Sensation and perception

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

physical process when sensory organs respond to external stimuli

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

psychological process where brain interprets sensory information into useful infomation

Question 3

transduction

Answer 3

transforming external stimuli into energy for the brain to understand
- sensation

Question 4

light or a sound wave is converted into a form of energy the brain can understand

Answer 4

transduction

Question 5

building blocks of the mind

Answer 5

sensation, perception, attention, memory

Question 6

is our perception or sensation accurate?

Answer 6

not really, we do not see everything (we can only see visible light)

Question 7

does sensation vary across people (how)

Answer 7

yes
- supertasters more sensitive to stronger flavors, have more papillae on tongue
- colorblind people

Question 8

categories of perception

Answer 8

identification and categorization

Question 9

visual perception

Answer 9

mind automatically makes certain assumptions about environment (color, shadows and depth) to help us see accurately despite having limited data to work with

Question 10

how does shadows affect visual perception

Answer 10

shadows make surfaces darker, so we see colors against shadows to be light than they actually are

Question 11

how do we determine what is an object

Answer 11

proximity: dots close together -> group
similarity: texture
closure: complete shapes/boundaries (overlapping circle and square)
good continuation (two lines over lapping)
common movement

Question 12

cues of depth

Answer 12

haze/blurriness (further objects are blurrier)
binocular: both eyes
monocular

Question 13

binocular disparity

Answer 13

images give slightly different information to each eye that allows us to perceive depth

Question 14

convergence

Answer 14

at close distances, how much your eye is crossed gives the brain information about depth

Question 15

muller-lyer illusion

Answer 15

<—->
>—-<
inward pointing lines signify horizontal line is closer so it looks shorter
bottom line looks longer because it also looks farther

Question 16

ponzo illusion

Answer 16

. / __ \
/ __ \

Because we know things converge in the distance, top line looks further away and therefore shorter

Question 17

motion parallax

Answer 17

objects in the foreground move at different speeds (faster) than objects in the background (slower)

Question 18

shepard’s table illusion

Answer 18

tables at 45 degree angles are actually same dimensions

Question 19

Ebbinghaus illusion

Answer 19

6 dots of different size and distance make center dots look different sizes

Question 20

how do your expectations alter your taste?

Answer 20

if you think something is coming from a better place or color (red dyed), it will taste better

Question 21

why is our perception limited

Answer 21

it would be overwhelming and would make no different for our survival

Question 22

heuristics

Answer 22

brain uses shortcuts to give useful picture of environment and takes context into account

Question 23

why is perception not perfect

Answer 23

because brain uses shortcuts and we consider visual context such as shadows, surroundings

Question 24

how can visual cues shape auditory perception / describe mcgurk effect

Answer 24

: because visual and auditory systems work together to provide information, if they are conflicting, the system providing more information will combine or override effect

Question 25

top-down meaning

Answer 25

judgements and thoughts (higher cognitive processes) influence sensation and perception (lower cognitive processes)

Question 26

bottom-up meaning

Answer 26

sensation and perception (lower cognitive processes) influence judgements and thoughts (higher cognitive processes)

Question 27

Linguistic relativity/spair-whorf hypothesis

Answer 27

the view that language we speak constrains perception and cogniton

Question 28

do we all see the same colors across cultures?

Answer 28

yes but linguistic color categories shape color cognition

language influences how we categorize, remember and differentiation between colors

Question 29

What do all languages have in color with color categorization?

Answer 29

2 categories: black and white
3 categories: red
4 and 5 categories: green or yellow

Question 30

Do coin size differ by socioeconomic status?

State prediction and result

Answer 30

Prediction: poor children value currency more, so coins might like loom large
result matched prediction

Question 31

In binocular rivalry, how can you get someone to see one number over another letter?

Answer 31

tell them they are going to get a reward

Question 32

Are desirable things perceived to be closer?

Answer 32

Yes

Question 33

If you go on a jog and estimate how steep a hill is, will think it is more steep or less steep after?

Answer 33

More because you are tired

Question 34

just noticeable difference

Answer 34

threshold you can tell the difference between 2 stimuli