Perception Flashcards

1
Q

4 types of sensation:

A

Light, chemicals, mechanical forces (pressure), temperature.

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2
Q

Stimuli from the physical world:

A

Distal stimuli.

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3
Q

Stimuli from the mental world:

A

Proximal stimuli.

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4
Q

Philosophy stating that knowledge that comes from outside the mind, that our environment shapes us.

A

Empiricism.

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5
Q

Philosophy stating that certain fundamental principles shape knowledge, that we shape ourselves.

A

Rationalism.

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6
Q

What transforms physical information into neural signals?

A

Receptors.

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7
Q

4 types of receptors in humans:

A

Photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors.

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8
Q

What is light?

A

Electromagnetic radiation.

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9
Q

What do lightwaves contain?

A

Information about surfaces.

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10
Q

What happens when light hits a photopigment?

A

It splits, activating the photoreceptor cell, which is called the “moment of transduction” from lightwave to neural impulse.

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11
Q

What is the cause for dark adaptation?

A

Photopigment depletion.

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12
Q

Why does the pupil constrict and widen?

A

To control the amount of light coming in, optimising sensitivity of the photoreceptors for the light conditions.

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13
Q

Where do photoreceptors exist?

A

At the back of the eye.

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14
Q

Why do photoreceptors exist at the back of the eye?

A

So that photopigments can be readily replenished.

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15
Q

2 types of photoreceptors:

A

Rods and cones.

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16
Q

Rods:

A

Highly sensitive but not very accurate. Slow response, peripheral and low-light achromatic vision, one type of rod, 120 million.

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17
Q

Cones:

A

Highly accurate but not very sensitive. Rapid response, detailed, central, chromatic vision, 3 types of cones (short/b, medium/g, long/r), 6 million.

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18
Q

Colour blindness:

A

Most commonly lose red/green differentiation, common in caucasian males.

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19
Q

Where are cones concentrated?

A

On the fovea.

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20
Q

Where are rods on the retina?

A

Fewer in the periphery, increase towards the fovea, but none at the fovea.

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21
Q

What are eye movements good for?

A

Bringing new objects of interest to the fovea, keeps eyes fixed and stable when head and body move, prevent images from fading by shifting their position on the fovea.

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22
Q

Why do we have a blindspot?

A

Because the eye needs a place where the axons of 1.2 million retinal ganglion cells come together to form the optic nerve. You can’t have any photoreceptors there.

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23
Q

Why are edges important?

A

They signal the presence of an object or boundary, and the visual system exaggerates edges.

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24
Q

2 retinal mechanisms for edge enhancement:

A

Lateral inhibition, center-surround retinal ganglion cells.

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25
Q

Lateral inhibition:

A

Disables the spreading of action potentials from excited neurons to neighboring neurons in the lateral direction. This creates a contrast in stimulation that allows increased sensory perception.

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26
Q

Center-surround retinal ganglion cells.

A

????

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27
Q

Receptive field:

A

The place/type of stimulus that elicits a response in a given neuron.

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28
Q

How do neurons respond to the stimulus?

A

They respond selectively to specific regions/stimuli, from sensory receptors all the way through to cortical brain areas. Respond = change firing rate (increase/decrease).

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29
Q

Mapping the receptive field. Easy or difficult?

A

Easier at the early stages, more difficult the further you go into the visual system.

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30
Q

2 types of retinal ganglion cells:

A

Midget cells, parasol cells.

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31
Q

Midget cells:

A

Receive input from cones, smaller number of cells, project to the parvocellular pathway (high acuity color pathway to the brain)

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32
Q

Parasol cells:

A

Receive input from rods, large number of cells, project to the magnocellular pathway (low acuity but highly sensitive pathway to the brain, low light, peripheral vision)

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33
Q

What’s color?

A

Differences in the pattern of cone activation to different wavelengths of energy. Cone/rod distribution determine the experience of central/peripheral vision. Edges are exaggerated.

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34
Q

Mechanoreceptors:

A

Sense mechanical pressure. Physically deforming a mechanoreceptor causes ion channels to open, which causes the cell to fire.

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35
Q

3 classes of mechanoreceptors:

A

Inner ear, skin, muscles & tendons

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36
Q

Movement of hair cells in the inner ear:

A

Hearing, inertia, gravity.

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37
Q

Pressure and stretch receptors in the skin:

A

Light touch, texture, stretch, pain.

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38
Q

What’s sound?

A

A (sine) wave of moving air, the amount of pressure over a certain period of time.

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39
Q

The frequency of sound.

