Chpt 4-6 Terms Flashcards
Transduction
Conversion of external stimulus to action potential. Specific sense receptors transduce specific stimuli.
Psychophysics
Study of how stimuli are perceived
Sensory Adaptation
Activation of senses is most when stimuli are first detected. Then, the response proceeds to decline.
Takes place on a sense receptor level. The decrease in reaction of the receptor conserves energy and attentional resources.
Absolute Threshold
Longest level of stimulus needed for NS to detect a change 50% of the time when no stimulus of that type is present.
Human error increases as stimulus magnitude decreases, moreover, sensitivity of NS
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
Smallest detectable change in stimulus, helping to distinguish smaller and weaker stimuli.
Weber’s Law: Relationship between JND and original stimulus intensity is linear
Stimulus increases as the change in stimulus magnitude in order for it to be noticeable, increases
Signal Detection Theory
How we detect stimuli under certain conditions e.g. background noise
Signal-to-noise ratio: having to speak louder
Response Biases: Tendency to guess when in doubt of stimuli
Cross-modal Processing
Specific Nerve Energies:
- Sensation is determined by native of sense receptors, not stimuli.
- Regardless of distinct stimuli energies
- Synesthesia: a condition where people experience cross-modal sensations.
- Alternate Explanation: A single brain region serves multiple functions
Synesthesia
A condition where people experience cross-modal sensations.
Mirror-touch: A person experiences the same sensation that another person experiences, such as touch
Lexical-gustatory Synesthesia: Words are associated with specific states or textures
Chromesthesia: Sounds trigger the experience of colour; in cases of misophonia, sounds trigger emotions
Personification: Numbers, letters, or days of the week that are attributed personality characteristics or appearance
Number-form Synesthesia: Numbers are imagined as mental maps
Spatial sequence Synesthesia: Cenain sequence of numbers, dates, or months are perceived as closer or farther in space
Selective Attention
The ability to focus on one stimulus and tune out others, controlled by the Reticular Activating System and Forebrain
Filter Theory of Attention: mental filter allowing us to attend to important stimuli
Dichotic Listening: People hear 2 different messages in each ear
Cocktail Party Effect: Ability to pick out important info from conversation not involving us
Inattention Blindness
Poor capability of detecting stimuli in plain sight when our attention is elsewhere.
Change Blindness: Failure to detect obvious change in the environment
Hue
Colour of light
Additive Colour Mixing vs. Subtractive Colour Mixing
Additive: mixing primary colours red, green, blue, producing white light
Subtractive: Mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow to produce dark colours
Iris
Coloured part of the eye that controls the amount of light entering
Pupil
Hole where light enters the eye
- Pupillary reflection: closing of pupils decreases the amount of light entering the eye
- Dilation: Expansion of pupil when processing complex information or due to physical attraction
Lens
Accommodates to see close/far objects
Flat: seeing distant objects
Fat: seeing close objects
Shape of eye
Myopia: causes nearsightedness due to the cornea being too steep or the eyes being too long
Hyperopia: Farsightedness due to the cornea being too flat or the eyes being too short
Presbyopia: Loss of flexibility in lens due to aging
Retina
Converts sensory info to neural info
Fovea
Part of retina with no rods or cones, where light is focused
Rods and Cones
Rodes: Help see shapes and low levels of light, assist in Dark Adaption
- Photopigments - chemicals that change from light exposure e.g. Rhodopsin
Cones: Help us see colour, but are sensitive to detail
Optic Nerve
Ganglion cells attatching the retina to the brain.
- Half the cells cross the optic Chiasm and the nerves enter the brain, turning into optic tracks
- Optic Tracks: Send majority of axons to the visual part of the Thalamus, then the Primary Visual Cortex V1 (primary route of visual perception).
The rest go to the midbrain, then the superior colliculus, which plays a role in reflexes.
Route of visual info
- Visual info from retina > Visual thalamus > Primary Visual Cortex V1 > Parietal lobe V2 (depth perception)
- Visual info from retina > Visual thalamus > Primary Visual Cortex V1 > Temporal lobe V2 (processes visual info and colour)
Blind Spot
Where the optic nerve connects to the retina
- no rodes or sense receptors because the gangion occupies its space
Feature Detection
Ability to identify objects with minimal patterns
Simple cells: Display yes-no responses to specific light orientations in specific locations
Complex Cells: Respond to specific light orientations with less restriction of location
Trichromatic Colour Perception Theory
3 kinds of cones (blue, green, red) are maximally sensitive to different wavelengths of light.
- This theory doesn’t account for afterimages caused by the visual cortex processing rods and cones
Colour Blindness
Caused due to an absence of cones or brain damage
Monochromats - only one type of cone is present, and all colour vision is lost
dichromates - two cones are present
trichromats - how humans see colour
Opponent Processing Colour Theory
Colour is seen in 3 pairs of opponent cells - red/green blue/yellow black/white
Afterimages appear in complimentary colours and illustrate opponent processing
Ganglion retina cells and cells in the visual area of the thalamus that respond to red or blue don’t respond to green or yellow.
Blindsight
Blind individuals are aware of there surroundings
Bliind individuals suffer V1 damage (primary visual cortex) > Info flows to the visual association cortex, bypassing V1 because the normal pathway to visual areas is blocked > This accounts for how blind people can somewhat navigate
Visual Agnosia
Deficit in object perception, inividuals can identify shape/colour but can’t recognize object names
Pitch
Frequency of wave
Pitch increases, Frequency increases
Younger individuals are more sensitive to higher-pitch
Amplitude
Height of sound wave corresponding to loudness
Timbre
Quality/Complexity of sound
e.g. instruments
Ossicles
Malleus, Incus, Stapes or Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup.
Cochlea
Part of the inner ear that converts mechanical vibrations to neural activity.
Inner cavity of the Cochlea is filled with a thick liquid that triggers cilia with pressure, sending action potentials.
Organ of Corti/Basilar Membrane: Hair cells embedded within them where transduction occurs
Pitch Theory: The primary auditory cortex processes different tones in different areas of the basilar membrane.
Cilia at the base of the membrane are excited by high-pitch, as the cilia at the top are excited by low-pitch
Low-Pitch Perception
- Frequency Theory: Rate of action potential faithfully reproduces pitch up to 100Hz (max action potential)
- Volley Theory: Variation of frequency theory works for 100-5000Hz, slightly out of sync with each other. Therefore the overall rates contribute to 5000Hz