Ch. 5 Flashcards
Messages from senses that are transformed into neural impulses. Thalamus
Transduction
Decreasing responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation
Sensory adaptation
Our perception of sensations is partially due to how focused we are on them
Sensory habituation
When in a loud room, someone across the room calls your name and your attention switches to across the room
Cocktail Party phenomenon
Activation of our senses
Sensation
The process of understanding sensations
Perception
Vision, hearing, touch. Gathers senses in the form of light, sound waves, and pressure
Energy senses
Gathers senses in the form of chemicals in order to interpret. Taste, smell
Chemical senses
The most dominant sense. Gathers information about environment through reflections, light intensity, and light wavelength
Vision
Protective eye covering, helps focus light
Cornea
Shutter of a camera, dilates to let more lice in by contacting and vice versa (Iris)
Pupil
A curved/flexible part of the eye that contracts in order to focus. Accommodation
Lens
Screen on the back of the eye, has specialized neurons activated by wavelengths
Retina
Any various hypothetical or actual mechanisms within the human information- processings system that respond selectively to specific distinguishing features
Feature Detectors
The second cranial nerve, which carries axons of retinal ganglion cells and extends from the retina to the optic chiasm
Optic Nerve
The visual processing center of the brain
Occipital Lobe
The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible and can be detected by the human eye
Visible Light
Cells that detect color and cells that are activated in monochrome
Cones vs. Rods
The center of the retina, an indentation. Contains the highest concentration of cones
Fovea
The spot where the optic nerve leaves the retina, has no rods/cones
Blind spot
Hypothesis that we have 3 types of cones with RGB and are activated in different combinations to produce all colors
Trichromatic theory
The inability to discriminate between colors and to perceive select color hues
Color blindness
If you stare at a color for a long time and then look at a white, blank space- who will see an image of said color
Afterimage
Sensory receptors arranged in the retina come in pairs. On stimulated its pair (complimentary colors) is inhibited (explains color-blindness and afterimages)
Opponent-process theory
The ability of an organism to sense sound and process/interpret the sensations to gain information about the source/nature of the sound
Hearing
Created by vibrations, vibrations travel through the air, into the ears and go through transduction
Sound Waves
The height of the wave and determines loudness of a sound (decibels)
Amplitude
The length of the waves and determines pitch (Hz)
Frequency
A structure shaped like a snails shell and filled with fluid. Fluid moves in reaction to sound waves, moving hair cells and transduction occurs
Cochlea
Description of the hearing process explains how we react/interpret pitches or tones
Pitch Theories
The hair cells I the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in cochlea. Explains high pitches
Place Theory
Lower tones are sensed by the rate at which the cells fire. Cells fire at different rates in cochlea. Explain low pitches
Frequency theory
Occurs when something goes wrong with the system of conducting sound
Conduction deafness
Occurs when the hair cells in the cochlea are damaged
Nerve deafness
The ability to perceive an object.stimulus that come into contact with the surface of the skin. Temp/intensity
Touch
Some pain messages are higher priority than others, therefore its hypothesized that the spinal cord “opens or closes the gate” to the brain depending on its intensity
Gate-control theory
The sense devoted to the detection of molecules dissolved in liquids or the sensory experience resulting from perception of gustatory qualities
Taste
The sense that enables an organism to detect the odors of volatile substances
Smell
Informs us about how our body is oriented in space
Vestibular sense
Feedback about eh position and orientation of specific body parts. Information about limbs from joints/receptors
Kinesthetic sense
The minimal amount of stimulus we can detect 50% of the time
Absolute threshold
Signal below the absolute threshold of our conscious awareness
Subliminal Messages
The smallest amount of change needed in a stimulus before we detect change
Difference Threshold
The change needed is proportional to the original intensity of the stimulus. More intense = more it will need to change before noticed
Weber’s law
Investigates the effects of the distractions/interferences we experiences while perceiving the world
Signal detection theory
We perceive by filling in gaps, perception that is driven by the context in which something is placed
Top-Down processing
A predisposition to perceiving something a certain way
Perceptual set
When the stimulus itself influences your perception because you have no other context
Bottom-up Processing
Perceive images as group
Gestalt Rules
Objects that are close together are more likely o be perceived as belonging in the same group
Proximity
Objects that are similar in appearance are more likely to be perceived as in the same group
Similarity
Objects that are arranged in a continuous line/curve are more likely to be perceived as in the same group
Continuity
Similar to top-down, objects that make-up a recognizable image are more likely to be perceived to be in the same group
Closure
Our ability to maintain a constant perception of an object despite changes
Constancy
Objects closer to out eyes will produce bigger images on our retinas but distance is accounted for in size estimations
Size constancy
Objects viewed at different angles will produce different shapes on out retinas, but we know the shape is constant
Shape constancy
We perceive objects as being a constant color even as light reflecting off object changes
Brightness constancy
An umbrella term that covers al visual cues that allows us to comprehend visual data-depth discriminations
Depth cues
