2. Sensation/Perception Flashcards
Transduction
taking physical energy from environment and turning it into electrical energy in somatosensory cortex in parietal lobe
Sensation
PNS receptors forward stimuli to CNS as action potentials/neurotransmitters
Threshold aka limina
minimum stimulus diff for us to perceive differently
Absolute vs difference threshold
minimum stimulus to activate sensation vs minimal difference b/w 2 stimuli to notice a diff in perception
Response bias
tendency for people to respond a certain way due to nonsensory factors
Catch vs noise trials. Hits vs misses vs false alarm vs correct negative
trials in which signal = presented vs trials in which signal = not presented. Correctly perceives vs fails to perceive vs perceive but wrong vs correctly not perceive
Law of Pragnanz
perception will always be as simple, symmetrical and regular as possible; IT’S A GESTALT PRINCIPLE
Phonology vs morphology vs semantics vs syntax vs pragmatics
word sounds vs word structure vs meaning of words vs how words are put together vs context of words
Categorical perception
detecting subtle diff in perception of words, Differentiating between phonemes and other naturally produced sounds
Prosody
rhythm, cadence and inflection in our voices
Sensory adaption. What happens if there’s like of this?
Alteration to sensitivity after prolonged presence or absence of stimulation. Lack of sensory adaptation –. no response to stimuli at all
Distal vs proximal stimuli
Stimuli originating from outside world (ex: campfire) vs directly interact with sensory receptors, can tell info about distal stimuli (ex: light from campfire)
Subliminal perception
Perception of stimulus below a given threshold
Weber’s Law and Just Noticeable Difference
Difference threshold is a ratio aka proportion. YOU NEED A BASELINE FOR WEBER’S LAW
JND - min amount of stimulus magnitude that has to be changed in order to be noticeable. Weber’s fraction - compared JND to original stimulus
Proprioception aka kinesthetic sense
Ability to tell where one’s body is in space
Gestalt principles
When we infer the rest of the image when only given a part; law of continuity, law of similarity, law of pragnanz, law of closure, law of alignment, law of good continuation
Law of proximity vs law of similarity vs law of closure vs law of good continuation vs law of alignment
Elements close together are perceived as a unit vs objects that are similarly to e/o are grouped together vs when a space is enclosed by a contour, it’s perceived as a complete image vs elements are appear in same pathway are grouped together vs groups items that indicate a direct relationship, often connecting items by uniform visual properties
Bottom up vs top down processing
Stimulus influences perception, AKA INDUCTIVE REASONING vs previous background knowledge influences perception; AKA DEDUCTIVE REASONING. Both deal with sensory input, not reasoning
When do infants develop depth perception? What contributes to depth perception?
6.5-12 months; it’s innate
Retinal disparity - binocular depth cue
Describe types of monocular cues
interposition - infers position, motion parallax/relative motion - when you’re moving, objects closer than your visual focus pt move opposite direction as you and objects farther from your visual focus pt move in same direction as you (ex: car vs moon), relative size - infers distance: if 2 objects = similar size then the smaller object = perceived farther away, relative height - infers distance: higher objects = perceived further while lower objects = perceived closer
