intro to Sensation And Perception Flashcards
Define sensation
Starting point, receiving info from world through senses
What are sensory receptor cells?
Specialised neurones that respond to a physical property of environment
Define perception
End point- experience of world
What is the practical app of studying S&P?
Understand changes in ageing, disease, injury
Understand demands of driving, technology
Design of artificial perceptual systems (robots)
What are the 8 parts of the perceptual process?
Distal Stimulus Proximal stimulus Receptor processes Neural processing Perception, recognition, action Knowledge
What is the distal stimulus?
Physical object in environment
What is the proximal stimulus?
Info about distal received by sensory receptor cells
The representation of the distal stimulus
Hoe do senses receive info about distal stimulus?
Through physical energy
eg sound= sound waves
What is the receptor process?
Receptor cells carry out traduction
Physical energy to electrical energy
What is neural processing?
Electrical signals are transmitted from one neurone to next
Signal changes as neurones interact
What is perception (as part of perceptual process)?
Conscious sensory experience
But havent recognised what it is yet
What is recognition (as part of perceptual process)?
Placing object into a category
You recognise what it is
What is visual form agnosia?
Inability to recognise objects
What does visual form agnosia show about the perceptual process?
The distinction between perception and recognition
What is action (as part of perceptual process)?
Movement, of eyes, head, body
After this, go back to distal stimulus and process repeats
What is the impact of knowledge on the perceptual process?
Existing knowledge can influence perception, recognition and action
What are the 2 ways knowledge can impact the perceptual process?
Top-down processing- implicites complex perceptual process
Bottom-up processing- processing based on incoming sensory info
What does the physiological approach to perception study?
What’s happening in the brain
What are some ways of using a physiological approach to study sensation?
Studying anatomy Recording brain activity Micro stimulation- insert 2 electrodes to manipulate activity Lesioning TMS
What does the pyschophysical approach to sensation study?
What we perceive
Studies what people actually receive and the relationship between them
What are the 2 types of threshold used in the psychophysical approach to sensation?
Absolute (detection)- what’s the smallest magnitude we can perceive?
Difference (discrimination)- what’s the smallest difference we can perceive?
What’s Webers law?
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
