ap unit 3 Flashcards
Sensation
Detection and Encoding, the senses collect some kind of information from the environment and convert it to a signal that can travel to the brain (senses depend on each other) 5 SENSES
Transduction
the transformation of electrochemical energy to electrochemical energy of neural impulses (except smell)
Perception
Interpretation, process by which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom Up Processing
Sensory Analysis, involves starting with an incoming stimulus and working upwards until a representation of the object is formed in our minds
Top Down Processing
form our perceptions starting with a larger object, concept, or idea before working our way toward more detailed information (big picture, small details)
Absolute Threshold
smallest level of stimulus that can be detected, usually defined as at least half the time (the point something becomes noticeable)
Signal Detection Theory
theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of faint stimulus amid background noise
Difference Threshold
Just Noticeable Difference, the amount of something must be changed in order for a difference to be noticeable or detectable at least half the time
Weber’s Law
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) bigger need larger differences to be noticed
Sensory Adaptation
reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it (helps free up our attention to other stimuli around us)
Selective Attention
we center our attention on certain important elements of our environment while other things blend into the background or pass us by completely unnoticed
Inattentional Blindness
when our focus is directed at one stimulus that is relevant to us, leaving us blind to other stimuli (focus on more on important things than every single detail)
Change Blindness
the tendency people have to miss changes in their immediate visual environment changes in their immediate visual environment (people can miss minor and major changes in front of them)
Cornea
transparent, dome-like structure on the front part of the eye, gives the eye focusing or refracting power
Pupil
the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters, controls the amount of light that enters into the eye
Iris
a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of pupil opening
Lens
the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina, focus eye on near or far objects
Retina
light sensitive layer that lines the back of the eye, contains photoreceptors that absorb light and transmit signals
Photoreceptors
convert light energy to electrochemical neural impulses that are conducted to our brain (rods and cones)
Sclera
the white part of the eye that protects it from other objects
Optic Nerve
the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain (cross to opposite side of brain, once inside the brain, visual information is sent via a number of structures to the occipital lobe for processing)
Rods
specialized photoreceptors that work well in low light conditions, involved in our vision in dim light places and perception of movement on the periphery of visual field
Cones
light detecting cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well lit conditions, directly involved in our ability to perceive color
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory
there are three receptors in the retina responsible for the perception of color (green, red and blue) combined to create all colors of light
Color Defficient Vision
they simply lack functioning red or green sensitive cones or sometimes both, missing cones that respond to a specific color (monochromatic, dichromatic) hard to distinguish red and green
Opponent-Process Theory
retinal processes only occur in three sets of opponents, red with green complex, blue with yellow complex, and black with white complex (only able to detect one color at a time since they oppose each other)
Feature Detectors
in the visual cortex, specialized neurons that react to the strength of visual stimuli, responding to shapes, angles, edges, lines and movement in field of vision
Parallel Processing
the ability of the brain to do many things at once, for visual processing, color, motion, shape, and depth are processed simultaneously
Audition
the biological process by which our ears process sound waves (used evolutionary for hearing predators, increase survival)
Sound Waves
vibrations of molecules that travel through the air, mechanical vibration of molecules from sound source
Amplitude
height of the sound wave (greater compression), the psychological quality of loudness, measured by decibels
Frequency/Pitch
the number of wavelength cycles in a unit of time, measured using hertz determines the highness or lowness of the sound (short wavelength, higher frequency, higher pitch - longer wavelength, lower frequency, lower pitch)
Pinna
the outer ear, visible part of the ear (designed to catch sound waves) direct sound into the ear canal (auditory canal)
Tympanic Membrane
the eardrum, sound waves make the eardrum vibrate (conduction)
Middle Ear
sound waves travel to vibrate the bones (auditory ossicles) of the ear
Inner Ear
the innermost part of the ear, includes cochlea
Malleus
unbreakable bone, a hammer (focus the vibrations in eardrum to coachella’s oval window)
Incus
unbreakable bone, an anvil (focus the vibrations in eardrum to coachella’s oval window)
Stapes
unbreakable bone, a stirrup (focus the vibrations in eardrum to coachella’s oval window)
Cochlea
a coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses
Corti
on top of cochlea, contains hair cells (converts vibrations into nerve impulses ad send to auditory nerve)
Place Theory
in hearing, explain how we distinguish high pitched sounds that possess a frequency that exceeds five thousand hertz (pitch heard based on where the hair cells vibrate on basilar membrane)
Frequency Theory
we hear pitch based on how fast the hair cells vibrate (vibrate at different rates)
Sound Localization
sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other, helps to tell the brain the location of sound (uses parallel processing to find timing and location)
Conduction Hearing Loss
hearing loss caused by structural damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (age, environmental effects, exposure to extreme noise, certain illness) hearing aids can help
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Nerve deafness, occurs when inner ear, cochlea or auditory nerve itself is not functioning properly, hearing aids don’t help (hair cells abnormal at birth, infection, or trauma, once dead they no longer function)
McGurk Effect
interaction with vision and hearing, an illusion of auditory component of one sound is paired with visual of another sound, making a new sound
Gustation
Taste, the tastes that we perceive are a two phase chemical reaction that involves both our mouth and throat as well as our nose (four basic groupings, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) saliva works to transport taste to buds
5 types of Taste
sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory or delicious)
Olfaction
Smell, chemical molecules breathed in through the nose, smell receptors on top of nasal passage, olfactory receptors and bulb, in limbic system (responsible for 80% of what we taste)
Olfactory Bulb
a structure in the limbic system that is sent impulses that come from the olfactory bulb (helps in smelling)
Interaction between smell and taste
smell is responsible for 80% of what we taste, without our sense of smell, taste is limited to only five distinct sensations (all others experienced from smell)
Somesthetic Senses
the senses of the skin, allow us to feel light touch, pressure, pain, cold, and warmth (skin has cells that sense pressure, largest sense organ) receptors sent to thalamus to somatosensory cortex in parietal lobe
Pain
the body’s warning sign that something isn’t right (many varieties and intensities) combine both bottom up sensations and top down processes (necessary for survival, brain can stop it if needed)
Gate Control Theory
there is a “gate” in the spinal cord that switches pain on and off, the more neurons fire in response to pain the more intense the pain
Phantom Limb
pain and feeling of a limb that has been amputated and no longer there, brain can use senses for limb without the need of functioning senses
Kinesthesis
the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts, sensors in joints, tendons, bones, and ears (vestibular sense to monitor head/body position and movement)
Gesalt Psychology
emphasized the brain’s tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes (german for form or whole) through perception, the whole may exceed the sum of its parts
Figure Ground
a pattern of tendency of the visual system to simplify a scene into the main object that we are looking at and everything else that forms the background
Grouping
brains have a tendency to organize stimuli into groups in order to process the complexity of the world (proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, area, and symmetry)
Depth Preception
the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and to judge the distance of objects (brain processes both sides of eye into one single image)
Binocular Cues
those that require the use of both eyes (integrated by brain) in order for us to perceive depth or distance
Retinal Disparity
the difference between the visual images that each eye perceives because of the different angles in which each eye views the world (images overlap, brain connects to one view)
Convergence
our eyes move together to focus on an object that is close and that they would move farther apart for a distant object (can tell distance of object from us)
Monocular Cues
clues that can be used for depth perception that involves using only one eye, how we form 3D from 2D
Linear Perspective
depth cue that makes parallel lines appear to converge at a vanishing point on the horizon (the closer together, the greater the distance seems)
Interposition
Overlap, when one object overlaps another, the object that is partially obscured is perceived as being farther away
Relative Size
if two objects are roughly the same size, the farther away object will appear smaller even though the objects are still the same size
Relative Height
we perceive objects higher in our visual field as being further away and those that are close should appear lower
Relative Clarity
we perceive hazy objects as farther away than sharp, clear objects
Relative Motion
as you’re moving, objects that are closer seem to zoom by faster than do objects in the distance (fast moving objects in foreground closer than the slower moving objects in distance)
Light and Shadow
objects that are darkened and obscured may appear further off in the distance than those that are brightly lit (nearer objects reflect more light into our eyes than farther objects)
Texture Gradient
method of determining depth by noting that distant objects have a smoother texture than nearby objects
Perceptual Set
predisposition to perceive things in a certain way (notice only certain aspects of an object or situation while ignoring the other details)
Constancy Perceptual
Top Down Process, the tendency to perceive an object you are familiar with as having a constant, shape, size, and brightness despite the stimuli changes that occur
Constancy Color
the tendency of objects to appear the same color even under changing illumination (perceptual phenomenon caused by mechanisms in brain and eye)
Constancy Light
Brightness constancy, we perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies (we perceive objects not in isolation but in their environment context)
Constancy Shape
we perceive objects as having a constant size, even while our distance from them varies or despite differences in viewing angle
Dark Adaptation
the retina adapts to decreasing levels of light (rods become dominant, help to adjust to low level of light)
