Ch 5: Sensation & Perceptin Flashcards
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment (reception) (bottom up)
Sensation
The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory info, transforming it into meaningful objects (interpretation) (top down)
Perception
Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory info
Bottom up processing
Info processing guided by higher level mental processes as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
Top down processing
The process of converting one form of energy into another that our brain can use
Transduction
The study of the relationship between physical stimulation and psychological experience
Psychophysics
The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
Threshold
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus
Absolute threshold
Absolute thresholds that vary with our psychological state (Ex: Mom hears the baby cry, Dad hears the dogs bark)
Signal Detection
Below a person’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Subliminal
The minimum difference between 2 stimuli that a person can detect 50% of the time
Difference threshold
The idea that difference thresholds inc in proportion to the size of the stimulus
Weber’s Law
Perception is influenced by our:
Experiences, beliefs, and expectations
Activating often unconsciously associations in our mind this setting us up to remember or respond to objects or events in a certain way
Priming
Reduced sensitivity in response to constant stimulation (no longer swelling a strong perfume after its been a while)
Sensory adaptation
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another (top down) (Hearing “gear up” instead of “cheer up”)
Perceptual set
Retinal receptors that detect black and white and gray and are sensitive to movement; located in the periphery; several funnel into a single bipolar cell
Rods
Retinal receptors that are concentrated in the center of retina; detect fine detail and color; one transmits to a single bipolar cell
Cones
The nerve cell that carries neural impulses from eye to brain
Optic nerve
Point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; this part of the receptor has no receptor cells
Blind spot
The effect that objects in the peripheral retina disappear under conditions of steady unmoving stimulation but are revitalized by movement in the periphery
Troxler effect
Theory that opposes n retinal processes (red-green) enable color vision
Opponent process theory
Process by many aspects of a problem or scene at the same time; brains natural mode of information processing
Parallel processing
An organized whole; the whole may exceed the sum of its parts
Gestalt
A depth cue such as retinal disparity that depends on the use of two eyes
Binocular cues
A depth cue (height, size, motion, light and shadow) that are available to either eye alone and allows one to determine how far away an object is
Monocular cue
Top down process that perceived objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape and size) even as illumination and retinal images change
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the objects
Color constancy
The ability to adjust changed sensory input Ex: getting adjusted to a new pair of glasses
Perceptual adaptation
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts (touching nose with eyes closed) (sense receptors located in our joints, tendons and muscles)
Kinesthesia
The sense of body movement and position including the sense of balance (receptors are located in our inner ear)
Vestibular sense
The principle that one sense may influence another; smell of food influences taste
Sensory interaction
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of a stimulus such as shape angle or movement
Feature detection
Outer ear funnels sounds waves to the eardrum via the auditory canal; the bones of the middle ear (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) amplify and relay eardrums vibrations; the pressure changes in the cochlear fluid bends hairs on the surface; hair cell movements trigger implies a in the nerve cells
General processes of hearing
Pressure, warmth, cold, pain
4 basic senses involved in touch
Cold + warmth
Hot
Cold + pressure
Wetness
Asserts that non painful input closes the gates (at the spinal cord level) to painful input which prevents pain sensations from traveling to the central nervous system
Gate control theory of pain
Contends that hypnosis is a form of social influence; people behave in ways appropriate for “good hypnotic subjects”
Social influence theory
Proposes that hypnosis is a special dual processing state; a split between normal sensations and conscious awareness
Dissociation theory
Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami
5 basic taste receptors/sensations
Reflex movement evoked by vestibular stimulation; eyes compensating for our bodies moving
Nystagmus
The claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
Extrasensory perception
