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COGS101 VUW > Perception Test > Flashcards

Perception Test Flashcards

Content from weeks 6-8 on perception

1
Q

Question

A

Answer

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2
Q

What is the central question in the philosophy of perception?

A

What are the objects of perception? What do we directly perceive?

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3
Q

What phenomena motivate the problem of perception?

A

Perceptual illusions and hallucinations.

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4
Q

How does the problem of perception challenge our ordinary understanding?

A

It suggests that perception may not be direct awareness of the external world.

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5
Q

What is the main argument that generates the problem of perception?

A

The argument from illusion.

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6
Q

What is the base case of the argument from illusion?

A

In an illusion, we seem to perceive something that isn’t there, like a bent pencil.

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7
Q

What does the argument from illusion conclude about the objects of perception?

A

That we always perceive sense-data, not external objects.

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8
Q

What is naive realism?

A

The view that we directly perceive mind-independent objects and their qualities.

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9
Q

How does naive realism respond to the argument from illusion?

A

By rejecting the argument’s inferences; illusions are cases of seeing how things look under certain conditions.

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10
Q

What is indirect realism?

A

The view that we perceive mind-dependent sense-data, and infer the existence of external objects.

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11
Q

What skeptical consequence does indirect realism lead to?

A

A “veil of perception” between the mind and the external world.

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12
Q

What is disjunctivism?

A

A form of naive realism that holds veridical and non-veridical perceptions differ in nature.

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13
Q

How does disjunctivism respond to the argument from illusion?

A

By rejecting that there must be a common element between veridical and non-veridical cases.

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14
Q

What is phenomenalism?

A

The view that statements about the external world are just statements about actual or possible sense experiences.

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15
Q

How does phenomenalism relate to idealism?

A

It leads to a form of idealism, the view that reality is fundamentally mental.

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16
Q

What is intentionalism/representationalism?

A

The view that perceptual states are representations of the world with “intentional content”.

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17
Q

How does intentionalism/representationalism explain perceptual error?

A

In non-veridical cases, perceptual states misrepresent the world.

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18
Q

What is the “Phenomenal Principle” and how is it challenged?

A

The inference from “X appears Y” to “There is something that is Y”. Critics argue this inference is fallacious.

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19
Q

What are the two forms of intentionalism/representationalism?

A

One accepts qualia (qualia theory), the other eliminates them (eliminativism).

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20
Q

What is the relationship between sense-data and qualia?

A

Qualia are often considered the qualitative properties of sense-data.

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21
Q

What is the “veil of perception”?

A

A metaphor for the skeptical idea that perception doesn’t directly access the external world, but only mental representations.

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22
Q

What are the three worlds in perception, and how are they connected?

A

Physical world (stimuli), neural world (brain activity), and psychological world (subjective experience) are connected through perception but are distinct.

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23
Q

What is transduction in perception?

A

Sensory receptors transduce physical stimuli into neural impulses in the brain.

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24
Q

How does the jelly bean experiment demonstrate the connection between the three worlds?

A

Physical stimuli (taste, smell) are transduced into neural impulses, which the brain combines to create the subjective experience of flavour.

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25
Q

What does the falling tree question reveal about perception?

A

It highlights the difference between physical air vibrations and the psychological experience of sound, which only exists when the brain interprets neural impulses.

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26
Q

How does the electromagnetic spectrum relate to colour perception?

A

The spectrum is continuous, but the brain interprets specific wavelength ranges as distinct colours, showing colour is a subjective psychological experience.

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27
Q

How do variations in colour vision demonstrate the relationship between sensory systems and perception?

A

Differences in colour receptors lead to variations in colour perception, showing sensory systems directly influence subjective perceptual experience.

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28
Q

What is an Umwelt, and how does it relate to the subjectivity of sensory experience?

A

An Umwelt is an organism’s unique perceptual world, determined by its specific sensory systems, emphasizing the diversity of subjective experiences.

