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Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process
This set contains 24 lectures (each 30 minutes) by Professor Francis B. Colavita, Emeritus Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Lectures cover the following Sensation, Perception, and Behavior; Sensation and Perception - a Distinction; Vision - Stimulus and the Optical System; Vision - The Retina; Vision - Beyond the Optic Nerve; Vision - Age-Related Changes; Hearing - Stimulus and Supporting Structures; Hearing - The Inner Ear; The Cutaneous System - Receptors, Pathways; The Cutaneous System - Early Development; The Cutaneous System - Age-Related Changes; Pain - Early History; Pain - Acupuncture, Endorphins, and Aging; Taste - Stimulus, Structures, and Receptors; Taste - Factors Influencing Preferences; Smell - The Unappreciated Sense; Smell - Consequences of Anosmia; The Vestibular System - Body Orientation; The Kinesthetic System - Motor Memory; Brain Mechanisms and Perception; Perception of Language; The Visual Agnosias; and Perception of Other People/Course Summary.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 1, 2018
Francis Colavita is a researcher and psychological clinician. He has a lot to share in the 24 lectures that comprise Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process.
The methodology is direct. You must understand the physiology (the brain, nervous system, etc.) to understand the psychology. Colavita is a well-prepared and good speaker with a wealth of interesting insights and anecdotes.
However, this is not your usual survey course. There is a great deal of technical information and if you are short on preparation (did you take basic anatomy or psychology?) you will not find parts of this easy to assimilate. You will learn the significance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the parietal lobe, the angular gyrus, Broca's area, agraphia, apraxia, proprioception, etc.
Colavita does get into the aging process in a number of lectures but you should not be mislead by the title to think that this is his prime purpose. You will find out how the young differ from the elderly but integrating the bits and pieces is not what Colavita trying to accomplish.
Well done, but not quite my dish.
The methodology is direct. You must understand the physiology (the brain, nervous system, etc.) to understand the psychology. Colavita is a well-prepared and good speaker with a wealth of interesting insights and anecdotes.
However, this is not your usual survey course. There is a great deal of technical information and if you are short on preparation (did you take basic anatomy or psychology?) you will not find parts of this easy to assimilate. You will learn the significance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the parietal lobe, the angular gyrus, Broca's area, agraphia, apraxia, proprioception, etc.
Colavita does get into the aging process in a number of lectures but you should not be mislead by the title to think that this is his prime purpose. You will find out how the young differ from the elderly but integrating the bits and pieces is not what Colavita trying to accomplish.
Well done, but not quite my dish.
July 13, 2009
These lectures provide a physiological approach to the study of psychology. In other words, the lectures explore what is going on inside our physical bodies that prompts various types of perception and behavior. It then describes how these change with the aging process. One significant observation made in the lectures is that old and young people live in different sensory worlds. And consequently, they also live in different perceptual worlds.
The first 12 lectures in this course expand on the difference between a sensation and a perception and elaborate on the concept of the perceptual world. The functioning of the visual, auditory, and cutaneous systems, and the changes in functioning associated with the aging process, are also discussed.
The last 12 lectures deal with the senses of pain, taste, smell, body orientation (balance), and "muscle feedback." Special categories of human perception, such as speech perception, face recognition, and person perception, are also be addressed. As in the initial 12 lectures, attention is paid to the role of the aging process.
Mr. Colavita was an older man when he gave these lectures, and his lectures are filled with many interesting stories, many from his own life. This makes the lectures especially interesting and easy to listen to. The lectures on the elusive nature of pain were particularly interesting. Unfortunately, Mr. Colavita died earlier this year (2009).
The following are some interesting facts that I picked up from this course:
1. A healthy human ear can sense the movement of an air molecule (sound wave) as small as half the width of a hydrogen atom. (In case you didn't know, that is very very small.)
2. Cats can do better. They can hear ultrasound and humans cannot.
3. But humans can see colors; cats cannot.
4. Dogs can smell things at concentrations 1,000 times weaker than humans can.
5. Bees can see ultraviolet light; humans cannot.
6. Likewise, some snakes can see infrared radiation; humans cannot.
7. Some behavioral differences among bees, cats, and humans are directly attributable to the fact that these species live in different sensory worlds while living in the same physical world.
8. The sensory differences and resulting differences in perception between young and old people explains the differences in behavior such as the willingness to take risks or roller coaster rides.
9. All sensory functions in humans degrade with age to some degree. However the learned perception that results from the senses can become wiser with age. For example, older people depend less on appearance than younger people when forming an opinion of others.
