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Psychology > Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Transduction

A

conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential

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2
Q

What are the five senses?

A

Vision, audition, gustation, olfaction, somatosensation

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3
Q

What are the other senses?

A
  • balance- vestibular sense
  • body position and movement- proprioception and kinesthesia
  • pain- nociception
  • temperature- thermoception
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4
Q

absolute threshold

A

the minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time (how dim can a light be)

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5
Q

Subliminial messages

A

messages that are presented below the threshold for conscious awareness

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6
Q

JND

A
  • how much difference in stimuli is required to detect a difference between them
  • changes depending on stimulus intensity
  • goes hand in hand with the Weber’s law
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7
Q

Weber’s law

A
  • the difference threshold is a constant fraction of the original stimulus.
  • the principle that states that the just-noticeable difference between two stimuli is a function of the magnitude of the original stimulus.
  • This means that the larger the original stimulus, the larger the just noticeable difference needs to be for it to be detected.
  • For example, for weights, if the initial weight magnitude is low, adding smaller weights will be more easily detected than if the initial weight magnitude is high.
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8
Q

Perception

A

is the way sensory info is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced

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9
Q

Bottom-up processing

A

refers to sensory info from a stimulus in the environment driving a process (occurs when we sense basic features of stimuli and then integrates them)

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10
Q

Top-down processing

A

refers to the knowledge and expectancy driving a process (occurs when previous experience and expectations are first used to recognize stimuli)

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11
Q

Sensation is…perception is…

A

sensation is a physical process whereas perception is psychological

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12
Q

Sensory adaption

A

we get adapted so we don’t perceive stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time

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13
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

is the failure to notice something that is completely visible because the person was actively attending to something else and didn’t pay attention to other things

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14
Q

Signal detection theory

A

is the ability to identify a stimulus when it is embedded in a distracting background because of a certain motivation

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15
Q

Amplitude

A

is the distance from the center line to the top point of the crest or the bottom point of the trough

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16
Q

frequency

A

refers to the number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period and is often expressed in terms of hertz or cycles per second (long wavelengths = low frequency

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17
Q

What is the order of the visible spectrum from highest to lowest frequency?

A

Gamma ray, x ray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, and radio

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18
Q

light wavelength is associated with

A
  • perception of color
  • red: longer wavelength
  • greens: intermediate wl
  • blues and violet: shorter wl
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19
Q

amplitude of light waves is associated with

A
  • with our experience or brightness of color (longer amp = brighter)
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20
Q

frequency of a sound wave is associated

A

with our perception of that sound’s pitch (higher freq = higher pitch sound)

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21
Q

Loudness of a given sound is closely associated

A

with the amp of wave (larger amp = louder sounds, and loudness is measured in decibels)

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22
Q

Timbre

A

refers to a sound’s purity and its is affected by the complex interplay of frequency and timing of sound waves

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23
Q

Light waves are transmitted…

A

across the cornea and enter the eye through the pupil

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24
Q

Cornea

A

-is a transparent covering over the eye which serves as a barrier between the inner eye and the outside world
- involved in focusing light waves that enter the eye

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25
Q

Pupil

A
  • is a small opening in the eye through which light passes and its size can change
  • high light levels = small pupil size
  • controlled by the muscles that are connected to the iris which is the colored portion of the eye
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26
Q

Lens

A
  • a curved, transparent structure that serves to provide additional focus and is attached to muscles that can change its chape to aid in focusing light that can change its shape to aid in focusing light that is reflected from near or far objects
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27
Q

fovea

A
  • a small indent on the back of the eye part of the retina which in normal sighted people the lens will focus images perfectly on
  • condensed with photoreceptor cells that are called cones which are light detecting/work best in bright conditions and ability to perceive color (plus provide spatial awareness)
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28
Q

Rods

A
  • are concentrated throughout the remainder of the retina and work well in low light conditions and can’t perceive color (night vision) as well as help with vision of our periphery
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29
Q

rods and cones are connected via…

A

several interneurons to retinal ganglion cells

30
Q

Axons from the retinal ganglion cells…

A

converge and exit through the back of the eye to form the optic nerve

31
Q

Optic nerve

A

carries visual info from the retina to the brain

32
Q

What are the reasons you can’t see your blindspot

A

1) each eye gets a slightly different view of the visual field 2) our brain will fill in missing info with what it thinks it should be there

33
Q

Optic chiasm

A
  • optic nerve from each eye merges just below the brain at a point called the optic chiasm
  • It is an x-shaped structure which sits just below the cerebral cortex at the front of the brain
  • right visual field = left side of the brain vice versa
34
Q

Visual info is sent via a # of structures

A
  • like the occipital lobe and might be processed in parallel pathways
  • What pathway- involved in object recognition and indentification
  • Where pathway- involved with location in space and how one might interact with a particular visual stimulus
35
Q

trichromatic theory

A

all colors in the spectrum can be produced by combining red, green, and blue

36
Q

Opponent process theory

A
  • color is coded in opponent pairs: black-white, yellow-blue, green-red
  • some cells of the visual system are excited by one of the opponent colors and inhibited by the other
  • leads to the experience of negative after images which is the continuation of a visual sensation after the removal of the stimulus
37
Q

