Chapter 4 Flashcards by Adilene Zamora

Sensation

The process of receiving stimulus energies from the environment

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Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning

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Sensory receptors

Specialized cells that detect and transmit information about a sensory stimulus to sensory neurons and the brain

They are selective and have different pathways

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Absolute threshold

The minimum amount of energy that people can detect

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Difference threshold

Smallest difference in a stimulation required to discriminate one stimulus from the other

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Signal detection theory

Focuses on decision making about stimuli in the presence of uncertainty

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Perception is influenced by

Attention, beliefs, and expectations

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Sensory adaptation

A change in responsiveness of the sensory system (our senses will begin to ignore a specific stimulus due to how long it has been around because we have gotten used to it)

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Light can be described in terms of?

Wavelengths

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The three characteristics of light waves

Wavelength (hue)
Amplitude (brightness)
Purity (saturation)

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Light passes through?

The cornea, then to the lens, and then to the retina

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Retina

The light sensitive surface in the back of the eye that houses light receptors called rods

Rods function in low illumination

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Cones react to?

Color

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The fovea of the retina contains?

Cones and sharpens detail in image

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The optic nerve

Transmits neural impulses to the brain. There it diverges into the optic chiasm

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Optic chiasm

What we see in the left visual field is registered in the right side if the brain and vise versa

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Information of the eye is integrated in the?

Occipital lobes of the cerebral cortex

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The trichromatic theory

Three type of color receptors in the retina allow us to perceive three colors (green, red, and blue)

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The opponent process theory

Cells in the visual system respond to red-green and blue-yellow colors

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The eye and brain use what two methods to code colors?

The trichromatic theory and the opponent process theory

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Shape perception

The ability to distinguish shapes from their background

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Depth perception

The ability to perceive objects three dimensionaly and also depends on binocular (two) and monocular (one) cues.

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Motion perception depends on

Specialized neurons, feedback from the body, and environmental cues

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Perceptual constancy

The recognition that objects are stable despite changes that we see in them

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Sound waves

Vibrations in the air that are processed by the auditory system The variation of these waves influence what we hear

Perceptual interpretation of wavelength is?

Pitch (how high or low in tone a sound is)

Amplitude of wavelengths

Measured in decibels The height of a wave Is perceived as loudness

Complex sounds involve?

A blending of frequencies

Timbre

Tone saturation or perceptual quality of a sound

The outer ear consists of ?

The pinna and external auditory canal

The outer ear acts to?

Funnel sound to the middle ear

Middle ear

Hammer, anvil, and stirrup. They vibrate in in response to sound and transfer vibrations to the inner ear

The inner ear is

Fluid filled

Important parts of the inner ear

Oval window, cochlea, and basilar membrane

What generates nerve impulses (auditory)?

The movement of hair cells between the basilar membrane and the tectoral membrane

Place theory

Each frequency produces vibrations at a particular spot on the basilar membrane The theory explains high frequency sounds but not low frequency

Frequency theory

Sounds frequency depends on how often auditory nerves fire

Volley principle

A cluster of neurons can fire impulses in rapid succession, producing a volley of impulses

Information regarding sound moves from?

The hair cells, to the auditory nerve, which carries information to the brain’s auditory areas

Cortical destination of most fibers is the?

Temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex

Localizing sound involves?

Both the timing and intensity of the sound

The skin senses include?

Touch, temperature, and pain

Touch is the detection of?

Mechanical energy, or pressure against the skin

Touch information travels through?

The spinal cord, brain stem, and thalamus, and on to the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes

What responds to the increase and decrease in temperature?

Thermoreceptors under the skin

What sensation warns us about damage to the body?

Pain

The chemical sense of taste AND smell enable us to?

Detect and process chemicals in the environment

What is papillae?

Bumps on the tongue that contain taste buds. These are the receptors for tatse

The olfactory epithelium contains?

A sheet of receptor cells for smell in the roof of the nose

The kinesthetic senses provide information about?

Movement, posture, and orientation

What gives us information about balance and movement?

The vestibular sense

Receptors for the kinesthetic sense are embedded in?

Muscle fibers and joints

The semicircular canals in the inner ear contain?

The sensory receptors that detect head motion

How can we protect our sense organs?

Eating a low fat diet rich in vitamins and beta carotene Wearing protective lenses for the eyes when we are out in the sun Avoiding loud sounds Experiences in nature can reduce stress and enhance well being

Sound at how many decibles is damaging to hearing if heard for a prolonged period?

Bottom-Up Processing

First time information and is sent to the brain. Is initiated by sensory input

Top-Down Processing

Initiated by cognitive process (higher level). Starts in the brain and occurs with information a person is already familiar with

Sensory receptors are also called

Afferent

Photoreception

Vision. Detection of light

Mechanoreception

Touch. Detection of pressure, vibrations, and movement

Chemoreception

Detection of chemical stimuli (smell and taste)

Synesthesia

Senses can become confused. One sense induces a sense into another

Weber’s law

To be perceived different two stimulus must differ by a constant minimum percentage

Subliminal perception

Influence of information below the level of consciousness

Rods

Sensitive to even dim light but not color

Trichomatic theory can not explain?

After images

Noise

Irrelevant and competing stimuli

Amplitude

Height of wave

Purity

Mixture of wavlengths

Wavlength

Distance between peaks

Blind spot

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye

Pathway of visual processing

1. Retina 2. Optic nerve 3. Optic chiasm (divides) 4. Thalamus 5. Visual cortex

Color blindness

One or more cone type is inoperative

Pathway of auditory information

1. Cochlea 2. Auditory nerve 3. Brain stem 4. Temporal lobe

Chapter 4 Flashcards

(74 cards)