MCAT Psychology Sensory and Perception Part 2 Flashcards
___ are mechanoreceptors for pressure located deep in the skin
Pacinian corpuscles
___ is a specialized cell found in the cochlea of the inner ear that detects vibrations caused by sound eaves (Mechanoreceptor)
Auditory hair cell
___ are located in semicircular canals in the inner ear that detect acceleration and position relative to gravity (mechanoreceptor)
Vestibular hair cell
___ fire action potentials as long as the stimulus continues
Tonic receptors
___ only fire action potentials when the stimulus begins and do not explcitly communicate the duration of the stimulus
Phasic receptors
This is a sensory organ specialized to detect muscle stretch
Muscle spindle
Outer ear consists of __,and the __
auricle or pinna and the external auditory canal
Middle ear conssits of the __
ossicles, malleus, incus, and the stapes
The __ attaches the oval window the membrane that divides the middle ear from the inner ear
Stapes
4 structures of the inner ear include the __,__,__, and the __
cochlea, semicircular canals, utricle, and the saccule
The ___ is a membrane-covered hole in the cochlea near the oval window that releases excess pressure
Round window
The __ functions to equalize the pressure on both sides of the eardrum and is the cause of the “ear pooping” one experiences at high altitudes or underwater
Eustachian tube (also known as the auditory tube)
The vestibular complex is made up of the three semicircular canals:,__,__, and the ___ all are essentially tubes filled with ENDOLYMPH
The vestibular complex is made up of the three semicircular canals: the utricle, the saccule and the ampullae
Organs of the vestibular complex are responsible for ___
detection of rotational acceleration of the head
Light is ___ as it passes through the cornea, becasue the refractive index of the cornea is higher than that of air
Refracted
The ___ contains darkly-pigmented cells; this pigmentation absorbs excess light within the eye
Choroid
__ is the surface upon which light is focused
Retina
The ___ is the colored part of the eye and muscles here regulate the diameter of the pupil
Iris
The role of the ___ is to fine-tune the angle of incoming light, so that the beams are perfectly focused upon the retina
Lens
In the center of the macula is the ___ which contains only cones and is responsible for extreme visual acuity
Fovea centralis (focal point)
Night vision is accomplished by the __ which are more sensitive to dim light and motion, more concentrated in the periphery of the retina
Rods
___ require abundant light and are responsible for color vision and high-acuity, more concentrated in the fovea
Cones
Normal vision is termed __
emmetropia
Too much curvature of the cornea or lens causes light to be bent too much and to be focused in front of the retina, resulting in ___ or nearsightedness
Myopia
Myopia (nearsightedness) can be corrected by a ___
Concave (diverging) lens
A __ will cause the light rays to diverge slightly before they reach the cornea
Concave (Diverging) lens
___ is farsightedness, which occurs when light is focused BEHIND the retina
Hyperopia
Hyperopia (farsightedness can be corrected with a ___
convex (converging) lens, which causes light to converge before reaching the cornea
___ causes light rays to converge before reaching the cornea, effectively correcting Hyperopia (farsightedness)
Convex (converging) lens
__ is an inability to focus, resulting from loss of flexibility of the lens, which occurs with aging
Presbyopia
After the optical chiasm the optical axons are called the __
optic tract
___ whereby many aspects of a visual stimulus (form, motion, color, and depth) are processed simultaneously instead of in a step-by-step process
Parallel processing
__ is a binocular cue whereby the brain compares the images projected onto the two retinas in order to perceive distance
Retinal disparity
According to this gestalt principle, when attempting to identify an object, we first identify its outline, which then allows us to figure out what the object is. After the whole emerge we start to identify the parts that make up the whole
Emergence
A Gestalt principle that explains the tendency of ambiguous images to pop back and forth unstably between alternative interpretations in our brains
Multistability
Gestalt law that things that are near each other seem to be grouped together
Law of proximity
This Gestalt law suggest that we perceive smooth, continous lines and forms, rather than a disjoined one
Law of continuity
This Gestalt law predicts that we will perceive things as a complete logical entity, because our brains will fill in the gaps in the information
Law of closure
This Gestalt law predicts that objects moving in the same direction or moving in sychrony are perceived as a group or unit
Gestalt law of common fate
This Gestalt law predicts that things are joined or linked or grouped are perceived as connected
Gestalt law of connectedness
Information first enters the eye in one direction, and is then turned into an identifiable image by the brain
Bottom-up processing
In this model:
- Inputs from environment enter sensory buffer
- One input is selected and filtered based on physical characteristics of the input (sensory modality)
- Other sensory info stays in the filter but then decays
- In the next step, raw data enters short-term memory stage, where semantic (meaning-making) processes occur
Broadbent Filter Model of Selective Attention
This model believes that rather than a filter, the mind has an attenuator, which works like a volume knob it “turns down” the unattended sensory input, rather than eliminating
Anne Treisman’s Attenuation Model
This idea suggest that people cab be selectively primed to observe something, either by encountering it frequently or by having an expectation.
Selective Priming
We have a limited pool of resources on which to draw when performing tasks, both modality-specific resources and general. If the resources required to perform multiple tasks simultaneously exceeds the available resources to do so, then the tasks cant be accomplished at the same time
Resource model of attention
Three factors associated with performance on multi-tasking
task similarity
task difficulty
task practice
What are Piagets 4 stages of development?
- Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2)
- Preoperational stage (2-7)
- Concrete operational stage (7-11)
- Formal operational stage (12-adulthood)
During this time, children learn that things can be represented through symbols such as words and image. This accompanies their learning during pretend play and development of language, but they still lack logical reasoning. They are egocentric, don’t understand others have different perspectives
Preoperational stage ages 2 to 7 years old
Children learn to think logically about concrete events, this helps them learn the principle of conservation: the idea that quantity remains the same despite change in shape. They can also grasp mathematical concepts during this time
Concrete Operational Stage
An inability to see the problem from a fresh prospective
Fixation
A tendency to fixate on solutions that worked in the past though they may not apply to the current situation
Mental set
When you make a decision about something based on the examples that are most available in our mind this is an
Availability heuristic
When you go to the post office three different times and each time a different employee is rude to you. You may conclude “people who work at the P.O. are rude” this is an example of __, you have developed a generalization about post office workers
Representativeness heuristic
What is the difference between representative heuristic and availability heuristic?
Representativeness heurstic is based more on generalizations (rather than specific examples), whereas the availability heuristic is based on how readily particular examples come to mind
The tendency to judge arguments based on what one believes about their conclusions rather than on whether they use sound logic
Belief Bias
___ is defined as the awareness that we have of ourselves, our internal states, and the environment
Consciousness
People with this disorder lose the ability to speak, they know what they want to say but are unable to communicate it
Broca’s aphasia
People with___ do not have a problem with producing speech, but are incapable of producing intelligible, meaningful language
Wernicke’s aphasia
