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Psychology 104 > Chapter 4 > Flashcards

Chapter 4 Flashcards

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1
Q

sensation

A

detection of physical energy by our sense organs

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2
Q

perception

A

the brain’s perception of the raw sensory inputs

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3
Q

transduction

A

the process where the nervous system turns external stimuli into electrical signals within neurons via sense receptors ex. mechanical receptors, rods and cones, olfactory cilia, ect.

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4
Q

what is sensory adaptation and what is its adaptive purpose

A

gradual decline in sensitivity due to prolonged stimulation, adaptive process - keeps us in tune to the changes in our environments rather than its constants

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5
Q

what is psychophysics, who founded it, and what was its significant finding?

A

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics, founded by Gustav Fechner, first to describe that a stimulus is required for sensation

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6
Q

absolute threshold

A

the lowest level of a stimulus that we can detect (at least 50% of the time). Stimulus much reach absolute threshold in order to be detected
ex. a candle flame 50 km away on a dark and clear night
“something compared to nothing”

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7
Q

just noticeable difference (JND)/difference threshold

A

The smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we cant detect(at least 50% of the time)
ex. detecting the difference between the brightness of 2 different flashlights from a distance

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8
Q

Weber’s Law

A

there is a constant and proportional relationship between the JND and the original stimuli
ex. the difference between a 10lbs weight and an 11lbs weight is 10% so you can feel it. but if you have a 100 lbs weight and a 101 lbs weight, proportionally you won’t feel the difference because its no longer 10%.

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9
Q

Weber’s fraction

A

the constant proportion mentioned in Weber’s Law

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10
Q

Synesthesia

A

condition where people experience cross-modal sensations and perceptions, most common type is grapheme-colour synesthesia(where a persons experience of numbers and letters are associated with colour)

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11
Q

what is selective attention, what systems are involved and how is it studied?

A

ability to attend to one thing and exclude all else/ select one sensory channel and ignore or minimize others,
Reticular Activating System and forebrain involved
studied using dichotic listening tasks

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12
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

when we pay attention to some events in a scene, we may fail to notice when an unexpected but completely visible object suddenly appears

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13
Q

how do attention and perception interact

A

selective attention, inattentional blindness

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14
Q

Broadbent’s filter model

A

the only thing you understand is the the meaning of the words the person you are paying attention to is saying and filter everything else out
doesn’t explain cocktail effect (our ability to pick out important word like our name, s in conversations that do not involve us)

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15
Q

The binding problem

A

different aspects of complex stimulus are processed in different parts of the brain, but we perceive the stimulus as a single unit. psychologists can’t explain how the rapid binding of these sitmuli works.

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16
Q

Name and describe the 2 parallel processes of perception

A

Bottom-up processing: we construct a whole stimulus from its parts, starts with activity in the primary visual cortex, then processing in the association cortex (stimulus driven)
Top-down processing: influences what we perceive due to our beliefs, expectations, and past experiences, starts with processing in the association cortex, then processing in the primary visual cortex.(conceptually drive)
happen simultaneously

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17
Q

perceptual hypothesis

A

educated guesses about what our sensory system is telling us. Mostly correct, but not always.

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18
Q

perceptual sets

A

and example of top-down processing, when our expectations influence our perceptions in a specific way in a given circumstance or environment

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19
Q

what is perceptual constancy, and what are the 3 types

A

the process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions
size constancy
shape constancy
colour constancy

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20
Q

Gestalt Principles of perception

A

rules governing the way we perceive an object as a within their overall context
proximity
similarity
continuity
closure
symmetry
figure-ground

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21
Q

proximity

A

close objects are perceived as a whole

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22
Q

similarity

A

similar objects appear as a whole

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23
Q

continuity

A

we perceive objects as wholes even if another objects block a part of them (+ is perceived as 2 whole lines)

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24
Q

closure

A

the tendency to fill in gaps

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25
Q

symmetry

A

the tendency to see things in the most symmetrical/simplest way possible

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26
Q

figure-ground

A

we only focus on what we believe to be the central figure of an image and ignore the background ex. bistable image

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27
Q

perceiving motion

A

we determine whether something is moving by comparing visual frames from one moment to the next, visual receptors that activate from one millisecond to the next have tiny differences that our brain perceives as motion

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28
Q

Phi phenomenon

A

apparent motion, when stimuli flash in different locations next to each other giving the illusion of movement

