CHAPTER 3: Sensation & Perception

Question 1

Sensory Threshold/ Absolute Threshold

Answer 1

defined as the amount of physical energy needed for a person to detective presence go a stimulus 50% of the time over many trials
— the minimal amount of energy needed to detect a stimulus

Question 2

Semantic Congruity Effect

Answer 2

children and adults asked to compare pairs of objects drawn from a series perform better when the direction of comparison coincides with the location of the objects in the series.

Question 3

Rod

Answer 3

dark; dim settings

Question 4

Cone

Answer 4

detects color

Question 5

Contralaterality of vision

Answer 5

when you are viewing things they are split into 2 halves.
EX: right eye perceives on the right side of the retina

Question 6

how vision works

Answer 6

1) light ENTERS the eye
2) light TRANSFORMED to neural impulses/sensations
3) perceptual processes interpret signal

Question 7

Which photoreceptor is outnumbered?

Answer 7

rods outnumber cones

Question 8

Bipolar Cells

Answer 8

provide the main pathways from photoreceptors to ganglion cells,

Question 9

How the eye works

Answer 9

1) rods and cons perceive
Horizontal cells
2) Bipolar cells
Pmacrine
3) ganglion cells
4) optice nerve

Question 10

Synesthesia

Answer 10

involuntary, inappropriate sensory experiences in addition to typical sensory experiences
EX: experience color with letters

Question 11

visual sensory memory/ Iconic Memory

Answer 11

specialize door holding visual information

Question 12

Temporal Integration

Answer 12

perceiving two separate events as if they had occurred at the same time. transpires seamlessly within 20ms

Question 13

Dynamic Icons

Answer 13

iconic images that contain movement
EX: professor moving around lecture hall; gif; ANYTHING!

Question 14

Visual continuity

Answer 14

RAPID AND ACTIVE
memory processes create seamless transition
— eyes are sensing but not perceiving

Question 15

Focal Attention

Answer 15

mental redirection of attention when the partial report cue is presented
PERCEIVE IS WHAT IS SELECTED

Question 16

Saccadic Suppression

Answer 16

information during saccadic eye movement is suppressed

Question 17

Trans-saccadic memory

Answer 17

object files used to track what is happening in the world
- Brian assumes everything we aren’t paying attention to is stable.
CHANGE BLINDNESS

Question 18

Pattern Recognition

Answer 18

automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data
– problem solving process, unconscious

Question 19

Gestalt Grouping Principles

Answer 19

THE SUM IS GREATER THAN IT’S PARTS
–principles/laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images when we perceive objects.

Question 20

Template Approach

Answer 20

stored models of categorizable patterns
AIDS IN PATTERN RECOGNITION
— symbols and objects can appear in many different forms; need to relate that variety of visual patterns to the symbol or object intended

Question 21

Pandemonium

Answer 21

featured computational demons that try to match features in the pattern and cognitive demons that match the combination of features to patterns
— part of how humans group what they see into pictures and meaningful objects based on perception.

Question 22

Top- Down processing

Answer 22

brain fills in what is missing
—the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations
EX: what letter between f and x f__x

Question 23

Bottom- Up processing/ Model

Answer 23

Data driven: what exists drive what we perceive
— when sensory receptors pick up signals for the brain to integrate and process.
EX: stubbing your toe on a chair, the pain receptors detect pain and send this information to the brain where it is processed.

Question 24

Recognition by components (RBC)

Answer 24

recognize objects by breaking them down into parts, then matching the combination with what we have in memory

Question 25

Agonisa

Answer 25

inability to recognize objects and patterns

Question 26

visual agnosia

Answer 26

failure or deficit in visually recognizing objects

Question 27

prospagonisa

Answer 27

disruption of facial recognition

Question 28

apperceptive agnosia

Answer 28

disruption in perciving patterns

Question 29

associative agnosia

Answer 29

failure to associate a pattern with meaning or stored knowledge

Question 30

how do humans hear?

Answer 30

sounds waves in ear
funnel into ear pass through complex series
neural message

Question 31

process of hearing

Answer 31

1) ear canal
2) ear drum
3) ear bones
4) cochlea
5) Fluid in inner ear
6) hair cells
7) AUDITORY NERVE
8) AUDITORY CORTEX

Question 32

Auditory cortex

Answer 32

integrating and processing complex auditory signals, which includes language comprehension.

Question 33

Auditory Nerve

Answer 33

carries auditory sensory information from the cochlea of the inner ear directly to the brain.

Question 34

Echoic Memory

Answer 34

storing information from the sounds you hear.

Question 35

principles of grouping

Answer 35

closure: completing gaps or missing parts
proximity
similarity
good continuation: edge of object assumed to follow regular trajectory
common fate: object that move together are grouped together