idek Flashcards

Question

Sensation

Answer 1

process by which our sensory receptors & nervous system receive & represent stimulus energies from our environment

Answer 2

process by which our brain organizes & interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects & events as meaningful People with prosopagnosia, their brain can perceive all other aspects - hair, physique, gait - but cannot make sense of the face

Answer 3

information processing that begins with the sensory receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information (also called feature detection)

Answer 4

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations

Answer 5

conversion of one form of energy into another; in sensation, the transforming of physical energy, such as sights, sounds, & smells, into neural impulses the brain can interpret

Answer 6

minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Answer 7

theory predicting how & when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise); assumes there is no single absolute threshold & that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, & alertness

Answer 8

stimuli that falls below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Answer 9

minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (also known as just noticeable difference [jnd])

Answer 10

principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) Percentage varies depends on the stimulus - two objects must differ in weight by 2% to notice a change

Answer 11

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Answer 12

distance from the peak of one light wave to the peak of the next

Answer 13

dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light (color that we see) Short wavelength = high frequency (bluish colors) Long wavelength = low frequency (reddish colors) Medium wavelength = medium frequency (greenish colors)

Answer 14

amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness

Answer 15

eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil & lens, bends light to help focus

Answer 16

adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Answer 17

ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil & controls the size of the pupil opening (dilates or constricts the pupil to let in more or less light; also responds to mood)

Answer 18

transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Answer 19

process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina

Answer 20

light-sensitive back inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods & cones plus layers of neurons that begin the process of visual information

Answer 21

retinal receptors that detect black, white, & gray, & are sensitive to movement; rods are necessary for peripheral & twilight vision, when cones don’t respond, 120 million rods

Answer 22

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina & that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; cones detect fine detail & give rise to color sensations, 6 million cones

Answer 23

central point of focus in the retina, around which cones are clustered

Answer 24

nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Answer 25

point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there Optic nerves cross at the optic chiasm, then pass through the visual area of the thalamus, which projects the messages to the visual cortex of the occipital lobes

Answer 26

theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors - one most sensitive to red, one to green, & one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color (explains color blindness)

Answer 27

theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, & black-white) enable color vision; for example, some cells are stimulated by green & inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red & inhibited by green (explains afterimages)

Answer 28

nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Answer 29

the sense or act of hearing

Answer 30

Height of sound waves determines the loudness

Answer 31

number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second) - measured in hertz, determines the pitch Short waves have high frequency (high-pitched sounds) Long waves have low frequency (low-pitched sounds)

Answer 32

set of small bones in the middle ear, located between the eardrum & the cochlea, that concentrate the vibrations in the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

Answer 33

innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, & vestibular sacs

Answer 34

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid tigger nerve impulses

Answer 35

located in the cochlea, covered in hair cells (cilia), which bend with vibrations and trigger neural impulses to the auditory nerve

Answer 36

interconnected axons which carry neural message to the thalamus then to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobes

Answer 37

most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness Cannot be reversed, but hearing can be semi-restored with a cochlear implant

Answer 38

less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (bones of the middle ear)

Answer 39

theory that links the pitch that we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated (also called place coding) Place theory explains how we hear high-pitched sounds but not low-pitched

Answer 40

theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense pitch (also called temporal coding)

Answer 41

neural cells can alternate firing, achieving a combined frequency above 1000 waves per second

Answer 42

our tactile sense, helps development from the moment we are born

Answer 43

theses are sensitive to pressure, warmth, cold, & pain - other skin sensations are variations of these four touch sensations

Answer 44

theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain; the “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers, & is closed by activity in large fibers or by information coming from the brain

Answer 45

people with red hair typically have a higher pain tolerance

Answer 46

brain creates pain when there is a limb missing by misinterpreting & amplifying spontaneous CNS activity

Answer 47

we overlook pain’s duration, but our memory snapshots record pain’s peak moment & how much pain is felt at the end

Answer 48

Perceive more pain when others also seem to be experiencing pain

Answer 49

Placebos can help with pain (expectation of pain relief), distraction can reduce pain (counting backward after getting a shot)

Answer 50

sense of taste (chemical sense); six taste sensations that have evolutionary benefits Sweet - tells us the food is an energy source Salty - tells us the food has essential sodium Sour - tells us the food is potentially toxic acid Bitter - tells us the food is potentially poisonous Umami - tells us the food has protein to grow & repair tissues Oleogustus - tells us the food has fats for energy, insulation, & cell growth

Answer 51

reproduce themselves every 1-2 weeks; number of taste buds decrease as you age

Answer 52

sense of smell (chemical sense)

Answer 53

cells at the top of the nasal cavity, receive stimuli, activate axons traveling to the brain Smell is the only sense to bypass the thalamus Smell and memory are closely linked due to location of organs in the brain/head

Answer 54

principle that one sense can influence another, as when smell of food influences taste Smell + texture + taste = flavor

Answer 55

our movement sense; our system for sensing the position & movement of individual body parts, millions of sensors in muscles, tendons, joints all over body called proprioceptors

Answer 56

our balance sense; our sense of body movement & position that enables our sense of balance, controlled by semicircular canals and vestibular sacs

Answer 57

influence of bodily sensations, gestures, & other states on cognitive preferences & judgements

Answer 58

stimulation of one sense triggers an experience with another Hearing music may trigger a sense of color or taste associated with certain notes

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idek Flashcards

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