Sensation and Perception Flashcards
transduction
the process in which signals are transformed into neural impulses
cocktail-party phenomenon
when your attention involuntarily switches (someone calls your name)
cornea
a protective covering of the eye
pupil
dilates and becomes smaller to allow the right amount of light into your eye
lens
curved and flexible in order to focus the light
retina
a screen on the back of your eye
cones
cells activated by color
rods
cells that respond to black and white
fovea
located at the center of your retina and contains the highest concentration of cones
ganglion cells
their axons make up the optic nerve that sends visual impulses to the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus
lateral geniculate nucleus
a place in the thalamus that receives impulses from the optic nerve
blind spot
where the optic nerve leaves the retina, calls such because has no rods or cones
optic chasm
the place nerves from both eyes join and cross over within the brain
feature detectors
discovered by Hubel and Weisel, nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement
trichromatic theory
there are three types of cones in the retina (blue, red and green) that activate in different combinations to produce all the colors of the visible spectrum
afterimage
an image (usually a negative image) that persists after stimulation has ceased
opponent-process theory
the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
amplitude
the height of a sound wave, measured in decibels
frequency
the length of the waves and determines pitch, measured in megahertz
order of sound in your ear
ear canal -> eardrum/tympanic membrane -> hammer (malleus bone) -> anvil (incus bone) -> stirrup (stapes bone) -> oval window -> cochlea (snail’s shell filled with fluid) -> hair at bottom of cochlea -> organ of Corti (neurons activated by the hair) -> auditory nerve
place theory
hair cells in the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in the cochlea
frequency theory
place theory works for high frequency sounds, but not low frequency
conduction deafness
something goes wrong with the system of conducting sound to the cochlea
nerve (sensorineural) deafness
when the hair cells in the cochlea are damaged, usually by loud noise
gate-control theory
when a higher priority pain message coincides with a lower priority pain message, only the higher one will be felt
papillae
the bumps on your tongue
olfactory bulb
one of two enlargements at the terminus of the olfactory nerve at the base of the brain just above the nasal cavities
vestibular sense
how our body is oriented in space
kinesthetic sense
the position and orientation of specific body parts