A

High frequency, high-pitched/low frequency, low-pitched.

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40
Q

The amplitude of sound.

A

High amplitude, loud sound, low amplitude, soft sound.

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41
Q

Auditory hair cells:

A

Ion channels on adjacent hairs are connected by a ‘tip link.’ Movement of the hair cells pulls the ion channels open, depolarizing (activating) the cell.

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42
Q

Mechanoreceptors in the cochlea provide:

A

Loudness, pitch, timbre, NOT location (that’s time and volume differences).

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43
Q

The liquid in the semicircular canals.

A

Endolymph. Viscosity can change which will interfere with perception.

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44
Q

What do the inner ears contain?

A

Otolith organs. (sense of gravity)

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45
Q

Mechanoreceptors in the skin.

A

Light touch, firm pressure, vibration, pain & skin stretch. All are specialised for different types of pressure.

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46
Q

Haptic touch.

A

Exploring objects with your subcutaneous mechanoreceptors.

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47
Q

Proprioception, kinesthesis, interoception.

A

Body position, movements, state.

48
Q

Where are chemoreceptors found?

A

Tongue, nasal epithelium, lungs, stomach.

49
Q

What are the papillae and what does it contain?

A

Part of the tongue, contains multiple taste buds.

50
Q

What does each taste bud contain?

A

Multiple chemoreceptors.

51
Q

Five known chemoreceptor types.

A

Salty, sweet, bitter, sour & umami (savoury).

52
Q

Ageusia.

A

Inability to taste. Usually caused by nerve damage or deformity.

53
Q

How do odorants get processed?

A

They bind to proteins n the cilia of the receptor cells and activate the cells. Each cell only has a single receptor type.

54
Q

Orthonasal vs. Retronasal

A

Differences in perception/recognition.

55
Q

Pheromones.

A

Odorants that communicate and control conspecific behaviour.

56
Q

Anosmia.

A

Loss of sense of smell.

57
Q

Four types of thermoreceptors.

A

Fast cold, fast hot, slow cold, slow hot.

58
Q

Thermoreceptors are found in:

A

The skin, the cornea (trigger blinking), the brainstem (to regulate core temp).

59
Q

Unmyelinated C-fibers in the skin:

A

Myelin speeds up neural transmission, so unmyelinated nerves are slow (taking several seconds to get to the brain)

60
Q

A-delta fibres:

A

Fast, extreme heat/cold. No adaptation.

61
Q

Where does all the input from audition, vision and touch go?

A

They go through the thalamus first, then to specialised areas in the cerebral cortex.

62
Q

Primary visual pathway:

A

Optic nerve, optic chiasm, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in the thalamus, optic radiations, primary visual cortex.

63
Q

Where do the axons of retinal ganglion cells end up?

A

In the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus.

64
Q

Parvocellular cells:

A

Receive input primarily from cones/midget cells. Pathway for high-acuity vision and colour.

65
Q

Magnocellular cells:

A

Receive input primarily from rods/parasol cells. Pathway for detecting contrast and motion, low-light vision.

66
Q

LGN has layers with primarily two different types of cells:

A

Parvocellular and magnocellular cells.

67
Q

What are the maps of the primary visual cortex called?

A

The retinotopic maps.

68
Q

What does the primary visual cortex contain?

A

Multiple detailed maps of visual space organised into layers.

69
Q

What corresponds to the primary visual cortex?

A

The receptive fields. Each point in the receptive field corresponds to a tiny part of the primary visual cortex.

70
Q

Blindsight:

A

Being able to accurately guess about stimuli presented in someone’s blind field, when that part of the primary visual cortex is damaged.

71
Q

The four components of the primary auditory pathway:

A

Superior olive (pons), Inferior colliculus (midbrain), Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) in the thalamus, auditory cortex.

72
Q

Superior olive:

A

Receives input from both ears, critical for detecting interaural time and volume differences, giving information about the location of sounds.

73
Q

Inferior colliculus:

A

Primarily receives auditory input, also receives somatosensory and visual input. Multisensory integration occurs here. Auditory input is influenced by other modalities before it reaches the cortex.

74
Q

The medial geniculate nucleus (MGN):

A

Right next to the lateral geniculate nucleus. Like the LGN, acts as a relay station on the way to primary auditory cortex.

75
Q

Primary auditory cortex:

A

Contains a tonotopic map of all frequencies (pitches), and selectivity for location, timing, and amplitude.

76
Q

What does damage do to the primary auditory cortex?

A

Damage leads to an analogous condition to blindsight: inability to consciously identify certain tones, but guessing is above chance.

