Lecture 4 - Sensation 3

Question 1

What is the Haptic Sense?

Answer 1

The sense of touch - converts information about temperature, pressure, pain, and where our limbs are in space

Question 2

What is Kinesthetic sense?

Answer 2

Perception of the positions in space and movements of our bodies and limbs

Question 3

How can we sense touch?

Answer 3

Skin contains sensory receptors for touch - anything that touches skin provides tactile simulation. The integration of various signals and higher-level mental processes produce haptic experiences

Question 4

How can we sense temperature?

Answer 4

There are sense receptors in our skin for warmth and cold

Question 5

What is pain?

Answer 5

Pain is part of a warning system which stops you from continuing potentially harmful activities

Question 6

How many nerve fibres have been identified for pain?

Answer 6

Two types - Fast fibres and Slow fibres

Question 7

What are fast fibres for?

Answer 7

For sharp, immediate pain - activated by strong physical pressure and temperature extremes

Question 8

What are slow fibres for?

Answer 8

For chronic, dull, steady pain - activated by chemical changes in tissue when skin is damaged

Question 9

What is Gate Control Theory?

Answer 9

When pain receptors are activated, a neural “gate” opens in the spinal cord and allows pain signals to be
carried by nerve fibres - larger sensory nerve fibers can fire and close the gate, thus preventing pain perception

Question 10

What factors does pain involve?

Answer 10

Biological, psychological and cultural

Question 11

What are some ways you can close the pain gate?

Answer 11

Drug treatments (painkillers e.g ibuprofen) and Cognitive states (distraction, positive mood)

Question 12

What are some ways you can open the pain gate?

Answer 12

Some mental processes e.g. worrying or focusing on the pain

Question 13

What is Gustation?

Answer 13

The sense of taste

Question 14

What are Taste Buds?

Answer 14

Sensory organs in the mouth that contain the receptors for taste

Question 15

How do taste buds work?

Answer 15

Stimulated taste buds send signals to the thalamus and the frontal lobe of the brain, which then produces the experience of taste.

Question 16

What 5 basic qualities compose every taste experience?

Answer 16

1. Sweet
2. Sour
3. Salty
4. Bitter
5. Umami (Japanese for ‘savory’ or ‘yummy’)

Question 17

What can influence taste preferences?

Answer 17

Cultural factors - based around social norms for food choice - these influences begin in the womb

Question 18

What are Supertasters?

Answer 18

• Individuals who experience particularly intense taste sensations
• Largely genetically influenced – more common in women
• More likely to experience pain from spicy food, and to have aversions to certain foods

Question 19

Do people retain all their taste buds for life?

Answer 19

No - People lose half of their taste buds by the age of 20 – which is why young children also show more aversion to foods

Question 20

What is Olfaction?

Answer 20

The sense of smell

Question 21

How does Olfaction work?

Answer 21

Odorants pass into the nose and nasal cavity, then contact a thin layer of tissue embedded with smell receptors called the olfactory epithelium

Question 22

What is the Olfactory Epithelium?

Answer 22

A thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell

Question 23

What is the Olfactory Bulb?

Answer 23

The brain centre for smell - located below the frontal lobes

Question 24

What are Pheromones?

Answer 24

Chemicals released by animals (likely including humans), that trigger physiological or behavioral reactions in other animals and insects

Question 25

How can pheromones be detected?

Answer 25

Pheromones do not elicit a perception of smell - specialized receptors in the nasal cavity respond to the presence of pheromone

Question 26

What is Synaesthesia?

Answer 26

It’s where sensation of one type leads to an automatic perception of another type

E.g. Grapheme-colour synaesthesia is a relatively common form where specific letters are always seen in a specific colour