Lecture 14 - Sensation and Perception

Question 1

What is transduction?

Answer 1

Conversion of different types of energy into sensory information that our brains can make sense of

Question 2

What are the five primary senses?

Answer 2

Sight (vision), hearing (audition), smell (olfaction), taste (gustation), skin sensations (somatosensation)

Question 3

What purpose do ganglion cells in the eye serve?

Answer 3

Circadian rhythms and pupillary reflex

Question 4

What purpose do rods in the eye serve?

Answer 4

Black and white, very sensitive

Question 5

What purpose do cones in the eye serve?

Answer 5

Colour vision

Question 6

How does colour vision work? (trichromatic theory)

Answer 6

Different objects reflect different frequencies of light. Cones contain photopigments that are broken down by certain frequencies of light - certain cones respond to red light, whilst others respond to blue or green light.

Question 7

How does black and white vision work?

Answer 7

Rods contain Rhodopsin, a photopigment that breaks down more readily in response to light - this allows us to distinguish between light and dark stimuli

Question 8

Where are we essentially colourblind?

Answer 8

Peripheral vision

Question 9

What is the process theory of colour?

Answer 9

The theory that we have three cone types (red, blue, green) which inhibit each other when excited

Question 10

What is hue?

Answer 10

Colours can vary in brightness but share the same hue. E.g. light red, dark red, pale red etc. all share the same hue

Question 11

What is brightness?

Answer 11

Differentiates how far a colour is from black or white. Brightness is a property possessed by both achromatic colours and chromatic colours

Question 12

What is saturation?

Answer 12

Saturation refers to the purity of a colour

Question 13

What is synaesthesia?

Answer 13

A fusion of different senses and input

Question 14

What is Weber’s Law?

Answer 14

The ratio of the increment threshold to a background intensity is constant

Question 15

What did the empiricists say about vision? (John Locke)

Answer 15

Process of perceiving does not distort nature of external information. Current state of knowledge does not affect perception. (Passive Perceiver)

Question 16

What did the nativists say about vision? (Kant)

Answer 16

We actively use information in the environment to adjust our perceptions. Current state of knowledge does affect perception. (Active Perceiver).

Question 17

What is perceptual constancy?

Answer 17

Evidence for the active perceiver. The ability to maintain the same dimensions of an object even when viewing said object from a different angle or from further away.

Question 18

What is unconscious inference? (Helmholtz)

Answer 18

Automatic perceptual processing

Question 19

What is anatomical coding?

Answer 19

when a given area is stimulated (e.g. pressure applied to foot) nerves from this area inform the brain as to which area of the body is being stimulated

Question 20

What is temporal coding?

Answer 20

The rate at which neurons fire can deviate depending on the intensity of a stimulus. I.e. stronger intensity means higher firing rate

Question 21

How many layers does the neocortex have?

Answer 21

6

Question 22

What is white light composed of?

Answer 22

All the different colours

Question 23

Central Suclus, Motor Cortex, Sensory Cortex… What is the correct order from front to back?

Answer 23

Motor Cortex, Central Sulcus, Sensory Cortex

Question 24

What is Myopia?

Answer 24

Short-sightedness - images are no longer projected onto the retina but instead just in front of it