Sensation and Perception

Question 1

What is sensation?

Answer 1

the process of detecting stimulus from the environment and converting it into neural signals

Question 2

What is perception?

Answer 2

the process by which we select, organize and interpret our sensations

Question 3

What is Attention

Answer 3

the taking possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought

Question 4

What is bottom up processing

Answer 4

analysis of the stimulus that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the level of the brain and mind

Question 5

What is top down processing

Answer 5

info processing that is guided by higher level mental processes as we construct perceptions, drawing on our experience and expectation

Question 6

what is interactive processing?

Answer 6

a combo of top down and bottom up processing

Question 7

What is psychoPhysics?

Answer 7

the study of how physical stimuli (sensations) are translated into psychological experiences (perception)

Question 8

What is absolute threshold

Answer 8

the minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect

Question 9

What is subliminal Perception?

Answer 9

perception that occurs in response to a stimulus presented below the threshold of awareness (might be described as unconscious perception)

Question 10

What is sensory adaptation?

Answer 10

• diminished sensitivity to a stimulus as a consequence of constant stimulation by that stimulus.
• nerve cells fire less frequently

Question 11

What is desensitization?

Answer 11

reduced sensitivity to a stimulus as a result of paying less attention to it

Question 12

What does wavelength determine in light?

Answer 12

Color/hue

Question 13

What does amplitude determine about light?

Answer 13

Intensity/brightness

Question 14

What is the absolute threshold method?

Answer 14

using limits (descending an ascending) have the subject say whether a stimulus was presented or not

Question 15

What is difference threshold method?

Answer 15

present 2 stimuli and the subject has to decide whether the 2 stimuli were the same or different

Question 16

What is Weber’s law?

Answer 16

to perceive a difference between 2 stimuli the 2 stimuli must differ by some relative amount

Question 17

What is Signal Detection Theory?

Answer 17

• ability to identify messages in a noisy system

- helps understand how experience, expectations and other factors influence our absolute and difference thresholds.

Question 18

What is the lens?

Answer 18

the transparent structure that focuses the light rays onto the retina

Question 19

What is the pupil?

Answer 19

The opening in the centre of the iris that helps regulate the amount of light passing into the rear chamber of the eye

Question 20

What is the retina?

Answer 20

the neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye; it absorbs light, processes images, and sends visual info to the brain

Question 21

What is the optic disk?

Answer 21

a hole in the reina where the optic nerve fibres exit the eye; blind spot

Question 22

What are cones?

Answer 22

visual cells that play a key role in daylight vision and colour vision

Question 23

What is the fovea?

Answer 23

the tiny spot in the centre of the retina that contains only cones; visual acuity is greatest in this spot

Question 24

What are rods?

Answer 24

visual cells that play a key role in night vision and peripheral vision

Question 25

What is accommodation?

Answer 25

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to help focus near or far objects on the retina

Question 26

What is dark adaptation?

Answer 26

process where eyes become more sensitive to light in low illumination

Question 27

What is light adaptation?

Answer 27

process where the eyes become less sensitive to light in high illumination

Question 28

What is the receptive field?

Answer 28

the receptive field of a visual cell is the retinal area that, when stimulated, affects the firing of that specific cell

Question 29

What does the trichromic theory say and what is the problem with this theory?

Answer 29

• 3 kinds of cones in the eye respond mostly to light in either red, blue or green range of wavelengths
• Problem: doesn’t explain color after effects

Question 30

What is the opponent process theory of color vision say?

Answer 30

color perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to three pairs of colors. This theory explains color after images.

Question 31

What is a color after image?

Answer 31

complementary colors (yellow and blue, green and red) that you see when you look at one color and then a blank paper.

Question 32

What is color blindness?

Answer 32

Genetic disorder in which people are blind to some colors (X chromosome linked)