Consciousness (Ch 3) & Sensation and Perception (Ch 6) Flashcards
prosopagnosia
face blindness. cant recognize faces
sensation
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and reprsent stimulus energies from our environment
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recgonize meningful objects and events
bottom-up processing
analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to hte brain’s integration of sensory information e.g. in class example - intepreting a cow from the many lines and shades and shapes.
top-down processing
information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
filling in gaps in what we see
schema –
◦can create a perceptual set –
ex: scary movies
fast, but can have mistakes than bottom-up avoids
transduction
process of turning physical stimulus into neural impulses our vrain can interpet
adaptation
decreasing sensitivity to continuous level of stimulation
ex: adapting to a smell in your house
priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain assocations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response
flashing emotionally positive or negative images before showing another image changes people’s responses. flashing kittens (split second) before showing picture of a person, makes that person be more liked
i guess showing pictures of a rabbit before saying “hare” makes a person think of a “hare” rather than “hair”
Schema
mental representation of how we expect the world (or is it a specific object) to be
–can create a percepual set - predisposition to perceiving something a certain way
—-ex: scary moves - opening up door
absolute threshold
smallest amount of stimulus we can detect 50% of the time
subliminal stimulus
intensity below absolute threshold
- Do they work?
- Mixed results
- placebo effect
- FEDEX
- Tostitos
- video frame inserts - do have temporary effects on TV watcher, but not permanently
Perceptual Thresholds
JND
Selective Attention
Signal Detection Theory
JND (Just noticiable difference)
smallest amount of change needed in a stimulus before we detect it
-computed by Weber’s Law
–more intense stimulus = much more change needed to notice difference
Weber’s Law
for their deffernces to be perceptible, two stimuli must differ by a constant proortion - not a constant amount
for the average person to perceive their differences, two lights must differ in intensity by 8 percent. Two objects must differ in weight by 2 percent. And two tones must differ in frequency by only .3 percent.
Intensity
the brightness of light
pitch
a tones experienced brihtness or lowness
depends on frequency
place theory - explains high pitches
frequency - low
gate control theory
spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto hte brain
- diffrent priorities
- we feel the pain from scratching over the itchiness
figure-ground
the organizations of the visual fields into objects(the figures) and that stand out from their surroundings( the ground)
visual cliff
a lab device for testing depth perception in in fonts and young animals
infants and newborns refused to crawl over the cliff (glass floor)
retinal disparity
a binocular depth cue that in which our eyes see any object from a slightly different angle, and in which our brain interperts the difference to determine how far away hte object is
perceptual constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightnees, color, shape, size) even as illumination and retina images change.
e.g. perceigin a door as a rectangle even when it looks like a trapezoid because its opened
human factors psychology
explores how people and machines interact and optimizes the interactions
Human factors psychologists made ATMs more user friendly then VCRs
Clairvoyance
perveicing remote events
e.g. sensing that a friend’s hous is on fire
parapsychology
the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psycho-kineses
“OK, raise my right hand as part of this study”
Cocktail Party effect
your attention can be focused elsewhere even admidst many signals
e.g. i concentrate best when many people are talking. It makes like white noise
Signal Detection Theory
- a theory predicting how and when we detet the presence of a faint stimulus (“signal”) amid background stimulation(“nosie). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection degends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and elevel of fagigue.
e. ge. a mother taking a nap, hearing a baby cry softly but not hearing loud pots banging
Perceptual Set
a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
police man on side of highway pointing hair driver at cars. cars thinking it is a speed radar dector.
feature detector
nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific featuers of the simulus such as shape, angle, or movement.
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accomodation (of the eye)
the process by which the eye’s lens change shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
when we look at something close everything far away is blurry and vice versa
fovea
central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster.
oponent process theory
opposing retinal processes
- red-green
- yellow-blue
- white-black
enable color vision
somecells are inhibited by red and stimulated by green; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
Sensorneural Hearing Loss
caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the audotry nerves:
-also called nerve deafness
Nerve damage = sensorineural
kinesthesis
system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
if we twist our wrist a degree in a direction, the sensors immediately report it
barbiturates
drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement
- mimic alcohol
- combination w/ alcohol is fatal
- too much = fatal
- prescribed to reduce anxiety/induce sleep
- large doses can impair memory/judgement
opiates
opium and its derivative, such as morphine and heorin
- they dpress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety
- brain eventually stops producing its own opiates, endorphines
heoine
morphine
Dependence
a physical dependence - a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drup is discontinued
psychological dependence - a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative acts
-people with heoine addiction will get dopesick if they don’t get their high
dissociation
a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
- like during hypnosis
- dissociates the sensation of pain stimulus (of when the subject is still aware from the emotional suffereng that defines our experience of pain
posthypnotic suggestion
a suggestions, made duringa hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotizied; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors
during hypnosis: “you’re a strong independent black woman. you don’t need tosmoke”
after: quits smoking
REM Rebound
the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakienings during REM sleep) (or i guess by not getting enough sleep in general)
-b/c peoeple need REM sleep to process memories and stuff
lack of REst leads to REm REbound
information processing theory
-brain dealsf with info during REM
–integrates info into memories
-3 things back it up
–stressful day will increase number and intensity of dreams that night
–drams usually relate to daili concerns
–baibies spend more time in REM than adults
During day : gets F on test
dream: “Son, you must go to boarding school bc you are failing”
paradoxical sleep
REM sleep
brain emits beta waves, which are emmitte when one is awake
muscles ar erelaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active
alpha waves
the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state
Alpha = Awake, but relaxed
Are these emitted when one is falling asleep? (e.g. stage 1 sleep? (also is that even stage 1 sleep’s definition?)
formal charge
…?
Circadian Rhythm
the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cyclec
circa -> “circle” like a clock
REM/paradoxical sleep
rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur
aka paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twiches) but other body systems are active
Near Death Experiences
an altered state of conscioiusness reported after a close brush with death (such as thorugh cardiac arrest)
often similar to drug induced hallucinations
“and then suddenly I saw a bright light at hte end of a tunnel”
Dual processing
the ability for your mind to process two_ activies at once on conscious and unconscious tracks
you cann see and listen at the same time
hypnagogic sensations
sensory experiences that occur w/o a stimulus
-occurs during brief stage 1 sleep
-sensation of falling
fantastic images
floating weightlessly
sleep spindles
bursts of rapid, rhythmic brainwave activity
-in Stage 2 sleep (when sleep talking occurs)
Delta waves
the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep
stage 4 sleep
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narcolepsy
a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks
the sufferer may iapes directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times
sleep apnea
a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings
“apnea” means “with no breath”
manifest content
the literal content in a draem, in freud’s theory
as opposed to latent content - unconscious meaning
Manifest content : monter saying “rawr”
latent content: something that you are going through in your life scares you
instinct
acomplex behavior that is rigidly patterned thorughoug a species and is unlearned
infants innate reflexes for rooting and sucking
rooting reflex
assists in breastfeeding
a newborn infant will turn his head toward anything that strokes his cheek or mouth, searching for the object
activation synthesis theory
brain = very active during REM
random neural activity
dreams = brain’s interpretation of physiological events during REM
frontal lobe makes up story to explian them
amphetamines
stimulants
drugs that simulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body function and associated energy and mood changes
amphetamiNeS
Neural activity
Stimulus
Hallucinogens
psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drups, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input
LSD
Ecstasy (MDMA)
a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen
produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short term health risks and longer-term harm to reotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition
“that trig was ecstatic, man”
Withdrawal
the discomfort and distress that follow disconinuing the use of an addictive drug
if a person who drinks coffee everyday stops, they will get headaches and sleepiness
