Chapter 4 Flashcards
What is perception?
Process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information into meaningful patterns
What is sensation?
–Process of detecting, converting, and transmitting raw sensory information from the external and internal environments to the brain.
–Stimulus – receptors – neural impulse (action potential)
Define transduction
Process of converting stimulation received by the receptors into electrochemical energy that can be used by the nervous system
What is Coding?
Different physical stimuli are interpreted as distinct sensations because their neural impulses travel by different routes and arrive at different parts of the brain
What is sensory reduction?
Filter and analyze sensations sent through before a neural impulse is finally sent to the cortex
Define psychophysics?
Studies the link between the physical characteristics of stimuli and the sensory experiences of them
What is absolute threshold?
–Minimum amount of a stimulus that an observer can reliably detect
•Ex: A candle flame at 30 miles on a clear, dark night
What is differential threshold?
–Minimal difference needed to notice a stimulus change (JND)
•Ex: The amount of spice to add to a food
Define subliminal perception
•Stimuli presented below consciousness
What is sensory adaption?
Sensory system’s reduced responsiveness to unchanging stimuli
What is gate control theory?
•Gate-control theory – theory that pain sensations are processed and altered by mechanisms within the spinal cord
–The experience of pain depends partly on whether the neural message gets past a gate keeper
–Massaging an injury or scratching an itch can relieve discomfort because pressure on neurons interferes with pain signals
–When we are soothed by endorphins or distracted by competition or fear, our experience of pain can be greatly diminished
Define vision parts and functions
–A process involving reception of electromagnetic waves by visual receptors –Cornea pupillensretina –Retina: Light-sensitive inner surface of the back of the eye •Rods – Visual receptor cells in the retina that detect shades of gray and peripheral vision •Cones – Visual receptor cells in the center responsible for color vision and fine detail
Define trichromatic theory
–Color perception results from three types of cones in the retina, each most sensitive to either red green or blue
–Other colors result from a mixture of these three
Define opponent-process theory
–Color perception is based on three systems of color opposites
–Blue-yellow, red-green, and black-white
Define function of sense of hearing
–Sound frequency is measured in hertz
–The amplitude of sound is measured in decibels
–Outer EarMiddle EarInner EarCochlea
–Outer Ear: auditory canal and ear drum funnels sound waves
–Middle Ear: Hammer, Anvil, and stirrup, which concentrate drum vibrations
–Inner Ear: Cochlea, semicircular canals
and vestibular sacs generating neural
signals to the brain
–Cochlea: Three chambered, snail shaped
structure in the inner ear containing the
receptors for hearing
Define place theory
–Pitch perception is linked to the particular spot on the cochlea’s membrane that is most stimulated
Define frequency theory
Pitch perception occurs when nerve impulses sent to the brain match the frequency of the sound wave
Define conduction deafness
–Middle ear deafness
–Resulting from problems with transferring sound waves to the inner ear
Define nerve deafness
Inner ear deafness resulting from damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve
Define traits of sense of smell
–Cilia – receptors 1,000 varieties •10,000 distinguishable smells –Pheromones – airborne chemicals that affect behaviors including recognition of family members, aggression, territorial marking, and sexual mating
Define functions of sense of taste
–Taste buds – taste receptors
–Basic tastes – sweet, sour, metallic, bitter, salty, and fat
Define vestibular sense
Provides info about body’s orientation and movement
Define •Proprioception & Kinesthetic Sense
Provides info about position of our limbs and other body parts in space/provides info about limb motion
Define cutaneous sense
–Provides info about touch, pressure, pain and temp
–Temperature
–Pain
What are processes of perception?
•The process of organizing and making sense of stimuli in our environment
•Motives may distort or determine what we perceive
–Motivational influences
–Attention
•Selective attention – filtering out and attending only to important sensory messages
•Feature detectors – specialized neurons that respond only to certain sensory information
•Habituation – brain’s reduced responsiveness to unchanging stimuli
What are Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
- Figure and Ground
- Proximity
- Similarity
- Good Continuation
- Closure
Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
Figure and Ground
–Organization of perceptual elements into a figure and a background
–The figure is the focus of our attention
–The ground constitutes the remainder of our perception
Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
Proximity
–Perceptual elements that are close together are seen as a group
Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
Similarity
–Perceptual elements that are similar are seen as a group
Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
Good continuation
–Smooth, flowing lines are more readily perceive than choppy, broken lines
Gestalt’s 5 Principles of Perceptual Organization
Closure
–Organizing perceptions into whole objects is
easier than perceiving separate parts independently
What are the 7 basic perceptual abilities?
- Pattern Perception –The ability to discriminate among different figures and shapes
- Perceptual Constancies –Tendency to perceive the size and shape of an object as constant even though its retinal image changes
- Shape Constancy
- Size Constancy
- Depth Perception-The ability to perceive three-dimensional space and accurately judge distance
- Binocular Cues–Visual input from two eyes that allows perception of depth or distance
- Monocular Cues–Visual input from a single eye alone that contributes to perception of depth or distance
Illusions
Define perceptual hypothesis or perceptual set
–Inference about the nature of stimuli received from the environment
–Readiness to perceive in a particular manner based on expectations
Illusions
What are perceptual illusions?
–Misperceptions or interpretations of stimuli that do not correspond to the sensations received.
What are 6 examples of paranormal phenomena?
- Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
- Parapsychology
- Clairvoyance
- Telepathy
- Precognition
- Psychokinesis
Paranormal Phenomena
Define Parapsychology
•Study of paranormal phenomena, which are considered to be well outside the bounds of established science
Paranormal Phenomena
Define Clairvoyance
Ability to see information from objects or events without direct contact with the senses
Paranormal Phenomena
Define telepathy
•Ability to perceive the thoughts or emotions of others without the use of recognized senses
Paranormal phenomena
What is precognition?
•Knowledge of the future event or circumstance obtained by paranormal means
Paranormal Phenomena
What is psychokinesis?
•Telekinesis – power of the mind to influence matter directly