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29
Q

How do echolocation and magnetoreception illustrate the relationship between sensory systems and perception?

A

These sensory modalities, which some animals possess but humans lack, demonstrate that sensory systems shape perceptual experience and interactions with the world.

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30
Q

Why is it important to understand that sensory experience is subjective?

A

It helps recognize that perception is shaped by unique sensory systems and neural processing, promoting empathy and appreciation for diverse perceptual experiences.

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31
Q

What is perception?

A

Perception is the use of sensory stimulation to produce subjective experience and an interpretation of the environment, in the service of adaptive behaviour.

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32
Q

How many basic tastes are there?

A

There are only five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.

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33
Q

What is flavour?

A

Flavour is a combination of taste and smell, resulting from the integration of information from the gustatory and olfactory systems in the brain.

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34
Q

What is the stimulus for vision?

A

The stimulus for vision is light, which is a form of electromagnetic energy.

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35
Q

What is the visible spectrum for humans?

A

The visible spectrum for humans ranges from approximately 400 to 700 nanometres.

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36
Q

What are the three types of cones in the human retina?

A

The three types of cones in the human retina are S cones (short-wave), M cones (medium-wave), and L cones (long-wave).

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37
Q

What is trichromatic vision?

A

Trichromatic vision is the ability to perceive colours based on the relative activity of three types of cones in the retina.

38
Q

What is monochromacy?

A

Monochromacy, also known as colour blindness, is a condition in which an individual has no functioning cones or only one cone type, resulting in the inability to distinguish colours.

39
Q

What is dichromacy?

A

Dichromacy, also known as colour deficiency, is a condition in which an individual has two functioning cone types, resulting in a reduced ability to distinguish colours.

40
Q

What are Ishihara plates?

A

Ishihara plates are a type of colour vision test that uses patterns of coloured dots to identify colour vision deficiencies.

41
Q

What is tetrachromatic vision?

A

Tetrachromatic vision is the ability to perceive colours based on the relative activity of four types of cones in the retina, resulting in the perception of a greater range of colours and more subtle colour distinctions.

42
Q

What is a sensory/perceptual modality?

A

sensory/perceptual modality is the type of perceived experience that is evoked by a certain category of physical stimulation.

43
Q

What is psychophysics?

A

Psychophysics is the study of the relationship between physical sensation and the perception it evokes.

44
Q

What is the concept of Umwelt?

A

Umwelt is a concept proposed by Jakob von Uexküll, referring to the unique sensory bubble or perceptual world that each animal experiences based on its sensory capabilities.

45
Q

What is echolocation?

A

Echolocation is a sensory modality used by some animals, such as dolphins and bats, in which they emit sound waves and perceive their environment based on the reflections of those sound waves.

46
Q

What are the three main objectives of the “Stimulus to Percept” lectures?

A

The three main objectives are to understand how the physical, neural, and psychological worlds are connected but different; to appreciate how the nature of our sensory systems determines the nature of our perceptual experience; and to explain why sensory experience is subjective.

47
Q

What are the main components of the visual signal’s journey from the eye to the brain?

A

Optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus, optic radiations, primary visual cortex (V1).

48
Q

How many rods and cones are in the human retina, and how do they differ in distribution?

A

There are approximately 120 million rods and 6 million cones. The fovea contains only cones, while the periphery has both rods and cones, with a higher proportion of rods.

49
Q

What is the principle of convergence in retinal processing?

A

Convergence involves the compression of information from multiple photoreceptors onto a single ganglion cell, allowing for detection of dim light and efficient transmission of visual information.

50
Q

How do rods and cones differ in terms of spatial resolution and response thresholds?

A

Cones have better spatial resolution than rods but require higher light intensity to generate a response in ganglion cells for the same illuminated area.

51
Q

What is lateral inhibition, and how does it affect visual perception?

A

Lateral inhibition is a process where neurons inhibit the activity of neighbouring neurons, enhancing the perception of edges and boundaries between surfaces with different brightness levels.

