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Behavioral Sciences (Psychology and Sociology) > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the difference between sensation and perception ?

A

Sensation is the ability to take in physical, auditory, electromagnetic, and etc. info form the internal and external environment & convert this info into electrical signals in the nervous system. Perception would be processing this info in the nervous system in order to make sense of the significance of the info.

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2
Q

Neurons that respond to sensory receptors by triggering electrical signals that carry info to the CNS is termed?

A

Sensory receptors

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3
Q

How do proximal and distal stimulus’ work cooperatively?

A

Proximal stimuli affect sensory receptors and in turn inform the body of the presence of the distal stimuli

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4
Q

Collections of neuron cell bodies found outside the CNS are ?

A

Ganglia

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5
Q

What are the most essential receptors and their functions?

A

Photoreceptors: respond to electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (sight)
Mechanoreceptors: respond to pressure or movement (auditory)
Nociceptors: respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)
Thermoreceptors: respond to changes in temp (thermosensation)
Osmoreceptors: respond to osmolarity of blood (H2O homeostasis)
Olfactory receptors: respond to volatile compounds: (smell)
Taste receptors: respond to dissolved compounds (taste)

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6
Q

The min energy of a stimulus needed to activate a sensory system is termed ?

A

Absolute Threshold

-Threshold in sensation and not perception

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7
Q

The level of intensity that a stimulus must have in order to be concisely perceived by the brain is the_____?

A

Threshold of conscious perception

-Info received by CNS but does not pass this threshold is termed subliminal perception

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8
Q

What is the difference between absolute threshold and the threshold of conscious perception ?

A

A stimulus below the absolute threshold will not transduce (never reaches CNS), but a stimulus below the threshold of conscious perception will still arrive at CNS but will not be strong enough to reach the regions of the brain that will elicit a reaction/response

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9
Q

The min change in magnitude required for an observer to perceive that 2 different stimuli are in fact different is the ______?

A 
Difference threshold (just noticeable difference)
-Basis for discrimination testing (change in stimulus/magnitude of original stimulus)
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10
Q

The idea that difference thresholds are proportional and must be computed as percentages is termed ?

A

Weber’s Law

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11
Q

The study of how internal and external factors influence thresholds of sensation and perception is termed ?

A

Signal Detection Theory

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12
Q

Trials in which the signal is presented are _____, and those where it’s not present are _______?

A

Noise trials and catch trials (respectively)

  • Hit: signal presented and correctly detected
  • Miss: signals presented but not detected
  • False alarm: signal not presented but claimed to be detected
  • Correct negative: no signal presented and correctly identified that it was not present
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13
Q

Most of the exposed portion of the eye is covered by a thick structural layer known as the_____

A

Sclera (white of the eye)

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14
Q

The eye is supplied w/ nutrients by 2 sets of blood vessels: _____ & ______

A 
Choroidal vessels (between sclera and retina)
Retinal vessels
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15
Q

The innermost layer of the eye that contains the photoreceptors that transduce light into chemical info the brain can process is the _____

A

Retina

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16
Q

Light 1st passes through the _____ which gathers and focuses incoming light

A

Cornea

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17
Q

The front of the eye is divided into the ______ & the _______

A 
Anterior chamber (in front of the iris)
Posterior chamber (between the iris and the lens)
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18
Q

The colored part of the eye (iris) is composed of which 2 muscles ?

A 
Dilator pupillae (opens the pupil under sympathetic stimulation)
Constrictor pupillae (constricts the pupil under parasympathetic stimulation)
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19
Q

The vascular layer of connective tissue that provides supports and nourishment to the retina is termed ?

A

Choroid

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20
Q

What produces the aqueous humor of the eye and where does it drain ?

A

Ciliary body & Canal of Schlemm

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21
Q

The ____ controls the refraction of incoming light.

A

Lens

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22
Q

The transparent gel that lies behind the lens and supports the retina is termed ?

A

Vitreous humor

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23
Q

The process of the ciliary muscles contracting and pulling the suspensory ligaments to change the shape of the lens to focus on an image is termed ?

A

Accommodation

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24
Q

Which 2 photoreceptors compose the duplexity theory of light ?

A

Cones (detect color)

Rods (detect light and dark)

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25
Q

The central section of the retina ____ has the highest conc of cones

A

Macula

-Centermost region (fovea) has cones only

26
Q

Rods and cones synapse directly w/ _____, which then synapse w/ _____

A 
Bipolar cells (highlight gradients btwn adjacent rods or cones)
Ganglion cells (axons group together to form optic nerve)
27
Q

What is the visual pathway from the eyes to the brain?

A
  1. Optic chiasm: fibers from nasal half of each retina cross paths
  2. Optic tracts: fibers corresponding to the left visual field from both eyes project into the right side of the brain (& vice versa)
  3. (option 1) Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN): synapse nerves that pass through radiations in temporal and parietal lobes to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe
  4. (option 2) Superior colliculus: controls some reflexive responses to visual stimuli and reflexive eye movements
28
Q

The brain’s ability to analyze info regarding color, form, motion, & depth simultaneously using independent pathways in the brain is termed ?

A

Parallel processing

29
Q

The shape of an object & our ability to discriminate an object of interest from the background by detecting its boundaries it termed ?

A

Form

30
Q

Parvocellular cells have very high color spatial resolution that allows us to do what ?

A

Detect fine detail when thoroughly examining an object

-Can only work with stationary or slow moving objects due to low temporal resolution

31
Q

In contrast to parvocellular cells, magnocellular cells have the ability do what ?

A

Detect motion of an object due to high temporal resolution (provide blurry but moving image of an object)
-Don’t really detect fin details once object is in motion due to low spatial resolution

32
Q

Our ability to discriminate the 3D shape of our environment & judge the distance of objects within it is based on ?