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29
Q

Face perception

A

we may be born with the ability to recognise some objects, like faces

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30
Q

perceiving depth and the 2 types of depth cues

A

ability to see spatial relations in 3D
Monocular depth cues
binocular depth cues

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31
Q

Light

A

form of electromagnetic radiation that travels as a wave, vary in amplitude, wavelength, and purity

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32
Q

amplitude

A

affects perception of brightness

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33
Q

subliminal perception

A

registration of sensory input without conscious awareness

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34
Q

wavelength

A

affects perception of colour (hue)

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35
Q

purity

A

affects perception of saturation/richness of the colour

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36
Q

rods

A

nighttime vision, peripheral vision

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37
Q

ciliary muscles

A

contracts or stretches lens, when you focus on a close object the lens roundens, when you focus on a distant object the lens flattens

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38
Q

near point

A

the point where your eyes can no longer adjust your lens so the light focuses onto the retina (too close)

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39
Q

The eye

A

reflected light enters the pupil, cornea and lens focuses the light on the retina where photo-receptors (rods and cones) are stimulated, then stimulating bipolar neurons, which stimulate ganglion neurons, which form the optic nerve

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40
Q

presbyopia

A

the distance of the near point for focusing the eye changes as we age, the old eye

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41
Q

Monocular depth cues

A

relays on 1 eye
2 kinds:
motion parallax: ability to judge distance of an object based on its speed; farther=slower, closer=faster
pictorial depth cues: clues about distance that can be given in a flat picture (linear perspective, texture gradients, interposition, relative size, height in plane, light and shadow)

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42
Q

The cornea

A

clear layer that covers the eye and lets light in, focuses it to the fovea centralis

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43
Q

Binocular depth cues

A

relays on both eyes
1. binocular disparity: each eye sees the world differently, allowing us to judge depth
2. binocular convergence: when looking at close objects our eye muscles turn our eyes inwards(convergence). Our brains estimate distance based on how much our eyes are converging.

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44
Q

The lens

A

flexible and adjusts to focus the light from near or far objects

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45
Q

the retina

A

neural tissue that absorbs light, processes images and sends visual information to the brain, contains rods and cones

46
Q

fovea centralis

A

focal point, responsible for acuity, high concentration of cones

47
Q

cones

A

daylight vision colour vision

48
Q

trichromatic theory

A

colour vision depends on activity of 3 different colour receptor types (red, green, blue)

49
Q

opponent-process theory

A

colour vision is related to opposing responses by blue and yellow, black and white, and red and green

50
Q

dual-process theory

A

incorporates both trichromatic and opponent-process theory to explain colour vision

51
Q

sound waves

A

mechanical energy, vibrating molecules

52
Q

pitch

A

frequency of sound waves, measured in hertz (Hz)

53
Q

amplitude

A

loudness/height of sound waves, measured in decibels (dB)

54
Q

complexity/timbre

A

quality/complexity of the sound

55
Q

conductive deafness

A

when you have damage to an ear structure (outer or middle ear)

56
Q

nerve deafness

A

damage to the auditory nerve

57
Q

taste preferences

A

some are innate, most are learned

58
Q

gustatory cortex

A

specialized area of the brain that processes taste, found underneath motor cortex

59
Q

variations in taste

A

non-taster, super-taster, medium taster

60
Q

flavour

A

the combination of taste and smell

61
Q

somatosensory system

A

system responsible for body sensation of touch, temperature and pain

62
Q

nocioception

A

perception of pain and temperature

63
Q

hapsis

A

perception of objects using touch and pressure

64
Q

vestibular sense

A

sense of equilibrium/balance

65
Q

nocioceptive pain

A

pain caused by the activation in the free nerve endings in the skin (heat, chemical, pressure, cold), pain information goes to the somatosensory cortex of the frontal lobe and the limbic centers in the brainstem/forebrain

66
Q

inflammatory pain

A

pain caused by damage to tissues and inflammation of joints

67
Q

neuropathic pain

A

pain caused by lesions or damage to the nervous system

68
Q

pain perception

A

activation of somatic nerves synapse with spinal cord, touch signals travel faster than pain, activate spinal reflex, travels to the somatosensory cortex

69
Q

pain perception pathways

A

fast pathway (A-delta pathway)-accute pain sensation
slow pathway (C fibre pathway)-long term pain ex. headache

70
Q

proprioception/ kinesthetic sense

A

muscle position sense; lets us know where our body parts are relative to ourselves, move efficiently

71
Q

proprioceptors

A

sense muscle stretch and force, 2 types: stretch and force

72
Q

what are the 2 types of proprioceptors

A

stretch receptors are embedded in muscles, and force detectors are embedded in tendons

