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PSYC 100 > Chapter 4: Sensation & Perception > Flashcards

Chapter 4: Sensation & Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Sensation

A

Simple stimulation of a sense organ; basic registration of sound, light, pressure, odor, taste, etc.

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2
Q

Perception

A

Occurs in the brain as sensation is registered there; characterized by organization, identification, interpretation, and a general mental representation of the sensation

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3
Q

Transduction

A

When sense receptors convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals that are sent to the CNS.
Each sensory organ can only transduce physical signals into their specific type of neural signals, which is why rubbing your eyes is perceived as color

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4
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

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

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5
Q

Multisensory

A

An event that stimulates multiple senses at the same time

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6
Q

Psychophysics

A

Methods that systematically relate the physical characteristics of a stimulus to an observer’s perception

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7
Q

Absolute threshold

A

The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of trials; related to sensitivity and acuity

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8
Q

Psychometric function

A

The graph that shows the absolute threshold for a stimulus

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9
Q

Sensitivity

A

How responsive we are to faint stimuli

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10
Q

Acuity

A

How well we can distinguish between two very similar stimuli

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11
Q

Just noticeable difference (JND)

A

The minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected; depends on the sense being measured and the intensity of the original stimulus (Standard (S))

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12
Q

Weber’s Law

A

For every sense domain, the change in a stimulus that is just noticeable is a constant ratio of the standard stimulus, over a range of standard intensities

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13
Q

Signal Detection Theory (SDT)

A

A way of analyzing data from psychophysics experiments that measures an individual’s perceptual sensitivity while also taking noise, expectations, motivations, and goals into account

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14
Q

Perceptual sensitivity

A

How effectively the perceptual system represents sensory events

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15
Q

What two factors impact whether or not a stimulus is perceived?

A

1) The strength of the sensory evidence for that stimulus
2) The decision criterion

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16
Q

Decision criterion

A

The amount of evidence necessary for the perceptual system to “decide” that the stimulus is present; liberal criterion and conservative criterion

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17
Q

Hit

A

Stimulus is present and detected

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18
Q

Miss

A

Stimulus is present and not detected

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19
Q

False alarm

A

Sensory is not present but is detected

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20
Q

Correct rejection

A

Stimulus is not present and is not detected

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21
Q

Liberal criterion

A

Not much sensory evidence is required

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22
Q

Conservative criterion

A

Stronger sensory evidence is required

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23
Q

Visual acuity

A

Ability to see fine details; receptors in eyes respond to wave lengths of light energy; spatial acuity and temporal acuity

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24
Q

Spatial acuity

A

Ability to distinguish between two features close together in space

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25
Q

Temporal acuity

A

Ability to distinguish between two features close together in time

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26
Q

The three physical properties of light waves

A

Length, amplitude, purity

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27
Q

Light wave length

A

Distance between the crests of the waves; impacts hue/color

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28
Q

Light wave amplitude

A

Distance between the crest and trough; impacts brightness

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29
Q

Light wave purity

A

Saturated vs. desaturated; impacts richness of color

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30
Q

Front of eye functions

A

Focuses and controls amounts of light entering eye

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31
Q

Retina location and function

A

Inner surface of eye where light is transduced

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32
Q

Accommodation

A

The process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina; ciliary muscles adjust the thickness of the lens

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33
Q

Myopia

A

Nearsightedness; accommodation is shifted closer

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34
Q

Hyperopia

A

Farsightedness; accommodation is shifted farther away

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35
Q

Photoreceptors

A

Rods and cones

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36
Q

Rods

A
  • respond to dim illumination and shapes
  • active only under low-light conditions
  • about 120 million per eye
  • located on the periphery of the retina
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37
Q

Cones

A
  • detect color (red, green, blue)
  • operate under daylight conditions
  • detect fine detail
  • about 6 million per eye
  • primarily in the fovea
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38
Q

Fovea

A

Small region of densely packed cones at the center of the retina; no rods so vision is clearest here

