intro to Sensation And Perception

Question 1

Define sensation

Answer 1

Starting point, receiving info from world through senses

Question 2

What are sensory receptor cells?

Answer 2

Specialised neurones that respond to a physical property of environment

Question 3

Define perception

Answer 3

End point- experience of world

Question 4

What is the practical app of studying S&P?

Answer 4

Understand changes in ageing, disease, injury
Understand demands of driving, technology
Design of artificial perceptual systems (robots)

Question 5

What are the 8 parts of the perceptual process?

Answer 5

Distal Stimulus
Proximal stimulus
Receptor processes
Neural processing
Perception, recognition, action
Knowledge

Question 6

What is the distal stimulus?

Answer 6

Physical object in environment

Question 7

What is the proximal stimulus?

Answer 7

Info about distal received by sensory receptor cells

The representation of the distal stimulus

Question 8

Hoe do senses receive info about distal stimulus?

Answer 8

Through physical energy

eg sound= sound waves

Question 9

What is the receptor process?

Answer 9

Receptor cells carry out traduction

Physical energy to electrical energy

Question 10

What is neural processing?

Answer 10

Electrical signals are transmitted from one neurone to next

Signal changes as neurones interact

Question 11

What is perception (as part of perceptual process)?

Answer 11

Conscious sensory experience

But havent recognised what it is yet

Question 12

What is recognition (as part of perceptual process)?

Answer 12

Placing object into a category

You recognise what it is

Question 13

What is visual form agnosia?

Answer 13

Inability to recognise objects

Question 14

What does visual form agnosia show about the perceptual process?

Answer 14

The distinction between perception and recognition

Question 15

What is action (as part of perceptual process)?

Answer 15

Movement, of eyes, head, body

After this, go back to distal stimulus and process repeats

Question 16

What is the impact of knowledge on the perceptual process?

Answer 16

Existing knowledge can influence perception, recognition and action

Question 17

What are the 2 ways knowledge can impact the perceptual process?

Answer 17

Top-down processing- implicites complex perceptual process

Bottom-up processing- processing based on incoming sensory info

Question 18

What does the physiological approach to perception study?

Answer 18

What’s happening in the brain

Question 19

What are some ways of using a physiological approach to study sensation?

Answer 19

Studying anatomy
Recording brain activity 
Micro stimulation- insert 2 electrodes to manipulate activity
Lesioning 
TMS

Question 20

What does the pyschophysical approach to sensation study?

Answer 20

What we perceive

Studies what people actually receive and the relationship between them

Question 21

What are the 2 types of threshold used in the psychophysical approach to sensation?

Answer 21

Absolute (detection)- what’s the smallest magnitude we can perceive?
Difference (discrimination)- what’s the smallest difference we can perceive?

Question 22

What’s Webers law?

Answer 22

The smallest difference we can perceive is not a constant value
It’s relate to baseline level
Eg adding book to bag on cotton vs a bag of bricks- harder to tell
THE DIFFERENCE AS A PROPORTION OF BASELINE LEVEL IS CONSTANT