73
Q

prosopagnosia

A

face blindness

74
Q

fusiform gyrus

A

region of the temporal lobe that plays an important role in facial recognition, damage can result in prosopagnosia

75
Q

blindness

A

the presence of vision equal to or less than 20/200 on the Snellen eye chart. Causes: cataracts (clouding of the lens), glaucoma (pressure on the eye that damages the optic nerve), retinal cancer, stroke

76
Q

cortically blind

A

when the brain fails to register visual sensory input (usually due to stroke)

77
Q

visual agnosia

A

deficit in perceiving objects- can tell shape/colour of an onject, but can’t name it

78
Q

Cells of the Visual Cortex

A

simple and complex, they detect slits of light at specific oreintations (vertical, horizontal, oblique, or edges) complex cell responses are less restricted to one area

79
Q

feature detection

A

our ability to use certain minimal patterns to identify objects

80
Q

visual cortexes

A

Primary (V1), Secondary (V2), Tertiary (V3)

81
Q

hue

A

the colour of light

82
Q

additive colour mixing

A

red+green+blue= white

83
Q

subtractive colour mixing

A

yellow=cyan=magenta= black

84
Q

accommodation

A

lens changing shape

85
Q

lens flattening

A

focusing on distant objects

86
Q

lens round

A

focusing on nearby objects

87
Q

nearsightedness/myopia

A

eye too long or cornea too round, image focuses in front of the retina, can’t see far

88
Q

farsightedness/hyperopia

A

eye too short or cornea too flat, image refracts behind fovea, can’t see close

89
Q

dark adaptation

A

the time it takes rods to regain their maximum sensitivity to light

90
Q

photopigment

A

chemicals that change following light exposure, in rods the photopigment is rhodopsin

91
Q

optic chaism

A

where the optic nerves cross, half the neurons go to one eye, half go to the other, allows for depth perception

92
Q

blind spot

A

where optic nerve connects to retina, no rods or cones

93
Q

How does transduction occur in the ear?

A

The basilar membrane contains the organ of corti which has cilia that extend into the fluid of the cochlea. When sound waves travel through the fluid, the pressure excites the cilia, that feed the info to the auditory nerve, then the thalamus, then the brain stem, then the auditory cortex of the temporal lobe

94
Q

pitch perception/place theory

A

hair cells located rat the base of the basilar membrane are excited by high pitch tones, while the hair cells at the top of the basilar membrane are excited by low pitch noise

95
Q

frequency theory

A

the rate at which neurons fire action potentials reproduces pitch, works well up to 100 Hz

96
Q

volley theory

A

sets of neurons fire at their highest rate (100 Hz) slightly out of sync to reach rates of 5000 Hz

97
Q

noise-induced hearing loss

A

damage to cilia from prolonged exposure to loud sounds

98
Q

smell/taste

A

olfaction/gustation

99
Q

odours

A

airborne chemicals

100
Q

path of odour

A

odour - sensory receptor - limbic system/oflactory cortex (frontal lobe)

101
Q

path of flavour

A

food partical- taste bud - brain stem - thalamus - gustatory/somatosensory cortexex (frontal lobe)

102
Q

orbitofrontal cortex

A

where smell/taste converge

103
Q

Gate control model of Ronald Melzack

A

Pain under extraordinary circumstances is blocked from consciousness because of neural mechanisms (small nerve and large nerve fibres) in the spinal cord that function as a “gate”, controlling flow of sensory input to brain (stimulation blocks pain from conciousness)

104
Q

Small nerve fibres

A

Sense pain, open gate to send pain signals to the brain

105
Q

Large nerve fibres

A

Respond to normal sensations of touch/pressure, can inhibit small nerve fibres, therefore blocking pain signals from the brain

106
Q

subjective contours

A

when our brains provide missing information about outlines (essentially the gestalt principle of closure)

107
Q

parallel processing

A

our ability to attend to many different sensations

108
Q

Binaural cue

A

when the auditory nerve enters the brain stem, half the axons connect to cells on the same side of the brain, the other half cross to the other side. Because the auditory info takes different routes, the arrive at the brain stem slightly out of sync, allowing us to localize sounds

109
Q

Monaural cues

A

cues heard by one ear only that distinguish clear sounds from ones that are muffled by the head(sound shadow) allowing us to figure out where sounds are coming from

110
Q

subliminal persuasion

A

changes in behaviour due to subliminal perception

111
Q

phermone

A

odourless chemical that serves as a social signal to members of ones’ species

Psychology 104 (7 decks)

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