Home › AP Psychology › Psychology › Sensation and Perception › Sensory adaptation shows that a stimulus can be:
Sensory adaptation shows that a stimulus can be:
APerceived without being sensed
BNeither sensed nor perceived
CBoth, but only in daylight
DSensed without being perceived
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Sensed without being perceived
1. The flashing light case separates the two processes cleanly.
2. That you no longer perceive the flashing light demonstrates sensory adaptation.
3. It shows that while closely associated, sensation and perception are different.
4. The receptors still respond, so sensation continues while perception fades.
5. The reverse, perceiving with no sensation at all, would be a hallucination rather than adaptation.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 'Sensation and Perception', sections 5.1-5.6_
Related questions
A just noticeable difference is measured between:Bottom-up and top-down processing are both needed because perception combines the signal wSignal detection theory differs from the absolute threshold because it addresses stimuli tTransduction has to occur in every sense because the nervous system can only carry:The absolute threshold expresses a sensory system's:How we interact with the world is ultimately shaped not just by collecting information butSensation and perception are described as closely associated but:Attention captured by a sudden sound from the environment is an example of: