Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

What is sensation?

A

The process through which the senses detect visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli and transmit them to the brain

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2
Q

What is perception?

A

The process by which sensory information is actively organized and interpreted by the brain

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3
Q

What does sensation do?

A

Gives you the visual cues

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4
Q

What does perception do?

A

Fills in the blanks

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5
Q

What is absolute threshold?

A

The difference between not being able to perceive a stimulus and being able to just barely perceive it. (nothing versus something)

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6
Q

What is the difference threshold?

A

The smallest increase or decrease in a stimulus that’s required to notice a difference; called the ‘just noticeable difference’ (JND). (something vs. more/less of something)

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7
Q

What is sensory adaptation?

A

Becoming less sensitive to unchanging sensory stimulus over time,
automatic process,
allows us to shift attention

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8
Q

What are 2 kinds of processing functions?

A

Bottom up processing, top down processing

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9
Q

What is bottom up processing?

A

Individual components of stimulus detected by sensory receptors, bits of information translate mites to areas of brain to be combined and assembled into unified whole

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10
Q

What is top down processing?

A

Past experience and knowledge influence our perceptions,
we find meaningful links between the individual elements taken in by our sensory receptors
use existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, expectations

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11
Q

What is perceptual set?

A

Where individuals’ expectations affect their perceptions

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12
Q

How can Top-Down Influences be good?

A

Efficiency

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13
Q

How can Top-Down Influences be bad?

A

Error/limit interpretation

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14
Q

What is chemical sense?

A

They rely on chemical molecules not a form of ‘energy’

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15
Q

What is smell/olfaction?

A

Receptor sites resemble neurotransmitter binding site.
Odour molecules (odorants) lock into certain sites.
Action potential
Receptors send messages to olfactory area in brain.
linked to amygdala (emotion)
hippocampus (memory)
available early/prenatal (but airborne)

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16
Q

What do we mean when we refer to taste?

A

Chemical receptors = taste buds - consist of several receptor cells.

about 9,000 taste buds grouped in different regions, which was located on edges & top of tongue, thalamus
prenatal-childhood more

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17
Q

What is taste flavour gustation influenced by?

A

appearance/palatability
texture
previous experience

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18
Q

What are the 3 dimensions of colour vision?

A

Hue, brightness, saturation

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19
Q

What is hue?

A

It is the specific colour perceived, wavelength

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20
Q

What is brightness?

A

It refers to the intensity of the light energy that’s perceived, amplitude of wave

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21
Q

What is saturation?

A

It refers to the purity of the colour

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22
Q

What are the theories of colour vision?

A

Trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz)
Opponent-Process theory
Explain afterimages
Dual Process Theory

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23
Q

What is trichromatic theory?

A

There are 3 types of colour receptors.
Cones most sensitive to blue/purple, green, red wavelengths.
Visual system combines activity from these cells.
Colours are perceived by additive mixture of impulses.
If all are equally activated - white colour is produced

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24
Q

What can’t trichromatic theory explain?

A

Red-green colour blind individuals shouldn’t be able to perceive yellow (red + green = yellow).
- Afterimages
- state at red - look away you’ll see green (same for blue and yellow)

25
Q

What is opponent-process theory?

A

3 cone types; each responds to 3 different wavelengths - opposing pairs.
Red or green, blue or yellow, black or white.

26
Q

What is explain afterimages?

A

Stare at certain colour.
neural processes become fatigued,
have ‘rebound’ effect with receptor responding with the opponent opposite reaction

27
Q

What is Dual Process Theory?

A

This combines trichromatic & opponent-process theory.
- 3 types of cones sensitive to short (blue), medium (green), and long (red) wavelengths.
- these cones stimulate opponent-process reactions.
- opponent processes occur in ganglion cells, neurons in relay stations & visual cortex

28
Q

What is the 4 Gestalt Principles?

A

Similarity, Proximity, Closure, Continuity

29
Q

What is similarity?

A

Similar items belong together

30
Q

What is proximity?

A

Elements close together belong together

31
Q

What is closure?

