Sensation and Perception Flashcards
sensation
the process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neural energy
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense (meaningful)
bottom-up processing
-sensation
-happens in the eyes
-sensory receptors take in every little detail occurring in a situation and send it up to the brain for interpretation
top-down processing
-perception
-occurs in the brain
-easily recognizable, ex. I hear one word from a song and I immediately know that it is pitbull singing and that I love that song
sensory receptors
specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit it to sensory (affluent) nerves and the brain
photoreception
direction of light, perceieved as sight
mechanoreception
detection of pressure, vibration, and movement, perceived as touch, hearing, and equillibrium
chemoreception
detection of chemical stimuli perceived as smell and taste
absolute threshold
the minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect
-candle 30 mi. away 50% of the time
noise
competing stimuli, anything that is in the way (distracting stimuli)
difference threshold
the degree of difference that must exist between two stimuli before the difference is detected
weber’s law
the rinciple that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) to be perceives as different
subliminal perception
the detection of information below the level of conscious awareness
signal detection theory
an approach to perception that focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions of uncertainty
-TSA checking bags (what causes them to not get a HIT)
attention
the processing of focusing awareness on a narrow aspect of the environment
selective attention
the act of focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others
perceptual set
a predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way
-reflect top-down processing
sensory adaptation
a change in the responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation
sclera
the white outer part of the eye that helps maintain shape of the eye
iris
colored part of the eyes, muscles from it help to contract and dilate the pupil
pupil
opening in the eye; allows for light to enter the eye
cornea
clear membrane that is the outermost part of the eye that protects the pupil and iris
lens
-acts almost like a camera and moves to focus an image (accomadation)
-located behind the iris and pupil
retina
covered in receptor cells that converts the light energy into neural impulses for processing in the brain
-light sensitive
rods
receptor cells in the retina that detect light and dark. (black, grey, and white)
cones
receptor cells in retina that help us to see color
optic nerve
structure in the back of the eyes that is made up of axons of ganglion cells that carry visual information to the brain for further processing and analysis
feature detectors
-involved in vision
-neurons that are responsible for Shapes, angles and movement
-allow us to see the “whole” stimulus
parallel processing
the simultaneous distribution of information across different neural pathways
-perceiving “what” and “where” at once
binding
in the sense of vision, the bringing together and integration of what is processed by different neural pathways or cells
trichromatic theory
states that color perception is based on 3 types of cone receptors red, green, and blue
opponent-process theory
states that cells in the visual field system respond to complementary pairs of red-green and blue-yellow
-staring at red then looking away and you get a green after image