Lecture 9 Flashcards
What are sensory receptors?
Specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli
Define transduction
Conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential
Define absolute threshold
The level of a stimulus at which the stimulus can be detected 50% of the times it is presented (e.g. how dim a light can be and still be detected half the time)
What is a ‘just noticeable difference’ in reference to sensation?
How much difference in a stimulus is required to detect a/the difference
Define subliminal messages
When transduction happens, but no conscious processing
What is perception?
How information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced
What is bottom-up processing?
How perceptions are built from sensory input (physical process, based off sensation)
What is top-down processing?
How available knowledge, previous experience, and thoughts influence how one interprets information (psychological process, based off perception)
What is sensory adaptation?
After long exposure to stimulus, perception dulls
- Our sensory systems respond more strongly to changes in stimulation than to constant stimulation (e.g. sleep through gun-action movie, wake up when it ends)
What is inattentional blindness?
How we often miss information if our attention is placed elsewhere
What is signal detection theory?
Method of detecting our ability to identify stimulus when it is embedded in a distracting background
Visual and auditory stimuli both occur in the form of…
waves
Two physical characteristics of waves?
Amplitude (height from highest point to lowest point)
Wavelength (length from one peak to the next)
What is frequency in waves?
refers to number of waves that pass a given point in given time, expressed in hertz (Hz)
What type of waves are associated with perception of colour and how do the wave’s characteristics affect perception?
Light waves, wavelengths determine colour and larger amplitudes appear brighter
