Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

Knowledge comes from the “information of my senses”
Blank Slate?
John Locke
“Let us suppose the mind to be white paper, void of all characters, without any
ideas. How does it come to be furnished? I answer, in one word, experience.”

Question 2

Rationalism

Answer 2

we are born with “knowledge” that creates our experiences.
Immanuel Kant
Time, space, Infinity- we don’t know them from experience; they are actually
completely different from our “experiences”
Modern view: Innate “information processing mechanisms” that give “meaning” to
our experiences in ways that solved problems for our distant ancestors

Question 3

Herman Von Helmholtz

Answer 3

Knew that:
we see white in a mixture of all different colors, but also when two
complementary are mixed
we see orange light, but also when red and yellow light are mixed

Question 4

Young-Helmholtz Theory of Color Vision

Answer 4

Three types of color receptors on the retina (red, blue, green)
Each type of receptor sends a specific color
also known as the “Trichromatic Theory”
Able to
1. Predict the colors when lights are mixed
2. Explain the kinds of color blindness
3. Explain the influence of brain lesions on color vision
But: Afterimages
Stare at a strong color for a while and then look at a white wall. You’ll see the
opposite color.

Question 5

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 5

(Everything is Excitatory or Inhibitory)
Color is really depends on cells that are antagonistic (block out) other cells.
Blue-yellow; red-green

Question 6

First law of psychology

Answer 6

Ernest Weber:
Weight experiments- Pick up a weight. How much weight do I have to add to it until
I feel a “Just Noticeable Difference?”

Question 7

Just Noticeable Difference

Answer 7

amount something must be changed in order for a difference to be noticeable, detectable at least half the time (absolute threshold).

Question 8

Weber’s Law

Answer 8

Change in S
S
Is a CONSTANT
In ALL Senses:
Weights- 1/40 (1/30 nonlifted)
Vision- 1/60
Pain- 1/30
Pitch- 1/10
Smell- 1/4
Taste- 1/3
It’s the first example of a systematic relationship b/w physical stimulation and
psych experience- the first law of psych. JND’s aren’t just opinion: a law governs our
perceptions

Question 9

Fechner’s Law

Answer 9

S= k logR
In order to produce increases of a constant size in sensation, it requires larger and
larger differences in the intensity of a S.
Absolute thresholds- the “limen” below which nothing can be sensed, and which he
called “negative sensations”.

Question 10

Absolute Threshold

Answer 10

the “limen” below which nothing can be sensed, and which he
called “negative sensations”.

Question 11

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

Answer 11

A whole, pattern, shape

Question 12

Figure-Ground

Answer 12

We focus on some “gestalt”, and everything else fades to the “background.”

Question 13

Phi-Phenomenon

Answer 13

Wertheimer:
The speed of the flashing light determined whether lines or dots projected on a wall
appeared to be two images, one image, or one image in two different places
Apparent motion is an experience that emerges from simple sensations, but it can’t
be reduced to them. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (perception is
“greater” than the sum of the sensations that create it.)

Question 14

Continuity

Answer 14

A melody sounds the same no matter what key its played in Ex. twinkle twinkle little star

Question 15

Proximity

Answer 15

Things that appear together are grouped together in our minds

Question 16

Closure

Answer 16

Filling in the gaps of the information we don’t know or what we expect to see

Question 17

Similarity

Answer 17

Ex.Talented musicians (violinists) blend together and sound as one

Question 18

Simplicity

Answer 18

The law of pragnanz
Our brains simplifying complexity. perceiving the simplest, most symmetrical images out of complexity