Perception Flashcards
What is synaesthesia?
The perceptual experience when one sense is evoked by another sense
Who developed psychophysics?
Gustav Fechner
What is psychophysics?
Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
What statistic gives a relatively pure measure of the observer’s sensitivity or ability to detect signals based on the relative proportion of hits to misses and the group variability in detecting the phenomenon under consideration?
D-prime
What is transduction?
Process of changing physical signals into neural signals
What is there more of: rods or cones?
Rods
What are the first two parts of the eye that light passes through?
Cornea and pupil
What is the cornea?
Clear, smooth outer tissue which bends light and sends it to through the pupil
What pathway enables identification of location and motion of an object?
Dorsal stream
What pathway enables identification of shape and identity of an object?
Ventral stream
What is the binding problem?
How features are linked together so that we see unified objects rather than free-floating or miscombined features
What is illusory conjunction?
A perceptual mistake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined
What is feature integration theory?
Attention binds individual features together to compromise a composite stimulus (glue)
What is similarity?
Grouping objects based on similarity (e.g. in colour, lightness or texture)
What are the two broad explanations of object recognition?
Image-based and parts-based object recognition theories
What is parts-based object recognition theory?
Brain deconstructs viewed objects into a collection of parts
What is image-based object recognition theory?
Previously seen objects are stored in memory as a template
Which region of the brain is particularly active during face processing?
The fusiform gyrus
What is linear perspective?
Phenomenon where parallel lines seem to converge as they recede into the distance
What is the waterfall illusion?
Staring at the downward rush of a waterfall may result in an upwards motion aftereffect when looking at stationary objects next to the waterfall
What causes the waterfall illusion?
Fatiguing motion detectors are organised in opposing directions
What does amplitude determine?
Perception of loudness
What does sound wave frequency determine?
Perception of pitch
Where are the ossicles located?
In the middle ear
What are ossicles?
Tiny bones including hammer, anvil and stirrup
When is flavour experienced?
When taste combines with smell
What is visual orienting?
Rapid movement of the eyes to a peripheral target
What is the ventriloquist effect?
The illusion that the source of sound is located where a visual event occurs
When does multisensory integration occur?
When vision and sound signals are synchronised
What is size-constancy?
Object size is perceived as constant, independent of its distance
What was the conclusion of Milne et al (2015)?
EE can gauge both object size and distance through echolocation
Is a carbon monoxide detector an example of sensory substitution?
No
What was the finding of Ward and Meijer (2010)?
Blind users of sensory substitution systems report visual experiences
What is the homunculus problem?
Difficulty of explaining the experience of the consciousness by advocating another internal self
What are qualia?
Subjective experiences we have as part of our mental life
What is materialism?
Philosophical perspective that mental states are a product of physical processes alone
What is anthropomorphism?
The tendency to attribute human qualities to nonhuman things
What is the mind-body problem?
The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body
What is choice blindness?
When people are unaware of their decision-making processes and justify a choice as if it were already decided
What comes first: brain activity or conscious wish to act?
Brain activity
What is consolidation?
Thie process whereby information must pass from the short-term memory to the long-term memory
What is the limit of the long-term memory?
There is no known limit!
In the case of HM, what was the result of removing his hippocampus and parts of his medial temporal lobe ?
Was unable to remember things that happened after the surgery - couldn’t consolidate
What is memory storage?
The process of maintaining information in memory over time
What is the term for enhanced neural processing that results from the strengthening of synaptic connections?
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
What are the key properties of long-term potentiation?
Occurs in several hippocampal pathways, can be induced rapidly, can be long-lasting
What is the effect of a drug that blocks long-term potentiation?
Amnesia
What is the function of NMDA receptor?
Influences flow of information from one neuron to another across the synapse by controlling the initiation of long-term potentiation
Where is NMDA receptor located?
Hippocampus
What neurotransmitter binds to NMDA?
Glutamate (excitatory)
What is spatial memory?
Representation that encodes where something is?
What is the name for a method which allows scientists to mimic brain damage?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
