Chapter 4: Sensation & Perception Flashcards
1
Q
Subliminal Perception
A
- Previous exposure to a stimulus, can influence that individuals later responses to the same stimulus or a simular one
2
Q
Priming
A
- Perception bellow the threshold of conscious awareness
3
Q
Perceptual Set
A
- A filter that influences what aspects of a sense we perceive or pay attention to
4
Q
Absolute threshold
A
- Minimum amount of energy of a stimulus required for it to be detected at least 50% of the time
- Difference between not being able to and just being able to see anything to perceive a stimulus
5
Q
Difference threshold
A
- Smallest difference between a stimuli that can be detected at least 50% of the time
- Just noticable differnce
- Measure of smallest increase/decrease in physical stimulus (a smidge hotter, colder, lighter, ect)
- Depends on intensity of initial stimulus
6
Q
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)
A
- Specific auditory/visual stimuli trigger sensations in the scalp, neck, back and shoulders
7
Q
Multimodel Integration
A
- The ability to combine sensation from different sensory perceptions, into a single integrated perception
- Eg. plugging nose being cutting something bad
8
Q
Non-tasters
A
- Reduced ability to taste
- Smallest # of tastebuds
9
Q
Medium tasters
A
- Nearly 2x as many tastebuds as non-tasters
10
Q
Super tasters
A
- Nearly 4x as many tastebuds as non-tasters
- Sensitive to bitter tastes
11
Q
Rods
A
- In eyes
- Photoreceptors that occupy the peripheral regions of the retina
- Highly sensitive under low light
- Respond to black + white
- 10-1 ratio with ganglion cells
12
Q
Cones
A
- In eyes
- Photoreceptors that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light we see as colour
- Help see colour and fine detail
- Doesn’t function in dim light
- All input is transmitted into ganglion cell
- 1-1 ratio w ganglion cells
13
Q
Taste buds
A
- Small bumps called papille
- 10 day lifepsan
- Each tastebud has 60-100 receptor cells
14
Q
Umami (5th sense)
A
- Response to glutamate found in protein rich foods like meat, milk, aged cheese, seafood
15
Q
Olfactory bulbs
A
- Brains central region for processing smells
16
Q
Olfactory epithelium
A
- Patch of tissue at the top of each nasal cavity
17
Q
Endorphins
A
- Body produces our own natural pain killers
- Produce feelings of well-being
18
Q
2-point threshold for touch
A
- Measures how far apart 2 point must be to be felt as 2 separate touches
19
Q
Nociception
A
- Nerve pathways that respond to uncomfortable situation, which inhibit pain messages that travel to the CNS
- Cognitive, sensory + emotional factors all interact
20
Q
Gate control mode
A
- Explains our experience of pain as an interaction between nerves that transmit + inhibit pain messages - through a “gate” in the spinal cord
21
Q
Kinesthesis
A
- Sense of bodily motion
- Position
- Receptors transmit info about movement + position of muscles, limbs + joints, to the brain
22
Q
Haptics
A
- Active, exploratory aspect of tough sensation + perception
- Allows us to identify objects and avoid damaging/dropping them
23
Q
Depth perception
A
- Ability to use vision to guide our actions
- To gage the distances between objects
24
Q
Perceptual constancy
A
- Ability to perceive objects as having constant shape, size, and colour despite changes in perspective
25
Q
Monocular cues
(accommodation)
(motion parallax)
A
- Depth queue we can perceive w only one eye
-Accommodation: the lens changes shape to maintain a clear focus on an object
- Motion paradox: objects that are closer appear to move faster than those that are further
26
Q
Binocular cues
(convergence)
(retinal disparity)
(stereoscopic vision)
A
- Distance queues based on differing perspectives of both eyes
- Convergence: eye muscles contract so both eyes focus on 1 object
- Retinal disparity: difference in position of an object as sene by both eyes - gives depth info
- Stereoscopic vision: overlapping visual fields
27
Q
Vestibular system
A
- Provides info about spatial orientation of the head + head movement
- Key to sense of balance and awareness
- Connects to brainstem, amygdala, insula
- Vestibular sacs: detect head’s position, mostly when it is not upright
- Semicircular canals: detect when head is in motion
— Both send info to brainstem
28
Q
Secondary auditory cortex
A
- Helps interpret complex sounds, such as music and speech
- Cells in these cortex respond to different frequencies
29
Q
Primary auditory cortex
A
- Centre of the brain involved in perceiving what we hear
- Cells in these cortex respond to different frequencies
30
Q
Sensorineural hearing loss
A
- Damage to cochlea or auditory nerve
- Hearing aids only help if the damage to the cochlea is not severe
31
Q
Conductive hearing loss
A
- Disease or injury to eardrum or middle ear bones
- Sound waves cannot make it to cochlea
- Hearing aid can bypass middle ear
32
Q
Frequency Theory
A
- Perception of pitch related to the frequency at which the basiliar membrane vibrates
33
Q
Place Theory
A
- Individual pitches
- Determined by the place along basiliar membrane of cochlea vibrating
34
Q
Transduction
A
- When specialized receptors transform the physical energy of the outside world into neural process
- The sensations detected by the sensory organs are turned into information the brain can process
- Stimulus — sensory receptors –(transduction)– neural impulses – perception
35
Q
Sensory adaption
A
- The reduction of activity in sensory receptors with repeated exposure to a stimulus
36
Q
Doctrine of specific nerve energies
A
- Different senses are separate in the brain
37
Q
Signal detection theory
A
- Whether a stimulus is perceived depends on the sensory experiences + the subjects judgement
- detecting a stimulus against background noise and deciding whether it is present
38
Q
Weber’s Law
A
- A relationship between the JND + stimulus intensity
- Stronger stimuli = higher JND
- Lower stimuli = lower JND
- Ex. you would notice if 1tsp of sugar was added to a small coffee, but it would not notice if the same amount was added to a large cup of coffee
39
Q
Gestalt Principles
A
- The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
- Figure-ground principles: objects/figures in our environment that tend to stand out against a background
- Proximity: objects close together, perceived as beloning together
- Similarity: stimuli with simular characteristics, seen as a unit
- Continuity: objects appear to have a continous pattern
- Closure: if parts of a figure are missing, we fill the gap
40
Q
Top-down processing
A
- Our perceptions are influenced by our prior knowledge
- Use experiences, expectations and goals
- Use our knowledge and sensory info to form perception
- Ex. a pharmacist can decipher a doctors prescription
41
Q
Bottom-up processing
A
- When you encounter new or unfamiliar things
- Use sensory info to combine it into a new message that is understood in the brain
- Ex. trying to decipher a doctors writing on a perscription
42
Q
Nearsightedness
A
- Close objects clear, far objects blurry
- Image infront of retina
- MYOPIA
43
Q
Farsightedness
A
- Far objects clear, distant objects blurry
- Image behind retina
- HYPEROPIA
44
Q
Amplitude (dB)
A
- Loudness of sound
- Energy or height of sound waves
45
Q
Frequency (Hz)
A
- # of cycles completed by sound waves in 1 second
46
Q
Timbre
A
- Distinct quality of sound, distinguishing it from other sounds of the same pitch
*Loudness
47
Q
Pitch
A
- Sound wave frequencies
- Low-frequency sound has long wavelength, high-frequency sound has short wavelength
48
Q
Trichromatic Theory
A
- Colour vision is determined by 3 different cone types
- Sensitive to shoer, mediam, and long wavelengths
- Colours blue, green, red
49
Q
Opponent-process theory
A
- We precieve colour in terms of opposing pairs
- Red to green
- Yellow to blue
- White to black
