Exam 3 (Final) Flashcards
what is sensation?
elementary components (building blocks) of an experience
what is perception?
collection of processes used to make meaningful interpretation of sensations
what are the 3 steps of creating internal interpretation of external world?
- translate
- identify
- interpret
what happens in each step of internally interpretating external world?
- translate - stimuli comes in many forms and brain translates and communicates with electrochemicals
- identify - components of translated neural messages are extracted and sent to processing stations
- interpret - principles of organization + existing knowledge are used to reconstruct world
what is light?
form of electromagnetic energy processed by visual system
what are wavelengths (light)?
physical distances between one energy cycle to next
what are hues (light)?
dimension of light that produces color
what is intensity/amplitude (light)?
- amount of light falling on an object
- brightness - changes in intensity
what is purity?
- determined by mix of wavelengths present
- influences saturation (richness of perceived color)
how do wavelengths influence the light we see?
- light we see is the combination of the wavelengths reflected by a material
- which wavelengths are absorbed/reflected determines color
what is the function of the cornea and lens?
help focus light to back of eye
what is the function of the pupil?
hole in eye that allows light to enter
what is the function of the iris?
- colored part of eye
- muscles around iris change pupil size to control amount of light that enters eye
what happens to the pupil in dim and bright light?
- dim light = large pupil
- bright light = small pupil
what is accomodation (in visual processing)?
process where lens changes shape to temporarily help focus light on retina
what is the retina?
- thin layer on back of eye that contains sensory receptors
- area of translation
what are rods?
- receptors located on sides of retina
- useful at night because more sensitive to light
what are cones?
- receptors located in fovea (middle of retina)
- process color/fine details (visual acuity)
how do visual signals enter brain?
rods/cones collect info then send to brain via optic nerve
how are left and right visual fields processed?
- left visual field → right side of eyes → optic nerve →optic chiasm → right hemisphere
- right visual field → left side of eyes → optic nerve →optic chiasm → left hemisphere
where is the visual cortex located?
occipital lobe
what are feature detectors?
cells that detect specific visual events
what is prosopagnosia?
inability to recognize faces due to brain injury
what are the 2 theories of color vision?
- trichromatic theory
- opponent processes
* there’s evidence for both!
what is trichromatic theory of color vision?
- color info extracted by comparing activation of 3 different types of cone receptors
- all colors are a mixture of primary colors: red, green, blue
what is color blindness?
lack of color-associated cones → inability to distinguish specific colors
what is the opponent process theory of color vision?
- cells in visual pathway increase activation levels to one color and decrease activation to another color
- ex: viewing red = increased activation for red and decreased activation for green
what is Gestalt psychologists’ argument about innate organizing patterns?
- we are born with organizing patterns of perception → we divide any visual scene into figure + ground
- figure = object of focus
- ground = background
What are the 5 Principles of Organization (Gestalt)?
- Law of Proximity
- Law of Similarity
- Law of Closure
- Law of Good Continuation
- Law of Common Fate
what is the law of proximity (Gestalt)?
objects located near each other are grouped together
what is the law of similarity (Gestalt)?
items that share physical properties are grouped together
what is the law of closure (Gestalt)?
if there is a gap, people tend to perceive object as a whole
what is the law of good continuation (Gestalt)?
if lines cross/get interrupted, people still tend to see continuously flowing lines
what is the law of common fate (Gestalt)?
things moving in same direction are grouped together
what is bottom-up processing?
processing controlled by physical messages delivered to senses
what is top-down processing?
processing controlled by beliefs/expectations about how world is organized
what contributes to our general perception of movement?
- changes in retinal image
- changes in motion of eyes
- changes in relative position of objects
what is the difference between monocular and binocular depth perception?
- monocular: require input from only one eye
- binocular: require input from both eyes
what is sound?
physical message of auditory system that travels as a wave through air/water
what is frequency (Hertz)?
- number of times pressure wave moves from peak to peak per second
- people can hear 20-20,000 Hz
what is pitch?
processing of certain frequencies
what is pressure amplitude?
- loudness
- change in sound intensity
- measured in decibels
how is sound processed and translated to neuron firing?
sounds enters ear → travels to eardrum → eardrum vibrates → vibrations processed and intensified and enter cochlea → sound processor turns vibrations into neural impulses
how are auditory messages transmitted to brain?
- auditory nerve transmits messages to brain
- left ear → right hemisphere
- right ear → left hemisphere
what is the auditory cortex located?
- temporal lobe (behind ear)
- certain areas specialized for low/high frequencies
how does auditory perception occur?
- brain uses incoming info + past knowledge to create auditory perception
- info separated into figure + ground
- auditory info grouped if similar / occuring close in time
what are the 3 types of skin senses?
- touch
- temperature
- pain
what is touch (pressure)?
- mechanical/physical pressure delivered to body disrupts receptor cells in skin
- pressure → neural impulse → spinal cord → brain
- used to identify properties of objects/locations
what is temperature?
