearly infinite.
In conclusion, we see that there are serious and distinct differences between sensation and perception, that there are very interesting problems that this distinction presents to developmental psychologists, and that the practical applications of research on the subject may present long lasting benefits to the human species. Sensation and perception are integrated concepts that describe very different mechanisms in the central nervous system. The problems presented in this paper that distinction between these two concepts presents are but a few of the total problems that might be addressed by further study. Practical applications of such studies exist for every age group, as sensory perception changes over the course of human development. It is possible, that in time, we will have such a firm understanding of perception and sensation that we will be able to help steer the course of development for humans in positive and predictable ways.
Works Cited
"Aging and Sensory Perception: Changes in Sensory Thresholds." Aging and Sensory Perception: Changes in Sensory Thresholds - Video & Lesson Transcript. Study.com, n.d. Web. 06 July 2016.
"Fibromyalgia In-Depth Report." Nytimes.com, n.d. Web. 6 July 2016.
"Perception." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 July 2016.
"Sensation." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 July 2016.
Shaffer, David R., and Katherine Kipp. Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence. 9th ed. 132.: Cengage Learning, 2014. Web. 6 July 2016.
