Chapter 7 Flashcards
Sensation
Detection of stimuli by the sensory receptors and transmission of this info to the brain
Perception
Process by which we categorize and interpret sensory input
Enrichment theory
Specifies that we must add to sensory stimulation by drawing on stored knowledge in order to perceive a meaningful world
Differentiation theory
Specifies that perception involves detecting distinctive features or cues that are contained in the sensory stimulation we receive
Distinctive features
Characteristics of a stimulus that remain constant; dimensions on which two or more objects differ and can be discriminated.
Sometimes called invariances or invariant features
Preference method:
Method used to gain info about infants’ perceptual abilities by presenting two or more stimuli and observing which stimulus the infant prefers
Evoked potential
Change in patterning of the brain waves that indicates that an individual detects a stimulus
Why can infants in the first few hours of life hear about as well as an adult with a head cold?
Because of fluids that seeped into the inner ear during birth
Why does the U-shaped curve for auditory localization exist?
Neural maturation. Auditory localization starts out like a reflex and eventually comes under the control of the mid & fore brain structures as they mature.
Otitis media:
Common bacterial infection of the middle ear that produces mild to moderate hearing loss.
Phonemes:
The basic units of sound that are used in a spoken language
What taste preferences are infants born with?
Sweet
Describe milestones in infant visual perception:
Birth- 1 month: perceives moderately complex stimuli with high visual contrast. Scans boundaries of visual targets. Displays some size constancy. Responds to looming objects and kinetic depth lines.
2-4 months: visual scanning of entire stimulus; perceives form from motion; detect some subjective contours; prefers faces to scrambled faces; recognizes noms face; prefers attractive faces. Detects depth cues on the visual cliff; becomes sensitive to binocular depth cues.
5-8 months: perceives form in stationary objects. Detects more subtle subjective contours. Size constancy improves. Becomes sensitive to pictorial (monocular) depth cues. Fears drop offs.
9-12 months: perceives form from limited information. Interprets others’ facial expressions. All aspects of spatial perception become more refined.
Intermodal perception:
Ability to use one sassy modality to identify a stimulus or pattern of stimuli that is already familiar through another modality.