A

Close open edges: perceive boundaries, fill in gaps

32
Q

What is continuity?

A

Elements linked to form a continuous line, pattern

33
Q

What is depth perception?

A

Image on the retina is 2 dimensional, but we live in a 3 dimensional world.
- monocular depth cues
- binocular depth cues

34
Q

What is the interposition of monocular depth cues?

A

When one object partly blocks view of another, perceive partially blocked object as farther away

35
Q

What is the linear perspective of monocular depth cues?

A

Parallel lines known to be the same distance apart appear to grow close together, or converge, as they recede into the distance

36
Q

What is the relative size of monocular depth cues?

A

Larger objects perceive as closer, smaller objects as farther away

37
Q

What is the texture gradient of monocular depth cues?

A

Near objects appear to have sharply defined textures, objects seem smoother and fuzzier as they recede

38
Q

What is shadow or shading or monocular depth cues?

A

When light falls on objects, it casts shadow. can distinguish bulges form indentations by the shadows they cast.

39
Q

What is motion parallax of monocular depth cues?

A

When riding in a moving vehicle - look out the side window
- objects close to you appear to be moving faster than those at a distance
- objects very far away, such as the moon and the sun, appear to be stationary.

40
Q

What is binocular depth cues?

A

Have 2 eyes for a reason (gives exquisite depth perception)
Based on binocular disparity (2 eyes receive different visual images)

41
Q

What is illusions?

A

Incorrect perceptions, provide information about perceptual processes

42
Q

What does the outer ear do?

A

Pinna (part you use for earring & sunglasses)
sound enters auditory canal.
causes tympanic membrance (eardrum) to vibrate.

43
Q

What does the middle ear do?

A

Vibration cause malleus, incus, stapes (3 tiny bones) to vibrate,
amplify sound more than 30x
cause oval window to move in and out

44
Q

What does the inner ear do?

A

Contains cochlea,
houses basilar membrane - which moves an oval window moves (fluid)
contains hair cells = sound receptors
hair cells synapse with auditory nerve
send impulses to auditory relay station thalamus - then to auditory cortex (temporal lobe)

45
Q

What is tonotopic?

A

Organization of auditory cortex
- parts of the cochlea map to parts of the cortex

46
Q

What are the theories of hearing?

A

Place Theory, Frequency/Temporal Theory

47
Q

What is Place Theory?

A

Each individual pitch is determined by the particular spot or place along the basilar membrane of the cochlea that vibrates the most

48
Q

What is Frequency/Temporal Theory?

A

Hair cell receptors vibrate (action potentials) the same number of times per second as the sounds that reach them

49
Q

What is our current understanding of the theories of hearing?

A

Both theories have flaws and both have some merit, blend of the 2 is accepted now (emphasis on Place-tonotopic)

50
Q

What is sound location?

A

Binaural hearing (2 ears) helps localize sound

51
Q

What is timing of sounds?

A

Sounds arrive at closest ear first
use differences in arrival time

52
Q

What is intensity of sounds?

A

Sound arriving at closest ear will be more intense
use differences in intensities

53
Q

What are the different types of hearing loss?

A

Conduction deafness
Nerve deafness

54
Q

What is conduction deafness?

A

Involves mechanical system of hearing (e.g. punctured eardrum, loss of function of bones of middle ear)

55
Q

What is nerve deafness?

A

Involves damaged receptors/nerve
Exposure to loud sounds can damage hair cells

56
Q

What is sense of touch?

A

Touch/pressure, pain, warmth, cold.
Receptors send messages to brain.
Thalamus and somatic sensory cortex.
Pain (Gate control theory)

57
Q

What is gate control theory?

A

Fast and slow pathways,
Block
Spine - now brain

58
Q

What is Kinesthetic sense?

A

Information from tendons, muscles and joint about
- positions of body parts in relation to each other
- movement of the entire body and/or its parts

59
Q

What is Vestibular Sense?

A

Detect movement
- provides information about body’s orientation in space
- receptors in vestibular apparatus of inner ear