Lecture 7 Flashcards
What is psychophysics?
The study of how physical stimuli (e.g., Light) are translated into psychological experience.
Who was Gustav Fechner?
A German Physicist interested in studying strength of stimuli and how we detect/differentiate information from the environment.
What is a stimulus?
Any detectable input from the environment.
Define ‘Threshold’ in the context of sensation.
A dividing point between energy levels that do and do not have a detectable effect.
What does JND stand for?
Just Noticeable Difference.
What is the Just Noticeable Difference (JND)?
The smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect.
What are the two processes that involve how we perceive information?
Sensation and perception.
Define ‘sensation’.
The stimulation of sensory organs.
What role do sensory receptors play in sensation?
They convert stimuli from the environment into patterns of electrical signals (action potentials).
What are sensory neurons?
Nerve cells that transmit sensory information from the body to the brain and spinal cord.
What are primary sensory receptors?
Neurons that directly convert a stimulus into an electrical signal.
What are secondary sensory receptors?
Non-neuronal cells that first respond to a stimulus and then communicate it to a nearby neuron.
What is perception?
The selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input.
What is a percept?
A mental representation of sensory input, forming our conscious awareness of the world.
Where does perception occur?
In the brain, specifically in the primary cortices.
True or False: Sensation happens mostly in the brain.
False.
What is signal detection theory?
detection of stimuli involves both decision processes and sensory processes, influenced by various factors besides signal intensity.
Define sensory adaptation.
A gradual decline in sensitivity due to prolonged stimulation.
What does the retina do?
Captures incoming light and transmits visual signals along neuronal pathways.
What are rods and cones?
Rods are visual receptors for night and peripheral vision; cones are visual receptors for daylight and color vision.
What is the blind spot?
A small area on the retina where the optic nerve exits the eye, lacking photoreceptor cells.
What is contralateral processing in vision?
Visual fields are projected to the opposite side of the brain for processing.
What are feature detectors?
Neurons that respond selectively to very specific visual features of more complex stimuli.
What is feature analysis?
The process of detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into more complex forms.
What are the two main pathways for visual processing in the brain?
- Dorsal Stream (Where pathway)
- Ventral Stream (What pathway)
What is the trichromatic theory of color?
Suggests our ability to perceive color is based on three types of color receptors (cones) in the retina.
Define color-blindness.
Deficiencies in the ability to distinguish colors.
What is after-images?
A visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed.
What is opponent process theory?
Explains color perception as a result of opposing pairs of color receptors.
What is a visual illusion?
An apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality.
What is the McGurk Effect?
When the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of a different sound.
Fill in the blank: Sensory integration shows that what we see/hear and what we _______ are two different things.
perceive.
What is illusory motion?
Stationary or non-moving objects create the false impression of motion due to the brain’s interpretation of visual cues.
What is negative space illusion?
Occurs when the brain struggles to distinguish between the main object and the surrounding empty space.
What is the difference between seeing/hearing and perceiving?
Seeing/hearing and perceiving are two different things
Perception involves the interpretation of sensory information.
What are auditory illusions?
Auditory illusions occur when visual and auditory information don’t match
Expectations formed from vision can alter how we perceive sound.
What is the McGurk Effect?
The McGurk Effect occurs when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of a different sound.
What are the components involved in hearing (audition)?
Sound vibrations enter the outer ear, transmitted to the inner ear and cochlea by ossicles
Ossicles include Malleus, Incus, and Stapes.
What are ossicles?
Ossicles are three small bones in the middle ear that transmit air vibrations from the outer ear to the inner ear
The three ossicles are Malleus, Incus, and Stapes.
What is the smallest bone in the human body?
Stapes
What type of cells are responsible for hearing?
Hair cells
Hair cells are specialized sensory cells in the inner ear.
What do hair cells do?
Hair cells detect and convert vibrations into electrical signals.
What are stereocilia?
Stereocilia are the ‘hairs’ of hair cells that convert movement into electrical signals.
What is the vestibular system?
The vestibular system is responsible for maintaining balance and spatial orientation in the body.
What structures are included in the vestibular system?
The vestibular system includes the semicircular canals (SCCs)
SCCs are fluid-filled and contain hair cells.
What happens when there is damage to the vestibular system?
Damage can cause vertigo, which is the sensation of motion or spinning.
Where is auditory information processed in the brain?
Auditory information is processed by the primary auditory cortex (A1).
What is the primary auditory cortex (A1)?
located in the temporal lobe
responsible for processing auditory information, including sound and speech.
What is a tonotopic map?
A tonotopic map is a neural arrangement where specific sound frequencies are organized spatially for processing in the auditory system.
True or False: Different regions of A1 process different sound frequencies.
True
