Introduction - Exam #1 Flashcards
Define Sensation
The first/initial contact between the organism and the environment
What is Sensation in the Information Processing Model?
The initial transformation/the first/starting block
What exactly is the initial transformation in Sensation and the Information Processing Model?
It’s where energy from the environment activates sensors -> [[how energy gets initiated from the outside world into APs]]
Define Transduction; where does it happen?
The conversion of environmental energy into neural energy(APs); the first/initial contact
What is the “Sensation” Part of the Information Processing Model? Which block is it?
“Sensory Process” -> First block
What is the “Perception” Part of the Information Processing Model? Which block is it?
Attention and Recognition -> second, third, and fourth (attention -> recognition -> attention)
What comes out of the “Short-term memory” part of the Information Processing Model? Which block is it?
It’s the fifth block -> Behavioral response
What is the final block in the Information Processing Model? Which block is it?
Long-term memory -> Sixth block
What are the little arrows in between the block in the Information Processing Model symbols of?
Transformations!
What is the importance of Transformations in the Information Processing Model? What are they a part of?
They’re how the initial sensations are processed–Perception
What are the four energies?
Visible light, vibrations in air molecules/soundwaves, mechanical energy, and chemical energy(chemical bonds!)
Where can the energy Visible Light come from? How does it get to your eye?
Light bulbs, the sun, etc… It bounces around!
What Sense does the Energy Visible Light correspond to?
Vision
What do vibrations in air molecules/soundwaves create? What happens to it?
A traveling wave that travels to the eardrum that sensors and then processes
What Sense does the Energy Vibrations in the Air correspond to?
Hearing
What Sense does Mechanical Energy correspond to? Which sensors?
Touch; the Haptic Sensors
What are Haptic Senors/When do they get activated?
The sensors that get activated during touch
What are some different Haptic Sensors?
Stretch sensors in the stomach for fullness, kinestetic receptors from our joins that tell us how to adjust our weight, and mechano receptors that detect stimuli such as touch, pressure, vibration, and sound from the external and internal environments
What do kinesthetic receptors do? Where are they?
They’re from our joints; tell us how to adjust our weight in movement
what is the kinesthetic sense?
The ability to know where our body is without seeing it
Which sense does Chemical Energy coorespond to?
Smell and Taste
How do smell and taste sense things?
Chemical bonds! Specialized receptors that respond to specific molecular compounds in the air or suspended in our food/liquid
Why do we need receptors? Taste example?
To know if food is good or spoiled! It’s good for survival; you need sensors to get the information from the world into your brain
Why do we have different types of sensors?
There’s different types of energy in the world!
We evolved our senses to capture…
…specific forms of energy existing in nature/in the world
What is acoustic energy?
Noise
Why do we even have receptors? No Taste example
There’s information in the energy around us!
We can only perceive those forms of energy that can be….
…transduced by our sensory systems
What’s the fancy term(s) for light energy?
Electromagnetic Radiation/Energy
What is Electromagnetic Radiation/Energy
The stimulus/energy for vision
Why does light look different?
Variation in light wavelengths
What are the only Electromagnetic Radiation/Energy that people can see?
Colors
What are some examples of Electromagnetic Radation/Energy?
Color, radar, infrared rays, X rays, Gamma rays, FM, Tv, AM, AC circuts
Draw/imagine a long wavelength
(it should look loose and have wide “U”s
Draw/imagine a short Wavelength
It should look tight together and have small “U”s (looking more like “V”s)
Define Wavelength
The distance between two consecutive peaks of a wave
Amplitude?
The amount of energy transported by the wavelength (how tall it is)
Can our eyes see a lot of the Electromagnetic Radiation/Energy?
No! Just a little bit!
What is the part of the Electromagnetic Radiation scale that we can see called? What’s in it?
The Visible Spectrum; colors
Why do bees live in a different world? How do they experience it differently?
They can see ultraviolet light!
Is there a clear definition of Perception? Why or why not?
No! Perception is subjective
Why is Perception subjective? What is Perception influenced by?
Memory, context, meaning, and experience
How many properties of Perception are there?
Three!
What is the first property of Perception?
Perception is subjective; is it influenced by memory, context, meaning, and experience
What is the second property of Perception?
