Chapter 1 Flashcards
We don’t directly sense the world; instead, our brain creates an internal picture based on the signals from our senses.
Principle of Representation in perception
When you taste a piece of chocolate, you’re not directly experiencing the chocolate itself but rather a mental representation formed by the signals your taste buds send to your brain
What is this known as?
Principle of Representation in perception
What is the Distal Stimulus?
The actual object or event in the environment that you are trying to sense.
If you are eating chocolate, what is the distal stimulus? proximal stimulus?
Distal: Piece of Chocolate in mouth
Proximal: Specific flavors and textures of chocolate
What is the Proximal Stimulus?
The pattern of energy that the distal stimulus creates on your sensory organs
The process where your sensory receptors turn the physical energy from the stimulus into electrical signals that your brain can understand.
Transduction
When you touch something hot, the heat is converted by receptors in your skin into signals that tell your brain it’s hot.
What is this an example of?
Transduction
Using what you already know to help you make sense of what you’re seeing or hearing.
Top-Down Processing
Recognizing your favorite song even when it’s played quietly or with some notes missing because you already know the tune.
What is this an example of?
Top-Down Processing
Tasting a new dish and figuring out what it is based on the flavors you experience.
What is this an example of?
Bottom-Up Processing
What is Bottom-Up Processing?
Understanding something based only on the information you get from your senses, without any prior knowledge.
What are the 7 steps of the Perceptual Process?
- Environmental Stimulus
- Light is Reflected and Transformed
- Receptor Processes
- Neural Processing
- Perception
- Recognition
- Action
The steps your brain goes through to make sense of the things you sense, from detecting the stimulus to taking action based on it.
Perceptual Process
What are the sub-steps of the Perceptual Process?
Stimulus, Physiological, Behavior
What is the Absolute Threshold?
The smallest amount of a stimulus that you can detect at least half the time.
What is the Method of Limits?
A method to find out at what point you can detect a stimulus by gradually changing its intensity.
How is the Method of Limits used?
Used to study sensory thresholds
Someone who only says they detect something when they’re very sure, leading to fewer mistakes but possibly missing some real signals.
Conservative Responder in Signal Detection Theory
What is a Liberal Responder in Signal Detection Theory?
Someone who often says they detect something even if they’re not sure, catching more signals but also having more false alarms.
A student who raises their hand whenever they think they might know the answer, leading to more chances to be right but also more chances to be wrong.
Someone who only says they detect something when they’re very sure, leading to fewer mistakes but possibly missing some real signals.
Conservative or Liberal responder?
- Liberal
- Conservative
What is a Stimulus – Perception relationship in Sensation & Perception research?
How changing a stimulus affects what you perceive.
What is a Stimulus – Physiology relationship in Sensation & Perception research?
How a stimulus affects your body’s sensory systems.
What is a Physiology – Perception relationship in Sensation & Perception research?
How changes in your body or brain relate to what you perceive.
Respond to each of the following with one of the three types of relationships studied in Sensation & Perception research
- Feeling dizzy after spinning around and noticing how it affects your sense of balance.
- Turning up the brightness on a screen and noticing how the image looks clearer.
- Listening to louder music and feeling more vibration in your ears.
- Physiology – Perception
- Stimulus – Perception
- Stimulus – Physiology