77
Q

Auditory deprivation: tinnitus.

A

Can be a tone, buzz, white noise, squeaking, clicking, crickets, music, etc. Usually results from hearing loss. 10-20% of the population. More common in elderly and males.

78
Q

Three components of the primary somatosensory pathway:

A

Dorsal root ganglion, ventroposterior nucleus in the thalamus, somatosensory cortex.

79
Q

Dorsal root ganglion:

A

Skin receptors are just one part of the nerve cell. The cell body is in the dorsal root ganglion, next to the spinal cord.

80
Q

Primary somatosensory cortex:

A

Post central gyrus. Damage leads to lowered sensitivity to touch and an inability to identify objects by touch. Damage can also lead to a sense of disownership of body parts.

81
Q

Tactile deprivation / phantom limb:

A

Continued perception of a missing limb. 5-10% of amputees.

82
Q

The process of perception:

A

Sample physical information, integrate and encode it in the brain, interpret and use it.

83
Q

What is important to perceive the scene correctly?

A

Disambiguate the stimulus on the receptors, recognise hidden/blurred objects, from different viewpoints, across different sizes or scales.

84
Q

How do we perceive the scene correctly?

A

Looking at objects/scenes from different viewpoints using experience, context and previous knowledge we have about objects and scenes.

85
Q

Object recognition in structuralism:

A

Perceptions are created by combining elements called sensations.

86
Q

Object recognition in Gestalt psychology:

A

The whole differs and is greater than the sum of its parts. Perception is a result of perceptual organisation.

87
Q

Principles of perceptual organisation:

A

Simplicity, Similarity, Good Continuation, Proximity, Common Region, Connectedness, Synchrony, Common Fate, Familiarity.

88
Q

Law of Simplicity:

A

Reality is organised to the simplest form possible.

89
Q

Perceptual segregation:

A

Seeing two different things in one image.

90
Q

Componential recovery:

A

We can identify an object rapidly if we can identify its individual geons.

91
Q

View-invariance:

A

Can be identified when viewed from different angles.

92
Q

Geons:

A

Basic shapes. There are 36.

93
Q

Non-accidental properties:

A

Properties that do not change with orientation in depth.

94
Q

View-point dependent recognition:

A

Object recognition is affected by the viewpoint, objects seen in less familiar viewpoints are less well recognised.

95
Q

Face recognition is important for:

A

Identification, Communication, Emotions, Gender

96
Q

Acquired prosopagnosia:

A

Lesions in right occipital, temporal or fusiform brain regions.

97
Q

Developmental prosopagnosia:

A

Lifelong deficit that manifests itself in early childhood and cannot be attributed to brain damage.

98
Q

Capgras syndrome:

A

A disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor.

99
Q

Divided attention:

A

Paying attention to more than one thing at a time. There’s a single pool of attentional resources that can be freely divided between tasks.

100
Q

Selective attention:

A

Paying attention to one thing at a time.

101
Q

Saccades:

A

Small, rapid eye movements.

102
Q

Fixations:

A

Pauses in eye movements that indicate where a person is attending.

103
Q

How many fixations per second?

A

Approx. 3.

104
Q

Why is selective attention necessary?

A

It is efficient, there is too much incoming stimulation to process everything.

105
Q

What determines how we scan a scene?

A

Stimulus salience (color, orientation, contrast), knowledge about scenes, nature of the observer’s task, learning from past experience.

106
Q

Inattentional blindness:

A

Failure to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in one’s field of vision when one performs other attention-demanding tasks. Not a visual but an attentional blindness.

107
Q

Change blindness:

A

When a large change within a visual scene is undetected by the viewer.

108
Q

Akinetopsia:

A

Motion blindness.

109
Q

Electrical stimulation in MT causes:

A

Changes in motion perception.

110
Q

Neuronal adaptation:

A

Neurons coding a particular movement reduce their responses with time of exposure to a constantly moving stimulus.

111
Q

Aperture problem:

A

Observation of a small portion of a moving object makes it difficult to perceive in what way the object is moving.

112
Q

Corollary discharge theory:

A

A copy of a motor command that is sent to the muscles to produce a movement. This copy or corollary does not produce any movement itself but instead is directed to other regions of the brain to inform them of the impending movement.

113
Q

Peripheral drift illusion:

A

The image that moves in your periphery when you focus on the middle.

114
Q

Proprioception:

A

The sense of the relative position of the body parts.

115
Q

Vestibular ocular reflex:

A

Movement of the eyes to compensate rotation of the head.