Sensation and perception 2 Wk 6

Question 1

properties of sound

Answer 1

sound is caused by vibrations (wave frequency is 1 second

wave frequency (Hz) = pitch
wave amplitude (dB) = loudness
wave complexity = timbre

Question 2

what is our audible spectrum

Answer 2

the human ear is sensitive to me mechanical vibration from about 20 to 20 000Hz

Question 3

auditory perception

Answer 3

different tones excite different areas of the basilar membrane and primary auditory cortex (tonotopic organisation)

Question 4

describe the place theory

Answer 4

for high pitch, hairs in specific areas of the basilar membrane activate specific regions in the primary auditory cortex

Question 5

describe the frequency

Answer 5

for low pitch, the rate of action potentials signals frequency of sound wave (up to 100 Hz)•

Question 6

what is conductive hearing loss

Answer 6

problems in outer/middle ear : - amplification of sound (hearing aid) can be helpful

Question 7

what is Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 7

Problems in inner ear, auditory nerve and auditory cortex can be more complex–Cochlear implant

Question 8

causes of hearing loss

Answer 8

genetic/congenital
disease/injury
noise induced
medication substances
age

Question 9

what is olfaction ?

Answer 9

smell

Question 10

what is gustation?

Answer 10

taste

Question 11

what do olfaction and gustation do?

Answer 11

they work together to enhance the liking or disliking of foods

Question 12

describe olfaction

Answer 12

olfactory receptors code for one odour (lock and key analogy)
humans can identify 2000-4000 odours
we can adapt rapidly to smell

Question 13

describe gustation

Answer 13

sweet, sour, bitter, salty
and now (umami)

Question 14

olfactory and gustatory, is apart of what system?

Answer 14

limbic system (orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala)

strong connections to emotion smell and tastes

Question 15

describe somatosensory system

Answer 15

Specialised receptors within the skin detect physical stimuli from the external environment

Question 16

what are the three classes of skin receptors?

Answer 16

1) pressure (mechanoreceptors)
2) temperature (thermoreceptors)
3) pain (nociceptors)

Question 17

what is the tongue map myth

Answer 17

that certain parts of the tongue are responsible for different types of flavour

Question 18

what is the phantom limb illusion? (Prac where we had the hand)

Answer 18

Phantom limb pain of amputees can be relieved with a mirror box

Question 19

what is congenital pain insensitivity?

Answer 19

Isaac brown was born with a congenital insensitivity to pain

Isaac’s parents had to teach him to identify injuries

Question 20

what are proprioception?

Answer 20

proprioceptors are located in the joints, muscles and tendons providing feedback for the brain

Question 21

what is vestibular control?

Answer 21

-balance
inner ear
info sent to brain stem and cerebellum to coordinate/adjust eye, head and body movements

Question 22

what is perception?

Answer 22

organisation of sensation into meaningful units that can be interpreted in the brain

an action process by which the brain selects, organises and interprets sensory information

Question 23

Principles of perceptual organisation

Answer 23

Top-down and bottom up processing
•Perceptual sets / context
–Perceptual constancy
–Gestalt principles
–Motion perception
–Depth or distance perception

Question 24

3 steps of top down processing

Answer 24

1) use prior knowledge and experience to organise and interpret sensations
2) select specific features and meet expectations about stimulus
3) form perception

Question 25

3 steps of bottom up processing

Answer 25

1) detect features of sensory data
2) analyse specific features and combine component pairs into more complex forms
3) form perception

Question 26

what is perceptual constancy

Answer 26

to perceive objects as perceptually stable despite variation in stimulation of sensory receptors

Shape: We recognise an object as having the same shape when viewed from a different angle

Size: Objects do not differ in size when viewed from different distances

Question 27

what is gestalt principles?

Answer 27

Gestalt principles’, or rules describe how visual elements are organised into groups or unified wholes.

Whole is greater than the sum of parts

Question 28

what is motion perception?

Answer 28

Visual system is organised to detect motion
–Some cells in the retina are sensitive to motion
–Neurons (feature detectors) in visual cortex respond to motion

Question 29

two ways of detecting movement (motion perception)

Answer 29

• A: eye is stationary as object moves on the retina

–B: eye moves to maintain object at same place on the retina

Question 30

what is depth (distance) perception?

Answer 30

the organisation of perceptions into three dimensions

Question 31

what are the two visual cues that enable us to judge depth and distance?

Answer 31

Binocularcues: visual input from two eyes

•Monocular cues: only one eye provides visual input

Question 32

what are some binocular cues?

Answer 32

Primary cues for distance/depth perception

• Binocular/Retinal disparity (aka stereopsis)–degree of overlap of image between the retinas in each eye
• Convergence–eyes converge at small distances

Question 33

what is perceptual interpretation?

Answer 33

generating meeting from stable percepts

Question 34

depth perception - molecular cues

Answer 34

Secondary distance cues (monocular)
•Relative size 
•Texture gradient
•Height in plane
•Motion parallax 
•Linear perspective•Interposition
•Shading

Question 35

what is synaesthesia ?

Answer 35

it is experience of cross modal sensations (hearing, tasting shapes)

Different perceptual experiences can be produced by cross-modal processing (cross-talk between brain areas) or overlap in brain areas.

Question 36

what is subliminal perception?

Answer 36

processing of sensory information that occurs below the level of conscious awareness

• Can have a brief, short-term impact on behaviours and attitudes
• Effect disappears when people are aware of or suspect subliminal influences

Question 37

what is subliminal PERSUASION

Answer 37

Fairly unlikely to produce large-scale or enduring attitudes or decisional changes

• Subliminal self-help tapes have been shown to be ineffective (the illusory placebo effect)
• Reversed subliminal messages also ineffect

Question 38

what is extrasensory perception? (ESP)

Answer 38

The perception of events outside the known channels of sensation (people don’t find positive effects for ESP)

Question 39

What are the three major types of ESP

Answer 39

1) precognition
2) telepathy
3) Clairvoyance

Question 40

blindspot?

Answer 40

point of no cells where information enters the brain

Question 41

myopia?

Answer 41

nearsightedness. focus point is before retina