Four Sensory Experiments

This assignment called for me to pick three out of four sensory experiments to conduct and then record my reaction to each experiment. The three experiments I chose to conduct are number one- the sandpaper experiment, number three- the index cards and flashlight experiment and number four- the water in bowls experiment. While conducting each of these three experiments I was surprised by the results of each of them.
Experiment Number One: I rubbed my finger on the piece of coarse sandpaper and it felt very hard to my finger. After the two minute wait, I rubbed the same finger over the sand paper and found it to be softer than it felt the first time I ran my finger over it. The coarseness of the paper felt completely different the second time I ran my finger over it. I believe this is due to fact that I did rub the sandpaper with the same finger which was already desensitized by the first time I rubbed it on the sandpaper. This experiment is a sensory adaptation of touch in which our senses adjust to the level of stimulation we receive. This experiment shows that our senses can be as sensitive as they can be without being over loaded, which is why the second time my finger was rubber over the sandpaper it was less sensitive.
(Wade & Tavris, 2005) These experiments have proven that sensitivity must be matched to the physical stimulation available. Where as extreme sensitivity would be undesirable, the lack of sensitivity would also be undesirable. All senses have the ability to shift their operating range, which means to change the range of physical intensity levels which generate a perceptual response. In do so this allows us to adapt to prevailing environmental conditions and remain sensitive to change. Within each sensory modality, many subtle adaptation effects can also be generated, which tell us a lot about how the system