Chapter 5 Flashcards
Sensation
The process of basic information from the world through the sense organs (eyes, ears, skin)
Perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information about objects, events, and the world around us
Vision: Visual Acuity
Vision: Least mature sense of the newborn
Visual Acuity: The degree of clarity/ sharpness of visual perception
Cones: Light sensitive neurons that tare highly concentrated in the fovea
Fovea: The central region of the retina
Retina: light sensitive inner surface of the eye
Vision: Pattern Perception
-Newborns prefer patterns over plain stimuli
-Older infants prefer complex patterns
-Contrast Sensitivity: Ability to detect differences in light and dark areas of a visual pattern
Vision: Color Perception
-Appear at two months
-Infants prefer color to gray stimuli
Vision: Object Perception
-Perceptual Constancy: The perception of objects as being of constant size, shape, color, etc. despite physical differences in the retinal image of the object
-Object Segregation: The identification of separate objects in a visual array
Vision: Depth Perception
-Ability to judge distance of objects from one another and ourselves
Visual Cliff: Famous apparatus used to study depth perception (depth perception develops within 1-2 months after infant begins to crawl)
Hearing: Auditory Localization
Hearing: most well-developed sense at birth
Auditory Localization: Perception of the location in space of a sound source (newborns turning towards sound)
Hearing: Newborn Preferences
Newborns prefer listening to baby talk from their mothers vs. unfamiliar adults, and their native language
Hearing: Sensitivity to different languages
Lose sensitivity to sounds not needed for home language
Taste & Smell: Innate Responses in Infancy
-Sweet taste (preferred) → relaxed facial muscles
-Sour taste → Pursed lips
Taste & Smell: Role of prenatal experiences
Prenatal experiences influence preference
Taste & Smell: Newborn Preferences
-Prefer smell of breast milk
Intermodal Perception
-Combining information from two or more senses
