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chapter 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

sensation and perception ultimately form the basis of our?

A

behaviour

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2
Q

sensation refers to?

A

the physcial reality of the signals that our sensory organs pick up and send to be processed in the nervous system

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3
Q

perception refers to

A

how we interpret those signals (what we experience subjectively)

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4
Q

sensory receptors

A

refers to specialized dendrites of sensory neurons that respond to various kinds of physical stimuli by generating action potentials that are sent upstream towards the CNS for further processing

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5
Q

within the PNS, such neurons are bundled into what?

A
  • nerves (collection of axons)
  • ganglia (collection of cell bodies)
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6
Q

sensory receptros communicate which 4 properties to the CNS

A
  1. location (where stimulus is coming from)
  2. modality (what type of stimulus it is)
  3. intensity (the frequency of action potentials produced by a stimulus)
  4. duration (how long a stimulus last)

“lick my icky dick”

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7
Q

exteroreceptors

A
  • respond to stimuli from the outside world
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8
Q

interoreceptors

A
  • respond to stimuli from inside the body
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9
Q

chemoreceptors

A
  • respond to chemical stimuli
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10
Q

olfactory receptors

A
  • involved in the sense of smell
  • a type of chemoreceptor
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11
Q

gustatory receptors

A
  • taste receptor
  • type of chemoreceptor
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12
Q

photoreceptors and hair cells

A
  • responsible for vision (respond to specific wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, or light)
  • in the inner ear convert pressure signals from osund waves into action potentials
    • semicircular canals contain endolymph which moves in response to rotational acceleration and results in the movement puts pressure on hair cells on the crista ampullaris that respond by sending info to the NS
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13
Q

mechanoreceptors

A
  • responsible for touch and respond to mechanical stimuli and various specific types of touch stimuli exist
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14
Q

thermoreceptors

A
  • specialize in detecting either warm or cold temperatures
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15
Q

nociceptors

A
  • receptors that detect pain (different types to detect pain to mechanical, thermal, or chemical stimuli)
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16
Q

baroreceptor

A
  • type of interoreceptor that detects pressure in the body such as on the walls of blood vessels
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17
Q

osmoreceptors

A
  • type of interoreceptor that detects the concentration of solutes in blood and trigger responses when the blood becomes too dilute or too concentrated
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18
Q

proximal stimulus

A
  • what a sensory receptor detects
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19
Q

distal stimulus

A
  • is the object in the environment that causes those signals
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20
Q

absolute threshold

A

the level of intensity that a stimulus must have in order to be picked up by sensory neurons (yes-or-no phenomenon)

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21
Q

threshold of concious perception

A
  • the threshold that a stimulus must cross in order for us to be able to consciously perceive it at all
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22
Q

just-noticable difference (JND)

A
  • the smallest change in the magnitude of a stimulus that we can perceive as being different
  • also called difference threshold
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23
Q

psychosocial discrimination testing

A
  • researchers test whether research subjects can tell the difference between 2 stimuli and then link those findings to the actual physical properties of the stimuli being studied
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24
Q

Weber’s law

A
  • states thar for any given sensory input, the just-noticeable difference will be a constant proportion of the original input
  • works within a range of what we might encounter on a day-to-day basis, but not ones that are either so faint to be nearly undetectable or so large to overwhelm our ability to process them (stops working well at the extremes of sensory input)
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25
Q

signal detection theory hit

A

correclty detecting something that is actually present

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26
Q

signal detection theory miss

A

not detecting something that is actually present

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27
Q

signal detection false alarm or false positive

A
  • we perceive something that isn’t actually there because of some other signal
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28
Q

signal detection theory correct rejection

A

we do not perceive anything that isn’t actually there

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29
Q

signal detection theory summarized

A
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30
Q

signal detection can vary across?

