L07: Sensation & Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

Sensation

A

The ability to detect a stimulus. Features of the environment that are used to create understanding of the world.

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2
Q

Perception

A

The act of giving meaning to a detected stimulus. Combining of sensations arriving from the sensory system with prior knowledge.

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3
Q

Transduction

A

Process where stimuli are converted to neural electrochemical energy.

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4
Q

Top-down processing

A

Applying memory, knowledge, etc. to understand and create perception

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5
Q

Bottom-up processing

A

Processing the elementary messages from the environment

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6
Q

Psychophysics

A

The science of defining quantitive relationships between physical & psychological events. Relates physical stimuli to the contents of consciousness.

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7
Q

Gestalt psychology

A

describes how people tend to organize visual elements into whole entities - “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

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8
Q

Figure-ground principle

A

a form is naturally perceived as a figure while its surrounding area is perceived as ground

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9
Q

Principle of Proximity

A

elements placed close together are perceived as a group

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10
Q

Principle of Similarity

A

similar objects are perceived as a group

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11
Q

Principle of Closure

A

people perceive the whole by filling in missing info

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12
Q

Principle of Good continuation

A

the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object

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13
Q

Principle of Common fate

A

objects moving together are grouped together

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14
Q

Blindsight

A

damage to a visual cortex leads to conscious blindness, typically only on one side. when patients are asked to identify visual stimuli in their blind field, they can do so with accuracy, suggesting conscious and unconscious vision

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15
Q

Visual agnosia

A

inability to recognize visual objects. associated with issues in the ventral pathway

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16
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

inability to recognize faces. associated with issues in the ventral pathway. shows emotional responses to very close relatives, suggesting unconscious vision

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17
Q

Cornea

A

Transparent tissue which allows light rays to enter the eye and focus on objects

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18
Q

iris

A

Coloured part of the eye consisting of muscular diaphragm which regulates light entering the eye

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19
Q

retina

A

Contains photoreceptors

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20
Q

fovea

A

Smallest pit that contains the highest concentration of photoreceptors (rods and cones)

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21
Q

blind spot

A

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye. no photoreceptors in this area, so the visual system usually fills in the area with info about the surroundings

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22
Q

function of rods

A

responsible for night vision, dim light, low resolution

23
Q

function of cones

A

responsible for daylight vision, bright light, sensitive to blue, red, and green, high resolution

24
Q

bipolar cells

A

interneurons that provide the main pathways from photoreceptors to ganglion cells

25
Q

Ganglion cells

A

Final layer of the retina

26
Q

Distribution of rods

A

found in the periphery, around 100 million in each eye, one photopigment

27
Q

Distribution of cones

A

multiple photopigments, around 5 million in each eye, spike in the number of cones by the fovea

28
Q

on-centre/OFF-surround cell

A

A ganglion cell that increases firing in response to an increase in light intensity

29
Q

visual pathway

A
  1. information from the retina leaves the eye via the optic nerve.
  2. information from the optic nerve travels to the optic chasm (cross-over)
  3. information reaches the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus
  4. information reaches the visual striate cortex then the occipital cortex to be processed
30
Q

feature detector

A

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

31
Q

simple cells

A

neurons fire vigorously when the line is orientated vertically but reduce firing horizontally

32
Q

complex cells

A

Fire most when lines are in certain motion

33
Q

receptive field

A

the region on the retina in which the visual stimuli influence the neural firing rate

34
Q

ventral pathway

A

“what” pathway
Ventral -> temporal lobe -> object recognition

35
Q

Dorsal pathway

A

“where” pathway
Dorsal -> parietal lobe -> location of objects in space

36
Q

visible light spectrum

A

We only detect between 400-700nm of light (ultraviolet to infared)

37
Q

trichromatic theory

A

Colour vision occurs by comparing the activation of 3 different cones

38
Q

opponent process theory

A

p-cells fire rapidly to one wavelength and reduce to another, forming pairs of colours (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white)

39
Q

sound

A

Vibrations in a medium that cause pressure changes or waves

40
Q

outer ear

A

Contains the pinna and tympanic membrane

41
Q

middle ear

A

consists of the malleus, incus, and stapes - tiny bones responsible for amplifying sound arriving at the eardrum to the cochlear membrane

42
Q

inner ear

A

Helps you hear and maintain your balance. Contains the cochlea

43
Q

cochlea

A

Fluid-filled, coiled structure with two membranes, creating 3 canals

44
Q

hair cells

A

Transduce mechanical movement from sound waves into neural activity

45
Q

auditory pathway

A
  1. Auditory information travels to the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus.
  2. Info then travels to the auditory cortex in temporal lobes.
46
Q

interpreting sound

A

2 theories: place & frequency theory

47
Q

sound localization

A

Detecting objects’ location in space requires binaural cues

48
Q

phantom words

A

Although everyone hears the same stimulus, perceptions differ based on our prior knowledge.

49
Q

Mechanoreceptors

A

transduce mechanical stimulation (pressure) into touch sensation

50
Q

Thermoreceptors

A

Signals info about changes in skin temp. Also responds to chemical stimuli. split into warm and cold fibers

51
Q

Nociceptors

A

Transmit info about painful stimulation that causes damage to the skin. mechanical, thermal, and chemical signals

52
Q

Somatosensory pathway

A

Info is relayed via the thalamus to the contralateral parietal lobe.

53
Q

Sensory homunculus

A

A depiction of how the body is represented by the brain, proportional to the amount of cortex devoted to each body part.

54
Q

Body schema modifications

A

visual input integrates with and even overrides our conscious body image