Psychological, Social, Biological Foundations of Behavior Flashcards
Retinal Disparity
Left eye and right eye view slightly different images. One type of binocular cue.
Convergence
Gives an idea of depth based on how much the eyeballs are turned. The second type of binocular cue.
Monocular cues
Relative size, interposition, relative height, motion parallex (relative motion),
Relative size
See relative size and determine approximate distance.
Perceptual Organization
Depth, Form, Motion, Constancy
Interposition
When something appears to be in front of something else, we can recognize that it is closer to us.
Relative height
Objects that are higher are perceived to be further away than objects that are lower.
Motion parallex (Relative motion)
Things closer to you appear to be moving faster than things that are further from you.
Size constancy
We know size of objects are roughly the same regardless of distance from eyes.
Shape constancy
We know the shape of an object remains the same even if it is reoriented.
Color constancy
Despite changes in lighting, color for an object is perceived as the same color.
Sensory adaptation
Change in sensitivity of your perception of a sensation.
Hearing: inner ear muscle contracts to dampen vibrations that go into your inner ear.
Touch: sensory receptors get saturated.
Smell: sensory receptors desensitized.
Sight: pupil dilation and contraction.
Proprioception
Sense of where you are in space.
Just noticeable difference
The smallest difference in stimulation that can be detected 50% of the time.
Weber’s law
Change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus.
Absolute threshold of sensation
Minimum intensity of a stimulus that is needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
Subliminal stimuli
Stimuli below our absolute threshold of sensation
Thermoception
sensation of temperature; TrpV1 receptor used– heat causes conformational change
mechanoception
sensation of pressure
nociception
sensation of pain; TrpV1 receptor used– broken cell molecules bind to receptors to cause conformational change
somatosensation
intensity, timing, location
intensity
how quickly neurons fire
3 ways for neurons to encode timing
non-adapting (neuron constantly firing action potentials, equal space between action potentials), slow adapting (fires fast at the beginning, and then slows down, spacing increases), fast adapting (fires as soon as stimulus starts, then it stops, and starts again when the stimulus stops)
vestibular system
important for sense of balance and spatial orientation, mostly comes from receptors in our inner ear
Inner ear’s role in vestibular system
Semi-circular canals line up with the 3 axes and sense what plane our head is rotating along. Fluid movement helps us perceive the strength of rotation. Otolithic organs (utricle and saccule) help detect linear acceleration and head positioning, crystals in fluid move and pull on hairs to carry this information. Dizziness results from fluid in canals moving while you are no longer moving.
Signal Detection Theory
How we make decisions under conditions of uncertainty; discerning between important stimuli and “noise”
Hit
affirmative response with signal present
false alarm
signal perceived but no signal present
correct rejection
negative answer and no signal present
miss
negative response with signal present
d’
difference between the means of 2 signal distributions – if large, easy to distinguish, if small, difficult to distinguish
c
strategy of the individual, can be expressed via choice of threshold; c=0 ideal observer, c<1 = liberal, c>1 conservative strategy
bottom-up processing
when you start with no preconceived idea of what it is that you’re looking at, and allow the stimulus to influence your perception of what it is that you’re looking at; data driven
top-down processing
use background knowledge to influence perception; theory driven ; have a goal in mind
Gestalt principles
seek to explain how we perceive things the way we do
law of similarity
items that are similar to one another are grouped together by your brain
law of pragnanz
reality is often reduced or organized to the simplest form possible
law of proximity
objects close to one another are grouped together
law of continuity
lines are seen as following the smoothest path
law of closure
objects grouped together are seen as a whole
sclera
white part of the eye, thick fibrous tissue that forms the substance of the eyeball, protects the eye, and serves as attachment point for muscles
cornea
transparent, protects front of the eye, bends light a little bit
conjunctiva
thin layer of epithelial cells that protect the cornea from friction/dust/debris and moisturizes it
aqueous humour
fluid that fills the anterior chamber of the eye
lens
bi-convex lens that bends the light; can change shape to look at objects that are closer/further away
ciliary body
composed of suspensory ligaments which are connected to ciliary muscles that work to change the shape of the lens; secretes aqueous humour
iris
colored part of the eye that contracts and expands to let in light through the pupil
vitreous humour
keeps lens in place and provides structure for the eye
retina
coats back of the eyeball, composed of photoreceptors that convert light into neural impulse which goes to the optic nerve
optic nerve
goes to the brain to relay the signal
choroid
network of blood vessels that nourishes the eye
fovea
filled with cones that allow you to see rich detail
rod
good for night vision and periphery; because of phototransduction cascade, rod is turned off when light is present to let the brain know there’s light; found in the periphery of the eyeball; much more sensitive to light than cones; slow recovery time
cones
responsible for color vision; 3 types: red, green, blue; found in the fovea; fast recovery time
phototransduction cascade
light hits retinal which causes retinal to change conformation, which causes rhodopsin molecule to change shape, transducin breaks away from rhodopsin, activates PDE, which takes cyclic GMP and converts it to regular GMP, which causes sodium channels to close, hyperpolarizing them and turning off the rods, which turns on bipolar cells, which activates a retinal ganglion cell, which then sends a signal to the optic nerve and then to the brain; long story short this cascade allows brain to recognize that there’s light entering the eyeball
nasal side
side of eyeball closer to the nose
temporal side
outer side of eyeball closer to temporal lobes
visual processing
left visual field hits right side of each eyeball, right visual field hits the left of each eyeball.
