Sensory Perception Games

Some games measure the sensory development of children.

The five senses, sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch, are the abilities that allow us to perceive and understand the world around us, using memories as a reference. There are many games to play that challenge and trick our sensory perception. Some sensory perception games are designed to help develop and test the senses, and others are used to measure sensory development and memory in children.

Optical Illusions

Underlying patterns can be used in optical illusions to trick the eye.

Most games based on optical illusions require that the viewer change his perception from within rather than without, demonstrating the superiority of the mind over the power of sight. Some optical illusion games take the form of puzzles that the viewer must solve. For example, why is it possible to draw a staircase that appears to go up but leads nowhere, or make a three-dimensional triangle that looks inside out? Other games illustrate how background patterns distort straight lines.

Auditory Perception

You can play auditory games against a computer or with a friend.

Auditory games are often combined with touch and sight games. The era of handheld games made these more popular with small, portable consoles that played music in conjunction with playing sounds or flashing lights. The aim of the game was to remember the pattern of audio and visual cues and repeat them. The sequence of lights and notes get longer and more difficult as the player progresses, giving her senses a more difficult challenge.

Sleight of Hand

Sleight-of-hand games can be played with cards, cups or shells.

Also referred to as magic, the practitioners of these visual perception games range from illusionists to gamblers. These games rely on the concept of the hand being quicker than the eye. These are nicknamed "shell games," as they are traditionally played with three nutshells and a small dried pea, but other materials like cups or marbles will also work. The player must try to guess which cup or shell is hiding the pea after it has been moved around by the illusionist. The player is often unpleasantly surprised to find that their eyes were playing tricks on them when they inevitably guess wrong. Card players use similar techniques to deal themselves favorable hands or give opponents unfavorable ones.

Smell and Taste

Some sensory perception games require the players to deprive themselves of one sense and rely on another. These kinds of games can also be used to help sharpen the senses that tend to be used less than sight. A player is blindfolded and then asked to identify certain materials based only on smell, taste and touch. These kinds of games can be useful for students planning for careers in culinary arts or the cosmetics industry. Smell and taste games are slightly modified into the "gross me out" kind of games that you often see at children's Halloween parties.

References

• Encyclopedia of Psychology: Sensation and Perception
• Scientific Psychic: Illusions and Paradoxes, Seeing is Believing?
• The Free Medical Dictionary: Sensory Perception
• Hand Held Museum: Simon
• You Tube: Three Shell Game