Object properties exist in your brain, not in the object
What is the third property of Perception?
Perception guides action, action changes perception
Is Perception a Static thing? What is this called?
No! It is a continuous and changing cycle of processes–The Perceptual Cycle!
What is a term for the third property of Perception?
The Perceptual Cycle!
“Your own hypothesis or theory of what’s out there in the world”
Perception!
What is Perception in terms of being a product of our brain?
It’s the brain attempt to make sense out of all the information that is being sampled by our senses–an interpretation of sensory information
What does our brain do to make sense of the world? What does it look for?
Patterns! In light, sounds, etc!
Define Bistable Perception and give an example
The experience of two different percepts despite an unchanging physical stimulus (i.e. something that can have two interpretations, like the old and young lady picture)
Why can we see two different pictures in one Bistable Perception picture at different times?
One percept becomes habituated; as the other one takes over (one percept weakens, the other strengthens, and then back and forth)
What is a Percept?
A perception of something
What is meant by “Object properties exist in your brain, not the object”?
We percieve an apple as red–there’s no “red” in it’s atoms!
What concept does “Object properties exist in your brain, not the object” relate to?
Perception and the second property of Perception
Why do we see an apple as red even though it can change color in different lights and there’s no “red atoms” in it?
It’s because of the molecular structure of the apple; we have visual receptors that are coded to see wavelengths of light that are coded for red
What would happen if we didn’t have “red” receptors?
We’d see the object as a different color
What is perception a blend of?
Physical and mental realities
What is the physical component of Perception? (Ex: flowers
Odorant molecules from the flower get into the air, sucked into our nose, activates neurons, and gets transported until you experience the smell)
What is the mental component of Perception (Ex: flowers)
“Ah, the smell of flowers!”
Is the smell of flowers in the flower itself?
No!
Define Coding
The spatial and temporal pattern of nerve impulses represents the stimulus in a meaningful way
Define Reception
Stimulus molecules attach to receptors
How does the flower smell go from the flower into your brain? Sciencey!
Odorant Molecules in the air -> Reception -> Transduction -> Coding
What guides perception?
Action!
What guides action?
Perception!
What is the important thing to take away from the perceptual cycle?
Action and Perception are interlinked!
Give me the Perceptual Cycle!
Perception -> Recognition -> Action -> Environmental stimulus -> attended stimulus -> stimulus on receptors -> transduction -> processing
Where is “knowledge” in the perceptual cycle?
Perception and Processing
What is an example of perception guiding action and action guiding perception?
Seeing the horse “cool!” and then moving closer (perception guiding action) and then seeing that it’s different
What is the interaction between Perception and Processing called?
Perceptual Neuroscience
What is the main interaction between in Perceptual Neuroscience? What are these?
Perception and Processing (“Knowledge”)
What is the interaction between the Environmental Stimulus and Processing called?
Neurophysiology
What is the interaction between Perception and the Attended Stimulus called?
Psychophysics
What is a fancy term for Psychophysics?
Psychophysical relationship
Give an example of Neurophysiology
A nerve firing or measuring brain activity
What is the “Psychophysical level”?
The relationship between an attended stimulus and a person’s perception
What does the “Psychophysical level” NOT have?
Brain processes or median things in between the stimulus and the brain activation -XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
What is the “Psychophysical level”?
Relationship between an environmental stimulus and a neuron’s firing rate
Why can we not say we’re “studying Perception at this neurological level”? What does this relate to?
Because it’s at a neuron level, and the neurons don’t have to be contributing to perception; relates to the Neurophysiological level
What is the relationship between in Neurophysiology?
An environmental stimulus and a neuron’s firing rate
What is the primary goal of Neurophysiology?
To look for relationships between brain activity and a person’s Perception
What does neuron activity mean?
Neuron firing rate! APs!
What is the relationship between at the Perceptual Neuroscience Level?
Brain activity and a person’s perception
Can you give me an example of a Perceptual Neuroscience Level experiment?
Turning a bar of light and seeing a neuron’s activity in response to it
What is the difference between an Attended Stimulus and an Environmental Stimulus?
If the person is saying that they can see it it’s attended, but if it’s a cat you don’t actually know what they’re staring at
