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Psychology > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Decoding olfaction, our sense of smell
Identified more than 1000 special receptors in the nose that transmit olfactory information to the brain

A

Richard Axel

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2
Q

Discovered how hundreds of genes in our DNA code for the odorant sensors located in the olfactory sensory neurons in our noses

A

Linda Buck

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3
Q

Founder of psychophysics, a set of methods for empirically relating measured sensory stimulus to reported sensation

A

Gustav Fechner

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4
Q

Perceptual learning
Argued for her differentiational theory of perceptual learning, in contrast to the dominant associationist theories

A

Eleanor Gibson

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5
Q

Research into color vision, binocular perception and eye movements
Proposed opponent color theory

A

Ewald Hering

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6
Q

Discovered how individual brain cells convey information that enables us to see the world

A

David Hubel

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7
Q

Discovered the McGurk effect, which is an auditory-visual illusion that illustrates how perceivers merge information for speech sounds across the senses

A

Harry McGurk

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8
Q

Pain mechanisms in humans and animals
Gate control theory of pain
McGill Pain Questionnaire

A

Ronald Melzack

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9
Q

Challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims
Tested and debunked supposed psychic phenomena

A

James Randi

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10
Q

Pioneer in the scientific study of human vision and audition
Interested in the relationship between measurable physical stimuli and their correspondent human perceptions

A

Hermann von Helmholtz

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11
Q

Studied depth perception in human infants and a variety of animal species by examining the factors that determine whether or not the subject would cross the threshold of the “cliff”

A

Richard Walk

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12
Q

Leading expert on pain
Gate control theory of pain

A

Patrick Wall

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13
Q

Determined that there was a threshold of sensation that must be passed before an increase in the intensity of any stimulus could be detected

A

Ernst Weber

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14
Q

Discovered the critical period in visual system development
Research on visual information processing by the visual cortex of the brain

A

Torsten Wiesel

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15
Q

Discovered the way in which the lens of the eye changes shape to focus on objects at differing distances

A

Thomas Young

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16
Q

Process by which we receive information from the environment
1. Receptors
2. Neural pathways
3. Sensory processes

A

Sensation

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17
Q

Process of organizing/interpreting sensory info
Enables us to recognize meaningful objects/events

A

Perception

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18
Q

Begins with sensory receptors - works up to the brain’s processing of sensory info

A

Bottom-up processing

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19
Q
  1. Guided by higher-level mental processes
  2. We construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
A

Top-down processing

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20
Q

Ability to focus on one stimulus while ignoring other stimuli that are present (cocktail party effect)
ADHD (unable to selectively attend)

A

Selective attention

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21
Q

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

A

Inattentional blindness

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22
Q

Failing to notice changes in the environment

A

Change blindness

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23
Q

Study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them
Study of sensation and perception

A

Psychophysics

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24
Q

Weakest amount of a stimulus required to produce a sensation
Level that produces positive response of detection 50% of the time

A

Absolute Threshold

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25
1. Predicts how and when we detect presence of faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise) 2. Assumes no single absolute threshold 3. Detection depends on experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue
Signal Detection Theory
26
Receipt of messages below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness Imperceptible brief stimulus triggers weak response that evokes a feeling, though not a conscious awareness of stimulus Subtle, fleeting effect on thinking, Not a powerful enduring effect on behavior
Subliminal Stimulation
27
A phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a subsequent, related stimulus
Priming
28
Minimal change in stimulation that can be detected 50% of the time (just noticeable difference)
Difference Threshold
29
The larger or stronger a stimulus, the larger the change required for a person to notice that anything has happened to it
Weber's Law
30
1. Decline in receptor activity when stimuli are changing 2. Not sight because eyes always moving
Sensory Adaptation
31
Sensory systems convert stimulus energy to neural messages
Transduction
32
The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next Short - high frequency (bluish colors) Long - low frequency (reddish colors)
Wavelength
33
The dimension of color that is determined by a wavelength of light Determined by the wave's amplitude Great amplitude - bright colors Small amplitude - dull colors
Hue
34
The amount of energy in a light or sound wave which we perceive as brightness or loudness as determined by the wave's amplitude
Intensity
35
Adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
Pupil
36
A ring of muscle tissue that forms the color portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
Iris
37
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
Lens
38
Nerve cells in brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus (shape, color, or movement)
Feature Detectors
39
Processing of many aspects of an object simultaneously
Parallel Processing
40
1. Retina contains three color receptors: red (60%), green (30%), blue (10%) 2. When stimulated, in combination, can produce perception of any color
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory
41
Opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision Ex: some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red Afterimage
Opponent Process Theory
42
Vibrations of air, hearing depends on these vibrations
Audition
43
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
Frequency
44
A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency Higher frequency - higher pitch Lower frequency - lower pitch
Pitch
45
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window
Middle ear
46
1. Damage to mechanical system that conducts sound waves to cochlea 2. Problems with eardrum or bones of middle ear
Conduction Hearing Loss
47
1. Damage to cochlea's receptor cells or to auditory nerves 2. nerve deafness
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
48
1. Sensorineural hearing loss 2. Converts sounds into electrical signals 3. Stimulates auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into cochlea
Cochlear Implant
49
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses
Cochlea
50
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
Inner Ear
51
Different frequencies of sound waves vibrate different places on cochlea
Place Theory
52
The frequency of the auditory nerve's impulses corresponds to the frequency of a tone, which allows us to detect its pitch. Sounds come into the ear as acoustical signals and are later transformed into nerve impulses by the cochlea
Frequency Theory
53
1. Sense of movement and body position 2. Posture and balance is a combination of sight, vestibular sense and kinesthetic sense 3. Receptors are near muscles, tendons, and joints
Kinesthesis
54
1. Sense of balance 2. Located in the semicircular canals in the ear
Vestibular Sense
55
Pain experienced when pain messages pass through gate in spinal cord on way to brain Gate is opened by small nerve fibers that carry pain signals Gate is closed by nerve fibers that conduct most other sensory signals or by information coming from brain
Gate-Control Theory
56
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
Sensory Interaction
57
1. An organized whole 2. The tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
Gestalt
58
The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
Figure-ground
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The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups Ex: Proximity, Continuity, Closure
Grouping
60
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
Depth Perception
61
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
Visual Cliff
62
Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes
Binocular Cues
63
A binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance -- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object
Retinal Disparity
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Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone
Monocular Cues
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An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Phi Phenomenon
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Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, sizes, brightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change
Perceptual Constancy
67
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object
Color Constancy
68
Ability of body to adapt to an environment by filtering out distractions In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
Perceptual Adaptation
69
Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Perceptual Set

Psychology (8 decks)

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