A

Depth perception

-Binocular neurons responsible for detecting differences in hemispheres

33
Q

Our ability to associate certain patterns of stimuli w/ expected behaviors/outcomes is assisted by specialized cells in the visual cortex known as ?

A

Feature detectors

34
Q

What are the parts and functions of the outer ear ?

A
  1. Pinna (auricle): channel sound waves into EAC
  2. External auditory canal: transmit sound waves to eardrum
  3. Tympanic membrane (eardrum): vibrates in phase with incoming sound (louder sounds = higher intensity)
35
Q

What are the components and functions of the middle ear ?

A
  1. Ossicles: Malleus (hammer)—>Incus (anvil)—> Stapes (stirrup) {transmit and amplify vibrations from TM to inner ear}
  2. Connected to nasal cavity via eustachian tube: equalizes pressure between middle ear and environment
36
Q

The membranous labyrinth is filled by a K+ rich fluid called ?

A

Endolymph

37
Q

_____ simultaneously transmits vibrations from the outside world and cushions the inner ear structures.

A

Perilymph

38
Q

The spiral shaped organ that contains hearing receptors is termed ?

A

Cochlea
-Composed of 3 parts known as scalae
Organ of Corti: middle scalae that houses the hearing apparatus (rests on basilar membrane)
Hair cells in O of C transduce physical stimuli into an electrical signal (carried to CNS by auditory [vestibulocochlear] nerve)
-Other 2 scalae filled w/ perilymph

39
Q

A membrane covered hole in the cochlea that permits perilymph to move within the cochlea is termed ?

A

Round Window

40
Q

The vestibule is the portion of the bony labyrinth that contains which 2 structures ?

A

Utricle and Saccule

  • Sensitive to linear acceleration, in turn used as part of the balancing apparatus & to determine one’s orientation in 3D space
  • Contain otoliths (modified hair cells) that resist acceleration of the body
41
Q

Semicircular canals are sensitive to ?

A

Rotational motion

  • End in ampulla (where hair cells are located)
  • Endolymph in SC resist motion when the head rotates
42
Q

What is the auditory pathway of sound to the brain ?

A

Vestibulocochlear nerve–>brainstem–>medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) of thalamus–> nerve fibers project to auditory cortex–> some info sent to superior olive (localizes sound) or inferior colliculus (startle reflex & helps keep eyes fixated when head is turned)

43
Q

Which theory states that the location of a hair cell on the basilar membrane determines the perception of pitch when that hair cell is vibrated ?

A

Place theory

44
Q

What is the olfactory pathway of smell to the brain ?

A

Odor inhaled to nasal passages–> olfactory nerves in olfactory epithelium–> olfactory bulb—> relayed via olfactory tract to higher regions in the brain

45
Q

Tastes are detected by _____, which are sensitive to dissolved compounds.

A

Chemoreceptors

46
Q

The 5 different types of receptors that receive tactile info are:___?

A

Pacinian corpuscles: respond to deep pressure & vibration
Meissner corpuscles: respond to light touch
Merkel cells (discs): respond to deep pressure & texture
Ruffini endings: respond to stretch
Free nerve endings: respond to pain and temp

47
Q

The min distance necessary between 2 points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as 2 distinct stimuli is known as ?

A

A 2 point threshold

48
Q

The theory that proposes that a special “gating” mechanism can turn pain signals on or off to affect whether we receive pain or not is termed ?

A

Gate theory of pain

-Superseded by other theories but still helpful

49
Q

The ability to tell where one’s body is in space is termed ?

A

Proprioception (kinesthetic sense)

-Proprioceptors found mostly in muscles and joints & play critical roles in hand-eye coordination, balance, & mobility

50
Q

Object recognition by parallel processing & feature detection is known as ?

A

Bottom-up processing (data-driven)
-Brain takes the individual sensory stimuli & combines them together to create a cohesive image before determining what the object is

51
Q

Memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object & then recognize the components based on the expectations is based on which theory ?

A

Top-down processing (conceptually driven)

-Allows us to quickly recognize objects w/o needing to analyze their specific parts

52
Q

The ability to create a complete picture/idea by combining top-down & bottom-up processing w/ all other sensory clues gathered from an object is ?

A

Perceptual organization

53
Q

The visual cue that requires only 1 eye & include relative size, interposition, motion parallax, linear perspective, & other minor cues is known as ?

A

Monocular cues

  • relative size: objects appear larger the closer they are
  • interposition: when 2 objects overlap, the 1 in front is closer
  • linear perspective: convergence of parallel lines @ a distance
  • motion parallax: perception that objects closer to us seem to move faster when we change our field of vision
54
Q

Which visual cue primarily involves retinal disparity (slight difference in images projected on the 2 retinas)?

A

Binocular cues

-convergence: brain detects the angle between the two eyes required to bring an object into focus

55
Q

Our ability to perceive that certain characteristics of objects remain the same, despite changes in the environment is known as ?

A

Constancy

56
Q

A set of general rules that account for the fact that the brain tends to view incomplete stimuli in organized. patterned ways is termed ?

A

Gestalt principles

57
Q

“Elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit” is which law ?

A

Law of proximity

58
Q

“Objects that are similar tend to be grouped together” is which law?

A

Law of similarity

59
Q

“Elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together” is which law?

A

Law of good continuation

60
Q

Perceiving contours or shapes that are not actually present in the stimulus is termed?

A

Subjective contours

61
Q

“When a space is enclosed by a contour, the space tends to be perceived as a complete figure” is which law ?

A

Law of closure

62
Q

Altogether, Gestalt principles are governed by which law ?

A

Law of pragnanz: perceptual organization will always be as regular, simple, & symmetric as possible

Behavioral Sciences (Psychology and Sociology) (12 decks)

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