52
Q

What is a receptive field in the context of visual processing?

A

A receptive field is a region of the visual field in which stimulation changes a neuron’s response.

53
Q

Describe the centre-surround organization of retinal ganglion cells’ receptive fields.

A

Retinal ganglion cells have circular receptive fields with an excitatory centre and an inhibitory surround (on-centre) or an inhibitory centre and an excitatory surround (off-centre).

54
Q

What is the main function of centre-surround receptive fields in the retina?

A

Centre-surround receptive fields maximize the detection of changes in the visual field over space and time.

55
Q

How is the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) organized?

A

The LGN has 6 layers, with layers 2, 3, and 5 receiving input from the ipsilateral eye and layers 1, 4, and 6 receiving input from the contralateral eye. Each layer is organized retinotopically.

56
Q

What is retinotopy, and how is it observed in the LGN?

A

Retinotopy is the organization in which neighbouring cells have neighbouring receptive fields, responding to inputs from adjacent points in the retina and visual field. Each layer of the LGN contains a retinotopic map of a visual hemifield.

57
Q

What is the role of the LGN in visual processing beyond relaying information from the retina?

A

The LGN receives over 90% of its input from other brain regions, allowing for top-down regulation, filtering, and enhancement of visual information before it is passed on to the cortex.

58
Q

What is opponent processing, and how does it relate to colour perception in the LGN?

A

Opponent processing is a mechanism in the LGN that contributes to colour perception by comparing the responses of different types of cones.

59
Q

What is neural adaptation, and why is it an important operating principle in perception?

A

Neural adaptation is a gradual decrease in the responsiveness of the sensory system to a constant stimulus over time. It is important for maintaining sensitivity to changes in the environment and can lead to aftereffects that provide insights into perceptual processes.

60
Q

What are the primary visual cortex’s alternative names?

A

V1, striate cortex, and Area 17.

61
Q

How are simple cells in the primary visual cortex characterized?

A

Simple cells in V1 are orientation-selective, responding to lines in particular orientations. They have ON and OFF regions and can be monocular or binocular.

62
Q

What is a neural tuning curve?

A

A neural tuning curve represents a neuron’s response as a function of a stimulus parameter, such as orientation, demonstrating the neuron’s selectivity for that parameter.

63
Q

What is the role of the optic nerve in the visual system?

A

The optic nerve carries visual information from the retina to the brain, forming from the bundled axons of retinal ganglion cells.

64
Q

What happens at the optic chiasm?

A

At the optic chiasm, information from the nasal retina of each eye crosses over to the opposite side of the brain, while information from the temporal retina remains on the same side.

65
Q

How does the optic tract differ from the optic nerve?

A

The optic tract contains information from both eyes but only from one half of the visual field (left or right), whereas the optic nerve contains information from one eye only.

66
Q

What is the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), and where is it located?

A

The LGN is a structure in the thalamus that receives input from the optic tract and relays visual information to the primary visual cortex.

67
Q

What are the optic radiations?

A

The optic radiations are the axons of LGN neurons that carry visual information to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe.

68
Q

What are the main layers of the retina, and what is their order from the back to the front of the eye?

A

The main layers of the retina from back to front are: pigment epithelium, photoreceptors (rods and cones), bipolar cells, amacrine cells, and ganglion cells.

69
Q

What types of photoreceptors are found in the human retina, and what are their functions?

A

The human retina contains two types of photoreceptors: rods, which are sensitive to low light levels and are important for peripheral and night vision, and cones, which are responsible for colour vision and high-acuity central vision.

70
Q

What is the fovea, and how does it differ from the peripheral retina?

A

The fovea is a small, central region of the retina that contains a high density of cones and no rods, providing high visual acuity. The peripheral retina has a lower density of cones and a higher density of rods.

71
Q

What is the primary visual cortex, and where is it located?

A

The primary visual cortex, also known as V1, striate cortex, or Area 17, is the first cortical area to process visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain.