optic chiasm
point where optic nerves converge and then break off again; all light that hits the temporal side of the eyeball doesn’t cross the optic chiasm, but the nasal side does cross so that right visual field goes to the left side of the brain and the left visual field goes to the right side of the brain
feature detection
color, form, motion; use cones to determine color, use parvo pathway to determine the shape/form of an object , magno pathway for motion
parvo pathway
good at determining spatial resolution to determine shape but poor temporal resolution (motion) but allows us to see color
magno pathway
high temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution, does not encode color
parallel processing
determine form, color, and motion all at the exact same time
sound waves
areas of high and low pressure; lower frequency sound waves penetrate deeper into the cochlea,
auditory structure
sound waves funneled by the pinna, into the auditory canal, hit the eardrum which vibrates, causing 3 bones (malleus, incus, stapes) to vibrate, stapes is attached to oval window which is connected to the cochlea, which is full of fluid. The fluid is pushed by the vibrations which push the hair cells inside the cochlea back and forth, potassium is moved out of the cell, and transmit an electrical impulse via the auditory nerve to the brain
primary auditory cortex
receives all the info from the cochlea and distinguishes sounds based on frequencies
cochlear implants
for people with sensorineural hearing loss, sound waves hit the microphone which converts them into electrical impulse which then gets sent to the transmitter which sends it to the receiver which stimulates the cochlea to convert the electrical impulse into a neural impulse
sensory adaptation
change in responsiveness of a sensory receptor to a constant stimulus over time; downregulation; body responding to a change in stimulus– if there is no change, there is no info being sent to the brain
sensory amplification
upregulation; cell sends out an action potential and then more and more cells send out action potentials so by the time it reaches the brain the signal has been amplified
somatosensory homunculus
map of your body in your brain
proprioception
our ability to sense exactly where our body is in space, has to do with our sense of balance
kinesthesia
body detects its own movements, helps us learn exact movements for certain tasks (ie. shooting hoops)
pheromones
olfactory cues/ chemical signal used to communicate; pheromone bind, cell will fire and that will eventually reach the amygdala to cause a behavioral response
cribiform plate
separates olfactory bulb from olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity
olfactory bulb
has olfactory sensory neurons with projections in the olfactory epithelium
glomerulus
region of the olfactory bulb that is a designation point for various sensory olfactory cells that are sensitive to the same molecule
mitral or tufted cell
take signal from glomerulus and project it to the brain
5 main tastes
bitter, salty, sweet, sour, umami
taste bud
each bud contains all of the different taste cells; found all over the tongue but mostly in the anterior part
labelled lines model
each type of taste cell has dedicated axons that send the signal to certain parts of the cortex so there is no mixing
consciousness
awareness of ourselves and our environment
alertness
awake, aware of who you are, where you are, and what’s going on in your environment; associated with beta waves
daydreaming
awake but not aware of environment; associated with alpha waves
drowsiness
almost asleep but semi aware of the world
sleep
not aware of yourself or the world
four stages of sleep
3 non-REM stages (N1, N2, N3) and REM, takes 90 minutes to go through a complete cycle
N1
stage between sleep and wakefulness; start producing theta waves
N2
more theta waves and sleep spindles (bursts of rapid rhythm brain activity)
N3
delta waves, difficult to wake up, sleep talking/walking
REM
eyes move rapidly beneath your lids
circadian rhythms
regular bodily rhythms over 24 hour period/ internal biological clock
Freud’s theory of dreams
dreams represent our unconscious wishes, urges, and feelings; manifest content (what is actually happening in our dreams) and latent content (hidden meaning behind the dream)
activation synthesis hypothesis
dreams are simply the frontal part of the cerebral cortex, that more generalized thinking part of our brain, trying to make sense of these electrical impulses in the brain stem
narcolepsy
can’t help but fall asleep
insomnia
difficult going to sleep/staying asleep
sleep apnea
stop breathing while they sleep; obstructive apnea (Something blocks airway), central apnea (issue with brain centers that control breathing)
hypoventilation disorder
buildup of CO2 because not breathing in and out enough
depressants
depress CNS function, decrease level of arousal/stimulation in the brain, decrease heart rate, lower BP, slow breathing; ie. barbiturates/ tranquilizers, alcohol, medication for anxiety, seizures, insomnia
stimulants
excite CNS; ie. caffeine, adderall, ecstasy
hallucinogens
experience distorted perceptions, heightened sensations; ie. PCP, acid, LSD, mushrooms
opioids/ opiates
depress CNS, reduce perception of pain; ie. heroin, morphine, act at receptor sites for endorphin
selective attention
focus on one thing at a time
exogenous cues
external to any goals we might have
endogenous cues
more internalized and higher order; involve internal knowledge to understand the cue and the intention to follow it
inattentional blindness
not consciously aware of things that happen in our visual field when our attention is directed elsewhere within that field
change blindness
fail to notice changes in the environment
boradbent’s early selection theory
all info in your environment goes into your sensory register and is then transferred to the selective filter which identifies what it’s supposed to be attending to via basic physical characteristics; problem: cocktail party effect– you should have filtered this out but you still hear your name across a room
Deutsch& Deutsch late selection theory
register and assign meaning to everything, but then your selective filter decides what to pass on to your conscious awareness; problem: seems wasteful to spend effort assigning meaning to things you don’t need
Treisman’s attenuation theory of selective attention
we have an attenuator which weakens but doesn’t eliminate unattended inputs, some of it gets to the perceptual processes. We assign meaning to unattended things but it is not a high priority