10. Another example of the difference between older and younger people is that older people are more interested in spicier foods because it compensates for they're having fewer taste receptors. This also explains why children, who have more taste receptors than adults, often prefer bland food.
The first 12 lectures in this course expand on the difference between a sensation and a perception and elaborate on the concept of the perceptual world. The functioning of the visual, auditory, and cutaneous systems, and the changes in functioning associated with the aging process, are also discussed.
The last 12 lectures deal with the senses of pain, taste, smell, body orientation (balance), and "muscle feedback." Special categories of human perception, such as speech perception, face recognition, and person perception, are also be addressed. As in the initial 12 lectures, attention is paid to the role of the aging process.
Mr. Colavita was an older man when he gave these lectures, and his lectures are filled with many interesting stories, many from his own life. This makes the lectures especially interesting and easy to listen to. The lectures on the elusive nature of pain were particularly interesting. Unfortunately, Mr. Colavita died earlier this year (2009).
The following are some interesting facts that I picked up from this course:
1. A healthy human ear can sense the movement of an air molecule (sound wave) as small as half the width of a hydrogen atom. (In case you didn't know, that is very very small.)
2. Cats can do better. They can hear ultrasound and humans cannot.
3. But humans can see colors; cats cannot.
4. Dogs can smell things at concentrations 1,000 times weaker than humans can.
5. Bees can see ultraviolet light; humans cannot.
6. Likewise, some snakes can see infrared radiation; humans cannot.
7. Some behavioral differences among bees, cats, and humans are directly attributable to the fact that these species live in different sensory worlds while living in the same physical world.
8. The sensory differences and resulting differences in perception between young and old people explains the differences in behavior such as the willingness to take risks or roller coaster rides.
9. All sensory functions in humans degrade with age to some degree. However the learned perception that results from the senses can become wiser with age. For example, older people depend less on appearance than younger people when forming an opinion of others.
10. Another example of the difference between older and younger people is that older people are more interested in spicier foods because it compensates for they're having fewer taste receptors. This also explains why children, who have more taste receptors than adults, often prefer bland food.
October 21, 2017
Really good course by a really good instructor, researcher and clinician Dr. Francis Colavita. The course answers the following:
1. How do sensory receptors translate data from the environment (i.e. light, sound, chemical, or tactile stimuli) into signals that the brain can utilize?
2. How does the brain integrate (bind) sense data into perceptions experienced as ‘reality’?
3. How does the aging process change our sensory world, and subsequently, our perceived ‘reality’?
Some of the particularly eye opening material in the course had to do with the differentiation Dr. Colavita made between sensation and perception.
Sensation refers to ‘raw’ or so-called ‘bottom up’ input coming directly to the brain from the sensory organs.
Perception refers to the ‘processed’ or so-called ‘top down’ explicit experience of the sensations.
Sensation and perception change over a lifespan, eliciting analogous behavioral and personality change.
It sounds terribly commonsensical in this form, but I found the argument to be particularly revelatory because of the many counterintuitive examples Dr. Colavia provided.
Although I have had graduate level training in biological psychology, and a good amount of self study in neuroscience, the instructor’s argument and presentation of the materiel brought me to a much deeper, much different understanding of the way our sensory capacities contribute to our psychological experiences and behaviors.
My previous training was focused on either a lower level organization e.g. biological form and function etc. or higher level organization e.g. cognition, emotion, motivation, behavior, pathology etc. This course did a nice job a spanning the gap.
The course was really great in parts, but less great in others. Data has a shelf life. Neuroscience has made quantum leaps in the previous decade.
Most of the data in the course was fresh, but some of the important data was a little on the stale side.
So I’m dinging the course by 1 star, for an ultimately very respectable 4 star total.
Don’t let that prevent you from getting the course. It’s quite good. Just be forewarned.
1. How do sensory receptors translate data from the environment (i.e. light, sound, chemical, or tactile stimuli) into signals that the brain can utilize?
2. How does the brain integrate (bind) sense data into perceptions experienced as ‘reality’?
3. How does the aging process change our sensory world, and subsequently, our perceived ‘reality’?
Some of the particularly eye opening material in the course had to do with the differentiation Dr. Colavita made between sensation and perception.
Sensation refers to ‘raw’ or so-called ‘bottom up’ input coming directly to the brain from the sensory organs.
Perception refers to the ‘processed’ or so-called ‘top down’ explicit experience of the sensations.
Sensation and perception change over a lifespan, eliciting analogous behavioral and personality change.
