CH.4 Sensation and Perceptions

Question 1

The process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neural energy.

Answer 1

Sensation

Question 2

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense.

Answer 2

Perception

Question 3

Sensory receptors register information about the external environment and send it up to the brain for interpretation.

Answer 3

Bottom-up processing

Question 4

What is the role of the reticular rotating system?

Answer 4

regulating arousal and sleep−wake transitions.

Question 5

A network of structures including the brain stem, medulla, and thalamus that are involved in the experience of arousal and engagement with the environment.

Answer 5

Reticular activating system

Question 6

The force that moves people to behave, think, and feel the way they do.

Answer 6

Motivation

Question 7

What is the role of sensor receptors?

Answer 7

Specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit it to sensory (afferent) nerves and the brain.

Question 8

Individuals’ understanding that they and others think, feel, perceive, and have private experiences.

Answer 8

Theory of mind

Question 9

An innate (unlearned) biological pattern of behavior that is assumed to be universal throughout a species.

Answer 9

Instinct

Question 10

Define signal detection theory

Answer 10

An approach to perception that focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions of uncertainty.

Question 11

What outcomes are associated with signal detection theory?

Answer 11

Hit: you ask and the person says “yes”
Miss: The person would have said “yes”, but you do not ask
False alarm: You think the person is interested, but your offer is politely declined
Correct rejection: You didn’t ask, and the person would have said no.

Question 12

Detection of pressure, vibration and movement. (touch, hearing, balance.)

Answer 12

Mechanoreceptors

Question 13

Detection of chemical stimuli (smell and taste).

Answer 13

Chemoreceptors

Question 14

Detection of light (sight)

Answer 14

Photoreceptors

Question 15

Define:
-Intrinsic Motivation

-Extrinsic Motivation

What is the difference between them?

Answer 15

• Motivation based on internal factors such as organismic needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy), as well as curiosity, challenge, and fun.

-Motivation that involves external incentives such as rewards and punishments.

• Intrinsic leads to more positive outcomes because we engage in behavior because we like it whereas Extrinsic we engage in behavior to gain external payoff or avoid external punishment.

Question 16

What are some examples of automatic processes?

Answer 16

Any information processing that occurs involuntarily and without conscious intention or control, as in the performance of well-practiced activities such as seeing, reading, riding a bicycle, playing a game, or driving a car.

Question 17

What is Phantom limb pain?

Answer 17

An example of confused senses. Is the perception of pain or discomfort in a limb that is no longer there.

Question 18

States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities.

Answer 18

Automatic processes

Question 19

Characteristics of daydreaming

Answer 19

Mind wandering; Another state of consciousness that involves a low level of conscious effort.

Question 20

The receptor cells in the retina that are sensitive to light but not very useful for color vision. (black and white)
- Function well with little light; hard at work at night

Answer 20

Rods

Question 21

The receptor cells in the retina that allow for color perception. (color)
-Function well in bright light

Answer 21

Cones

Question 21

Role of biological rhythms in sleep

Answer 21

control cycles like sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, hormone secretion, and more.

Question 22

An example of selective attention; ability to concentrate on one voice among many in a noisy crowd

Answer 22

Cocktail party effect

Question 23

What are the Needs in Maslow’s hierarchy?

Answer 23

Physiological needs, safety, love and belongingness, esteem and self-actualization

Question 24

What is the Role of sleep in brain plasticity?

Answer 24

Sleep affects synaptic connections in the brain.

Question 25

Japanese word for “yummy” or “delicious”. Is the flavor of L-glutamate. Present in seafood and etc.,

Answer 25

Umami

Question 26

determined by two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive labeling; theory is known as the two-factor theory of emotion by Schacter and Singer

Answer 26

emotion in Cognition

Question 27

What are the Stages of sleep?

Answer 27

Stage W, Stage N1(non-REM 1) sleep, Stage N2, Stage N3, Stage R (REM sleep)

Question 28

Study of atypical color vision

Answer 28

Colorblindness

Question 29

The detection of information below the level of conscious awareness.

Answer 29

Subliminal perception

Question 30

The need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect.

Answer 30

Tolerance

Question 31

A class of drugs that act on the brain’s endorphin receptors. These drugs (also called narcotics) depress activity in the central nervous system and eliminate pain. Increase levels of dopamine.

Answer 31

opioids

Question 32

Depressant drugs, such as Valium and Xanax, that reduce anxiety and induce relaxation; brings a feeling of calm

Answer 32

Other Narcotics; Tranquilizers

Question 33

What are Components of self determination theory?

Answer 33

Deci and Ryan’s theory asserting that all humans have three basic, innate organismic needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy.

Question 34

our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used to spell the name of a different color.

Answer 34

Stroop effect

Question 35

Term that refers to the failure to detect unexpected events when our attention is engaged by a task. ex. looking for a seat in the movie theatre and not noticing a friend waving to us

Answer 35

Inattentional blindness

Question 36

Decreases anxiety and responsible for allowing you to feel pleasure, satisfaction and motivation.

Answer 36

Dopamine’s role in the brain

Question 37

block the nerve cells that receive the pain signals

Answer 37

endorphins role in the brain

Question 38

Brain’s brake pedal; increase of GABA has a calming affect

Answer 38

GABA’s role in the brain

Question 39

Regulates mood

Answer 39

Serotonin’s role in the brain

Question 40

A predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way; reflect top-down influences in perception.

Answer 40

Perceptual set

Question 41

Physical and psychological dependence

Answer 41

• typically associated with the development of tolerance and withdrawal symptoms that are not primarily emotional or cognitive in nature.
• associated with numerous emotional and cognitive symptoms

Question 42

What is the Gestalt psychology?
What are the Gestalt principles?

Answer 42

A school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns.

-Closure, Proximity, and Similarity

Question 43

Where is the location of smell in the brain?

Answer 43

Olfactory bulb that directs it to the Limbic system.

Question 44

Maslow’s theory that human needs must be satisfied in the following sequence: physiological needs, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization.

Answer 44

hierarchy of needs

Question 45

The operation in sensation and perception, launched by cognitive processing at the brain’s higher levels, that allows the organism to sense what is happening and to apply that framework to information from the world.

Answer 45

top-down processing