Module 4 - Lesson 3

Question 1

What is the meaning of “believing becomes reality” in terms of perception?

Answer 1

When you believe something will work (eg. a pill, even though it is a placebo), you are likely to perceive a resulting effect

Question 2

Phantom Limb Sensation

Answer 2

The brain misinterprets spontaneous central nervous system (CNS) activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory input

Question 3

Tinnitus

Answer 3

Phantom sound; ringing in the ears

Question 4

Endorphins

Answer 4

Sooths pain; our natural painkillers. Some people carry a mutated gene that raises the availability to pain and therefore further diminishes their response to pain

Question 5

Gate-Control Theory

Answer 5

Theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that opens when triggered by small nerve fibers, which transfer pain signals, and is closed by large nerve fibers, which transfer other sensations, and by brain signals. When the gate is closed, pain signals are blocked.

Question 6

Why do we feel pain?

Answer 6

Pain lets your body know that something is wrong and that it needs to be fixed.

Question 7

Compare kinesthetic and vestibular senses.

Answer 7

Kinesthesis refers to the body’s position and movement, while vestibular sense senses position in relation to gravity and the environment.

Question 8

Vestibular Sense

Answer 8

Sense of the body movement and position, including the sense of balance.

Question 9

Kinesthesis

Answer 9

System for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Question 10

The four basic skin sensations are:

Answer 10

Pressure, warmth, cold, and pain. Combinations of these can create other feeling (eg. the combination of cold and pressure triggers a sense of wetness).

Question 11

What are the 5 basic taste sensations?

Answer 11

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory)

Question 12

Taste is a ________ sense.

Answer 12

Chemical

Question 13

Papillae

Answer 13

Bumps on the tongue that contain taste buds and help us to grip our food. Each contains 200 or more taste buds.

Question 14

Taste Buds

Answer 14

Inside of papillae. Each contains between 50 and 100 taste receptor cells that sense food molecules and triggers a response that alerts your brain’s temporal lobe

Question 15

How does the placebo affect apply to taste?

Answer 15

If we are told that something is very delicious or expensive, the ingested substance triggers more activity in a brain area that responds to pleasant experiences, and vice versa.

Question 16

Sensory Interaction

Answer 16

Principle that one sense may influence another (eg. smell can influence taste; have you ever plugged your nose while you’re eating?)

Question 17

Olfaction

Answer 17

Smell

Question 18

Anosmia

Answer 18

Inability to smell

Question 19

Like taste, smell is a ________ sense.

Answer 19

Chemical

Question 20

True or False: You inhale something of whatever or whoever it is you smell.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

Where is the olfactory bulb?

Answer 21

Above our nasal cavity

Question 22

List 4 steps involved in olfaction.

Answer 22

1. Odorants bind to receptors
2. Olfactory receptor cells are activated and send electric signals
3. The signals are relayed via converged axons; these go through the bone to reach the olfactory bulb.
4. The signals are transmitted to higher regions of the brain

Question 23

Why can scents influence emotions?

Answer 23

Olfactory signals are sent directly to the limbic system, which processes emotions. Therefore, scents are often connected with emotions and can even evoke memories.