- processed by thermoreceptors in skin
- cold fibers - neurons that respond when temp. of skin reduces
- warm fibers - neurons that respond when temp. of skin increases
- body responds to temp. indirectly (based on temp. of body not environment)
what is pain?
- adaptive reaction generated in response to events that cause tissue damage
- skin pain receptors (nociceptors) activated by external and internal pain
what is the gate-control theory?
- neural impulses generated by pain receptors can be blocked (gated) in spinal cord by signals from brain
- adaptive - allows someone to be effective despite injury
what opens and closes pain gates (gate-control theory)?
- closes: rubbing injury, placing ice near injury, drug treatments, cognitive states
- opens: mental processes like worrying/focusing on painful stimulus
what are chemoreceptors?
receptor cells that react to invisible molecules scattered in air/dissolved in liquids → taste + smell
what differentiates the senses?
- light/sound = waves
- touch = pressure
- taste/smell = chemical
what is olfaction?
- sense of smell
- airborne molecules enter nose/back of throat → interact with receptor cells → neural response generated and travels to olfactory bulb → sent to various brain locations
what are the 3 brain locations involved in smell?
- amygdala (emotional processing)
- hypothalamus (relay center)
- hippocampus (memories)
what is gustation?
sense of taste
what is the difference between taste and flavor?
- taste = neural activity
- flavor = perceptional experience
what are taste buds?
- receptor cell on tongue
- sensitive to different types of taste
- send neural signals to brain
what is consciousness?
awareness of one’s internal + external states resulting from brain activity
what is attention?
internal processes used to set priorities for mental functioning (focus on selective parts of environment and ignore others)
what are the findings of the Dichotic Listening studies?
- different auditory messages were delivered simultaneously to each ear
- focusing on one message → poor processing of other message
- humans monitor environment without conscious awareness
what is the Cocktail Party Effect?
ability to focus on one auditory message and ignore others
what is automaticity?
- fast/effortless processing requiring little or no focused attention
- created through practice
- attention used to process new info while brain still performs automatic tasks
what is visual neglect?
- tendency to ignore things that occur on one side of body
- caused by right parietal lobe damage
what is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
- psychological disorder marked by difficulties in concentrating and sustaining attention for extended time periods
- subtypes: hyperactive-implusive, inattentive, combined
what is sleep?
altered state of consciousness
what are Circadian rhythms?
- biological activities that rise and fall in accordance with 24-hour day
- regulated by hypothalamus
what are the stages/waves of sleep?
- relaxed brain = alpha waves (slow, high amplitude)
- Stage N1 = drifting thought and theta waves (lower in amplitude, more irregular)
- Stage N2 = theta waves interrupted by sleep spindles (various brain functions) and K complexes (triggered by external stimuli)
- Stage N3 = deep sleep and delta activity (synchronized, slow wave)
- REM (rapid eye movement) = body activated but fully asleep/muscles relaxed and dreaming
what are the 2 theories of sleep?
- restorative: sleep allows body to rest and repair itself
- Circadian Rhythm: decreased activity in dark reduces vulnerability/exposure to predators
what are dreams?
products of altered state of consciousness in which images/fantasies are confused with reality
what are the 2 types of sleep disorders?
- dyssomnias
- parasomnias
what are the 3 dyssomnias?
- insomnia - difficulty falling/maintaining sleep
- hypersomnia - excessive sleepiness
- narcolepsy - extreme sleepiness
what are the 3 parasomnias?
- nightmares - frightening/anxiety-arousing dreams during REM sleep
- night terrors - terrifying experience in which person awakes in a panic
- sleepwalking - person wanders while sleeping
what is substance use disorder?
drug use that remains compulsive despite negative consequences
what are psychoactive drugs?
drugs that affect behavior and mental processes through alterations of conscious awareness
what is drug tolerance?
increasing amounts of drug needed to produce same physical/behavioral effects
what is drug dependence?
- condition in which one experiences physical/psychological need for continued use of a drug
- can result in death
what is withdrawal?
- physical reactions one experiences when drug use is discontinued
- sweating, headache, tremors, vomiting
what are the 5 types of psychoactive drugs?
- stimulants
- depressants
- opioids
- hallucinogens/psychedelics
- combination
what are stimulants?
- increase behavioral/mental activity
- ex: amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, nicotine, caffeine
what are depressants?
- decrease behavioral/mental activity
- ex: anti-anxiety drugs and alcohol
what are opioids?
- reduce pain/bring pleasure
- ex: heroin, morphine, codeine
what are hallucinogens/psychedelics?
- alter thoughts/perceptions
- ex: LSD, PCP, peyote, psilocybin, mushrooms
what are combination psychoactive drugs?
- mixed effects
- ex: marijuana and MDMA
what is the reward circuit?
- mesolimbic dopamine pathway
- reward → dopamine pathways