chapter 5 Flashcards
Sensory receptor cells
specialized cells to convert (sensory transduction) specific stimuli into neural impulses
Sensation
the act of using our sensory systems to detect physical energy in our environments and convert it to neural (electrical) signals
Transduction
transformation of physical energy into electrical signals
Psychophysics
the study of physical stimuli effects on sensory perceptions and mental states or the measurement of sensory experience
Gustave Fechner - Psychophysics
studied the strength of a stimulus and a person’s ability to detect it
Signal detection analysis
techniques to determine the ability to separate from true signals from background noise
Response bias:
behavioral bias to respond yes
Sensitivity
true ability to detect presence or absence of signal
Absolute threshold
the minimum stimulus needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
psychological factors that signal detection depends on?
expectations, experience, motivation, and fatigue
Weber’s law
JND is constant proportion of original intensity
Perception
the conscious recognition and identification of a
sensory stimulus
Bottom-up processing
Sensory information from environment driving the process of understanding
Top-down processing
Knowledge and expectancy driving the process of understanding
Sensory adaptation
a process whereby repeated stimulation of a sensory cell leads to a reduced response
wavelength
the length of a wave from one peak to the next - determines frequency
amplitude
the height from the troughs to crest - strength/energy
Timbre
a sounds purity and is affected by frequency, amplitude, and timing
cornea
transparent covering over the eye, focuses light
pupil
opening in the eye through which lights passes through
iris
coloured portion of the eye, a muscle that controls pupil size
lens
curved, transparent, and provides additional focus
retina
light sensitive lining of the eye
what part of the eye contains all receptor cells?
retina/fovea
cones (parts of the eye)
used for central and colour vision, fovea is all cones
rods (parts of the eye)
used for periphery and night vision, more rods than cones, more responsive to dark and light
what do rods and cones do? (anatomy of the eye)
transduce light waves into neural impulses
optic chasm
an x shaped structure, the point where the optic nerve from each eye met
thalamus
sensory relay sensor
lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)
a cluster of neurons in the thalamus
where is visual information processed?
parallel pathways
trichromatic theory
three different receptors for colour each responding to different wavelengths of light (only blue, red, green)
opponent process theory
colour pairs work to inhibit one another
-green-red; blue-yellow; and black-white
-one dyad is excited and the other is inhibited
afterimage
continuation of sensation once stimuli is removed
color blindness
fail to see the same range of colours
monochromatic
only see white, black, and grey
depth perception
perception of spatial relations in 3D space
binocular cues
cues that rely on both eye
monocular cues
cues that rely on one eye
Binocular Disparity
slightly different stimuli recorded by the
retina of each eye, provides us with a binocular cue of dept
interposition
when one object blocks another, we perceive the blocked object as further away
auditory cortex (temporal lobe)
organized in a tonotopic map - different frequencies are projected to specific sites
temporal theory
different frequencies are converted into different rates of action potentials. High frequency sounds
produce more rapid firing (phase lock)
place theory
different frequencies activate different regions of
the basilar membrane. The brain equates the place activity occurred on the basilar membrane with a particular frequency (place coding)
Monaural (one-eared)
sound’s source relative to body position
Binaural (two-eared)
relies on a horizontal axis by delivering
different patterns of vibration between the eardrums in each ear
deafness
loss of hearing either partial or complete
congenital deafness
born without hearing
conductive hearing loss
problem delivering sound to cochlea
- temporary or permanent
-treated with hearing aid
Interaural level difference
sound on the right side of
the body is heard more intensely by the right ear
Interaural timing difference
small differences in time
at which a sound arrives at each ear
Sensorineural hearing loss
Transmission failure from cochlea to
brain
Ménière’s disease
degeneration of inner ear structures
– Tinnitus (ringing); vertigo (sense of spinning), increased ear pressure
solution for
Require cochlear implant to directly stimulate auditory nerve
linear perspective
parallel lines appear to converge at a distance
aerial perspective
objects that appear hazy, or that are covered with smog or dust, appear further away
papillae
bumps that cover the surface of the tongue
taste bud
clusters of sensory receptor cells that bind the food molecules that dissolve in our saliva and turn this information into a neural impulse
odorants
airborne chemicals that are detected as odors
olfactory receptor neurons
the receptor cells bind odorant molecules into a neural impulse and send that impulse to the brain
pheromones
chemical messages - often to signal
inflammatory pain
pain signaling tissue damage
neuropathic pain
exaggerating signal of damage to neurons in the PNS or CNS
Congenital analgesia
born without the ability to perceive pain
vestibular
ability to maintain balance and body posture
pain perception
development & individual differences
kinsynthetic
receptor cells in your muscles tell the brain when you are moving and where your body parts are
figure-ground
the main object or background
similarity
stimuli resembling one another tend to be grouped together
proximity
visual stimuli near to one another tend to be grouped together
continuity
objects that continue a pattern or are grouped together
closure
we tend to fill in small gaps so they are perceived as wholes
pattern perception
ability to discriminate different figures and shapes
perceptual hypotheses
educated guesses that we make while interpreting sensory information
