Hi Annette, Without thinking this through (because I don't think during the summer), I would imagine that your experience had less to do with the behavior of receptors and more to do with the nature of water and air. The upper half of you was cooled by the rapid evaporation of the water (I'm guessing the humidity was low), while the lower half of you was kept warm by the insulating properties of the water. Although water is a good conductor of heat, it was probably warm enough that heat wasn't drawn from your body as fast as it was by the process of evaporation. Does that make sense? (Makes me want to go jump in a pool.) Carol Carol L. DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 Phone: 563-333-6482 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: http://web.sau.edu/psychology/psychfaculty/cdevolder.htm
________________________________ From: Annette Taylor, Ph. D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tue 7/25/2006 2:15 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] temperature perception redux I thought I sent this to the list yesterday but have not had a response--in fact had no mail in mailbox this morning--very unusual. So I am resending it in hopes of getting an answer: I am embarassed to say that I have forgotten how the unusual perception of temperature works--I know that if you grab a hot pipe and a cold pipe at the same time they will seem opposite to what they are. And I know somehow this relates back to adaptation and sensitization of receptors but I have forgotten the exact mechanism. I ask because I had an odd experience this past weekend. I was in Las Vegas where it was 108 degrees after the sun was down behind the hotel we were at. I decided since the sun was no longer shining on the pool and sunburn was not anissue, it was time for me to hit the water. As I entered the pool, the water felt cool, and I submerged myself. I then sat on a ledge in the pool so that I was out of the water from about chest up. Well here is the unusual perception: the part of my body out of the water, where it was 108 degrees and no wind felt cold, and the part of my body in the water felt comfortably warm--which it probably was! But I had to keep dunking the top part of myself to 'warm up'! I must have persisted at this for one hour, I was so enthralled with the experience. So, of course I tried to draw on all my accessible knowledge to figure out the unusual feeling but found myself drawing a blank. I think I might be able to parlay this into a great teaching moment if I can remember the exact mechanism. I suspect the heat receptors in the top part of my body, that had been exposed to the extreme heat all day, were quite fatigued but it's still not clear to me. So I call on smart tipsters to explain. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english <http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0<=english>
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