Module 4.1- Sensation and Perception at a Glance

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the process of detecting external events by sense organs and turning those stimuli into neural signals

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

involves attending to, organizing and interpreting stimuli that we sense

Question 3

what 2 things are brains designed for?

Answer 3

brain is designed to detect patterns, and to make the external environment coherent

Question 4

transduction

Answer 4

when specialized receptors transform the physical energy of the outside world into neural impulses

Question 5

translating the physical energy from the outside world into neural energy

Answer 5

transduction

Question 6

the doctrine of specific nerve energies

Answer 6

the theory that the different senses are separated in the brain

Question 7

who proposed the doctrine of specific nerve energies?

Answer 7

German physiologist Johannes Müller

Question 8

______ influences how we response to stimuli

Answer 8

experience

Question 9

orienting response

Answer 9

we quickly shift our attention to stimuli that signal a change in our sensory world

Question 10

sensory adaptation

Answer 10

The reduction of activity in sensory receptors with repeated exposure to a stimulus

Question 11

what are the 3 stimulus thresholds?

Answer 11

1) Psychophysics
2) Absolute Threshold
3) Difference Threshold

Question 12

Psychophysics

Answer 12

the field of study that explores how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensity relate to psychological experience

Question 13

who developed psychophysics

Answer 13

William Gustav Fechner

Question 14

Absolute Threshold

Answer 14

the minimum amount o energy or quantity of a stimulus required for it to be reliably detected at least 50% of the time it is presented

Question 15

what are the 5 absolute sensory thresholds?

Answer 15

vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste

Question 16

difference threshold

Answer 16

the smallest difference between stimuli that can be reliably detected at least 50% of the time

Question 17

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 17

a theory stating that whether a stimulus is perceived depends on both sensory experience and judgement made by the subject

Question 18

what are the 4 possible outcomes of the signal detection theory?

Answer 18

Hit, False Alarm, Correct Rejection and Miss

Question 19

Subliminal Perception

Answer 19

perception below the threshold of conscious awareness

Question 20

what did merikle and skanes test?

Answer 20

tested subliminal weight loss tapes

Question 21

how did merikle and skanes test subliminal weight loss tapes?

Answer 21

they assigned participants to:

1) experimental condition (subliminal weight loss tape)
2) placebo condition (subliminal dental anxiety prevention tape
3) waiting list

Question 22

what were the 4 conditions Greenwald used of subliminal self-help tapes?

Answer 22

1) memory improvement (labeled correctly)
2) Self-esteem improvement (labeled correctly)
3) Memory improvement (labeled “memory improvement”)

Question 23

true or false: Greenwalds 4 conditions of subliminal self-help tapes showed that the cassette’s label was a better predictor of improvement than the cassette’s content

Answer 23

True

Question 24

priming

Answer 24

when a previously viewed word makes a related word come to mind

Question 25

what 2 things does priming influence?

Answer 25

1) word selection

2) preferences

Question 26

gestalt psychology

Answer 26

an approach to perception that emphasizes that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Question 27

what did vokey and rea study?

Answer 27

studied participants ability to comprehend messages played backwards

Question 28

what percentage of accuracy did Vokey and Rea get on participants accuracy on judging the sex of the speaker

Answer 28

98.9%

Question 29

what percentage of accuracy did Vokey and Rea get on participants accuracy on judging if the speaker was the same across audio clips

Answer 29

78.5%

Question 30

what percentage of accuracy did Vokey and Rea get on participants accuracy on judging if the clip was in English, French or German

Answer 30

46.7%

Question 31

what 5 things were used in the comprehension study?

Answer 31

nursery passages, christian passages, satanic messages, pornographic statements, advertising messages

Question 32

what are the 2 types of processing?

Answer 32

1) bottom-up processing

2) top-down processing

Question 33

bottom-up processing

Answer 33

when we perceive individual bits of sensory information (e.g., sounds) and use them to construct a more complex perception (e.g., a message)

Question 34

top-down processing

Answer 34

when our perceptions are influenced by our expectations or by our prior knowledge

Question 35

divided attention

Answer 35

paying attention to more than one stimulus or task at the same time

Question 36

selective attention

Answer 36

focusing on one particular event or task so that you can accurately sense and perceive the information it might provide (e.g., watching the road while driving)

Question 37

inattentional blindness

Answer 37

a failure to notice clearly visible events or objects because attention is directed elsewhere