Psychology and Sociology: Chapter 2 Flashcards
Sensation
more appropriately aligns with transduction, which means taking the physical, electromagnetic, auditory, and other information from our internal and external environment and converting this information into electrical signals in the nervous system
Perception
processing the sensation information within the central nervous system in order to make sense of the information’s significance
Distal stimuli
physical objects outside of the body
Proximal stimuli
sensory-stimulating byproducts (photons, sound waves, heat, pressure, or other stimuli produced by distal stimuli)
Photoreceptors
respond to electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (light)
Mechanoreceptors
respond to pressure or movement
Nociceptors
respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)
Thermoreceptors
respond to changes in temperature (thermosensation)
Osmoreceptors
respond to the osmolarity of the blood (water homeostasis)
Olfactory receptors
respond to volatile compounds (smell)
Taste receptors
respond to dissolved compounds (taste)
Threshold of Conscious Perception
The level of intensity that a stimulus must pass in order to be consciously perceived by the brain
Subliminal perception
information that is received by the CNS but that does not cross threshold of conscious perception
Difference threshold
Refers to the minimum change in magnitude required for an observer to perceive that two different stimuli are, in fact, different
Weber’s law
difference thresholds are proportional and must be computed as percentages; applies to the perception of a number of sense, including the perception of loudness and pitch of sounds, the perception of brightness of light, and the perception of weight by objects
Visual parallel processing
the brain’s ability to analyze information regarding color, form, motion, and depth simultaneously using independent pathways in the brain
Vestibular sense
our ability to detect both rotational and linear acceleration and use this information to inform our sense of balance and spatial orientation
Place theory
the location of a hair cell on the basilar membrane determines the perception of pitch when that hair cell is vibrated
-The highest-frequency pitches cause vibrations close to the oval window
-The lowest-frequency pitches cause the vibrations away from the oval window
Pacinian corpuscles
respond to deep pressure and vibration
Meissner corpuscles
respond to light touch
Merkel cells
respond to deep pressure and texture
Ruffini endings
respond to stretch
Free nerve endings
respond to pain and temperature
Two-point threshold
refers to the minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli; below this threshold, the two stimuli will be felt as one
Physiological zero
the normal temperature of the skin; temperature is judged relative to this physiological zero
Gate theory of pain
a special ‘gating’ mechanism can turn pain signals off or on, affecting whether or not perceive pain
Bottom-up processing
refers to object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection; the brain takes individual sensory stimuli and combines them together to create a cohesive image before determining what the object is
Top-down processing
driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations; allows us to quickly recognize objects without needing to analyze their specific parts
Convergence
the brain detects the angle between the two eyes required to bring an object into focus
Constancy
refers to our ability to perceive that certain characteristics of objects remain the same, despite changes in the environment
Gestalt Principles
A set of general rules that account for the fact that the brain tends to view incomplete stimuli as organized, patterned ways
Law of proximity
elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit
Law of similarity
objects that are similar tend to be grouped together
Law of good continuation
elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together; there is a tendency to perceive continuous patterns in stimuli rather than abrupt changes
Law of closure
when a space is enclosed by a contour, the space tends to be perceived as a complete figure