72
Q

What are the main types of cells found in the primary visual cortex?

A

The primary visual cortex contains two main types of cells: simple cells, which are orientation-selective and have ON and OFF regions, and complex cells, which respond to specific orientations and directions of motion but have larger receptive fields than simple cells.

73
Q

What is the inverse problem of perception?

A

The inverse problem refers to the fact that many different external stimuli can lead to the same sensations, creating ambiguity about the true causes of our perceptual experience.

74
Q

According to Helmholtz, how does the perceptual system solve the inverse problem?

A

Helmholtz proposed that perception is a process of unconscious inference, where we infer the most likely causes of our sensations based on the available sensory evidence and prior knowledge.

75
Q

What are the two main types of processes that contribute to perceptual inference?

A

Bottom-up processes, which involve organizing and interpreting sensory features, and top-down processes, which involve applying prior knowledge, concepts, and context to the sensory data.

76
Q

What are some examples of Gestalt principles of perceptual organization?

A

Proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, common fate, and figure-ground organization.

77
Q

What is the central idea behind Selfridge’s Pandemonium model?

A

The Pandemonium model proposes that perception is based on feature detection, with different “demons” responding selectively to specific features and activating letter and word representations.

78
Q

What are some strengths and weaknesses of the Pandemonium model?

A

Strengths include neural plausibility, emergence of intelligent behavior from simple units, and parallel processing. Weaknesses include limited scalability, flexibility, and lack of top-down influences.

79
Q

What is reification in perception?

A

Reification refers to the perceptual process of creating “real” percepts out of incomplete or ambiguous sensory information, such as illusory contours or subjective shapes.

80
Q

What is the perception-action cycle?

A

The perception-action cycle refers to the continuous interplay between perceiving the world, forming intentions and plans, and acting on the environment, with each process informing and guiding the others.

81
Q

What are the two main visual processing pathways in the brain, and what are their functions?

A

The ventral “what” pathway is involved in object recognition and perception, while the dorsal “where/how” pathway is involved in spatial processing and vision for action.

82
Q

What is the double dissociation between temporal and parietal lobe lesions in monkeys, and what does it suggest?

A

Temporal lesions impair object discrimination but not landmark discrimination, while parietal lesions show the opposite pattern, suggesting a dissociation between the two visual streams.

83
Q

What deficits did patient DF exhibit, and what do they reveal about the two visual streams?

A

DF had impaired perceptual matching (ventral stream) but intact grasping (dorsal stream), providing evidence for the dissociation between vision for perception and vision for action.

84
Q

What is Balint’s syndrome, and what deficits does it involve?

A

Balint’s syndrome, caused by bilateral parietal damage, involves optic ataxia (impaired reaching), simultanagnosia (inability to perceive multiple objects), and optic apraxia (impaired eye movements).

85
Q

What is prosopagnosia, and what causes it?

A

Prosopagnosia is a deficit in face recognition, often caused by damage to the fusiform face area in the ventral stream

86
Q

What is the difference between physical sensation and psychological perception?

A

Physical sensation refers to the detection of external stimuli by sensory receptors, while psychological perception is the subjective interpretation and experience of those sensations in the brain

87
Q

What are the main structures of the human eye?

A

The main structures of the human eye include the cornea, pupil, iris, lens, retina (containing rods and cones), optic nerve, and sclera.

88
Q

How do dogs’ visual capabilities differ from humans’?

A

Dogs are dichromats, having only two types of cone cells in their retinas. They primarily see colours in the blue and yellow range, while humans are trichromats and can see a broader spectrum of colours.

89
Q

What unique visual capability do bees possess?

A

Bees have trichromatic vision that extends into the ultraviolet range, allowing them to perceive UV patterns on flowers that are invisible to humans.

90
Q

How does the visual system of birds differ from that of humans?

A

Most birds are tetrachromats, having four types of cone cells in their retinas. This allows them to see a broader range of colours compared to humans, including ultraviolet light.

COGS101 VUW (14 decks)

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