Sensation Flashcards
Sensation
your window to the world
Bottom-up processing
Senses to brain
- analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
top-down processing
brain to senses
-information processing guided by higher-level mental processes
psychophysics
relationship between physical stimuli and our psychological experiences to them.
Absolute Threshold
minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus
Difference Threshold
minimum difference between two stimuli
just noticeable difference (JND)
Signal Detection Theory
predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise)
Weber’s Law
to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant proportion
-light intensity- 8%
weight- 2%
tone frequency- 0.3%
Sensory Adaptation
Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation.
ex. wearing socks and wearing glasses
Transduction
Transforming signals into neural impulses.
Selective Attention
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
Vision
most dominating sense
Pupil
adjustable opening in the center of the eye
Iris
a ring of muscle that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
Lens
transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to focus images on the retina
Optic nerve
nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Fovea
central point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
Blind spot
point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind spot” because there are no receptor cells located there
Place theory
Different hairs vibrate in the cochlea when they experience different pitches
Frequency Theory
All the hairs vibrate but at different speeds
-The speed of neural firing corresponds to our perceptions of different pitches.
Conduction Deafness
Something goes wrong with the sound and the vibration on the way to the cochlea.
(You can get a hearing aid to help)
Nerve deafness
-The hair cells in the cochlea get damaged.
- Caused by loud noises
NO WAY to replace the hairs.
Cochlea implant is possible.
Gate-Control Theory
theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
Papillae
Bumps on tongue for tasting
Taste Sensations
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Sensory interaction
-the principle that one sense may influence another
-as when the smell of food influences its taste
Pheromones
subtle chemical Signals
Vestibular Sense
Tells us where our body is oriented in space.
(Our sense of balance)
Kinesthetic Sense
Tells us where our body parts are.
Pain controlled by
spinal cord
