Cognitive Psyc Chapter 3- perception

Question 1

transduction

Answer 1

transformation of physical stimuli
(sights, sounds, smells) into neural impulses
-located in sensory organs like skin, eyes, ears

Question 2

sensation

Answer 2

-encoding stimulus energy into neural impulses
-extracting basic information about the stimulus

Question 3

perception

Answer 3

-selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory signals
-the conscious experience of objects and scenes
(relationships between objects)

Question 4

what do sensory organs and
receptors do

Answer 4

-sensory organs capture and modify the energy
-receptors tranduce energy into a neural response

Question 5

thalamus

Answer 5

-processes and relays the neural response
-relayed to specialized areas of the cortex
-information is processed in parallel by a number of brain areas

Question 6

perception

Answer 6

-constructive processes that interprets information from our senses to allow us to produce an internal
representation of the world sufficient for us to recognize and interact with our environment

Question 7

perceptions are based on what

Answer 7

-estimates based on sensory signals
-information from our experience and expectations
- a process similar to problem solving

Question 8

inverse projection problem

Answer 8

-refers to the task of determining the object responsible for a particular image on the retina
-retinal image is ambiguous many different object configurations could generate any retinal image

Question 9

challenges to perception

Answer 9

-information contained in the retinal image is limited
parts of objects can be hidden
-the image can be blurred or distorted

Question 10

bottom up processing

Answer 10

perception based on incoming signal from the senses
-energy registering on receptors

Question 11

top-down processing

Answer 11

-perception based on information already stored in the brain
-person’s knowledge, experience, expectations

Question 12

direct perception theories

Answer 12

-Bottom-up processing
-Perception comes from stimuli in the environment
-Parts are identified and put together, and then recognition occurs

Question 13

constructive perception theories

Answer 13

-top-down processing
-people actively construct perceptions using information based on expectations

Question 14

speech segmentation

Answer 14

• process of distinguishing words in the continuous flow of speech sounds
  -aided by context and linguistic knowledge

Question 15

likelihood principle

Answer 15

we perceive the world in the way
that is “most likely” based on our past experiences

Question 16

laws of perceptual organization

Answer 16

rules that determine how sensory elements are grouped and organized to form objects

Question 17

law of good continuation

Answer 17

-Lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path
-Objects overlapped by other objects are perceived as
continuing behind the overlapping object

Question 18

Law of Good Figure (pragnanz)

Answer 18

Every stimulus pattern is seen so the resulting structure is as simple as possible

Question 19

law of similarity

Answer 19

Similar things appear grouped together

Question 20

law of familiarity

Answer 20

things are more likely to form groups if the groups
appear familiar or meaningful

Question 21

law of proximity

Answer 21

things near each other appear grouped together

Question 22

law of common fate

Answer 22

things moving in the same direction appear to be
grouped together

Question 23

what do gestalt laws reflect

Answer 23

-The evolutionary history of humanity
-contemporary researchers think that the personal
experience of individuals also plays a role
-but they’re not actually laws they’re heuristics

Question 24

heuristic

Answer 24

-provides best-guess solution to a problem
-“rule of thumb”
-based on experience
-fast
-often correct:
provides answers that have usually been correct in the past

Question 25

algorithm

Answer 25

-procedure guaranteed to solve a problem (assuming all the necessary information is available)
-a set of well-defined computational steps
-often Slow
-definite result

Question 26

environmental regulations

Answer 26

-many aspects of the environment occur frequently and/or in predictable times and places
-this information can be used by the brain to improve
perception
-human perception is maximally sensitive to stimuli that occur frequently in the environment

Question 27

oblique effect

Answer 27

people can perceive verticals and horizontals more easily than other line orientations

Question 28

light from above heuristic

Answer 28

-light comes from above
- usually the case in the environment
-we perceive shadows as specific information about depth and distance

Question 29

semantic regulations

Answer 29

-characteristics associated with the function and location of objects in different types of scenes
-based on an individuals prior experiences with objects and locations

Question 30

Palmer

Answer 30

presented a scene followed by a very brief presentation of a target object
-participants tried to identify target object

Question 31

bayesion inference

Answer 31

a statistical method for determining the probability of
various possibilities

Question 32

prior probability

Answer 32

the estimated probability of an event
occurring in general
-Some events are likely; others are unlikely

Question 33

likelihood

Answer 33

-given the current evidence (e.g. Sensory signal)
-how likely are the various possibilities to generate the observed evidence

Question 34

experience dependent plasticity

Answer 34

-changes in neuronal functioning due to experience
-experiments have shown that neurons become more
strongly tuned to aspects of the environment that occur frequently
-this effect is strongest during maturation but can also
occur during adulthood

Question 35

perception and action

Answer 35

research has revealed that separate brain systems
are responsible for conscious perception and for
controlling motor action

Question 36

What pathway (ventral pathway)

Answer 36

-identification of objects
-perception and conscious awareness

Question 37

Where pathway (dorsal pathway)

Answer 37

-identifying an object’s location
-controlling & coordinating motor actions with objects

Question 38

brain abalation

Answer 38

-method allows scientists to damage specific
areas of otherwise normal brains (usually monkeys or cats)
-Controlled damage allows for clear conclusions to be drawn

Question 39

single disassociation

Answer 39

-One function is lost, another remains
-Indicates different mechanisms are responsible for the functions
-Functions may or may not be independent

Question 40

double disassociation

Answer 40

-requires two individuals with different damage and
opposite deficits
-indicates different and independent mechanisms are
responsible for the functions

Question 41

object discrimination

Answer 41

Pick the correct shape
-Lesioning the temporal lobe (purple shaded area) makes this task difficult

Question 42

Landmark discrimination

Answer 42

-pick the food well closer to the cylinder
-lesioning the parietal lobe makes this task difficult