Psych Discussion Response

Course Text:

Goldstein, E. B. (2017). Sensation and Perception. 10th edition. California: Cengage. 

Original Question:

By now you've probably noticed in your assigned readings that the study of sensation and perception focuses on things you may have experienced but never given any thought to--for example, the "Purkinje shift". We don't think much about these phenomena because our world is full of them, and if we had to be conscious of every sensation and its accompanying perception that we ever experienced our brains would have little time for anything else (!) but research scientists have studied them in detail. This leaves us with the question--do these interesting and sometimes odd things matter? The answer is yes, but why and how varies depending on the particular phenomenon. Because there are real-life phenomena associated with everything discussed in our readings and dialoguing about them can bring theory and fact to life, for the remainder of our forum assignments we will be doing the following:
In the initial forum post, please describe how one of the phenomena mentioned in the readings explains an everyday event that you have experienced or observed and then suggest how this phenomenon might have serious consequences (so first its everyday occurrence and impact and then ways in which it can have serious impact).

For the purpose of this assignment, we will define "serious impact" as something that has negative consequences to health and safety of the self or others rather than something that is inconvenient or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain light may lead to getting home after a shopping trip only to find out an outfit isn't the color you thought it was, which can be inconvenient and/or embarrassing. Not being able to distinguish colors under certain war zone conditions can be safety and life threatening.

Please be specific, thorough and concrete. Adding onto the end of a post a statement or two that something could be a problem is not sufficient. Additionally, saying you don't know of any negative consequences isn't permitted. Doing so will void your forum assignment points. You will need to explain how the phenomenon specifically has a negative impact. An example, described in Nicholas Wade's 2000 "The Natural History of Vision" is below (NOTE: Because this one has already been applied, you must select another). Unless discussing one of the more common disorders, like a lack of depth perception or hearing loss, please avoid "I think I have this" syndrome. This is something that medical students often fall prey to in the early years of medical school because they spend so much time studying human disorders, from the very common to the exceedingly rare.

Reply to the following response with 200 words minimum. (please make response as if having a conversation, respond directly to some of the statements in below post.)

For this week’s discussion I have selected: “Fixation”

Scanning our surroundings help us locate particular people and identify distinct objects. Fixation contributes to these findings. This occurs when we briefly pause to focus our attention on a specific face or object, which ultimately results in recognition (Goldstein, 2017). Fixation has a high importance and can be very beneficial in some occurrences by pinpointing particular targets. However, fixation can create serious impacts as well.

My negative experience pertaining to fixation occurred at Disneyland. Given how popular this theme park is, there are many celebrities that can be occasionally spotted while attending. Last year, it was circulating around that Megan Fox was at Disneyland during the same time I was. I was overly excited since there are usually no celebrities there when I go. When I thought I had spotted her in a large crowd of people, I stopped walking. As a result, a small child that was walking closely behind me bumped into me. Her face ended up hitting the back of my purse. The girl's face might have hit the hard accents on my purse as well. She began to cry right away. I apologized quickly and felt extremely terrible. This situation illustrates the harmful consequences of fixation, and how it can distract you momentarily from everything that is occurring around you. 

Similar to my my experience at Disneyland, fixation can raise safety concerns for the people we come across and interact with. For example, there could be serious consequences from being fixated while taking care of infants or small children. It only takes a second for children to get hurt very quickly if they are not being supervised properly. It is also dangerous to be fixated on people or objects while being behind the wheel. Driving requires a person's full attention. The smallest distraction could endanger the driver themselves and the people around them. 

Aside from the situation I experienced, there are many other negative consequences that can result from fixation. Being fixated on someone or something can put the individual's safety at risk. For instance, a person can risk being hit by a car if this person is crossing the street and is focused on another person walking nearby. Not paying attention for a split second while being in the presence of fast vehicles can make a huge difference in the situation's outcome and can be very harmful. Also, individuals can be robbed while taking money out of an ATM, and possibly be held at gunpoint if they are being fixated on something elsewhere. 

Our visual attention associates greatly to our perception. Staying attentive to the people and objects in our environment enables us to enhance our perceptual processing. Although fixation allows us to increase recognition of particular people and objects, we must also be aware of the possible consequences. 

  Goldstein, E.B. (2017) Sensation and Perception. 10th edition. California: Cengage.