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PSYCH 104 > Chapter 5 > Flashcards

Chapter 5 Flashcards

1
Q

What are sensations?

A

stimulus-detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate stimuli from the environment into nerve impulses sent to the brain

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2
Q

What is perception?

A

active process of organizing stimulus input and giving it meaning

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3
Q

What is transduction?

A

nervous system converts external stimulus (e.g. light, sound, touch) into electrical signals

eye –> light
ear –> sound
skin –> pressure, pain, temperature

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4
Q

What are sense receptors?

A

specialized cell transduces specific stimulus with a sense organ

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5
Q

What is synesthesia?

A

“mixing of the senses”

cross-wiring of the senses within the brain

fMRI and DTI support this condition (you’ll see activity increased in those sensory areas that correspond to the cross wired senses

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6
Q

What is psychophysics?

A

studies the relationship between physical characteristics of the stimuli and our perception of those stimuli

measured two ways: limits of detection (absolute threshold), minimum needed to detect a change (JND)

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7
Q

What is absolute threshold?

A

lowest intensity in which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time

sometimes it will be perceived, sometimes not

lower threshold, greater sensitivity

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8
Q

What is signal detection theory?

A

absolute threshold is not fixed

ask patients to indicate if they perceived a stimulus, 2 conditions: stimulus present, stimulus absent

leads to four outcomes and individual variability in decision criterion

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9
Q

What is decision criterion?

A

standard of how certain we are of a stimulus in order to say we detected it

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10
Q

What would a performance profile look like for someone who is conservative?

A

need a lot more to say they heard the tone

get more misses and less false alarms

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11
Q

What would a performance profile look like for someone who is liberal?

A

say yes a lot

get less misses, and more false alarms

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12
Q

What is a difference threshold?

A

the smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected 50% of the time

aka Just Noticeable Difference

stronger stimuli need a bigger change before noticing, notice two candles are brighter than one candle, won’t notice 101 candles are brighter than 100

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13
Q

What is Weber’s Law?

A

constant proportional relationship between the JND and stimulus magnitude

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14
Q

What is sensory adaption?

A

sensory neurons are finely attuned to changes in stimulation

activation declines over time, leading to sensory adaption

conserves energy and attentional resources

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15
Q

What is the lens?

A

the lens will accommodate by getting thicker or thinner so that we can see objects closer or further away

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16
Q

What is the retina?

A

location of visual transduction

fovea: the most cones, no rods, clearest vision

blind spot: no rods or cones

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17
Q

What are photoreceptors (rods)?

A

black/white
functions best in low illumination
mostly in periphery
everywhere but fovea

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18
Q

What are photoreceptors (cones)?

A

color and detail
functions best in high illumination
near center of retina
fovea only contains cones

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19
Q

What is dark adaption?

A

have “dual visual system”

rely on rods for vision in low light conditions

rods and cones adapt differently

cones adapt after ten minutes
rods adapt after thirty minutes

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20
Q

What is trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz)?

A

three types of color receptors in retina

cones most sensitive to blue, green, red wavelengths

visual system combines activity from these cells

colors are perceived by additive mixture of impulses

if all are equally activated, white color is produced

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21
Q

What is the opponent process theory (Hering, 1870)?

A

three cone types

each responds to two different wavelengths, (red or green, blue or yellow, black or white)

can explain some visual phenomenon that the trichromatic theory cannot (afterimages, contrasting colors)

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22
Q

What are the limitations of trichromatic theory?

A

color blind individuals (red-green color blind individuals should not be able to perceive yellow, but they can)

afterimages (stare at red, look away you’ll see green)

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23
Q

What is colorblindness?

A

absent or reduced number of one (or more) cone types

monochromats: no color vision (rare)
dichromats: 2 cone types

more common in males (X-linked genes)

24
Q

What is the concept of visual scenes?

