Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception Flashcards
Sensation
is what happens when our sensory modalities (vision, hearing, taste, etc.) are activated.
Perception
is how we understand these senses.
Bottom up processing
type of information processing based on incoming data from the environment to form a perception
Top down processing
Influences perception.
Selective attention
focused attention
Inattentional Blindness
the failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task.
Change blindness
he phenomenon that occurs when a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene. (Gorilla passing by)
Psychophysics
The branch of psychology that deals with the relationships between physical stimuli and sensory.
Absolute Threshold
smallest amount of stimulus that has to present before reaction.
Signal Detection Theory
Patterns
Subliminal
(of a stimulus or mental process) below the threshold of sensation or consciousness; perceived by or affecting someone’s mind without their being aware of it.
Priming
a concept, not a theory in which the activation of one thought may trigger related thoughts
Difference Threshold
“The just noticeable difference”
Weber’s Law
he concept that a just-noticeable difference in a stimulus is proportional to the magnitude of the original stimulus.
Sensory Adaption
occurs when sensory receptors change their sensitivity to the stimulus
Transduction
Transformation of light INPUT into neural messages sent to the brain (occipital lobe)
Wavelength
Distance from one wave peak to the next.
Hue
This determines the HUE, or COLOR we see.
Intensity
Amount of energy in light waves, determines brightness.
Pupil
Light passes through.
Iris
Adjusts how much light is allowed in. Color of the eye.
Lens
Image is projected onto the retina.
Feature Dectectors
Facial recognition
Parallel Processing
Visual “Multi-Tasking”. Ability to recognize different aspects of vision all at once.
Retina
Light passes through the LENS and an image is projected onto the retina.
Accomodation
The lens changes shape.
Rods
Night vision
Cones
Color vision DIRECT link to brain.
Optic Nerve
Carries neural signals to the brain. Cross and go to the opposite side of brain.
Blind spot
Optic nerve leaves the eye.
Fovea
The retina’s area of central focus.
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic theory of color vision
Cones interpret color in teams of three. Red, green and blue on the retina.
Opponent Process Theory of color vision
Color vision is created when 3 sets of colors oppose each other, Red-green, yellow-blue, white-black. One is turned ON other is OFF.
Audition
the act, sense, or power of hearing.
Frequency
Range
Pitch
High pitch and low pitch
MIddle ear
Begins with the eardrum at the end of the ear canal.
Conducting hearing loss
when hearing loss is due to problems with the ear canal, ear drum, or middle ear and its little bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes).
Sensorineural hearing loss
occurs from damage to the inner ear, the nerve that runs from the ear to the brain (auditory nerve), or the brain.
Cochlear implant
surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.
Cochlea
Part of the inner ear. Has fluids.
Inner ear
the innermost part of the vertebrate ear.
Place Theory
We hear different pitches because different parts of the cochlear membrane are activated.
Frequency theory
explicates how the human brain basically experiences a representation system of hearing.
Kinesthesis
Sense of your body position and movement.
Vestibular Sense
Balances the body. (Fluids in your ear)
Gate Control Theory of Pain
The spinal cord has pain gates that open or close to allow or block pain.
Substance P: Is the pain signal
Sensory Interaction
refers to the interaction of the senses to each other and how they influence each other. Taste and smell are two senses that work together.
Olfactory Sensation
Eating and smelling are all connected to emotions.
Gustatory Sensation
Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. The SUPERTASTERS.
Gestalt
An organized “Whole” combining senses “The big picture”
Figure ground
Figure is the ‘focus’ ground is everything else.
Grouping
Grouping stimuli together.
Depth Perception
Judging how far an object is from us 3D.
Visual cliff
Ability to judge a drop topography
Binocular Cues
Using both visual fields to determine distance.
Monocular Cues
Interposition and linear perspective by one eye.
Phi Phenomenon
Perfect eye coordinates.
Perceptual Constancy
We recognize objects even if they change.
Color Constancy
Knowing an objects color even if looking through tinted windows.
Perceptual Set
Mental predisposition that influences perception.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
Paranormal phenomena (Long Island Medium)
Parapsychology
is the supposedly scientific study of paranormal phenomena involving the human mind.
Gustav Fechner
founder of psychophysics
David Hubel
studied the structure and function of the visual cortex. Proved that neurons in the occipital lobe receive information from individual ganglion cells in the retina.
Ernst Weber
One of the founders of experimental psychology.
Torsten Weisel
Proved that neurons in the occipital lobe receive information from individual ganglion cells in the retina.