It sounds terribly commonsensical in this form, but I found the argument to be particularly revelatory because of the many counterintuitive examples Dr. Colavia provided.
Although I have had graduate level training in biological psychology, and a good amount of self study in neuroscience, the instructor’s argument and presentation of the materiel brought me to a much deeper, much different understanding of the way our sensory capacities contribute to our psychological experiences and behaviors.
My previous training was focused on either a lower level organization e.g. biological form and function etc. or higher level organization e.g. cognition, emotion, motivation, behavior, pathology etc. This course did a nice job a spanning the gap.
The course was really great in parts, but less great in others. Data has a shelf life. Neuroscience has made quantum leaps in the previous decade.
Most of the data in the course was fresh, but some of the important data was a little on the stale side.
So I’m dinging the course by 1 star, for an ultimately very respectable 4 star total.
Don’t let that prevent you from getting the course. It’s quite good. Just be forewarned.
November 2, 2013
Colavita describes sensations as physical transfers of energy from the outside to the inside via vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, vestibular sense (body orientation) and kinesthetic sense (motion). He describes how each works and also states that, in viewing a stimulus, we "see" it in a multi-sensory way as a unified gestalt. Perception involves the meaning we add to stimuli. A puff of smoke can mean a new pope has been chosen or that there's a fire at the Vatican. Beliefs are general perceptual systems that guide behavior, whether true or not.
While not a central point, Colavita sees our senses as not just receivers of stimuli, but as vehicles for inner need. For example, he says that "touch" is a need, and its absence is a loss or pain, and that pain forces the body to deal with it (seek out touching). On taste, we seek sweetness and resist bitterness. He also notes that we differ in biological make up. Two-thirds of us are tasters. One-third are not (not important). Some people have no capacity for visual imagery. Colavita also describes various physical deficiencies that affect seeing, language use and understanding. Among other functions, our cerebral cortex enables us to inhibit our actions but if deficient in certain body chemistry, our inhibitory capacity underperforms.
Colavita puts willing, as intentional action, into our thought system, implying that only conscious thought involves willing. A dog, or other animal, might have a different perspective: I want food, I want this food and I don't want that food. The dog is not conscious of "I want/don't want" but nevertheless intentionally acts.
Colavita notes in passing that various touch deprivation studies were "too extremely cruel" to perform on kids, so they were done on animals. There's something wrong here.
The title of these lectures references "aging" but this topic was always thrown into the end of each lecture as an adjunct thought, always with the same message: as we age our senses decline.
While not a central point, Colavita sees our senses as not just receivers of stimuli, but as vehicles for inner need. For example, he says that "touch" is a need, and its absence is a loss or pain, and that pain forces the body to deal with it (seek out touching). On taste, we seek sweetness and resist bitterness. He also notes that we differ in biological make up. Two-thirds of us are tasters. One-third are not (not important). Some people have no capacity for visual imagery. Colavita also describes various physical deficiencies that affect seeing, language use and understanding. Among other functions, our cerebral cortex enables us to inhibit our actions but if deficient in certain body chemistry, our inhibitory capacity underperforms.
Colavita puts willing, as intentional action, into our thought system, implying that only conscious thought involves willing. A dog, or other animal, might have a different perspective: I want food, I want this food and I don't want that food. The dog is not conscious of "I want/don't want" but nevertheless intentionally acts.
Colavita notes in passing that various touch deprivation studies were "too extremely cruel" to perform on kids, so they were done on animals. There's something wrong here.
The title of these lectures references "aging" but this topic was always thrown into the end of each lecture as an adjunct thought, always with the same message: as we age our senses decline.
July 18, 2022
Professor Colavita was so charming and bumbly and professor-like that I wanted to see what he was up to these days so I googled him. Well, he's dead, and it makes me very sad and very angry. He and his wife were hit by a drunk driver - she died on Valentine's Day and he died a couple of days after. This happened about 3 years after these lectures were published. It was untimely, sudden, and tragic. He talked about his wife and little parts of his personal life while lecturing about the senses and aging and then they were wiped off the earth. How cruel this blasted world is.
September 6, 2023
2.5.
Recorded in 2006, which is an ice age in neurobiology and medicine. Some info is VERY outdated. The presenter is awkward and far too willing to go off-topic or delve into the grisly details of his experiments on animals. (I'm not particularly squeamish on that score, but damn, dude, dial it back.). He also made several comments I felt her just flat out biased against anyone not in his specific demographic. It's not a horrible course, just not a very good or current one. There are other, better, less annoying GCs in the catalog that cover similar info.