A

people and even within an individual depending on his or her physiological state and the general context

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31
Q

sensory adaptation

A
  • Sensory adaptation is a reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it. While sensory adaptation reduces our awareness of a constant stimulus, it helps free up our attention and resources to attend to other stimuli in the environment around us.
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32
Q

tonic receptors

A
  • receptor that adapt slowly to stimuli and continues to send action potentials as long as a stimulus is present
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33
Q

phasic receptors

A
  • send a quick burst of action potentials in response to a stimulus and then stop and it adapts quickly to a stimulus
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34
Q

bottom-up processing

A
  • refers to a pattern in which our brain starts with individual pieces of sensory information coming in and assembles them into a coherent whole
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35
Q

top-down processing

A
  • refers to a scenario where the brain decides ahead of time what it’s looking for, and then assembles the individual pieces of sensory information together in a way that supports that picture
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36
Q

binocular cues

A
  • the existance of 2 eyes that pick up on light from slightly different angles help us perceive depth
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37
Q

monocular cues

A

Monocular cues are all the ways that a single eye helps you see and process what you’re looking at like relative size, perspective, which objects are in front of or behind each other, and brightness to infer depth

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38
Q

principle of proximity

A

states that we perceive objects or shapes that are close to each other as forming groups

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39
Q

principle of similarity

A

states that objects that are similar in some way will be perceived as belonging to a group

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40
Q

principle of good continuation

A

posits that the human eye will follow the smoothest path when viewing lines, regardless of how the lines were actually drawn.

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41
Q

principle of closure

A
  • It’s the idea that your brain will fill in the missing parts of a design or image to create a whole.
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42
Q

principle of symmetry

A
  • states that symmetrical objects are more likely to be perceived as part of a whole than assymetrical objects
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43
Q

law of Prägnanz

A
  • concise and meaninful
  • the logical link between all of the Gestalt principles is that we try to find simple and meaningful ways to represent objects that we perceive as wholes, not just as random parts (what perception is all about)
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44
Q

the eye is a system for

A

turning certain wavelengths of light into action potentials

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45
Q

the retina

A
  • located at the back of the eye
  • contains millions of photorecpetors, which are classified as cones or rods, and turns wavelengths into action potentials
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46
Q

cones

A

responsible for perceiving coloe and fine detial

3 kinds of cones that specialize in different wave lengths

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47
Q

short-wavelength type of cone

A
  • senses blue
  • wavelength of about 420nm
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48
Q

medium-wavelength cone

A
  • senses green
  • wavelength of about 530nm
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49
Q

long-wavelength type of cone

A
  • senses red
  • wavelength at 570nm
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50
Q

how many cones in the retina and where are they located

A

6 million in the central area (fovea- small central pit in the retina that only contains cones and the macula- central region around the fovea)

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51
Q

rods

A
  • do not sense colour
  • specialize in sening visual input in low-light conditions
  • responsible for night vision
  • contain rhodopsin
52
Q

rhodopsin

A
  • a pigment and a photoreceptor protein that is extremely sensitive to light
53
Q

how many rods are there

A

120 million

54
Q

where are rods located

A
  • distributed more densely away from the center of the retina, so that peripheral vision is best for seeing dimly-lit objects at night
55
Q

main structures needed to converge incoming light rays on the retina

A

the lens and the cornea

56
Q

cornea

A
  • located at the front of the eye
  • very first thing that light passes through to enter the eye
  • protects the eye from external injuries
  • helps focus incoming light
57
Q

lens

A
  • finishes the job of focusin light
  • structure that can change shape with the help of tiny ligaments attached to its rim to help the eye focus on objects at various distances (accomodation)
58
Q

dark adaptation

A
  • rods take a while to become active which is useful after being in a bright place for a while
  • reason we see better in the dark after a few minutes
59
Q

iris

A
  • in front of the lens
  • part of the eye that gives its colour
  • blocks the light that isn’t supposed to get into the eye
60
Q

pupil

A
  • hole in the center of the iris
  • lets light into the eye
61
Q

dilator pupillae and constrictor pupillae

A
  • 2 muscles attached to the iris
  • one dilates (allows more light in)
  • one constricts (letting less light in)
62
Q

