PSYCH 1115 - Week 12(ch6) Sensation & Perception

Question 1

Sensation?

(Sensation is to reception, as perception is to interpretation)

Answer 1

process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment (brain receives input from the sensory organs)

THIS DOESN’T CHANGE

Question 2

Perception?

Perceptual Sets?

Answer 2

Process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events (the brain makes sense of it)

THIS DOES CHANGE.

Although, Richard Gregory (studied perception) – he said perception is a hypothesis. We make constructions of what we see out in the world..we don’t really perceive stuff. Everything is constructed based on our past experiences and expectations. A perceptual set is a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Question 3

Bottom-Up Processing?
Top-Down Processing?

Answer 3

• Analysis of stimulus begins with the sense receptors and works up to the level of the brain
• info processes is guided by higher-level mental processes as we construct perceptions, drawing on our experiences and expectations
  ex: racial and ethnic stereotypes can sometime bias our perceptions of others’ behaviours (top-down)

EXAMPLE: looking at the vase below, kids will see dolphins because that fits in with their constructs, and adults will see something different because that fits into our construct. This involves our ‘perceptions’

Question 4

Question 5

Absolute Threshold?

Answer 5

What’s the absolute minimum stimulus we can detect.

It can change though!
Depends on expectations and experiences.

THE LOWER OUR ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD, THE GREATER OUR SENSITIVITY.

Signal Detection Theory: psychological factors can affect our thresholds

Question 6

Subliminal Perception?

Answer 6

BELOW our absolute threshold

Subliminal perception can PRIME us:)

Question 7

Difference Threshold?

Answer 7

Can you tell the difference between 100kg and 105kg weights? What about 100kg and 110kg?

Question 8

Sensory Adaptation?

Answer 8

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

ex: wearing a bandaid at first is annoying, but after a while, you get used to it.

Question 9

Gate-Control Theory?

Answer 9

The spinal cord contains a ‘neurological gate’ that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to be sensed by the individual.

Question 10

Vestibular Sense?

Answer 10

An acrobat is able to flip many times in the air but still sense where her head is in relation to the ground.

Question 11

Sense Pathways?

Answer 11

The taste, hearing, & vision pathways all relate to the thalamus

the olfaction pathway doesn’t.

Question 12

Frequency Theory?

Answer 12

High frequencies peak near the oval window, and low frequencies peak farther down

The Pitch made by a musical instrument is related to the # of wavelengths per second.

Question 13

The Eyeball?

Answer 13

The retina is like the ‘movie screen’ of your eye – light gets projected onto it.

Question 14

Opponent-Process Theory?
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory?

Order of Detection?

Answer 14

1. When you stare at a green image for a long time, then a white screen, you might see red
2. We detect RGB — NOT YELLOW. Cones only, which detect DETAILS best.

Cones/Rods–>Ganglion cells, —> Optic Nerve —> Visual Cortex

CONES –> DETAILS
FEATURE DETECTOR CELLS –> specialize in identifying colours and locations

Question 15

Shape Constancy?

Answer 15

If I turn a book around in my hands, even though different shapes (such as trapezoids) are cast on my retinas, my brain still knows it’s a rectangular shaped book

Question 16

Gestalt Principles of Perception?

Answer 16

Continuity
Proximity
Closure (fills in the gaps)
Similiarity
Symmetry/Order
Figure/Ground

ALL PART OF GESTALT.

not Perceptual Set