Chapter 4: Sensation and perception Flashcards

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1
Q

Modalities

A

Sensory brain regions that process different components of the perceptual world.

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2
Q

Sensation

A

Simple awareness due to the stimulation of a sense organ.

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3
Q

Perception

A

The organization, identification and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation.

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4
Q

Transduction

A

What takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the central nervous system.

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5
Q

Psychophysics

A

Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus.

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6
Q

Absolute threshold

A

The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus.

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7
Q

Just noticeable difference (JNB)

A

The minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected.

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8
Q

Weber’s law

A

The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variation in intensity.

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9
Q

Signal detection theory

A

An observation that the response to a stimulus depends on a person’s sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person’s respons criterion.

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10
Q

D-prime (D’)

A

A statistic that gives a relatively pure measure of the observer’s sensitivity or ability to detect signals.

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11
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions.

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12
Q

Retina

A

Light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball.

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13
Q

Accommodation

A

The process by which the eye maintains a clear image of the retina.

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14
Q

Cones

A

Photoreceptors that detect colour, operate under normal daylight conditions and allow us to focus on fine detail.

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15
Q

Rods

A

Photoreceptors that become active only under low light conditions for night vision.

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16
Q

Fovea

A

An area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all.

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17
Q

Blind spot

A

An area of the retina that contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light.

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18
Q

Receptive field

A

The region of the sensory surface that, when stimulated, causes a change in the firing rate of that neuron.

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19
Q

Trichromatic colour representation

A

The pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each colour.

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20
Q

Area V1

A

The initial processing region of the primary visual cortex.

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21
Q

Topographic visual organization

A

Adjacent neurons process adjacent portions of the visual field.

22
Q

Visual form agnosia

A

The inability to recognize objects by sight.

23
Q

Binding problem

A

How features are linked together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or miscombined features.

24
Q

Illusory conjunction

A

A perceptual mitake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined.

25
Q

Feature integration theory

A

A theory that proposes that attention binds individual features together to comprise a composite stimulus.

26
Q

Synaesthesia

A

The perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense.

27
Q

Modularization

A

The process of relatively encapsulated function

28
Q

Perceptual constancy

A

A perceptual principle stating that even an aspect of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent.

29
Q

Template

A

A mental representation that can be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image.

30
Q

Monocular depth cues

A

Aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye.

31
Q

Binocular disparity

A

The difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth.

32
Q

Motion parallax

A

A depth cue based on the movement of the head over time.

33
Q

Apparent motion

A

The perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations.

34
Q

Pitch

A

How high or low a sound is

35
Q

Loudness

A

A sound’s intensity

36
Q

Timbre

A

A listener’s experience of sound quality and resonance.

37
Q

Cochlea

A

A fluid-filled tube that is the organ of auditory transduction.

38
Q

Basilar membrane

A

A structure in the inner ear that undulates when vibrations from the ossicles reach the cochlear fluid.

39
Q

Hair cells

A

Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane.

40
Q

Area A1

A

A portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex.

41
Q

Place code

A

The cochlea encodes different frequencies at different locations along the basilar membrane.

42
Q

Temporal code

A

The cochlea registers low frequencies via the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve.

43
Q

Visual orienting

A

A behavioral response to move the eyes towards a target.

44
Q

Multisensory integration

A

The perceptual representation of events from more than one sensory modality.

45
Q

Haptic perception

A

The active exploration of the environment by touching and gasping objects with our hands.

46
Q

Referred pain

A

Feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converge on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord.

47
Q

Gate-control theory

A

A theory of pain perception based on the idea that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions.

48
Q

Vestibular system

A

The three fluid-filled semicircular channels and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear.

49
Q

Olfactory receptor neurons (ORN)

A

Receptor cells that initiate the sense of smell.

50
Q

Olfactory bulb

A

A brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes.

51
Q

Pheromones

A

Biochemical odorants emitted by other members of their species that can affect an animal’s behavior or physiology.

52
Q

Taste buds

A

The organ of taste transduction.