Chapter Overview

This examination of the "minor senses," olfaction and gustation, brings us to the end of our survey of seeing, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. This should provide a more complete appreciation of how marvelously sensitive human beings are to the noisy, odorous, light-reflecting, tasty objects that make up their world. This world is defined by the human sensory nervous system -other species with different nervous systems live in a world different from ours. The environment offers an abundance of opportunities for perception; whether one capitalizes on those opportunities depends on having receptors and brain mechanisms to register and process sensory information. Understanding perception requires that we examine what there is to be perceived (the environment as a source of stimulation), how the process is implemented (the mechanisms of perception), and, of course, how that information is ultimately used to control behavior.