Exam 2 Flashcards
sensation vs perception
sensation = physical process where sensory organs respond to stimuli, perception = psychological process to make sense of stimuli
absolute threshold
smallest amount of a stimuli needed for it to be sensed, measured with signal detection
just noticeable difference
smallest amount of change needed to differentiate between stimuli
top down vs bottom up processing
top down = using existing knowledge/past experiences to understand something, bottom up = all new information
Weber’s Law
bigger stimuli will need larger differences to be noticed
sensory adaptation
if a stimulus does not change, our receptors will stop responding to it
dark and light adaptation
our eyes adapt to dark or light conditions to be able to see
trichromatic vs opponent process theory
trichromatic = 3 types of cones differentiated by wavelength of light they can absorb, opponent process = color is understood based on differences in wavelengths (how much more of color x than its opponent)
rods vs cones
rods perceive light while cones perceive light and color
process of vision (anatomically)
light -> retinal ganglion cells, bipolar cells, photoreceptor cells, optic nerve, lateral geniculate nucleus, primary visual cortex (occipital lobe)
process of hearing (anatomically)
sound -> pinna, external auditory canal, tympanic membrane, ossicles, oval window, cochlear fluid, cochlear cilia, nerves, primary auditory cortex (temporal lobe)
multimodal perception
effects of multiple stimuli on perceiving the world
super-additive effect of multi-sensory integration
you gain more information from multiple senses than just 1
principle of inverse effectiveness
you don’t gain as much when you are using multiple senses but really only need to use 1
emotions are
intentional/directed, valenced/+ or -, conscious