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39
Q

Blind spot

A

A location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina

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40
Q

Area V1

A

The part of the occipital lobe that contains the primary visual cortex

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41
Q

Color

A

Our perception of light wavelengths on the visible spectrum

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42
Q

Trichromatic color representation

A

The pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each color: long cones are red, medium cones are green, short cones are blue

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43
Q

Opponent Process Theory

A

Problem with cones that means that all color experiences arise from three systems with two opponent elements:
- red-green
- blue-yellow
- black-white
Stimulation of one color of a pair will inhibit the other

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44
Q

Three types of cone problems

A
  • Color deficiency/blindness
  • Color-opponent system (Opponent Process Theory)
  • Color afterimage
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45
Q

Visual receptive field

A

The region of the visual field to which each neuron responds; V1 has a small receptive field, meaning that it only responds to small parts of the visual field

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46
Q

Area A1

A

The primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe

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47
Q

Hearing

A

The detection of sound waves or changes in air pressure unfolding over time

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48
Q

The three physical properties of sound waves

A

Frequency, amplitude, timbre/complexity

49
Q

Sound wave frequency

A

The distance between crests of each wave; our perception of pitch:
- low frequency means low pitch
- high frequency means high pitch

50
Q

Sound wave amplitude

A

The height measured between each crest and trough; our perception of volume:
- high amplitude is loud
- low amplitude is quiet

51
Q

Sound wave complexity

A

How many frequencies are present; our perception of timbre:
- simple, one frequency, pure tone
- complex, mix of frequencies

52
Q

Three main ear divisions

A

Outer ear, middle ear, inner ear

53
Q

Outer ear parts

A

Pinna, auditory canal, eardrum

54
Q

Middle ear parts

A

Ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes)

55
Q

Inner ear parts

A

Cochlea, basilar membrane

56
Q

Two main types of hearing loss

A
  • conductive hearing loss
  • sensorineural hearing loss
57
Q

Conductive hearing loss

A

Damage to eardrum

58
Q

Sensorineural hearing loss

A

Damage to cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve

59
Q

Cochlear implant

A

Electronic device that replaces the function of hair cells

60
Q

The two chemical sense

A
  • olfaction: smell
  • gustation: taste
61
Q

How are olfaction and gustation connected?

A

Smell and taste work together to produce flavor; stimuli borne in the air provides smell and is soluble in saliva to provide taste

62
Q

How does sense of smell work?

A

Odorant molecules travel through the nose to the olfactory epithelium where they bind to olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) that initiate the sense of smell

63
Q

Which two approached regulate the connection between sense of smell and emotional/social behavior?

A

Object-centered approach and valence-centered approach

64
Q

Object-centered approach

A

Info about the identity of odor object is quickly accessed from memory, which triggers a emotional response

65
Q

Valence-centered approach

A

Emotional response comes first and provides a basis for determining the identity of the odor

66
Q

Pheromones

A

Chemicals that may affect sexual behavior

67
Q

Synesthesia

A

Linking the stimuli of one sense to another unrelated sense

68
Q

Ventriloquist Illusion

A

The phenomena of “believing” our visual system over our auditory system

69
Q

Visual streams

A

The two functionally distinct pathways of the visual processing system:
- ventral (lower) stream
- dorsal (upper) stream

70
Q

Ventral visual stream

A

Travels across the occipital lobe into the lower levels of the temporal lobes; these brain areas represent the object’s shape and identity, therefore it is also called the “what” pathway

71
Q

Dorsal visual stream

A

Travels up from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobes; these brain areas identify where an object is and how it’s moving, but is also crucial for guiding actions such as aiming and reaching, therefore called “where” pathway or “perception for action” pathway

72
Q

Binding problem

A

How the brain links features together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or mis-combined features

73
Q

Parallel processing

A

The brain’s capacity to perform many activities at the same time

74
Q

Illusory conjunction

A

A perceptual mistake whereby the brain incorrectly combines features from multiple objects

75
Q

Feature-integration theory

A

The idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that make up a stimulus (color, shape, size, etc.), but it is required to bind those individual features together

76
Q

Attention

A

The active and conscious processing of particular information

77
Q

Perceptual constancy

A

Even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains constant

78
Q

Perceptual contrast

A

Although the sensory information from two things may be very similar, we perceive the objects as different

79
Q

What are the two different components to recognition?