ciliary muscle

A
  • part of the ciliary body whcih adjusts the lens via suspensory ligaments
63
Q

division of the eye into 2 high-level parts

A
  • anterior chamber (smaller, front-facing area)
  • posterior chamber (the back of the eye)
64
Q

the anterior chamber is filled with

A

fluid called the aqueous humor

65
Q

the posterior chamber of the eye is filled with

A

a gel like viscous fluid called the vitreous humour

66
Q

choroid

A
  • beneath the retina lies a layer of dark, vascular tissue full of melanin called the choroid which supplies the retina with blood and absorbs excess light
67
Q

sclera

A
  • outermost layer of the eye
  • gives the white colour of the eye
68
Q

conjunctiva

A
  • thin layer of epithelium that lies in front of the corna and sclear and keeps the eye lubricated
69
Q

eye anatomy summarized

A
70
Q

light ray that bounces off of something in out left visual field will hit the?

A

right side of the retina in each eye

71
Q

a light ray that bounces off of something in your right visual field will hit?

A

the left ride of the retina in each eye

72
Q

optic nerves cross at?

A

optic chiasm

73
Q

the input that hits the right side of your left eye gets processed in the

A

left hemisphere

74
Q

the input that hits the left side of your right eye gets processed in the left hemisphere

A

right hemisphere

75
Q

the segments of the optic nerve coming from the innermost halves of both eyes are called the

A

nasal sides

76
Q

the input coming from the outer halves of each retina are called the

A

temporal sides

77
Q

inputs that come from the temporal sides

A

stay on the same side of the brain

  • the input that hits the left side of your left eye stays on the left side and is processed on the left hemisphere
  • the input that hits the right side of your right eye stays on the right side and is processed on the right hemisphere
78
Q

when the optic nerve has reached the optic chiasm, we refer to these bundles of axons carrying visual information as?

A

the optic tract

79
Q

the optic tract runs through?

A

the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)

80
Q

what is the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)

A

the LGN is a strucutre contained in the thalamus that acts as the main relay station for input from the retinas and for sending signals to the superior colliculus

81
Q

what does the superior colliculus do

A

controls the virual startle response and the visual cortex of the occipital lobe

82
Q

magnocellular neurons and parvocellular neurons

A

neurons in the LGN that are big (magno) or small (parvo)

  • magno specialize in detecting motion
  • parvo pick up details
83
Q

motion parallax

A
  • describes the fact that objects that are close to us move further across our visual field than objects that are far from us
  • one of the cues we use to perceive depth
84
Q

feature detection

A

we are constantly picking up on many categories at the same time as we perceive things

ex. when we see an ambulance going down the street, we monitor parameters like colour, shape, timing and motion

85
Q

parallel processing

A
  • process by which we integrate all that simulatenous input
86
Q

serial processing model

A

consciously look in one place after the another and analyze stimuli in oder

87
Q

sound waves

A

longitudinal waves that manifest as regularly repeating changes in pressure as air molecules move back and ofrth

88
Q

hair cells

A

have little stereocilia that poke into a fluid called the endolymph that surrounds them

89
Q

the swaying movment of stereocilia open up?

A

ion-channels thay let small cations flow into the cell

90
Q

ion-channels that let small cations flow into the cell trigger what

A

an influx of calcium ions through voltage-gated ion cannels

91
Q

the influx of calcium that leads to the release neurotransmitters at one end of the cell to ?

A

the vestibulocochlear nerve at which point neural signals are transmitted

(transduction of sound)

92
Q

ear is divided into the?

A

outer, middle and inner ear

93
Q

hair cells are located in the?

A

inner ear within the organ if Corti

94
Q

summarize the ear

A

sound waves enter the ear and cause the endolymph that surrounds the hair cells in the inner ear to vibrate which causes the hair cells in the organ of Corti to release neurotransmitters that trigger nerve signals that move into the brain towards the auditory cortex

95
Q

the outer ear consits of?