Recorded in 2006, which is an ice age in neurobiology and medicine. Some info is VERY outdated. The presenter is awkward and far too willing to go off-topic or delve into the grisly details of his experiments on animals. (I'm not particularly squeamish on that score, but damn, dude, dial it back.). He also made several comments I felt her just flat out biased against anyone not in his specific demographic. It's not a horrible course, just not a very good or current one. There are other, better, less annoying GCs in the catalog that cover similar info.
February 2, 2019
Did you know that all mammals have a sweet tooth? Except for cats, because of a genetic mutation. You wouldn't think an audio series about the sense of smell or taste or hearing would be as interesting as it was. I really enjoyed the personal anecdotes that Colavita weaved into the fascinating facts about the human perception. The presentation of trivia and results of medical studies slowed down only infrequently. I would recommend this to anyone who has a nose, a tongue, or ears.
April 5, 2020
2015.11.18–2015.12.02
What a great guy! I loved his readiness to present information on our senses' workings with constant gesturing, as well as his smiling at his own stories; while animations wouldn't hurt, this is exemplary use of hands while talking. IMO, he met his "instructional goals for the course":
Contents
Colavita FB (2006) (24 x 00:30) Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process
01. Sensation, Perception, and Behavior
02. Sensation and Perception - A Distinction
03. Vision - Stimulus and the Optical System
04. Vision - The Retina
05. Vision - Beyond the Optic Nerve
06. Vision - Age-Related Changes
07. Hearing - Stimulus and Supporting Structures
08. Hearing - The Inner Ear
09. Hearing - Age-Related Changes
10. The Cutaneous System - Receptors, Pathways
11. The Cutaneous System - Early Development
12. The Cutaneous System - Age-Related Changes
13. Pain - Early History
14. Pain - Acupunture, Endorphins, and Aging
15. Taste - Stimulus, Structures, and Receptors
16. Taste - Factors Influencing Preferences
17. Smell - The Unappreciated Sense
18. Smell - Consequences of Anosmia
19. The Vestibular System - Body Orientation
20. The Kinesthetic Sense - Motor Memory
21. Brain Mechanisms and Perception
22. Perception of Language
23. The Visual Agnosias
24. Perception of Other People - Course Summary
What a great guy! I loved his readiness to present information on our senses' workings with constant gesturing, as well as his smiling at his own stories; while animations wouldn't hurt, this is exemplary use of hands while talking. IMO, he met his "instructional goals for the course":
1. To expose us to enough sensory physiology that we could understand how our receptors take various forms of physical energy from the world and translate it into a language that the brain understands.
2. To give us some insight into how the brain takes the sense data provided by our sensory systems and integrates it with our previous experiences and creates our perceptions which form our reality.
3. To share with us ways in which the aging process can change our sensory world and our perceptual world.
4. For us to have some fun during these lectures.
Contents
Colavita FB (2006) (24 x 00:30) Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process
01. Sensation, Perception, and Behavior
02. Sensation and Perception - A Distinction
03. Vision - Stimulus and the Optical System
04. Vision - The Retina
05. Vision - Beyond the Optic Nerve
06. Vision - Age-Related Changes
07. Hearing - Stimulus and Supporting Structures
08. Hearing - The Inner Ear
09. Hearing - Age-Related Changes
10. The Cutaneous System - Receptors, Pathways
11. The Cutaneous System - Early Development
12. The Cutaneous System - Age-Related Changes
13. Pain - Early History
14. Pain - Acupunture, Endorphins, and Aging
15. Taste - Stimulus, Structures, and Receptors
16. Taste - Factors Influencing Preferences
17. Smell - The Unappreciated Sense
18. Smell - Consequences of Anosmia
19. The Vestibular System - Body Orientation
20. The Kinesthetic Sense - Motor Memory
21. Brain Mechanisms and Perception
22. Perception of Language
23. The Visual Agnosias
24. Perception of Other People - Course Summary
January 21, 2024
Will make your nerdy heart happy!
December 15, 2020
Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process by Francis B. Colavita
This book contains 24 lectures on human low-level cognition functionalities. The author started with sensors: vision, hearing, smelling, and touching. These lectures are fascinating in introducing how sensor cells and neurons work together to provide our brain access to the external world. For example, the author discusses how stimulants are "decomposed" into components, which are sensed by different sensing cells and recombined in the brain to form our impression of the world.
The subsequent lectures are about perception. By that, the author means the next-level cognition capabilities, such as recognizing objects and human faces through optical inputs, understanding and producing languages, etc. These functions are performed by specific parts of the brain, with or without the conscious control.
