CH4 - Sensation & Perception Flashcards
What is olfaction?
Smell
What is the minimum amount of physical energy needed for an observer to notice a stimulus?
Absolute threshold
Explain monocular cues
Visual input from a single eye alone that contributes to depth perception.
Describe ganglion cells and their role
Nerve cells in the retina that integrate information from multiple bipolar cells, the axons of which bundle together to form the optic nerve.
ROLE
Define perception
The process by which the brain selects, organises, and interprets sensations
Name the chemicals secreted by organisms in some species that allows communication between organisms.
Pheromones
Define proprioceptive senses
Senses that provide information about body position and movement.
Describe the function of the pupil and iris in regards to light.
The pupil regulates the amount of light entering the eye by constricting and dilating. The iris is a ring of muscle connected to the pupil that controls this movement. The iris also gives the eye its colour.
What are rods?
One of two types of photoreceptors; allow vision in dim light.
Define the retina
The light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye that transduces light into neural impulses.
Explain Signal Detection Theory
The theory that experiencing a sensation means making a judgement about whether a stimulus is present or absent. // HIT (present, present), MISS (present, absent), FALSE ALARM (absent, present), CORRECT REJECTION (absent, absent)
List and describe the Gestalt rules of perception
Completion Continuation Simplicity Similarity Proximity
What is Steven’s Power Law
A law of sensation proposed by S. S. Stevens, which states that the subjective intensity of a stimulus grows as a proportion of the actual intensity raised to some power.
What are sound waves?
A pulsation of acoustic energy.
Define transduction
The process of converting physical energy into neural impulses.
Perception of stimuli below the threshold of consciousness is called…
Subliminal perception
Vestibular sense is..
The sense that provides information about the position of the body in space by sensing gravity and movement.
Describe Weber’s Law
The perceptual law described by Ernst Weber that states that for two stimuli to be perceived as differing in intensity, the second must differ from the first by a constant proportion.
Describe the ‘what’ pathway. Include what lobes are involved.
The pathway running from the striate cortex in the occipital lobes through the lower part of the temporal lobes, involved in determining what an object is.
Describe the ‘where’ pathway. Include what lobes are involved.
The pathway running from the striate cortex through the middle and upper regions of the temporal lobes and up into the parietal lobes, involved in locating an object in space, following its movement, and guiding movement toward it.
Name the bundle of sensory neurons that transmit auditory information from the ear to the brain.
Auditory nerves
Name the minimum amount of physical energy (stimulation) needed for an observer to notice a stimulus.
Absolute threshold
Define accommodation
In vision, the changes in the shape of the lens that focus light rays; in Piaget’s theory, the modification of schemas to fit reality.
Differentiate between monocular and binocular cues.
Binocular cues: visual input integrated from two eyes that provides perception of depth.
Monocular cues:
Name the phenomenon in which individuals with cortical lesions have no conscious visual awareness but can make discriminations about objects placed in front of them.
Blindsight
Name a Gestalt rule of perception which states that people tend to perceive incomplete figures as complete.
Closure
Identify the point on the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye and which contains no receptor cells.
Blind spot
Describe the function of cones in the eye
One of two types of photoreceptors, which are specialized for colour vision and allow perception of fine detail.
What is colour constancy?
The tendency to perceive the colour of objects as stable despite changing illumination.
Name the tough, transparent tissue covering the front of the eyeball.
Cornea
What do decibels measure?
The amplitude (loudness) of a sound wave.
The smallest difference in intensity between two stimuli that a person can detect.
Difference threshold
What is the eardrum and what does it do?
The thin, flexible membrane that marks the outer boundary of the middle ear; the eardrum is set in motion by sound waves and in turn sets in motion the ossicles.
What is Fechner’s Law?
he law of psychophysics proposed by Gustav Fechner, that the subjective magnitude of a sensation grows as a proportion of the logarithm of the stimulus.
The central region of the retina, where light is most directly focused by the lens, is called..
The fovea
Explain figure-ground perception
A fundamental rule of perception described by Gestalt psychology which states that people inherently differentiate between figure (the object they are viewing, sound to which they are listening, etc.) and ground (background).
Define the gate-control theory
Theory that emphasises the role of the central nervous system in regulating pain
What is another word for gustation?
Taste
What is the iris?
The ring of pigmented tissue that gives the eye its blue, green, or brown colour; its muscle fibers cause the pupil to constrict or dilate.
What is jnd?
Just Noticeable Difference - The smallest difference in intensity between two stimuli that a person can detect.
Describe kineasthesia
The sense that provides information about the movement and position of the limbs and other parts of the body; receptors in joints transduce information about the position of the bones, and receptors in the tendons and muscles transmit messages about muscular tension.
What is the ‘cocktail party effect’?
The cocktail effect is being able to focus auditory attention on one stimulus while filtering out other stimuli, just like being able to focus on a conversation at a noisy party.