A

Modular view and conceptual knowledge

80
Q

Modular view

A

The idea that specialized brain areas detect and represent faces, houses, body parts, etc.

81
Q

Conceptual knowledge

A

The idea that our preexisting knowledge about an object is present when we recognize an object

82
Q

Perceptual organization

A

The process of grouping and segregating features to create whole objects organized in meaningful ways; connected to Gestalt psychology

83
Q

What are the six perceptual grouping rules?

A

Simplicity, closure, continuity, similarity, proximity, common fate

84
Q

Simplicity

A

The visual system selects the simplest or most likely interpretation of an object

85
Q

Closure

A

We tend to fill in missing elements of a visual scene in order to perceive separate parts as a whole

86
Q

Continuity

A

We tend to group together edges of contours that have the same orientation (this is good continuity)

87
Q

Similarity

A

Regions that are similar in color, shape, texture, etc. are seen as belonging to the same object

88
Q

Proximity

A

Objects that are close together tend to be grouped

89
Q

Common fate

A

Elements of a visual object that move together are seen as parts of a single moving object

90
Q

Monocular depth cues

A

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

91
Q

What are the five monocular depth cues?

A

Relative/familiar size, linear perspective, texture gradient, interposition, relative height

92
Q

Relative/familiar size

A

Used to perceive distance when the size of an object is known

93
Q

Linear perspective

A

The phenomena where parallel lines seem to converge as they recede

94
Q

Texture gradient

A

How textures look more detailed up close and more uniform from far away

95
Q

Interposition

A

When one object partially blocks another, we know which one is closer

96
Q

Relative height

A

Objects that are close tend to be lower in the visual field, while objects that are farther tend to be higher

97
Q

Binocular disparity

A

The difference in the retinal images of the two eyes; this provides depth perception

98
Q

Apparent motion

A

Perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations (i.e., digital traffic signs with the arrows)

99
Q

Change blindness

A

When people fail to detect changes in the visual details of a scene because the visual world is too rich for us to take everything in

100
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

A failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention

101
Q

Cochlea

A

Fluid-filled tube containing cells that transduce sound vibrations into neural impulses

102
Q

Basilar membrane

A

A structure in the inner ear that divides the cochlea length-wise; moves up and down in time with vibrations relayed from the ossicles and transmitted through the oval window

103
Q

Inner hair cells

A

Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane and stimulated by moving cochlear fluid

104
Q

Which two functions help the brain determine pitch?

A

Place code and temporal code

105
Q

Place code

A

The brain uses info about the relative activity of hair cells across the basilar membrane to help determine pitch

106
Q

Temporal code

A

The brain uses the timing of action potentials in the auditory nerve to help determine pitch

107
Q

Haptic perception

A

Active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands

108
Q

Tactile receptive field

A

The small patch of skin to which each receptor is sensitive

109
Q

Thermoreceptors

A

Nerve fibers that sense cold and warmth and respond when skin temperature changes

110
Q

A-delta fibers

A

Axons that transmit sharp initial pain

111
Q

C fibers

A

Axons that transmit long-lasting, dull, persistent pain

112
Q

Referred pain

A

When sensory info from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord, causing us to sometimes feel internal pain as external

113
Q

Gate-Control Theory

A

Signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from the skin or from your brain

114
Q

Proprioception

A

Your sense of body position

115
Q

Vestibular system

A

The three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear; maintains balance along with hair cells

116
Q

Olfactory bulb

A

Brain structure located above the nasal cavity and beneath the frontal lobes; axons from ORNs extend to here

117
Q

Olfactory sensitivity

A

The ability to detect odors

118
Q

Olfactory acuity

A

The ability to discriminate among odors

PSYC 100 (6 decks)

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