A
  • external structures of the ear
    • earlobe
    • pinna (or auricle)
96
Q

function of the pinna (or auricle)

A

funnel incoming sound waves into the external auditory canal

97
Q

auditory canal

A

a tube that extends inward to the eardrum

98
Q

what other name do we call the earderum

A

tympanic membrane which is the dividing point between the outer ear and middle ear

99
Q

function of the tympanic membrane

A
  • vibrates in response to sound wafes
  • high frequency sound waves cause it to vibrate at a high frequency
  • low frequency sound waves cause it to vibrate at a low frequency
100
Q

middle ear contains?

A
  • ossicles
    • malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), stapes (stirrup)
  • a connection to the nasal cavity (Eustachian tube)
101
Q

function of the ossicles

A

the malleus (hammer) is connected to the tymapnic membrane and sends vibrations to the incus (anvil) which then connects to the stapes (stirrup) whcih then connects to a membrane known as the oval window

102
Q

what is the oval window

A

the boundary between the middle ear and the inner ear

103
Q

function of the Eustachian tube

A
  • a valve that equalizes the pressure between the middle ear and the environment “ears pop”
104
Q

inner ear

A

contains fluid-bathed hair cells that can translate vibrations into nerve signals

105
Q

the basic framework of the inner ear is known as the

A

bony labyrinth

106
Q

the bony labyrinth contains

A
  • the membranous labryinth that contains endolymph and perilymph
107
Q

the cochlea is located where

A

in the inner ear and is responsible for hearing

108
Q

the cochlea is divided into how many layers called

A

3 layers called scalae

109
Q

place theory

A

Place theory is a theory of hearing that states that our perception of sound depends on where each component frequency produces vibrations along the basilar membrane.

110
Q

basic logic of how the ear helps us perceive sound

A

outer ear gathers up the sound waves

middle ear is the amplification system

inner ear does the actual job of hearing by converting mechanical signals into neural signals

111
Q

the nerve signals generated by the hair cells in the organ of Corti are transmitted through the?

A

vestibulocochlear nerve (auditory nerve)

112
Q

left hemisphere of the brain

A

specializes in processing speech

113
Q

right hemisphere of the brain

A

specializes in processing background noise and instrumental music

114
Q

hair cells in the inner ear are also responsible for

A
  • vestibulaar sense (balance and dimensional space)
  • semicircular canals sense rotational acceleration
115
Q

semicircular canals and in a bulge called an

A

ampulla which contains hair cells

116
Q

inner ear also contains

A

vestibulae which sense linear acceleration

117
Q

vestibulae contain 2 structures

A

utricle which detects acceleration in the horizontal plane

saccule which detects acceleration in the vertical plane

118
Q

utricle and saccule contain what

A

(calcium carbonate specks) otoliths which help stimulate hair cells

119
Q

somatosensation

A

Somatosensation is a mixed sensory category and includes all sensation received from the skin and mucous membranes, as well from as the limbs and joints. Somatosensation is also known as tactile sense, or more familiarly, as the sense of touch.

120
Q

nerves on the skin are?

A

not evenly distributed

121
Q

two-point threshold

A

refers to the minimum distance between 2 points that are stimulated at the same time on the skin such that we can perceive the 2 points as distinct from each other

122
Q

physiological zero

A

the temperature at which an object in contact with the skin feels neither warm nor cold. (29-32 degrees Celcius)

123
Q

gate theory of pain

A

The gate control theory of pain describes how non-painful sensations can override and reduce painful sensations.

124
Q

information about taste is processed in the

A

taste center of the thalamus and then sent to the gustatory cortex in the brain

125
Q

information about smell

A

processed in the olfactory bulb then passed to the olfactory tract then to other parts of the brain including the lymbic system

126
Q

senses constanly ?

A

interact

127
Q

synapse of vision

A

MCAT psych/soc (12 decks)

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