Visual processing on the retina

A

trichromatic theory

38
Q

signal moves past the retina and on its way to the brain

A

opponent process theory

39
Q

binocular cues

A

rely on the use of both eyes

40
Q

binocular disparity

A

is the slightly different view of the world that each of our eyes receives

41
Q

monocular cues

A

require only one eye

42
Q

Examples of monocular cues

A
  • linear perspective: refers to the fact that we perceive depth when we see 2 parallel lines that seems to converge in an image
  • interposition, partial overlap of objects, relative size, closeness of images to the horizon
43
Q

outer ear

A
  • pinna, auditory canal, and tympanic membrane (eardrum)
44
Q

middle ear

A
  • 3 tiny bones: ossicles- malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), stapes (stirrup)
45
Q

inner ear

A
  • semi-circular canals/vestibular sense (involved in balance and movement)
    -cochlea, fluid filled snail shaped structure that contains the sensory receptor cells (hair cells) of the auditory system
46
Q

How does the ear work?

A
  • Sound waves travel along the auditory canal and strike the tympanic membrane causing it to vibrate which is movement of the 3 ossicles and then the stapes presses into a thin membrane of the cochlea known as the oval window and the the fluid inside the cochlea beings to move which stimulates the hair cells which are auditory receptor cells embedded in the basilar membrane (thin strip of tissue within the cochlea)
  • stimulation of the hair cells (mechanical process) leads to the activation of the cell and they generate neural impulses that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain which ultimately goes to the temporal lobe
47
Q

place theory

A

suggests that different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of diff FREQS (tip: low, base: high) and hair cells are labeled as respective

48
Q

temporal theory

A

asserts that frequencies is coded by activity level of a sensory neuron meaning that a given hair cell would fire action potentials related to the freq of the sound wave (determines freq of a sound by how fast a neuron fires)

49
Q

action potentials/place cues

A

perception of pitch (high freq mainly relates only to place cues)

50
Q

monaural cue

A

is helpful in located sounds that occur above or below and front or behind (but by using two ears the sound would sound identical)

51
Q

binaural cues

A

determines horizontal position by relying on differences in patterns of vibrations of the ear drum between our 2 ears
- interaural level diff: refers to the fact that a sound coming from the rigth side of your body is more intense at your right ear than left cause of the attenuation that passes through your head
- interaural timing diff: refers to the small diff in the time at which a sound arrives at each other

52
Q

Congenital deafness

A

born without hearing

53
Q

conductive hearing loss

A

due to a problem delivering sound energy to the cochlea
- caused by blockage of ear canal
- hole in the tympanic membrane
- problems with ossicles
- fluid in the space between the ear drum
HEARING AIDS

54
Q

Sensorineural hearing loss

A

common caused by aging, acoustic trauma, infections, medications, environmental effects, Menieve’s disease (degeneration of inner ear, ringing)
COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

55
Q

2 more tastes:

A

Umami- yummy associated with the taste of monosodium glutamate
Olegostate- fatty content

56
Q

Taste buds

A
  • formed by groupings of taste receptors with hair like extensions that protrude into the central pore of the taste bud
  • Those taste molecules bind to receptors on this extension and cause chemical changes within the sensory cell that result in neural impulses being transmitted to the brain–>gustatory cortex
57
Q

Molecules from food dissolve…

A

in our saliva and interact with taste receptors

58
Q

Olfactory receptors

A

are located in a mucous membrane at the top of the nose

59
Q

Process of smell

A

small hair like extensions from these receptors serve as the sites for odor molecules dissolve in the mucus to interact with chemical receptors located on these extensions —> olfactory bulb —> primary olfactory cortex

60
Q

Prop v Kine

A

Prop: perception of body position
Kine: perception of body’s movement in space

61
Q

Touch related stimuli

A
  • Meissner’s corpuscles: responds to pressure and low freq
  • Pacinian corpuscles: detect transient pressure and higher freq vibrations
  • Merkel’s disks: responds to light pressure
  • Ruffini corpuscles: detects stretch
62
Q

These sensory info is collect…

A

from recep and then travel up the SP to the somatosensory cortex

63
Q

Pain is considered

A

to be neuropathic or inflammatory in nature and pain results from damage to neurons of either peripheral or CNS which sends pain signals that are exaggerated aka neuropathic pain

64
Q

Vestibular sense

A

balance and body posture
- major organs: utricle, saccule, posterior canal, horizontal canal, and superior canal

65
Q

Gestalt principle

A

the brain creates a perception that is move than simply the sum of available sensory inputs and does so in predictable ways

66
Q

Figure ground

A

depends on what we see as figure and what we see as ground

67
Q

proximity

A

asserts that things that are close together tend to be grouped together

68
Q

Similarity

A

things that are alike are grouped

69
Q

Continuity

A

we are more likely to perceive continuous smooth flowing lines rather than jagged

70
Q

Closure

A

states that we organize our perception into complete objects

Psychology (3 decks)

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