A

different brain areas process different aspects of vision

25
What is frequency?
number of sound waves (cycles) per second unit of measure = Hz higher frequencies = higher pitch
26
What is amplitude?
vertical size of the sound waves unit of measure: decibels (db) higher amplitude = louder amplitude: physical pressure on eardrum, loudness: perception of loudness logarithmic scale (10 db increase = 10x loudness)
27
What are the sections of the ear?
outer ear: pinna and ear canal, eardrum middle ear: ossicles (malleus, incus, staples), oval window inner ear: cochlea, basilar membrane
28
What is the cochlea?
location of transduction: sound waves into electrical impulses outer part is bony filled with fluid that is distributed by sound waves organ of corti and the basilar membrane: hair cells bend, releasing NT, auditory nerve receives signals, sends to brain
29
What are the theories of pitch perception?
Place theory Frequency theory
30
What is Place Theory?
location within cochlea where signal is transduced correlates to the pitch tonal frequency "map" best for high pitch (5,000 to 20,000 Hz)
31
What is Frequency Theory?
nerve impulses sent to the brain match the frequency of the sound waves best for low pitch (below 1000 Hz)
32
What is sound localization?
monaural cues: one ear, are sounds coming right in front, above, or below binaural cues: interaural intensity difference, interaural time difference
33
What is interaural intensity difference (IID)?
left ear, intensity is less, calculate and compare intensities
34
What is interaural time difference (ITD)?
calculate how quickly sound got to one ear compared to another
35
What are the different types of deafness?
conduction deafness: mechanical problems, punctured eardrum, calcification of ossicles, hearing aid nerve deafness: damage to hair cells or auditory nerve noise-induced hearing loss aging
36
What is Gustation (taste)?
5 basic receptors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umani other qualities combine to affect taste, such as smell, temperature, and touch adaptive significance: seek out nutrients, avoid toxins
37
What are taste buds?
substance and saliva combine to make solutions which flow into papillae to stimulate receptors paillae hold taste buds, in which there are different types different taste cells in each taste bud cells are replaced roughly every ten days
38
What are odours?
less is known about how we discriminate odors current theory: receptors recognize diverse odors individually, rather than mixing activity airborne molecules bind to olfactory bulb
39
What are pheromones?
odorless chemicals for intraspecies communication unsure whether humans secrete pheromones
40
What are tactile senses?
somatosensory system touch, pressure, pain, warmth, cold, kinesthesis, equilibrium
41
What is pain?
receptors respond to mechanical, thermal, or chemical stimulation send message to: spinal cord --> thalamus --> somatosensory + frontal areas or limbic system pain processed faster than touch
42
What is gate control theory?
the experience of pain results from opening/closing gating mechanisms in spinal cord both physical and psychological rub/poke an injury will make it hurt more thoughts, emotions, and beliefs can modulate pain
43
What are endorphins?
built in pain killers in nervous system inhibits release of NT involved in synaptic transmission of pain
44
What is kinesthesis?
feedback about joint/muscle position receptors: nerve endings in muscles, joints, tendons
45
What is equilibrium in the vestibular sense?
body orientation receptors in inner ear (semi-circular canals)
46
What is bottom-up processing?
1. Perception of individual stimulus elements 2. Breakdown or analysis of stimuli 3. Combination and interpretation of "whole"
47
What is top-down processing?
1. Concept, expectation 2. Guides analysis 3. Interpretation of incoming stimuli
48
What is the role of attention?
attention helps to: focus on certain stimuli and filter out other incoming information shadowing techniques: cannot completely attend to more than one thing inattentional blindness: if we don't attend to something, we don't "see" it
49
What are Gestalt Principles?
our perception is often more than the sum of its parts Gestalt Laws: similarity, proximity, closure, continuity
50
What is perception?
testing hypotheses and influenced by expectation
51
What is perceptual schema?
ability to "recognize" something suggests we have a mental representation with which to compare
52
What is perceptual set?
a readiness to perceive stimuli in a certain way
53
What are perceptual consistencies?
allows us to recognize familiar stimuli under varying conditions recognize a tune even if played in a different octave shape, brightness and size consistency
54
What is depth perception?
Retina only receives 2D information, but we see in 3D two ways: monocular and binocular cues
55
What is binocular disparity?
each eye sees a slightly different image the differences are analyzed by feature detectors tuned for depth convergence: feedback from eye muscles when looking at a close object
56
What is movement perception?
brain integrates information from different senses phi phenomenon (stroboscopic movement): see movement when it's not there, allows us to watch movies
57
What is the relationship between experience and perception?
experience gained over development leads to changes in perception

PSYCH 104 (9 decks)

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