For each topic, there are some discussions on how aging affects the sensing and perception capabilities. Overall, aging is accompanied by sensing cell reduction and neural transmission slow-down. Aging affects vision and hearing the most while smelling and touching suffers degradation with less impact on life quality.
The book is fascinating in biopsychology, which is the specialty of the author. However, the introduction is somewhat misleading. From the introduction, I thought the book's emphasis is how our picture of the world (perception) is affected by our sensing abilities and how such perception changes with aging due to sensor degradation. I was disappointed to find out later that "perception" is still low-level cognitions such as pattern recognition and language understanding. And the aging process was addressed as an afterthought. Therefore, I would say that the book does not deliver what is promised in the introduction.
This book contains 24 lectures on human low-level cognition functionalities. The author started with sensors: vision, hearing, smelling, and touching. These lectures are fascinating in introducing how sensor cells and neurons work together to provide our brain access to the external world. For example, the author discusses how stimulants are "decomposed" into components, which are sensed by different sensing cells and recombined in the brain to form our impression of the world.
The subsequent lectures are about perception. By that, the author means the next-level cognition capabilities, such as recognizing objects and human faces through optical inputs, understanding and producing languages, etc. These functions are performed by specific parts of the brain, with or without the conscious control.
For each topic, there are some discussions on how aging affects the sensing and perception capabilities. Overall, aging is accompanied by sensing cell reduction and neural transmission slow-down. Aging affects vision and hearing the most while smelling and touching suffers degradation with less impact on life quality.
The book is fascinating in biopsychology, which is the specialty of the author. However, the introduction is somewhat misleading. From the introduction, I thought the book's emphasis is how our picture of the world (perception) is affected by our sensing abilities and how such perception changes with aging due to sensor degradation. I was disappointed to find out later that "perception" is still low-level cognitions such as pattern recognition and language understanding. And the aging process was addressed as an afterthought. Therefore, I would say that the book does not deliver what is promised in the introduction.
June 8, 2019
Dr Colavito's lectures provide a clear, concise and fascinating set of lectures that plainly explains the differences between sensations and how we perceive (interpret) those sensations. Most of the lectures deal with the physiology of how we collect data via our sensory 'organs' (eyes, nose, fingers, etc.)...breaking down how these organs work. This takes up 20 of the 24 lectures. The last three or four lectures touch on how the sensations are transmitted to the brain and how different parts of the brain break down the sensations into perceptions. The good professor clearly points out that our perceptions might not always reflect reality (that's the job of our sensations), but rather reflect our interpretation of those sensations based upon our prior experiences with those stimuli.
Another aspect of the course, one in which is incorporated into the title, is how sensations and their perceptions are influenced by the aging process. Well, no surprise here! As we age our sensational organs become less efficient...we see more poorly, hear less well, and often forget our Right Guard. But what about our perceptions...do we transition smoothly from 'wise guy' to 'wise man'...or does our brain deteriorate along with our senses? Or maybe it's a little of both.
Good set of lectures...I like the kind that make you think...and have a bit of humor sprinkled in just for the fun of it. Review the course guide...it's pretty good. I thought the audio version was great...but since I didn't watch the video, I have no way of knowing which would be the better choice. I do know that this set is often on sale, and coupons can only add to that pleasant sensation of knowing that you saved some money.
Another aspect of the course, one in which is incorporated into the title, is how sensations and their perceptions are influenced by the aging process. Well, no surprise here! As we age our sensational organs become less efficient...we see more poorly, hear less well, and often forget our Right Guard. But what about our perceptions...do we transition smoothly from 'wise guy' to 'wise man'...or does our brain deteriorate along with our senses? Or maybe it's a little of both.
Good set of lectures...I like the kind that make you think...and have a bit of humor sprinkled in just for the fun of it. Review the course guide...it's pretty good. I thought the audio version was great...but since I didn't watch the video, I have no way of knowing which would be the better choice. I do know that this set is often on sale, and coupons can only add to that pleasant sensation of knowing that you saved some money.
January 23, 2020
So many new things to not look forward to as I age. Yay.
January 2, 2024
Excellent summary of the brain and the senses as well as a straight forward explanation of the changes that lead to dementia. He made me aware current research related to each of our senses as I age. Recommended for those 55 and older and their children.
December 3, 2013
A wonderful set of lectures investigating the senses, and the effect of age on all of our sensory systems. Very well-done; fascinating. I will re-listen often.
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