Chapter 3- Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

an electro chemical signal/stimulus that is picked up by sensory receptors

Question 2

Transduction

Answer 2

when energy from the physical world is converted into an electro chemical signal/ a sensation that is sent to our brain

Question 3

Perception

Answer 3

the brain selecting, organizing and interpreting the stimulus

Question 4

Psychophysics

Answer 4

studying the mind’s relation to the physical world

Question 5

absolute threshold

Answer 5

amount of energy needed to detect a stimulus (50% of the time)

Question 6

Difference threshold

Answer 6

just noticeable difference

Question 7

webers law

Answer 7

in order for us to detect a change, we must detect the ratio of the initial stimulus

Question 8

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 8

a stimulus needs to be intense to be able to detect it

ex:) crowded room you look for someone and shout their name but they still won’t look at you, you whistle (the whistle is loud and a higher octave to pick up) and you are noticed

Question 9

Sensory adaptation

Answer 9

senses can adjust to different stimuli in an environment and forget that stimulus is there

ex: you get used to wearing jewelry bc your body gets used to it

Question 10

Wavelengths

Answer 10

distance between the peaks of each wave of energy

Question 11

Hue

Answer 11

physical property of light (the color that we interpret from wavelengths)

Question 12

Amplitude

Answer 12

how we experience brightness of color (400-700 nanometers)

Question 13

Purity/Saturation

Answer 13

whiteness is added to a color making it pure

Question 14

rods

Answer 14

takes in light to see, helps see basic stuff at night (120 million) evenly distributed in periphery

Question 15

cones

Answer 15

perceives color, clarity/details, does NOT work in the dark (6 million), scattered in periphery

Question 16

Foeva

Answer 16

clearest, sharpest vision (only cones in fovea and densely packed)
“We won’t have this FOREVA”

Question 17

retinal ganglion cells

Answer 17

Makes up the optic nerve which is connected to the eye and brain

Question 18

optic nerve

Answer 18

carries neural signals from eye to brain to be processed
(made of retinal ganglion cells)

Question 19

blind spots

Answer 19

Where there is no photoreceptors and our brain cannot make sense of the visual world

Question 20

where does color exist?

Answer 20

in our minds

Question 21

blue wavelengths are

Answer 21

short

Question 22

green wavelengths are

Answer 22

medium

Question 23

red wavelengths are

Answer 23

long

Question 24

opponent process theory

Answer 24

green competes w red
yellow competes w blue
black competes w white

Question 25

left visual field

Answer 25

hits left side of both eyeballs and travels to optin chaism and crosses over to the right hemisphere

Question 26

right visual field

Answer 26

hits the right side of both eyeballs and travels to optic chasm and crosses over to the left hemisphere

Question 27

area vi

Answer 27

primary visual cortex, stritate cortex is used to see shapes, edges (outlines)

Question 28

David Hubel

Answer 28

What we see and process from the ganglion cells in the retina is categorized into several categories(Color, movement, etc.)

Question 29

Torsten Wiesel

Answer 29

discovered feature (orienation, direction) detectors, groups of neurons in visual cortex that responds to different types of visual stimuli

Question 30

parallel processing

Answer 30

perceiving many aspects on an object at once ex:) when you see an object, you see its form, its color, how small it is, its texture, etc.

Question 31

blindsight

Answer 31

blindness in part of the visual field due to damage to the primary visual cortex

Question 32

Ventral pathway

Answer 32

object recognition

Question 33

dorsal pathway

Answer 33

where and how to get the object “Shark (dorsal) getting to a fish”

Question 34

gestalt psychology

Answer 34

humans tend to perceive visual info by grouping objects together and perceiving whole shapes and not individual parts

Question 35

closure

Answer 35

sees images as complete objects

Question 36

continuity

Answer 36

seeing intersecting lines as a pattern, not the lines individually

Question 37

similarity

Answer 37

seeing objects that are similar as part of a pattern

Question 38

proximity

Answer 38

viewing things that are close together as a group

Question 39

linear perspective

Answer 39

depth perceition where converging paralell lines mean distance

Question 40

relative size

Answer 40

smaller objects are farther away

Question 41

relative height

Answer 41

taller objects are further away

Question 42

texture gradient

Answer 42

closer something is, the more clearly and defined it is. the further away, the more blurry

Question 43

interposition

Answer 43

object obstruction shows what is closer and further from you

Question 44

simplicity

Answer 44

mind interprets the most simple thing it can

Question 45

Ames room

Answer 45

the world isn't how we see it, perception and perspective is everything

Question 46

change blindness

Answer 46

people are really bad at detecting visual changes

Question 47

inattentional blindness

Answer 47

not noticing things when they aren't the focus of attention

Question 48

area MT

Answer 48

part of the brain that processes movement/motion

Question 49

pitch

Answer 49

physical property of sound (high or low frequencies)

Question 50

Loudness

Answer 50

intensity/amplitude of a sound

Question 51

cochlea

Answer 51

where transduction occurs in the ear to detect sound, looks like a snail

Question 52

basil membrane

Answer 52

fluid that vibrates the hair cells in the cochlea to detect sound

Question 53

hair cells

Answer 53

specialized neurons that are used to process hearing

Question 54

Area A1

Answer 54

part of temporal lobe of the brain, helps perceive sound

Question 55

Left hemisphere

Answer 55

processes language

Question 56

Place Code Theory

Answer 56

higher frequencies are processed closer to eardrum, lower frequencies are processed further from ear drum

Question 57

temporal code theory

Answer 57

we determine the frequency of a sound by how fast the neuron fires

Question 58

gate control theory

Answer 58

when pain signals are blocked by touch cells ex:) bash your shin in a coffee table and it hurts really bad, by rubbing it your blocking pain signals and replacing them with touch signals

Question 59

myelinated pain

Answer 59

immediate pain, right after harmed

Question 60

unmyelinated pain

Answer 60

slower pain signals that reminds you to not use that injury or it will not heal